By Austin Ruse, Crisis Magazine – Former university president and rock-ribbed evangelical Everett Piper writes in the Washington Times this week that Carrie Prejean is an antisemite because she believes, like all Catholics, that the Church is the New Israel and that the modern state of Israel is not Biblical Israel, that is to say, 1948 Israel is not the fulfillment of a biblical prophecy that will usher in the End Times.

By Geoffrey Dickens, Newsbusters – For this study, MRC analysts looked at the broadcast evening (ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News), morning news shows (ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, NBC Today) from February 11 through the morning of March 26… President Donald Trump’s voter ID proposal, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act proposal, is popular by a wide margin.

By Charles J. Russo, Catholic World Report – As Vermont officials finally recognized, like their counterparts in Oregon and Massachusetts—albeit not without judicial intervention—parents have the right to be free from outside interference or influences by state officials, absent abuse or other circumstances clearly lacking in any of these controversies. Yet, as reflected in all three of these controversies, public officials were unwilling to respect religious freedom because they apparently do not understand, or do not care, that mutual tolerance and acceptance are supposed to be a two-way street ….

By Angeline Tan, Live Action News – A 25-year-old Spanish woman, Noelia Castillo Ramos, who was left paralyzed after a failed suicide attempt following a brutal sexual assault, died by euthanasia on March 26… Her parents had attempted to save her life from state-sanctioned death after a previous suicide attempt left her paralyzed from the waist down. They were unsuccessful, despite multiple court appeals… She was gang-raped while institutionalized with mental health issues, which is what led to her first suicide attempt… the hospital pushed for the euthanasia to continue, as her organs had already been committed for harvesting.

Source: Catholic Culture, Lent – Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent: Pardon the offenses of your peoples, we pray, O Lord, and in your goodness set us free from the bonds of the sins we have committed in our weakness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – Päivi Räsänen, a Christian lawmaker and MP from Finland was convicted Thursday of a hate crime for a 2004 church pamphlet citing biblical teaching on human sexuality… The conviction came even as the nation’s Supreme Court unanimously cleared her of charges for quoting the same Scripture on social media… Räsänen… with the Christian Democrats since 1995 and a former interior minister who is solidly pro-life, and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola were found guilty in a 3-2 split decision under the “war crimes and crimes against humanity” section of Finland’s criminal code.

By Elise Winland, Zeale – In a party-line vote, an amendment to require photo identification (ID) for voting in federal elections failed to clear a key procedural hurdle in the Senate March 26, falling short of the 60 votes needed to proceed… The amendment, offered by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, to the broader Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, failed in a 53-47 cloture vote. It would have required voters to present a valid government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license, state ID card, U.S. passport, military ID, or tribal ID when casting ballots in person, and to provide a copy of such ID when voting by mail.

By Joseph Pronechen, National Catholic Register – Five years ago, Tim and Emily Malloy resolved to accept their pastor’s challenge to families to pray at least a decade of the Rosary every night during Lent. They’d say the decade with their four young children before bedtime, then finish the other four decades themselves later…. “The fruit that this practice bore was extraordinary,” said Emily, a frequent Register contributor who is floral and food editor of the faith-centered lifestyle website Theology of the Home. So much so, the Mississippi couple decided to continue the prayer practice beyond Lent

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – When is the last time you were at Mass—in an ordinary parish, not a monastery or retreat center—for a regularly scheduled parish Mass, not connected with any special event—and noticed that the congregation was predominantly male? I don’t think it had ever happened to me before last night… where we attended Mass for the feast of the Annunciation because we are traveling. There were more men and boys than women and girls; if you counted the altar boys it wasn’t close.

By Shaun McAfee, Catholic Exchange – Every year, Lent begins with a kind of spiritual adrenaline. On Ash Wednesday we hear the solemn words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” and suddenly everything feels urgent. Churches are full. Prayer resolutions are bold. Fasting plans are ambitious. We promise God we will pray more, give more, sacrifice more. For a moment, it feels like we are finally becoming the disciples we should have been all along.

By Misty Severi, Just the News – Transportation Security Administration workers are not getting paid because the Department of Homeland Security has been partially shutdown since Feb. 14… President Donald Trump said Thursday night that he will sign an executive order directing new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to pay Transportation Security Administration workers, following a partial government shutdown that began Feb. 14 and has since left them without paychecks.

Bishop J. Strickland, Pillars of Faith – Join The Campaign: The Nineveh Fast is a campaign of prayer and fasting asking God for mercy upon our world. … The campaign will begin with a day of prayer and fasting on Friday, March 27, and continue on the fourth Friday of each month for the next eight months, for a total of nine days of fasting (April 24, May 22, June 26, July 24, August 28, Sept. 25, Oct. 23, Nov. 27).

Source: Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima – “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI… If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. Finally, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

By Mary Beth Bracy, Catholic Exchange – Fr. Meyer’s The Stations of the Eucharist book was recently released, along with a companion booklet. In conjunction, Dynamic Catholic is offering a free Holy Week Retreat on The Stations of the Eucharist. When you sign up, you will receive links to videos by Fr. Meyer… “The Stations of the Eucharist are ‘stops’ along the way from Genesis to Revelation,” Fr. Meyer explained, “fourteen biblical reflections that help us understand the Mass as a sacrifice. As Catholics, we have this idea that ‘I don’t know Scripture.’ [But when people hear about the stations, they think] ‘I actually know these passages’ and ‘I know more than I think I know.’

By Mary Rose, Zeale – On the 26th day of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Iranian state media said Tehran rejected a 15-point U.S. ceasefire proposal and issued an onerous list of counterdemands. The White House said “productive” talks are ongoing and warned of harsher strikes if Iran does not concede. Meanwhile, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced it is imposing an 8% surcharge on shipments to cover rising fuel prices due to the Iran war.