Wheelie Catholic

Wheelie Catholic

THE JOURNEY

The only way to really understand someone's journey is to talk about it, yet to talk about something that was so traumatic to your life, happening as a child and for a very long time after, is difficult.

My desire to share is because if people understood what others can go through and still climb up and out of the pit that they were thrown in, they will see that all things are possible.

I give all my credit to God who walked with me through the most cruel and horrible experiences in my life and some of them happened right here within the church.

It is sad to say that in this great big world of ours, those that we look up to, to guide us down the path to Heaven, can be the greatest offenders, pulling people down by their indifference, by their insensativity and lack of understanding.

This doesn't mean that they are bad people or it is the fault of the church but rather it is the human conditions that does this.. that people, no matter how they are called, can fall and they can fail.

If people didn't fail me, I would never have been pulled toward God as much as I have... because I needed Him. So what might seem bad at the time, can really be a blessing. I was depended on God for everything and I used what He gave and turned it around and went out to help thousands of people, even though I was having a very hard time helping even myself.

God seems to work that way. Even though I have done a lot of good, I don't believe I have done much of anything. It is difficult to see any good I have done unless I am reminded.

I am sharing this little piece that was written about me because I believe that in order to understand that God really does help people, you would have to know the story of my Journey. No matter how rough the road for St St Paul, in the end won the race, and you will win the race, no matter what any one thinks of you, no matter how they treat you and no matter if you don't think you amount to much... God is there to help you win the race.

Sister Pauline–A Remarkable Woman

Patricia Kelley

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

The only way to truly understand the power of these prison dog programs and the driving energy behind them is to understand the amazing and selfless woman who started them. Out of the unspeakable abuse she suffered as a child and young adult, a phoenix has risen. Like a phoenix—Sister Pauline would not be destroyed by her circumstances.

This defines Sister Pauline. Tough, resilient, often outspoken, and sometimes irreverently defiant-she’s not your stereotypical nun. Yet, she is filled with a capacity to love and forgive that would challenge most of us. She rose up out of unthinkable abuse to change her corner of the world, guided by a promise she made to God in her darkest hour.

It is no wonder that this one very amazing woman would become the founder of, and leading light for, the rapidly expanding, highly regarded prison dog programs. Her love and compassion for society’s throwaway people, coupled with her deep love for dogs became a formula for healing and change unprecedented in our prison systems.

The direction her life has taken has challenged and changed old paradigms of thinking that previously dictated what is either worthy or worthless in life. Thousands of humans and canines are offered hope-and yes, even redemption in these prison dog programs. Many have met Sister Pauline-most have not—but each human and canine life she has touched directly or indirectly has made the world a better place for them—and us.

I interviewed Sister Paulie extensively and was amazed and moved by her commitment to make the lives of those that most of us would rather forget about a little better. To give them a sense that someone cared.
She is a remarkable woman.

Her organization is Pathways to Hope.

CHRIST CAME FOR THE POOR, UNWANTED AND THOSE OTHERS DESPISED

YOU CAN FIND CHRIST IN THE DARKNESS OF THE ALLEY WAYS, UNDER BRIDGES WHERE THE POOR SLEEP. HE IS WITH THOSE WHO HE LOVES.

"Christ remains with us not only through the Mass but in the 'distressing disguise' of the poor. To live with the poor is a contemplative vocation, for it is to live in the constant presence of Jesus"

Dorothy Day

“The poor give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people, living day to day with no food. They never curse, never complain. We don't have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them.”

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged.

Helen Keller

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

In Today's Gospel John 10 1-15

The Good Shepherd

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.

But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers."

Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.

A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.

I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.

"In the Church Bulletin there was a comment by the pastor and it says:
St John narrates the storyof Jesus the Good Shepherd as part of the sixth sign in his gospel book of signs. Here, Jesus is the light of the world and St John explains this in the story of the man born blind. In this story, the religious leaders are blind but they do not know that they are blind. They are contrasted with Jesus who is the light that has come into the world. Then St. John tells the story of Jesus the sheep gate and Jesus the Good Shepherd. These stories are told to illustrate that Jesus is the one who loves humanity and cares for them as a good shepherd takes care of his sheep.

The story is told so that those who experience the neglect of their out-of-touch religious leaders and institutions know that Jesus is the one who is enlightened. Jesus understands their dilemmans and like a good shepherd takes cae of his flock, Jesus will take care of them. There is no need to think that God depends on incompetent and corrupt religious leaders. God accomplishes his purpose of nurturing his people and leading them to their destiny. Jesus is the one who knows the way."

This is helpful to reflect on this message because when our church leaders hurt us.. when they neglect the sheep, then often people will start thinking it is their fault and will be crushed by the weight of this cross, but if we reflect that there are times when our religious leaders are not leading us, when they don't care as what happened with the priest sexual abuse and the leaders turned their backs on the victims, then we have to looke to the Good Shepherd Jesus who won't abandon us and will reach out to us with the kindness and compassion of the Good Shepherd.

Never let incompetent and corrupt religious leaders to pull you down. Look to the heart of Jesus and you will find Love.

COME VISIT THE CATARINA BENINCASA MONASTERY

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VISIT CORPUS CHRISTI DOMINICAN MONASTERY BRONX NY 120 YEARS OLD

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THROUGH THE CROSS WE CAN FIND HOPE

The Hill of Crosses, Kryzių Kalnas, located 12 kilometers north of the small industrial city of Siauliai (pronounced shoo-lay) is the Lithuanian national pilgrimage center. Standing upon a small hill are many hundreds of thousands of crosses that represent Christian devotion and a memorial to Lithuanian national identity.

The city of Siauliai was founded in 1236 and occupied by Teutonic Knights during the 14th century. The tradition of placing crosses dates from this period and probably first arose as a symbol of Lithuanian defiance of foreign invaders. Since the medieval period, the Hill of Crosses has represented the peaceful resistance of Lithuanian Catholicism to oppression.

In 1795 Siauliai was incorporated into Russia but was returned to Lithuania in 1918. Many crosses were erected upon the hill after the peasant uprising of 1831-63. By 1895, there were at least 150 large crosses, in 1914 200, and by 1940 there were 400 large crosses surrounded by thousands of smaller ones.

Captured by Germany in World War II, the city suffered heavy damage when Soviet Russia retook it at the war's end. From 1944 until Lithuania's independence in 1991, Siauliai was a part of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR. During the Soviet era, the pilgrimage to the Hill of Crosses served as a vital expression of Lithuanian nationalism. The Soviets repeatedly removed Christian crosses placed on the hill by Lithuanians.

Three times, during 1961, 1973 and 1975, the hill was leveled, the crosses were burned or turned into scrap metal, and the area was covered with waste and sewage. Following each of these desecrations local inhabitants and pilgrims from all over Lithuania rapidly replaced crosses upon the sacred hill. In 1985, the Hill of Crosses was finally left in peace. The reputation of the sacred hill has since spread all over the world and every year it is visited by many thousands of pilgrims. Pope John Paul II visited the Hill of Crosses in September of 1993.

The size and variety of crosses is as amazing as their number. Beautifully carved out of wood or sculpted from metal, the crosses range from three meters tall to the countless tiny examples hanging profusely upon the larger crosses. An hour spent upon the sacred hill will reveal crosses brought by Christian pilgrims from all around the world. Rosaries, pictures of Jesus and the saints, and photographs of Lithuanian patriots also decorate the larger crosses. On windy days breezes blowing through the forest of crosses and hanging rosaries produces a uniquely beautiful music.

NEADS PRISON DOG VIDEO

CLICK HERE

NEADS Dog Program NCCI was the first Massachusetts Department of Correction facility to incorporate National Education for Assistance Dog Services (NEADS) back on December 23, 1998.

The program is a result of corroboration with Sister Pauline Quinn of , who has aided numerous correctional facilities across the country implement similar programs.

NEADS is a non-profit organization established to provide Hearing and Service Dogs for people who are deaf or who use wheelchairs. These Assistance Dogs become extensions of their owners and bring security, freedom, independence and relief from social isolation to their partners. NEADS is one of the oldest and largest programs of its kind.

CHRIST DWELLS WITHIN THEM ~

Blessed Margaret of Castello ~

HOMELESS AND A BEGGAR
CLICK HERE to see the stories

WHY FORGIVE?

Mehmet Ali Agca, the gunman who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, holds up an issue of Time magazine outside a military recruitment center after being released from prison in Istanbul on Thursday. Agca served more than 25 years behind bars in Italy and Turkey.

Pope John Paul II's prison visit with his would-be assassin demonstrates that the ability to forgive is a rare gift. But as the Pontiff has shown, it is possible. As a result, there is hope in this mad world.

FINDING FAITH

Subject: A Dog Named Faith

This is a story about a dog who was born on Christmas Eve in 2002.

He was born with 3 legs - 2 healthy hind legs and 1 abnormal front leg which needed to be amputated.

He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his mother did not want him.

He was rejected and scorned.

His first owner also did not think that he could survive. Therefore, he was thinking of putting him to sleep.

At this time, his present owner Jude Stringfellow came into his life and wanted to take care of him.

She was determined to teach and train this dog to walk by himself. She thought, all we need is a little faith.

Therefore she named him 'Faith.'






In the beginning, she put Faith on a surf board to let him feel the movements of the water.

Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and to reward him for standing up and jumping around. Even the other dogs at home helped to encourage him to walk.

Amazingly, after only 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned to balance on his 2 hind legs and jumped to move forward. After further training in the snow, he can now walk like a human being.







Faith loves to walk around now.

No matter where he goes, he just attracts all the people around him. He is now becoming famous on the international scene. He has appeared in various newspapers and TV shows. There is even one book entitled 'With a little faith' being published about him.

He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter movies.

His present owner Jude Stringfellow has given up her teaching job and plans to take him around the world to preach, 'that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul.'













In life there are always undesirable things.



Perhaps a person who feels things are not going as well as they could will feel better if they change their point of view and see things from another perspective.


Perhaps this message will bring fresh new ways of thinking to everyone.

Perhaps everyone can appreciate and be thankful for each beautiful day that follows.


Life is the continual demonstration of the power of thinking positive and having faith.

Believe in yourself.
Never lose faith..

A NEW STAR

Explanation: A new star, likely the brightest supernova in recorded human history, lit up planet Earth's sky in the year 1006 AD. The expanding debris cloud from the stellar explosion, found in the southerly constellation of Lupus, still puts on a cosmic light show across the electromagnetic spectrum. In fact, this composite view includes X-ray data in blue from the Chandra Observatory, optical data in yellowish hues, and radio image data in red. Now known as the SN 1006 supernova remnant, the debris cloud appears to be about 60 light-years across and is understood to represent the remains of a white dwarf star. Part of a binary star system, the compact white dwarf gradually captured material from its companion star. The buildup in mass finally triggered a thermonuclear explosion that destroyed the dwarf star. Because the distance to the supernova remnant is about 7,000 light-years, that explosion actually happened 7,000 years before the light reached Earth in 1006. Shockwaves in the remnant accelerate particles to extreme energies and are thought to be a source of the mysterious cosmic rays.

I CAN ONLY HOPE WE FIND GOD AGAIN BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!

The following was written by Ben Stein & recited by him on CBS Sun Morning Commentary.

M y confession: I am a Jew, & every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. & it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year.

It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a crib, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians.

I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too.. But there are a lot of us who are wondering whe re these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to. In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different:

This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina)

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school.

The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide).

We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.' Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace. Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us. Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one wil l know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

LIFE ON THE CUTTING EDGE ~ Don't be afraid to share your story.

After years of torture and abuse then going out to help thousands, shunned and rejected by people who should have been of love but were not, I am sharing my story.

I want to encourage people to share who you are, take risks. If people reject you, there are others out there that will not. If people do not understand you, find people who will.

Life on the Cutting Edge is a story of Pain and Hope and a willing drive to help others who also suffer from trauma.

http://srpaulina.webs.com/

DISPOSABLE HEROS

'Disposable Heroes': Veterans Used To Test Suicide-Linked Drugs

ABC NEWS VIDEO CLICK HERE

VIDEO PART ONE CLICK
VIDEO PART TWO CLICK

WHAT DID SAINTS LOOK LIKE

The SAINTS

CLICK HERE

AND
CLICK HERE AND CLICK HERE

READ MY FRIEND ANN BALLS BOOK ON SAINTS

Ann Ball has written over 25 books. She wrote about the saints and about the Catholic life.

(Ann Ball has just died, June 2008 leaving so many dear friends. Please keep her in your prayers.

Our Sunday visitor tribute to Ann, click here)

Ann wrote about my life which you can see click here...

St Caterina Benincasa Dominican Monastery

WELCOME

Holy Spirit Catholic Church ~ Our Lady of Peace shrine on left

Caterina Benincasa Monastery on right in back.

Painting of St Catherine by Sr Mary Grace op

St Catherine

All things are possible for those who believe

Our Lady of Peace

This statue is 33 feet high and on the site of the site of the St Caterina Benincasa Dominican Monastery

Bishop Michael Saltarelli blessing the Monastery on the feast of St Catherine of Siena

Fr Timothy Nolan pastor of Holy Spirit Catholic Church on the grounds of the Monastery Visiting Dominican Bishop from the Solomon Islands Chris Cardone, OP on right at the end of table and Fr Steven op on left.

See the art, cards of Dominican artist Sr Mary Grace OP

click here

Sr Mary Grace painting

Let us pray for one another

Nicky the Dominican Dog in front of the

shrine of Our Lady of Peace

St Caterina Benincasa Dominican Monastery
6 Church Drive
New Castle, Delaware 19720
302 654-1206

Saint Catherine was born Catherine Benincasa in Siena, Italy, to Giacomo di Benincasa, a cloth-dyer, and Lapa Piagenti, a daughter of a local poet. She was the 23rd out of 25 children, and her twin sister died at birth.

Catherine received no formal education, and at the age of seven she consecrated her virginity to Christ despite her family's opposition. Her parents wanted her to live a normal life and marry, but against her parents' will, she dedicated her life to praying, meditating and living in total solitude into her late teens. At the age of sixteen, she took the habit of the Dominican Tertiaries.

Catherine dedicated her life to helping the ill and the poor, where she took care of them in hospitals or homes. She rounded up a group of followers, both women and men, and traveled with them along Northern Italy where they asked for a reform of the clergy, the launch of a new crusade and advised people that repentance and renewal could be done through "the total love for God." Catherine also dedicated her life to the study of religious texts.

HERE I AM LORD

HOPE SHINES THROUGH DARKNESS

ST DOMINIC, FOUNDER OF THE DOMINICAN ORDER

AND THE DOMINICAN DOG

When I became a Dominican, I didn't think it was possible that this could happen but it did happen because a Dominican priest named Father Michael Stock op believed in me.

I didn't have it within my heart to believe in myself because I was so wounded because of abuse, poverty and all kinds of injustices that happened to me.. but Fr Stock believed in me. He didn't wait until I had it all together because I would have never gotten there. He helped me right then because he saw I was sincere to become a Dominican, even though I felt it was hopeless for someone like me to become one.

I spoke of Fr Stock to everyone. He was the person who believed in me. He gave me hope. He gave me what I didn't have yet but he knew I could obtain.

Sometimes when people are searching for their vocation in life... when they feel called to something bigger than what they believe they could be but dare to try anyhow, it helps that there are people behind them, giving them encouragement to succeed. They might not have the ability to achieve what they are seeking themselves, but with a hand being extended to them, it can often times give them the courage that they need to find it themselves.

People who have it all together, sometimes believe that others can't achieve, can't have a vocation unless they are solid in who they are without anyone supporting them on their road to follow their vocation. This is far from truth.

If Fr Stock hadn't reached out his hand to help me, I would never have become a Dominican. If Fr Timothy Radcliffe op and Bishop Raul Vera Lopez op and Fr Jerry Stookey op had not offered their hand to help me along the road, I would not have been able to carry such a load to help so many people around the world while trying to find my place among the Dominicans.

Unwanted Dogs and Unwanted People

Rosie the Golden Retriever mix was abused, hit with sticks and abandoned. A Golden Retriever rescue in South Carolina rescued her. Sr Pauline took her out of the Shelter and had a friend bring her to Washington DC. Sr Pauline drove to Washington and picked her up, then drove her to Maine.

She stayed in Maine a few months, then left for New Hampshire where she went into a foster home, then went to the New Hampshire State Prison for men where an inmate trained Rosie to do many things. Still she had a hard time because of all the difficulties in her life but the inmates saw she had potential.

When Rosie was finished her training, there wasn't the possibility to place Rosie in a home for the disabled because no program was in place, so three women flew from Wisconsin to New Hampshire to pick up Rosie and a dog named Joey and flew Rosie and Joey to Wisconsin where they stayed several weeks until a place was ready for them to go to the State Prison for Women in Southern California where they were entered a women's prison for more training.Rosie didn't stay there long and she then came out of the prison and was placed with a disabled girl who really needed Rosie in her life. Rosie now has a home forever.

This is a picture of Rosie and her partner Whitney at their graduation.If we could only do the same for people who are unwanted ... that we can reach out to them no matter how long it takes and try and help them recover from their own difficult lives... then perhaps we can really make a difference and they will not suffer for all their life that they were unwanted.

Francis Brings Peace at Gubbio
Lessons from the Life of Saint Francis of Assisi

As Francis’ reputation for holiness and peace spread throughout his native Italy, people called upon him to resolve their disputes and to deliver them from danger and violence. On one such occasion, the people of the small town of Gubbio alerted Francis to the presence of a ferocious wolf in their countryside. All efforts to trap the wolf or drive him away had failed, so they called upon the Saint to intervene.

St Francis went out with only the message of the Gospel: no weapon, no sanctions, no threatening bravado. Francis met the wolf and called him to repentance for the chaos and harm that he had caused.

The wolf and the townspeople agreed to live in peace; the wolf would refrain from attacks and the townspeople would feed the wolf for the rest of his life.

As is frequently the case, such pious legends often have a basis in history and scholars have long thought that this popular narrative of Francis exercising miraculous power over the world of animals has at its core a factual account of no lesser spiritual importance.

It may well be that the term “Wolf of Gubbio” signifies an epithet attached to a notorious outlaw of the period, who both raided livestock and robbed people as well. Confronted by armed villagers, the “Wolf” nonetheless prevailed, being either more skillful with weapons or more ruthless in nature. Francis, however, neither confronted him with arms nor threatened him by sanctions. Rather, he challenged the robber in the name of the Lord to reconcile with his victims and so to experience the peace that only Christ can bring.

Thus, the legend of the “Wolf of Gubbio” points to a more enduring dimension of Francis’ historical ministry, namely, the reconciliation of sinners and their reintegration into the fabric of social life through the grace of forgiveness.

Prayer
Heavenly Father,help us to make peace in our dayand to experience reconciliation in our lives.May our anger and hurt give wayto affection and understanding for others.We ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

HELPING PRISONERS

New Hampshire State Prison for Men

Dwight Illinois Correctional Center for Women

Cumberland Federal Prison for men ~ Maryland

California Institution for Women

Our society seems to want to throw the key away to those who have committed crimes. They want them either dead or to spend the rest of their life in prison for the pain and suffering they have caused.

When can we forgive those who harm us? Even if they never get out of prison, they still can do things inside to make this a better world?
Who knows what they went through in their life to become as they are.

It doesn’t take away the evilness of their crime to forgive. They have to become responsible for what they have done. Is this possible?

In these pictures, the inmates don’t have “pets” in prison. They have working dogs that they are training to give to a disabled person or given to a police agency as a potential police dog. They are learning how to groom so once they are out of prison, it is a job skill they can use. They are also learning life skills.. how to take care of something that depends on them.

If we can teach others the importance of giving back something to our society, then it helps to make this a better world, one person at a time. To forgive isn’t easy to do but it is not impossible.

If St Paul could go out and persecute the Christians and God forgave him.. then we can do the same. Our life is a gift from God and no one has the right to take it away, either through crime or punishment.

INJUSTICE AGAINST WOMEN

Male Prisoners Force Female Teen to Have Sex for Food in Brazilian Jail
Saturday, November 24, 2007

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — A teenage girl was locked up on theft charges in an Amazon jail for weeks with 21 men who she said would only let her eat in return for sex, according to authorities, setting off a national scandal over the treatment of women by Brazil's justice system.

The 15-year-old said she was required to have sex with at least two inmates, police spokesman Walrimar Santos said by telephone Thursday from Belem, at the mouth of the Amazon River, where the victim was transferred after nearly a month living with male inmates.

By her account, officials did nothing — until the story erupted in the national media and outraged Brazilians demanded her transfer.

"Throwing a 15-year-old girl into a cell with 20 men was a heinous and intolerable act," Brazilian Bar Association president Cezar Britto said in an interview. "It is a serious case of criminal negligence against women, who in Brazil continue to be victims of prejudice."

Santos said the girl was not beaten or injured. But the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, which said it had access to private testimony after her transfer from the jail, reported she was tortured with lit cigarettes on her fingers and bare feet to force her to have sex. Her cellmates cut her hair to make her look more like a boy and difficult to recognize, Estado said.

She said her only reprieve from obligatory sex was on Thursdays — when intimate visits were allowed — and things "calmed down," Estado reported.

Police and human rights officials said the girl was out of touch in Belem and would not speak to reporters. The Associated Press generally does not identify people who may have been victims of sexual assault.

The girl was arrested Oct. 21 on accusations of breaking and entering a house and jailed with male inmates in Abaetetuba, a city of 78,000 outside the Para state capital of Belem.

She was transferred to a jail for women in Belem on Nov. 17, although police claim they requested her transfer earlier but were ignored.

Santos said separate jails for men and women do not exist in most towns in Para — a sprawling, largely lawless state twice the size of France.

Days after the case was divulged, the Brazilian Bar Association announced that a 23-year-old woman had been obliged to share a cell with 70 men in a police detention center in Parauapebas, in southern Para. It was not clear if she was forced to have sex.

Para Gov. Ana Julia Carepa said she was outraged by the alleged abuse at Abaetetuba. She suspended three top police officials pending an investigation and promised that the guilty parties would be "punished in exemplary fashion."

"There's no excuse for what happened," she said in a statement. "I'm also shocked and indignant, as a woman and as governor. ... A woman can never be jailed in the same cell as men."

The federal government on Friday sent a task force of human rights officials to Belem to accompany the investigation after the girl and her family reported receiving death threats.

"First we will guarantee the safety of the minor, who will be included in the program for the Protection of Children and Adolescents threatened with death," Marcia Ustra Soares, a director of the program, told reporters.

The victim's father insisted in a televised interview that she was 15, and that police threatened to arrest him unless he produced a certificate showing she was 20.

"I want justice. The situation can't stay like this," he said.

Amnesty International said Brazilian women "are the hidden victims of a crumbling detention system," and many cases of women abused under government custody go unreported or uninvestigated.

"We receive extensive reports of women in detention who suffer sexual abuse, torture, substandard health care and inhuman conditions," said Tim Cahill, Amnesty's researcher on Brazil.

Carepa said the government also was investigating reports that the girl was arrested purposely for the sexual gratification of the prisoners.

"This is an unfortunate practice that regrettably has been occurring for some time," she said. "But it would be good to make this public, so that all society will be mobilized and we can end these practices. ... We won't allow this to happen again."

The Brazilian Bar Association voiced skepticism that officials would take effective action.

"What has happened in the state of Para's prison system shows that for authorities the concept of human dignity is only useful as a rhetorical instrument, not something to be taken seriously," Britto said.

If police did not have the required separate cells, the government "must recognize its inefficiency and ... release those citizens it cannot hold," he said.

PRISONERS

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SAINT MARTIN DE PORRES ~ A DOMINICAN WHO HELPED THE POOR

Apostle of Charity

St. Martin de Porres (1579-1339) was born out of wedlock in Lima, Peru, as the child of a Spaniard Don Juan de Porres, a Spanish nobleman and adventurer, and Ana Velasquez, a freed African slave.

FOR HIS STORY... CLICK HERE AND CLICK HERE

DID YOU KNOW THERE WERE THREE AFRICAN POPES?

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THEM...

ST CATHERINE OF SIENA

READ ABOUT ST CATHERINE'S LIFE CLICK HERE

DO WE LISTEN?

Why People Don't Listen...

By Carla Rieger

It's frustrating when your co-workers, audience members, teenager or even your dog (!) won't listen. While you can't control how they receive what you say, you can control how you send it. Here are a few tips on why people don't listen and what you can do to change it.

1. Short Attention Spans

When asked to guess the average adult attention span, most people say around thirty minutes. According to statistics, however, the average adult attention span is actually only seven seconds. That's right! Every seven seconds you go away somewhere. You think about something else. In fact, you could actually be taking a mental break right now! It is a normal part of how the brain integrates external stimuli like when your computer starts defragging for a moment while you type. It helps to pause from time to time when you speak. This allows people to integrate your information or ask a clarifying question. Also, include examples to anchor your concepts. For example (see--I'm doing it now!), a concept without an example is like tree without roots, a house without a foundation, or Sonny without Cher. It just doesn't have as much staying power.

2. Too Many Distractions

I was in a meeting the other day and five people coughed, four people side talked, three cell phones rang, two people went to the restroom, and a partridge did email on his PDA. Distractions are a big part of modern life. Your best bet is to acknowledge the distractions in a playful way such as a manager who recently led a meeting I attended. When a cell phone rang, he grabbed for it and said, “Oh, that's for me….my mother likes to check in on me from time to time”. That prompted everyone to turn off their phones.

3. Lack of Training

Few of us were formally taught how to listen. While you probably took Reading 8, Writing 11, did you ever take Listening 10? It's little wonder listening is challenging. Quite accidentally, I learned how to listen by practicing meditation. After a five-day retreat, I felt very light-hearted and so went to visit my aging father who was hard of hearing. My habit was to sit vacantly for hours while he complained about his arthritis, the error on his bank statement, and how hard it is to find good slippers. After this retreat, I surprised myself by totally paying attention to him with patience and compassion. After about ten minutes of complaining he suddenly changed tracks and started telling me fascinating and funny stories about his childhood. Then he cranked up his hearing aid and asked about me! Learn how to be present with people, give them your full, undivided attention and be ready for some pleasant surprises.

4. Language Barriers

It is no secret that the world of business is fast becoming a multicultural world. Although English is the default language of commerce, many people in your audience may speak English as a second language. Last month I was addressing a large insurance company where most attendees turned out to be new immigrants from China. I used the expression “getting jiggy with it”, and I saw people rifling through their dictionaries. This prompted me to say “I'm sorry, that went way over your head”, and a number of people looked up at the ceiling! If your listeners are ESL or have a more basic educational background, you need to simplify your language. Use much more literal descriptions rather than cultural expressions. Use facial and body language to express humor, and fewer words.

5. Unchecked Assumptions

Back in the 70s, Gilda Radner a comedienne who regularly performed on Saturday Night Live was well known for her popular character Emily Litella, a social activist with a hearing problem. Her causes included such important issues as violins on television, soviet jewelry and endangered feces. Believe it or not, those Emily Litella types can be found in your audiences. For example, I once told a story about my mother who was a secretary for the British Civil Service in WWII. She spent most of her time daydreaming that her boss would burst into the room and ask her to spy against the Germans. She could leave the nasty paperwork behind, don a disguise and become the next Mata Hari.

Needless to say, one day her boss did burst into the room but instead he fired her for daydreaming all the time. A woman approached me after this story and told me that she used to be a Hari Krishna, too. One way to clear up false assumptions is to state your point in many different ways.

6. No Reason to Listen

Finally, the main reason people don't listen is because you haven't answered their favorite question: “What's in it for me?” Before you start a long-winded monologue, tell your listener why you need their attention and make sure they understand how it will be benefit them. For example, “I'd like to tell you about this free software that will block all the spam before it gets to your Inbox …interested?” That will give you much better results than “When I was a youngster and I sat down in front of my first computer, I asked myself how can I make this machine work for me…” In general, put yourself in your listener's shoes before you talk and their ears tend to perk up.And just remember the greatest of all wisdom--no one ever listened himself out of a new friendship.

BLESSED MARGARET OF CASTELLO ~ PATRON OF THE UNWANTED AND HANDICAPPED

Blessed Margaret of Castello’s life can be summed up in one sentence. She was unwanted.

Born into a family which idolized human respect and which made a god of physical beauty she was a constant reproach to her worldly parents who viewed the blind and terribly deformed cripple that Almighty God’s Providence had sent them with disgust. Here was no achiever.

Here was no child of whom they could boast of her physical beauty, academic achievements, social status, sporting abilities and friends. Here was not a child who would provide her parents with innumerable possibilities to boast and lord it over their fellow Catholics with her progress in the world.

In our modern world she would not have survived a few weeks. ‘Science’ and Satan would have conspired to rid the world of this precious gift and mankind would have ‘smiled and smiled and been a villain.’ Would that her parents had embraced the cross which the Almighty and Good God had sent them for their conversion. They would have reaped a hundred fold the little, very little sacrifice that He had called upon them to make. Instead fearful of being mocked, of human respect, her parents had her shut up in a tiny cell adjacent to the family chapel .

Here she grew to love the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and to learn and live her Faith. Not content with excluding her from the world of men her parents excluded her from heir own lives. They took her to the town of Castello where these godless creatures thought that for their attendance at Mass and reception of the Sacraments the Almighty would, through the intercession of the town’s patron saint, heal their child. Notwithstanding this tremendous effort on their part, Margaret remained uncured.

In their worldly wisdom her parents abandoned her seeing that she would always be an obstacle to their social advancement. One can only imagine the fear and horror of the poor blind and deformed child when she finally realized that she was abandoned by her parents. But her faith in God was stronger than her fear. Abandoned by the great ones of this world, by those who had everything, Our Lord led her to the beggars of Castello to those who had nothing not even faith and thus began her apostolate. Margaret who was blind led those who could see to the light of Truth.

For many years her good example and kind words filled those around her with love of God and a desire to emulate her. But Satan was watching and waiting. Margaret was accepted into a religious order but soon found herself at odds with all its members.

The root cause of this contention lay in Margaret’s absolute observance of the Rule of the Order (as she was bound to do by her oaths) and her refusal to submit to the demands of the religious that she accept their own watered down version of the Rule. Once more she was cast onto the streets of Castello by those who could not bear to see their reflection in the mirror of Truth which Margaret so courageously held up to them and for a long time those who had formerly loved and praised now despised and slandered her.

But Our Lord too was watching and waiting and He must have been well pleased with the way in which His beloved servant was conducting himself. God shifted the weight of the cross that He had fashioned for her onto His own shoulders and in the midst of all her turbulent suffering Margaret found the graces of God poured down upon her head. She was taken in by a wealthy family so that her material cares were forever lifted from her.

The Mantellates, a religious order of lay people and sisters welcomed her with open arms into their society and now she had both a home and a family. The miracles of conversion, of cures of disease and suffering of all kinds, which are attributed to the saint are simply too many for this little article to contain. She the homeless and unwanted was finally called to her true home in Heaven where she reaps for all eternity her reward for carrying what Our Lord had carved for her.

Her Message To The Modern World

The message which Blessed Margaret has for the modern world is this-Sacrifice. Her life was a continuous sacrifice, a sacrifice of sweetest incense which rose up to He Who had offered the Ultimate Sacrifice and interceded with Him for us.
Every moment of Margaret’s dear and pure life was a torment of pain and suffering. Yet she rose above her physical surroundings borne on the wings of love for her Creator. Her example echoes down the ages but will it find a respondent chord in today’s life? I doubt it. We are too full today of our own desires, our own fulfillment, our own wants.

How can we who know nothing of sacrifice relate to a child whose whole life was suffering. Would she suddenly appear now to us we would not welcome her. We would despise her ugliness, her deformity, her lack of social skills and yes, most of all, her complete adherence to the True Faith.

Today Blessed Margaret of Castello, Patron of the unwanted and of aborted (murdered) children still holds up to us as she did so long ago a mirror in which we can see ourselves. What will you do when you see your reflection in it?