Fortnight for Freedom















Religious Freedom is our First Freedom


“Respect for this fundamental human right is, in fact, one of the essential conditions for peace, fraternity and harmony." - Pope Francis (as cited in CNSNews.com)



Fortnight for Freedom
June 21 - July 4 - 2014
FortNight4Freedom.org

[S]ome laws actually restrict freedom by shrinking the sacred space we need to live out our commitments to an authority higher than the state...
- Edward A. Morse, Professor of Law




Archbishop Kurtz discusses Religious Freedom - 2012 Message

Religious freedom is important not only in its own right but is also central to other human goods: it correlates with civil liberties, political liberties, press freedom, longevity of democracy, low levels of militarization and conflict, more physicians, and lower infant mortality...
Why Religious Freedom Must be a Top Priority - Paul Marshall, Hudson Institute



Go to the barricades for religious liberty: Christians are the most persecuted creed worldwide - Cardinal Timothy Dolan



In today’s world, religious freedom is more often affirmed than put into practice...It is often threatened, and not infrequently violated. The serious outrages against this fundamental right are a source of serious concern, and need to be confronted at the global level. Defending religious liberty and making it available for everyone...is everyone’s responsibility... - Pope Francis



The current disposition of religious freedom  in the United States: The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights... - Declaration of Independence 


Resources



 Become the Salt and Light of the World


"Government, even at its best, can never be more than an auxiliary in the development of character...We desperately need to recover a sense of the fundamental purpose of education, which is to engage in the architecture of souls.  When a self-governing society ignores this responsibility, it does so at its peril" (William J. Bennett, Quantifying America's Decline, 1993).

"Catholicism...It's your story." (Fr. Barron)



Word on Fire: The Catholicism Project



 Published: 10.04.2012
Revised and Updated 03.21.2015
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Grief, Loss, Healing and Recovery






Life and Death by Paul Cardall - "Contemporary jazz pianist Paul Cardall was born April 24, 1973; suffering from a congenital heart defect, he was given only days to live but defied medical expectations, enduring a series of surgeries and illnesses throughout his childhood...."
- Pandora.com



After a loss, grief is the natural process of recovery.  From losing a job to death of a loved one, it is important to learn how to process feelings in a health way.  A panel of experts is joined by Terry Cogdon, a father whose daughter was tragically killed, as he offers insights into working through the emotions of grief. - Second Opinion TV, Published October 25, 2012

    • Practical Examples of Coping and Healing



"For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nothing already in existence and nothing still to come, nor any power, nor the heights nor the depths, nor any created thing whatever, will be able to come between us and the love of God, known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39












Te lucis ante terminum

To thee before the close of day,
Creator of the world, we pray
That, with thy wonted favour, thou
Wouldst be our guard and keeper now.

From all ill dreams defend our sight,
From fears and terrors of the night;
Withhold from us our ghostly foe,
That spot of sin we may not know.

O Father, that we ask be done,
Through Jesus Christ, thine only Son,
Who, with the Holy Ghost and thee,
Doth live and reign eternally.

Amen.




Published: 06.20.2014
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    Human Sexuality











    "It's not about saying no, its about living life to the fullest." - The Catholic Way: Sex, Chastity and the Secular World

    "George Weigel in his book, Witness to Hope, suggests that John Paul II's Theology of the Body is a theological time bomb set to go off, with dramatic consequences, sometime in the third millennium of the Church." - Natural Family Planning Outreach

    "[S]ometimes parents do not know when or how to approach these topics [sexuality, drugs and alcohol, cutting / self-injury / suicide], yet if they do not talk to their teen about these issues parents essentially allow society (peers, school, television, Internet) to raise and form the moral character of their child." - National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry



    Are Christian Sexual Ethics Outdated? Obsolete? Boring?


    Resources

    Commentary


    Virtue, Faith and Freedom - Magis Center

    Parenting

    Sexually Transmitted Infection / Disease




    "Sexuality, by means of which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, is not something simply biological, but concerns the innermost being of the human person as such. It is realized in a truly human way only if it is an integral part of the love by which a man and woman commit themselves totally to one another until death."
    - Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 2361




    "You are more than the choices that you've made..."
    - Music by Tenth Avenue

    Theology of the Body (TOB)


    "The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.
    My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life."

    Books



    Videos
    Train the Leader: Programs in Youth Ministry






    Published: 11.12.2013
    Updated: 11.13.2013; 06.17.2014
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    Father's Day














    "You are accountable to God for the position of influence he has given you. You can't fall asleep at the wheel, only to wake-up one day and realize that your job, or your hobbies have no eternal value, but the souls of your children do." - Courageous - Final scene

             Dad books at Audible                 Five Star Book on
                                                                        Fatherhood at Amazon   

    To my daughters, my gifts from God...



    Music by Shane and Shane

    Resources

          
         RealMenPrayTheRosary.org            




    Father's Day Memorial





    Confession - A Roman Catholic App

    Catholic dads everywhere show their children the light of life...



    Published: 09.17.2011. Updated: 06.16.2013; 06.15.2014
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    From Teen to Adult Child: Taking the Path of Restoration














    Resources








    Nightfever Online



    Time, Talent and Treasure



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    Neurotheology

















    Resources


               
                         



    Veni Sancte Spiritus (English Translation)









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