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Thousands of pilgrims are pouring into the dense jungle of southern Nepal to worship a 15-year-old boy who has been hailed as a new Buddha. Devotees claim that Ram Bomjon, who is silently meditating beneath a tree, has not eaten or drunk anything since he sat down at his chosen spot six months ago. Witnesses say they have seen light emanating from the teenager's forehead. "It looks a bit like when you shine a torch through your hand," said Tek Bahadur Lama, a member of the committee responsible for dealing with the growing number of visitors from India and elsewhere...

If you've ever watched a ventriloquist act, it's likely that you eventually came around to realizing that it wasn't really the dummy doing all the talking. It took me a while, but finally, I did. It appears that now we have a certain group of Muslims -- in particular, the Council on American Islamic Relations -- attempting to put words into the mouths of our elected officials by urging Muslims to contact their House Representatives and push them into signing a House Resolution recognizing the Islamic fast, otherwise known as Ramadan. Yes, this is the same Council on American Islamic...

Visions of Coming Calamities Roxanne Brant God has given me two visions in the past eight years that have changed my life and ministry. In these two visions, He has shown me events to come that will affect the lives of every man, woman and child in this nation, … as well as throughout the world. Jesus said to me, “..My people need to be informed and prepared for the difficult times ahead,…I want My people to not only be informed, but to seriously and diligently devote themselves to the building up their faith and to seeking My guidance in...

Not eating meat on Fridays used to be synonymous with being Catholic. Restoring abstinence would not only revive tradition but signal solidarity with the poor.THE RENEWAL inaugurated by the Second Vatican Council sprang in large part from the liberating discovery of the depth and variety of Catholic tradition. Yet paradoxically the post-conciliar reforms were sometimes implemented in a spirit of philistine dismissal of “tradition” as nothing more than the dead hand of the past. In shedding a past perceived as sterile and oppressive, much that was profound and life-giving was also lost. One of the saddest casualties of that process...

...Whilke such a process of theosis and sanctification has myriad manifestations, I am convinced that there are few better ways to do that than through the ancient and venerable practice of fasting. In our day, we have become so estranged from this practice that the very word is often a source of complete bafflement to many.... Most Christians today in the West are radically estranged from the theology and spirituality of fasting, and it is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the churches today.... Such spirituality in the West has dealt what he [Robert Taft, S.J.] called "a death blow to...

Today, as Good Friday looms tommorow with another innocent victim being crucified by a mob on the liberal's cross of "laws" (that a hate-filled judge says can be ignored) and "laws" (that a hate-filled judge says can be ignored "must" be followed to the letter. The media is promoting her death, and is ignoring contrary news and information. That, we may not be able to overcome. But the publicisn't the only Witness to this murder. So, while she is being slowly starved to death to "preserve" our rights to abortion, hatred, revenge, pride, and to conceal previous assaults, let us...

I am joining the call of Harvard University students in their pledge to fast until the feeding tube is restored to Terri Schiavo. This blog is launched to endorse and support that cause in its immediate urgency. In this, the final week of Lent, I answer this call and begin my fast at 1AM EST on March 23, 2005. All that you can is all that I ask. Believe it.

by Fr. James Farfaglia Other Articles by Fr. James FarfagliaContact this Author Lent Is a Spiritual Workout 02/09/05 Any worthwhile achievement requires immense effort. When speaking to the Corinthians, St. Paul uses images from the world of sports to explain that the spiritual life requires continual exertion and struggle. St. Paul knew that the Greeks would understand these images since they hosted the original Olympics. In This Article...Raise the Bar During LentGo Against the Culture: Deny Yourself!Self-Mastery is Training for Freedom Raise the Bar During Lent "Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one...

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Our dearest uncles/aunties Praise the Lord I thank all your love. I thank all your prayers. I happy so much. I thought you remove my message. I did not think you pray for our pappa, our mummy, me, my younger sister Hepzy, my youngest brother Lesly. Also all tsunami victims in India. I praise God your prayers. I praise God your love. Tears come from my eyes see your love. Again and again I praise God. Again I thank you all. Our pappa came back from tsunami refugee camps. We were afraid. Because we not know when another tsunami come....

The Translation of the Seventy [Jewish day of fasting] by Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov At the beginning of the period of the Second Beit Hamikdash, the Second Temple, the people of Israel lived under Persian dominion. After the fall of the Persian Empire, Greece inherited her place, and Israel was subjugated to Greece. Ptolemy, one of the Greek Kings who succeeded Alexander (The 'Great') of Macedonia, wanted the Jewish Sages to translate the Torah into Greek. The way he went about it, however, proved his motives were highly questionable. He did not assemble the Jewish scholars all in one place so...

The greatest present we can possibly give to our men and women in the Service is a Freeper day of prayer and fasting. A day of prayer and fasting must be accompanied with our confession of personal sin and of the sins of this Nation. We must commit ourselves to turning from our sins and living our lives for God. With a pure heart we can make our requests known to the LORD concerning the brave men and women fighting for our freedoms. I truly believe that it is our sincere prayers that the LORD uses to keep our men...

I would like to invite as many paople as possible to Fast and Pray on Monday, Nov. 1st for the re-election of George Bush on Tuesday. This election is a crucial one in our nations's history and quite possibly may effect the survival of our country and way of life. In the Bible, fasts were proclaimed in order to devote time to prayer and let God know that you were serious about what you were praying for. In Esther's time, a fast was called to save the Jewish people from Haman's treachery. "Esther 4:13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther,...

OCCULT INFLUENCE IN THE ELECTIONS ~by Jim Chosa (Native American of the Chippewa Tribe) Day Chief Ministries, Inc. www.daychief.org October 27, 2004 Greetings! Several days ago, around 3:30 AM, the Holy Spirit woke me up. As I came awake, I realized I was moving forcefully against an occult shield covering one of the presidential candidates. For the next hour I continued to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit to nail this dark shield and break it wide open so the real spiritual character of the candidate could be seen by those seduced by a high level spirit of sorcery....

Decree to shut down during the fasting month upsets owners of nightclubs, amusement centres, karaoke lounges and massage parlours JAKARTA - The Islamic fasting month of Ramadan started yesterday and the Indonesian entertainment industry is grumbling over local edicts to close nightclubs, massage parlours and amusement centres for the entire period. Jakarta masseur Rini Widowati said she would observe the fast, but grumbled about a city order that shut down her establishment. 'It sucks,' Ms Widowati said, adding that although she would continue to get her basic salary, she would not earn any of the tips that make up most...

While I am a member of the Secular Franciscan Order and of St. John the Baptist parish in Schenectady, once again this year, I will fast at least one day during the holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic lunar calendar. (This year, Ramadan lasts from Oct. 15 through Nov. 14.) From early dawn until dusk turns to dark, nothing will pass my lips, neither food nor drink, neither medicine nor toothpaste. While fasting, I will pray. I will remember, in my hunger and with the bad taste of "fasting breath" in my mouth, those who go hungry involuntarily and...

"The Place of Ministry""He said to them, 'This kind [of unclean spirit] can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.' " Mark 9:29 "His disciples asked Him privately, 'Why could we not cast it out?' " (9:28). The answer lies in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. "This kind can come out by nothing but" concentrating on Him, and then doubling and redoubling that concentration on Him. We can remain powerless forever, as the disciples were in this situation, by trying to do God's work without concentrating on His power, and by following instead the ideas that we draw...

"If my people which are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” A growing coalition of the Church and community prayer leaders is calling pastors, prayer coordinators, congregations, and networks throughout each state and region to set aside a 40-day period between September 24 and November 2, 2004, for corporate fasting, prayer, repentance and seeking the face of God. Our desire is to “stand in the gap” for our communities, regions, states,...

A growing coalition of the Church and community prayer leaders is calling pastors, prayer coordinators, congregations, and networks throughout each state and region to set aside a 40-day period between September 24 and November 2, 2004, for corporate fasting, prayer, repentance and seeking the face of God. Our desire is to “stand in the gap” for our communities, regions, states, and nation as it passes through a time of war and another critical national election. Various churches and prayer groups will begin with all-night prayer on September 24, which is also the eve of Yom Kippur. Some individuals are feeling...

Lent and Fasting 03/16/04 Dear Grace, Someone approached me with a question about why we have Lent and also why we do not fast for the entire forty days. Could you please explain the message behind Lent and why we do not fast every single day of the forty days? As Christians, in everything we do, we should have as our model Jesus Christ. Scripture tells us that "Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil and He fasted forty days and forty nights" (Matthew 4:1-2). The season of Lent is a...