by SrDeniseSickinger | Jul 27, 2023 | Ad maiorem Dei gloriam and the salvation of souls!, Children, Choose Life, Choose to Love, Courage of the Truth, Parenting, Teens and Young Adults
Annual Family Policy Council Alliance conference “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:12 Dear Denise Ann, I just returned from the Family Policy Counsel Alliance gathering this past Saturday and it was very encouraging to hear what the other states are doing and ultimately, what God is doing in our country. I bring good news that there is hope for New Jersey! To be honest, at times I was jealous of those 17 States that passed a “Help Not Harm” bill that applies to minors and prohibits doctors or anyone from blocking healthy puberty, prescribing cross-sex hormones, or performing surgery to modify a child’s body to appear more like the opposite sex. Conversations with other Family Policy leaders were valuable as we shared our challenges as well as our successes. I was able to tout our Motion to Intervene against Governor Murphy and Attorney General Matt Platkin who are suing NJ school boards that wish to inform parents of their children’s emotional, mental, and physical health issues. As Christians, we often relate to different biblical characters during the different seasons of our lives. Recently, I have been reading the book of Nehemiah, a man...
by SrDeniseSickinger | Jul 27, 2023 | a current event, Ad maiorem Dei gloriam and the salvation of souls!, Teens and Young Adults, World Youth Day
Dear friends of The Pope Video, Pope Francis, quoting Saint John Paul II, tells us, “If you live with young people, you become young yourself, and the Church needs young people.” Thus begins the video with the prayer intention for August, produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, in which Pope Francis responds directly to questions posed by a few young people. In his responses, he also reminds them to follow Mary’s example, who, “as soon as she knew she was going to be the mother of God, didn’t stay there taking a selfie or showing off. The first thing she did was to set out on a journey, in haste, to serve.” And he concludes the video with the desire that this WYD be “a seed for the world’s future. A world where love is at the center, where we can sense that we are sisters and brothers.” “Let us pray that the World Youth Day in Lisbon will help young people to set out on the journey, witnessing to the Gospel with their own lives.” Share the video on Facebook “I would also like to invite you to join in the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which spreads,...
by SrDeniseSickinger | Jul 26, 2023 | a current event, Ad maiorem Dei gloriam and the salvation of souls!, Events / Calendar, Happiness, Healing, Health, Teens and Young Adults
You don’t want to miss this event. Dear Friend, Chloe Cole is a leading voice protecting children from dangerous and harmful gender ideology. Why? Because as a “detransitioner”, she has firsthand experience of the serious consequences of transitioning her biological body to match her confused view of gender identity. Now, at 18 years old, she is suing the medical doctors who altered her body, lied to her parents, and did not properly inform her of the risks and irreversible effects of transitioning. She is a victim of this radical agenda. Her voice needs to be heard and magnified. Chloe has been featured in the Epoch Times, Prager U, FOX News, and many other media outlets. We are thankful that she will be joining us for a fundraiser on Thursday, Sept 28, in support of our Get Out and Vote efforts for this year’s election. This is unlike our major Guardian of the Family Gala in previous years. Our vision for this event, and more to be announced soon, is to give you a closer, more personal encounter with our speakers, and to meet our team at the New Jersey Family Policy Center. Seats are limited. Your ticket purchase will help...
by SrDeniseSickinger | Apr 13, 2023 | Ad maiorem Dei gloriam and the salvation of souls!, Anniversary Celebrations, Children, Outreach, Preventive System, Salesian News, Teens and Young Adults
Italy – 13 April 2023 (ANS – Rome) – Seventy-five years ago, in the spring of 1948, the Salesians of Rome led the caravan of boys who from Via Marsala moved along Via Prenestina until they came to populate those courtyards and sheds that still today welcome, educate and give attention to hundreds of needy and at-risk minors. From that moment, the “Borgo dei Ragazzi di Don Bosco” was born, a small town in which the children and their growing needs were the focus of the attention and care of so many Salesians and people. Those youngsters were the orphans taken in by the Salesians, who after World War II had responded diligently to the appeal of Pope Pius XII, who recommended the very sons of Don Bosco to care for the forsaken and lonely youth of the Capital. A few months later, in L’Osservatore Romano, and precisely on July 19, 1948, on the day after the official inauguration of the Borgo Ragazzi Don Bosco by Card. Pizzardo wrote: “Who would have thought, a few years ago, that the vast land surrounding Fort Prenestino would have become a haven for a multitude of children and that the sheds, set up...
by SrDeniseSickinger | Feb 5, 2022 | a current event, Accompaniment, Ad maiorem Dei gloriam and the salvation of souls!, Salesian Saints, Teens and Young Adults
Bashir died on March 15, 2015, when suicide bombers attacked St. John’s Catholic Church and Christ Church of the Church of Pakistan. By Reprint of article by Katie Yoder/CNA World and NCR 2 February 2022 Lahore, Pakistan — When a suicide bomber attempted to enter a Catholic church in Pakistan in 2015, a 20-year-old volunteer security guard blocked him. “I will die but I will not let you go in,” he reportedly told the terrorist armed with explosives. The attacker then set off a bomb, immediately killing himself and the man now recognized as a candidate for canonization: Akash Bashir. Because of his actions, the church — with more than 1,000 Catholics inside — was saved from a direct blast. Bashir died on March 15, 2015, when suicide bombers attacked St. John’s Catholic Church and Christ Church of the Church of Pakistan. Located in Lahore, the churches stand in one of the country’s largest Christian neighborhoods. Terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar (TTP-JA) later claimed the attacks that killed 17 people and injured more than 70, Vatican News reported. Those numbers might...
by SrDeniseSickinger | Feb 4, 2022 | Accompaniment, Ad maiorem Dei gloriam and the salvation of souls!, Salesian Spirituality, Teens and Young Adults, World Youth Day
03 February 2022 (ANS – Lisbon) – In preparation for World Youth Day (WYD) 2023, which will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, the Salesian Youth Movement has launched “WYD DON BOSCO 23”, the organization responsible for the convocation and participation of young people from various Salesian circles around the world at WYD in Lisbon 2023. In inviting young people to live and experience WYD Lisbon 2023 according to Don Bosco’s charism, WYD DON BOSCO 23 also wants to accompany all the initiatives, dynamism and moments planned for the Day, as well as highlight, on a particular day, the “SYM Day”, all its youth and associative dimension. “WYD DON BOSCO 2023”, as a motto, comes from the combination of three elements: the acronym in English that refers to World Youth Day, with its meaningful similarity to the term “with” in English; St. John Bosco, commonly called “Don Bosco”, as the unifying force of the Salesian Family; and the date of the meeting. It wants to be a sort of brand that identifies the Salesian Youth Movement and that motivates young people to walk the path that awaits them as a pilgrimage, that strengthens their faith and is able to question others,...
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