Abortion - Victoria

Did you know....?



Do you care about who you vote for?

Do you vote for someone who will fight for the unborn?

Even if you don't follow Politics or like Politics, don't just vote for anyone - find out who you are voting for and what they believe in.

Every vote counts.

Sidewalk Counselling - End Abortion - How you can help

I haven't posted on my blog for over 2 months, because I have been pre-occupied with Pro-life work.
There is an Abortion Clinic in my town that is open one day a week.
A group of us are working towards ending abortion in our district.
We have begun following Monsignor Reilly's Pro Life Misson - Helpers of God's Precious Infants.

There are three ways that you can participate in helping the babies that are about to be aborted:

1) Footpath Counselors
* The Counselors are the people who approach the woman going in to the abortion clinic and offer her help or an alternative and make her aware of the risks involved during and after an abortion.
* They also approach the men, friends or parents.
* The footpath Counselors stand directly out the front of the Clinic, or either side near the entrance.
* The footpath Counselors educate her about the baby's biological development in her womb, and help her to understand the exact manner in which the abortion
will kill her child.
* The woman will be provided with literature telling of all the help available: financial, medical, and spiritual.
* A possible opening line could be; "Hello, here is some information for you. I am not here to take away your choice, I am here to offer you help or an alternative, no matter your circumstances. If you choose to talk to me, I can help you."
* If the woman decides to see the abortionist anyway, she will be reminded that we will be outside waiting, if she, like others before her, changes her mind while inside and comes back out again.







2) The Pray'ers
* The Prayers come to the abortion clinic to pray for an hour or more, on any morning that the babies are going to be killed.
* They pray quietly on the opposite side of the road of the abortion clinic.
* They pray in a spirit of reparation: for their own sins; the sin of abortion; and particularly for the deaths that will occur while they stand outside on that day.
* They pray for women going into the abortion mill: for the abortionist and his staff; for the neighboring community; for their legislators; for the religious leaders of the nation; and for all who, through indifference, do nothing to try to stop abortion.
* The Prayers provide spiritual and moral support for the Footpath Counselors.
* They are essential.
* The Prayers are also there to give a personal love to God's infants who will die that day.







3) Spiritual Helpers
* These are people who want to be present at the abortion clinic but are unable to come due to physical illness, work, etc...
* They contribute prayers and sacrifices made during the week, and offer it up for the work of The Helpers.










If you are interested in helping stop abortion in our Nation, here are some suggestions:

* Go to Monsignor Reilly's website found HERE. Read up on Our Mission.
* View some Videos on Footpath Counseling (5-6min long each, there are 7 videos), showing real footage of some Americans approaching women at a Clinic. To see these videos, go HERE.
* Karen Black's Method, found HERE, has many helpful tips on how to counsel.
* Read a "Sidewalk Counselor's Guidebook", found HERE.
* Google 'Sidewalk Councelling' - read up about it.
* Find out where/or if, there is an abortion clinic (sometimes called a Fertility Clinic), in your area. Through google or phone book.
* Find out what times/days the Clinic is open and how far along they perform abortions there. Find out as much as possible about the Clinic.
* Find out where your Pregnancy Support service is (make sure they are pro-life and against contraceptives) - some are not located near the actual clinic, which can make it harder, but don't lose hope. Get in contact with them.
* Get a group of you together (at a Pro Life meeting in your Parish), through word of mouth or fliers and discuss where to go from there.



You may even be able to find young mothers interested in counseling or praying (if they can find a babysitter for an hour or two), and the young faces make a big difference.

Would you spend some time with the little babies in your own neighborhood before they die?

A Catholic Marriage

Hail Mary saves student from Hell

Consider the following instance of the great mercy of Mary.

In the year 1604, in a city in Belgium, there were two young students who gave themselves up to a life of debauchery instead of following their studies.

One night they were at the house of an evil woman; but one of the two, who was named Richard, stayed only a short time and then returned home. While he was preparing to retire, he remembered that he had not yet said the few Hail Marys that were his daily practice.

He was very tired and half inclined to omit them; nevertheless, he forced himself through the routine, saying the words half asleep and with no particular devotion. Then he lay down and fell asleep.

Suddenly he was wakened by a violent knocking at the door. The door was closed, but the figure of a young man, hideously deformed, passed through it and stood before him.

"Who are you?" Richard cried. "You do not know me?" asked the other. "Ah yes, now I do," said Richard; "but how changed, with all the appearance of a devil!"

"Alas, unhappy creature that I am," said his companion, "I am damned! When I was leaving that house of sin, a devil came and strangled me. My body lies in the street; my soul is in Hell.

"And know this — the same fate awaited you, except that the Blessed Virgin spared you for that little act of homage of the Hail Marys. If you are not a fool, profit by this warning which the Mother of God has sent." He then opened his mantle, showing the flames and serpents by which he was tormented, and disappeared.

Breaking into a flood of sobs and tears, Richard went down on his knees to give thanks to Mary his protectress. Then as he pondered how to change his life he heard the bell of the Franciscan monastery ringing for matins. "It is there," he said, "that God calls me to do penance."

He went immediately to the monastery and begged the Fathers to admit him. Since they knew his wicked life, they were hardly willing to do so. But sobbing bitterly, he told them all that had happened. And when two Fathers had been sent to the street and had found the strangled body, which was charred and blackened, they admitted him.

From that time on he led an exemplary life and at length went to preach the Gospel in India, and thence to Japan. There he had the happiness of giving his life for Jesus Christ, being burnt alive for the faith at Nagasaki on September 10, 1622.

Source = HERE

Talent

10 yr old Catholic opera singer - singing Bach's Ave Maria.

Beautiful, amazing - please watch!

Perfect & Imperfect

There are two types of contrition:

- Perfect: out of love of God;

- Imperfect: out of fear of Hell.

"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of Heaven, and the pains of Hell; but most of all because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen."

How to avoid distractions during the Rosary

You cannot say your Rosary without having a few involuntary distractions; it is even difficult to say a Hail Mary without your imagination troubling you a little, for it is never still; but you can say it without voluntary distractions, and you must take all sorts of precautions to lessen involuntary distractions and to control your imagination.

To do this:

1) Put yourself in the presence of God and imagine that God and his Blessed Mother are watching you.

2) Imagine that your guardian angel is at your right hand, taking your Hail Marys, if they are well said, and using them like roses to make crowns for Jesus and Mary.

3) Remember that at your left hand is the devil, ready to pounce on every Hail Mary that comes his way and to write it down in his book of death, if they are not said with attention, devotion, and reverence.

4) Do not fail to offer up each decade in honor of one of the mysteries, and try to form a picture in your mind of Jesus and Mary in connection with that mystery.

Source = HERE.

Woman saves babies

Love is a Decision

Many people do not see why a person would have to make the decision to love since they made that decision many years ago when they said yes to one another on their wedding day.

It is normal in married life to have periods of romance and disillusionment. This cycle is often repeated – sometimes over days, weeks, even months.

Breaking out of Disillusionment by Making the Decision to Love
One way to break out of disillusionment is by deciding to love. Feelings change and aren not easily controlled. Love is not only a feeling, it is more than a feeling. Love is a decision.

* Love is a decision to be open and to share when you don’t feel like it.
* Love is a decision when you don't think your spouse deserves your love.
* Love is a decision means that you are open to honest communication with your spouse. That's not only talking, but also listening.
* It is also a decision to be loved.

Making the decision to love includes the everyday, little things that you often do for one another, especially when you’re not feeling loving.
From the action of deciding to love, often the feeling of love will follow.

What Love is a Decision Means in an Abusive Situation
Making the decision to love doesn't mean you love and accept negative or abusive behavior.

If your spouse is abusing you, either emotionally or physically, making the decision to love is getting out of the abusive situation.
Often times, making the decision to love is getting help for both you and your spouse.

Source = HERE.

A letter from an unborn baby

Marriage tip!

Here is a marriage tip I recently read:








Turn Off the TV and Talk!

"With children and our work between the two of us, it's easy to just not have time to communicate. While we enjoy watching our favorite tv shows together, we communicate much better and feel a lot closer when we turn off the tv and the computer and actually talk to each other.
Even the stressful conversations about things like money go better when we are open and honest and try to discuss things when there are fewer distractions.
It's too easy to simply exist in the same house without actually connecting. When we tune into each other instead of everything else, it brings us much closer and helps us realize we are more in love now than the day we got married. And that's saying something!"

"I'm watching you Dad"

How to be a Good Father

The father's role in our modern society has dwindled to almost nothing. But as a Christian, the father's role is important in molding and giving example to his children, especially to his sons.

Directions

Probably nobody denies that the typical father exercises less authority in his home today than at any time in history. Reasons for this decline probably are of no interest or help in the present discussion; but the effect of it cannot be overlooked. For evidence accumulated by psychiatrists, social workers and similar experts proves unmistakably that when children lack a strong father to guide them, they suffer serious damage in many important ways.

Consider these facts:

There is a startling growth in homosexual tendencies among the young, and most authorities agree that the boy who develops feminine characteristics usually has had unsatisfactory relations with his father in one or several important respects.
Increases in juvenile delinquency — a headlined trend in every part of the country — are also due to the weak position of the father; the lack of an affectionate and understanding relationship between father and son is a prevalent characteristic in the background of boys charged with criminal offenses. Many authorities also blame the shocking rates of divorce and marriage breakdowns to this cause. The fathers of those who cannot succeed in marriage often never gave their children a realistic example of how a man should live with his wife in this relationship.

The importance of the father as an example of manhood to his son and daughter probably cannot be overestimated. For example, one day your son may marry and have a family.
To be a successful father, he should know:
* how to train his children;
* how to treat his wife and their mother in their presence;
* what to discuss with them about his work;
* how to show them manual skills, such as repairing a chair or painting furniture;
* how to perform in countless other important areas.
The best way to learn how to act as a father is to observe one in action.










What ideals will he display as husband and father?
To a large extent, that answer will depend upon those he has learned from you, his father, in your own home.

What part will he play in the religious education of his children?
The answer will largely depend upon whether you:
* have led the family to Mass each Sunday
* say grace before meals in your home
* take an active part in the spiritual life of your parish.

How should he act toward his wife — aloof, affectionate, domineering, docile? Here too the answer will mainly depend upon your example.

The adage, "Like father, like son," is firmly based on fact. No matter how much he may resist your influence, your son will be like you in many different ways.
* If your influence is wholesome, the effect upon him will be wholesome.
* If you are a bad father, you will almost surely corrupt him in some significant way.

Remember also that you represent God before your child because you are — or should be — the figure of authority in your home.

He will be taught that he can always depend upon the mercy and goodness of the eternal Father; but it will be difficult for him to grasp the full importance of that teaching if he cannot rely upon the goodness of his earthly father.

It has been said that, in addition to giving wholesome example, a good father follows four fundamental rules in his dealing with his children.
1) He shows himself to be truly and sincerely interested in their welfare.
2) He accepts each child for what he is, and encourages any special talent which the youngster possesses.
3) He takes an active part in disciplining his children.
4) He keeps lines of communication open with them at all times.
Each of these rules is worth detailed consideration, because the typical father often ignores one or more of them.

















For a detailed explaination of the FOUR FUNDAMENTAL RULES a good father should follow in dealing with his children, go HERE.

Abortion - honest answers

What About Abortion? | Despre avort (Romanian subtitles) from provita on Vimeo.

Wedding speech

I have been invited to make up a reading at one of my friend's wedding's.
It was quite difficult, as they don't really believe in God, but I tried my best to write something meaningful and what may be helpful to them.
They wanted it to have humour in it, but a lot of the humour was inappropriate (down playing marriage), so I added some light-hearted humour.
I took bits and pieces from books, which helped.
They are not Catholic and are not being married in a Church, but here is what I came up with:











The powerful union of marriage, provides the path for you to learn how to love another imperfect person unconditionally. It is wonderful. It is difficult. It is life changing.

Love isn't what we feel, but what we do. It is a decision and a choice, not just a feeling.

Love endures. It refuses to give up. Today you are saying to your spouse, “Even when you don’t like me – I will choose to love you anyway. Forever.” Because love never fails.

To the bride - The only time a woman really succeeds in changing a man, is when he's a baby.
And if your husband comes home, and the kids are still alive, you’ve done your job!

To the groom - Always grant the possibility that she may be right, even if you don’t believe it.
And, always hold hands. If you let go, she shops!

Love seeks understanding. When you were trying to win the heart of your spouse, you studied them. You learned their likes, dislikes, habits and hobbies. Keep studying each other, even after you are married. You are then seeking to ‘understand’ each other.

View your marriage relationship as a covenant instead of a contract. Realizing it as a covenant means, you are giving yourself to the other and committing to this marriage for life.

Strive to be selfless. We can all be selfish, but love does not seek its own. You either make decisions out of love for others or love for yourself. Being selfless, is putting the happiness of your partner above your own. Regard one another as more important than yourselves.

Marriage is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.
Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand!

Your life together is before you. Take hold of it and never let go. May God bless you as you begin this adventure together.

Mother's Prayer

Change kids' behaviour without rewards or bribes

From: Michael Grose- Australia's No.1 Parenting Educator.

There are many strategies you can use to improve or change children’s behaviour.

Some like, bribery, may be effective in the short term, but keeping relying on that method to get kids to cooperate and you need deep pockets as today’s little toy is tomorrow’s games console. Your bribes need to be bigger and better each time!

One simple strategy for improving behaviour and promoting the behaviour you want is the provision of good feedback when kids behave well.

I call this strategy ‘ describing them being good’ as it goes one step further than simply making a fuss. It involves describing their behaviour so that you shape future behaviours.

Sounds complicated, but it’s not.

First, it’s important to remember that parental recognition is a high driver for kids. They like to please their parents so making a fuss when they do the right thing means they are more likely to do it again. No guarantees, mind you! Just likelihoods!

Second, figure out a behaviour you want to improve and focus on that. An example maybe you want kids to pack up their toys after each time they’ve played with them.

Third, make sure kids know what’s expected of them. Show as well as tell them what you want.

Next, when children approximate those behaviour make a fuss, but tell them what they have done. “Wow! It’s great that you put each toy away before getting the next one out. That’s smart. And look, you put it in the right container. Look at all the room you have made to play.”

There are three features to using feedback to change or shape kids’ behaviour:

1. Immediate: Wait too long and its impact is lost.

2. Descriptive: tell’em exactly what you saw (and what you want)

3. Amplify with touch, eye contact & voice: Smile, touch or hug them and get excited and you’ll find its impact is magnified tenfold.

For more tips on Praising a Child, go HERE.

Beautiful, Beautiful

It's All Right to Be Wrong

Question & Answer from HERE.

"I worry a lot about making mistakes in raising my children.
How do I know what I'm doing now won't hurt them in some way later in life?"

Few things can ruin the enjoyment of parenthood more surely than a fear of mistakes. Nowadays so many parents live with the daily worry that they will accidentally set in motion some emotional hang-up that will plague their youngster through childhood and maybe into adulthood. One single parent mom told me she was reluctant to discipline her strong willed son because she didn't want him to grow up with bad feelings towards women.

It's no surprise that parents are so skittish. They've been blamed for everything from Waldo's bellyache to his dropping out of school. Somehow, some way, the finger gets pointed back at the folks. They must have miscalculated or blundered at some crucial stage along the way. Out of ignorance, inexperience, lack of sophistication or savvy, they've done something to create the instability or defect in Sigmund's mental health.

What a tragedy that such a black cloud hovers over childrearing. The reality is that the very best of moms and dads will miscue so many times that they'll lose count in their first year. Mistakes are inseparable from good parenthood. They are as integral to the process as children are. My guess is that the typical parent with the typical youngster misjudges, overreacts, and mishandles things thousands of times per childrearing career. And that's in raising a typical youngster. If you live with a Spike, allow yourself two or three times the norm in mistakes, because this little spitfire would make Job cry uncle.

Unquestionably your parenting is powerful in shaping the person your child is and becomes. If you consistently parent poorly, she probably will develop some problems on her way to adulthood.
The key words here are consistently and probably. You have to mess up not once or twice, but repeatedly to lay the base for possible future trouble. Just as it takes time and perseverance to teach good values and habits, it takes time to teach bad ones. Mistakes made by parents who love, discipline, and care for their children simply will not ruin a child for life.

Kids are emotionally durable. The good Lord knew that children were going to be raised by humans, with all of our shortcomings, inconsistencies and flaws. So he built them to withstand us, and all the trial and erroring we do on our way to better parenting. Kids are not fashioned from spun glass. They don't have to be ever so delicately shielded from all bumps and jostles. Not at all! Kids are built tough. They can be more likened to hard rubber, with steel belts on both sides.

Whenever you worry that you may have blundered badly in handling a situation or problem, remember: that occasion is only one of thousands upon thousands of interactions you and Waldo will have together. It's the overall picture that matters, not the periodic foul-ups that all of us parents are prone to, especially if we're raising kids and not something easy like wolves.

There's a bright side to making mistakes. Responsible parents learn from mistakes. If you think you make more than your share, you'll learn more quickly. Mistakes are how good parents get better.

Healing Miracles

View the following short video, introducing the six stories in Christine Watkins compelling new book:
Full of Grace: Miraculous Stories of Healing and Conversion through Mary's Intercession:



To buy Christine's book, go HERE.

To read Christine's conversion story, go HERE.











To view Christine's website, go HERE.

Top 10 Reasons to Come Back to the Catholic Church

No matter how long you have been away from the Catholic Church, you can always come home.
You may already be feeling a strange inner pull to look into the Church again.
That spiritual longing you feel is God drawing you back to Himself.
God never forces; He only invites.
He leaves the decision to return to the Catholic Church up to you.

Here are ten reasons (by Lorene Hanley Duqin of Our Sunday Visitor), that influenced the decision of many Catholics to return to the practice of the Catholic faith:

10: Because we want meaning in life.

9: Because childhood memories surface.

8: Because we made mistakes.

7: Because we need to forgive others.

6: Because we want to be healed.

5: Because the Catholic Church has the fullness of truth and grace.

4: Because we want our children to have a faith foundation.

3: Because we want to be part of a faith community.

2: Because we want to help other people.

1: Because we hunger for the Eucharist.
[The Eucharist is the number one reason that people come back to the Church.]

For each reason to be explained, go to HERE.

Most people discover that coming back to the Church is not an event as much as it is a process that involves a little pain, a little laughter, some thinking, some prayer, some discernment and a lot of letting go.
“My actual return to full participation in a parish took about three years after I felt the first longing,” one person admitted.

You'll know you are home when you begin to feel a deep sense of peace.

The real Me

Only God is perfect.
We are all imperfect
So... be yourself, just as God sees you.

The Real Me from Clay Productions on Vimeo.

Do birth control pills cause abortions?

Question and answer from Chastity.com.
Read full answer HERE.

In order to prevent pregnancy, birth control pills employ several mechanisms. First, the synthetic hormones may convince a woman’s body that she is pregnant. This can stop the ovaries from releasing an egg. The Pill also makes it difficult for the sperm to reach the egg, because the hormones thicken the cervical mucus, making it difficult for the sperm to live and move.

The Pill also creates changes in the uterus and fallopian tubes that can interfere with the transport of sperm. Despite the hormones’ ability to prevent the release of eggs, sometimes a “breakthrough ovulation” takes place. How often this happens depends upon several factors, such as which kind of pill the woman is taking, how consistently she takes her pills, and even how much she weighs. Even with correct and consistent use of the Pill, some formulas allow ovulation in less than 2 percent of cycles, while others allow a woman to ovulate during 65 percent of her cycles.

When a woman ovulates, she can become pregnant. However, the Pill has mechanisms that can cause an abortion before a woman knows that she has conceived. If a sperm does fertilize the egg, the newly conceived baby (zygote) may be transported more slowly through the fallopian tubes because of how they have been altered by the Pill. Thus, the child may not reach the uterus, where he or she needs to implant and receive nourishment for the next nine months. Because the fallopian tubes are changed, the baby may accidentally implant there, causing an ectopic or “tubal” pregnancy, which is fatal to the baby, and can also be life-threatening for the mother.

If the baby is able to travel safely to the uterus, he or she may not be well received. One reason for this is that the chemicals in the Pill thin out the lining of the woman’s uterus (the endometrium). As a result, the baby may not be able to implant. At other times the child will attach to the wall, but he or she will be unable to survive because the normally thick and healthy uterine wall has shriveled and is therefore unable to nourish the baby. The Pill also impacts the woman’s progesterone level. This causes the lining of the uterus to break down and eventually shed as it would in a menstrual cycle, further denying the baby’s attempt to implant.

Many doctors are concerned about the fact that women often are not informed that the birth control pill can cause an abortion as well as prevent pregnancy. One medical journal declared, “If any mechanism of any OC [Oral Contraceptive] violates the morals of any particular woman, the failure of the physician or care provider to disclose this information would effectively eliminate the likelihood that the woman’s consent was truly informed and would seriously jeopardize her autonomy. Furthermore, there is a potential for negative psychological impact on women who believe human life begins at fertilization, who have not been given informed consent about OCs, and who later learn of the potential for postfertilization effects of OCs. The responses to this could include disappointment, anger, guilt, sadness, rage, depression, or a sense of having been violated by the provider.”

Unfortunately, not all doctors are aware that the Pill can act as an abortifacient. Dr. Walter Larimore admitted that he prescribed the Pill for nearly twenty years—and used it in his own marriage before anyone informed him that it could have such an effect.

When another doctor clued him in, he said that he had never heard of such a thing, and that the claims seemed to be “outlandish, excessive, and inaccurate.” He began a search of the medical literature, “to disprove these claims to my partner, myself, and any patients who might ask about it.” However, what he discovered compelled him to stop using the Pill in his medical and personal life. Reviewing the information, he realized how many doctors (and patients) were ignorant of the abortifacient potential of the Pill. It was a humbling realization, considering that ever since the 1970s, the patient package insert for birth control pills explained how the drug reduces the likelihood of implantation.

One reason why certain doctors may not tell women about the abortifacient nature of the Pill is that some physicians do not believe that pregnancy begins with fertilization.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) decided to redefine pregnancy. In its words, “conception is the implantation of a fertilized ovum.” Instead of defining conception as fertilization, ACOG decided that life begins nearly a week later, at implantation. At the time they said that this was because pregnancy could not be detected before then. Today science is able to detect pregnancy before implantation, but the ACOG still won’t correct its definition. The original change had nothing to do with a scientific discovery in women’s health, reproduction, or biology. Unfortunately, doctors today are split on the issue.

Regardless of a doctor’s personal opinions, few women are ever informed about this issue. Feminist author Germaine Greer wrote, “Whether you feel that the creation and wastage of so many embryos is an important issue or not, you must see that the cynical deception of millions of women by selling abortifacients as if they were contraceptives is incompatible with the respect due to women as human beings.”

Go back to - Truth (God)

The goal of life.

So what exactly is the goal of life here on earth?
Is it to be rich?
To be famous?
To have a big fancy car?
To have a huge house?
To have a big screen HDTV?
To go on expensive vacations every year?
To have unlimited sex on demand?
To be constantly entertained?
To eat like a king every day of the week?
To work all of the time?
To attain power?
To get drunk?
To have lots of friends?
To collect collectables?
To have lots of things?
To play sports?
To watch sports all the time?
To watch movies?
To play games?
To look at pornography?
To play computer games all day long?

Of course, the answer to all of the above is NO.
None of those things are the goal of life here on earth.
So what is the goal of life?
From the old Baltimore Catechism, the goal of life here on earth is:

TO KNOW, LOVE, AND SERVE GOD IN THIS LIFE, SO THAT WE CAN BE HAPPY WITH HIM IN HEAVEN.

Something to reflect on.
Is this our goal?

From HERE.

Pornography ruins lives

Boys AND GIRLS listen to this video.

For loves sake, for the love of your future spouse - say no to pornography.

Fight for a Superior pleasure that severs the root of the lie.
There HAS to be a Superior pleasure!

'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God'.
If I defile my mind and my heart with picture after picture, I will not be able to see God clearly.
And if I can't see Him clearly, my joy falls.
If my joy falls, I am a sitting duck for every sin that comes along.

Fight for joy that is Superior to the quick surge that comes from pornography.
It is so cheap, so low, so small and the kickback afterwards is so weak and so miserable.

Why Fast?

The Bible refers to fasting nearly 100 times, however, it remains a discipline which is absent from the lives of many Christians.

Although most Christians may feel the need to do a lengthy fast, there are benefits to be gained from even a short period of self-denial.

Here are 16 reasons why...

1) Fasting expands compassion.

2) Fasting prepares the way to meet a challenge.

3) fasting helps you move to a positive spiritual outlook.

4) Fasting is encouraged by the spiritual fathers.

5) Fasting benefits others.

6) Fasting creates more time for additional spiritual disciplines.

7) Fasting is good for the soul - it brings spiritual gifts.

8) Fasting reminds us we don not live by bread alone.

9) Fasting is a positive response in the face of materialism.

10) Fasting creates more physical and mental energy.

11) Fasting helps us appreciate things more.

12) Fasting strengthens virtues and weakens vices.

13) Fasting is good for self-discipline.

14) Fasting improves physical health.

15) Fasting can enlighten others.

16) Fasting follows the way of Christ.

Holidays...

I've just returned from a holiday in Queensland (on the Gold Coast).
Here is where we stayed:













Here was our view at night time: