Just in from IRS…..Haiti Relief Donations qualify for Immediate Tax Relief.  Taxpayers that itemize deductions on their 2009 return qualify for this special provision.  ONLY cash contributions made to these charities AFTER January 11, 2010 and BEFORE March 1, 2010 are eligible.  Includes contributions made by text message, check, credit or debit card.  Taxpayers have the option to deduct these contributions on EITHER 2009 or 2010 returns, but not both.

Find more helpful financial information from Lesley at her website or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

St. Thomas the Apostle School, 1429 Wilcox Park Drive SE, and at Lisa Gooch’s business, Hair Force, 1557 Michigan Ave. NE. in Grand Rapids, Michigan. You can also connect with Blare Gooch via Facebook for additional information.

Go to the newly redesigned and very spiffy website of Aftermass Records to read all about this team effort.  Fifteen awesome songs, two uplifting videos and your opportunity to help make a difference with your prayers and support – it all awaits you at www.aftermassrecords.com.  As I’m writing this, I’m jamming to some great music by some of my favorites and a few newly discovered friends too. I have to say that I’m absolutely in love with “Simple Song” by Rich Dittus, and the Popple guys already know how much I LOVE “Salt & Light”.  With this download you’ll get these, and tons of other great songs as well – lots of different styles, but all great music!

I hope we’ll all support this amazing effort – if you’re a blogger, please help me share this good news by posting this on your site, or share it with your friends at Facebook.  Great job Aftermass!

Just in case you missed the story, you can get caught up on the latest details, including the happy resolution, here at CNN.

What’s your take on today’s events and the media craze that surrounded this story?

Catholic Charities Atlanta,
Attn:  Flood Relief
680 W. Peachtree St. NW
Atlanta, GA  30308

Please join me in praying for Mary, Rod, their families and all others suffering loss and sorrow during this difficult time!

“Rosary Stars: Praying the Gospel” features champion athletes, actors, film directors, TV hosts, recording stars, authors and lecturers who emphasize the power of daily prayer of the Rosary and encourage viewers to live the Mysteries of the Rosary daily.

This uplifting series features such stars as 2006 World Series pitcher Jeff Suppan; five-time Major League All-Star Mike Sweeney; actor Matthew Marsden (Rambo and the upcoming Transformer sequel Revenge of the Fallen);  actress Jessica Rey,  TV host Matt Gallant (Animal Planet’s The Planet’s Funniest Animals); humanitarian, author and Rwandan genocide survivor Immaculée Ilibagiza; and Ali Landry, actress and former Miss America.

“Rosary Stars: Praying the Gospel” is a produced by Family Theater Productions. Father Patrick Peyton,CSC,  through Family Theater produced more than 700 radio and TV programs that had some 10,000 broadcasts. He died on June 3, 1992, and his cause for sainthood was announced on June 1, 2001. Family Theater Productions, a division of Holy Cross Family Ministries continues Father Peyton’s media mission as a member of Holy Cross Family Ministries, Easton, Mass., sponsored by the Congregation of Holy Cross. Holy Cross Family Ministries serves Jesus Christ and His Church throughout the world by promoting and supporting the spiritual well-being of the family.

“Rosary Stars” will air at these times (Eastern): Tuesday-11:30AM; Wednesday-5AM; Friday-8AM; Sunday-10:30PM.

Both Jessica Rey and Immaculée Ilibagiza have been featured on the CatholicTV talk show “This is the Day”.

This article was submitted by CatholicTV.

St. Francis of Assisi:  Patron Saint of Animals and Ecology

An overview of the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings on animals and animal protection

Additional Animals & Religion related resources from a variety of religious perspectives

On Friday, July 10th, Pope Benedict will meet with President Barack Obama in Rome. Coverage of this Vatican event will be televised on CatholicTV.com and on CatholicTV where available.

CatholicTV is a nationally-broadcasted television network headquartered near Boston. CatholicTV streams its broadcast simultaneously, 24 hours a day at www.CatholicTV.com

Once they’ve allowed the photographers their opportunity, Pope Benedict and President Obama will speak alone and in private for what will likely be less than one hour.

The meeting between the Pope and President Obama will be broadcast on July 10th, at noon (Eastern) and will be rebroadcast at 8PM.

About CatholicTV:
CatholicTV provides family-friendly, religious, news, and educational programming 24 hours daily. Founded over 50 years ago, CatholicTV is available in selected areas on cable in the United States and Canada, via Sky Angel and online via a live stream anytime, everywhere at the station’s web site www.CatholicTV.com. Father Robert Reed, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, is the Director of CatholicTV. Click here to paste this into your browser to find out how to watch CatholicTV where you live: http://www.CatholicTV.org/schedule/where-to-watch.aspx

This year, my Adam read the diary for the first time.  His take on the musings of a girl his age was the source of many mother son conversations this Spring, as he started to keep his own journal.

This week, it was announced that in commemoration of what would have been her 80th birthday, the entire collection of Anne’s original writings will now be on rotating display in the museum that was once her “Secret Annexe”.  You can learn more about the collection here.

With summer upon us, it’s a great time to pick up Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and share it with our older children.  It’s also the perfect time to give them the gift of their own diary or journal and to encourage them to share what’s on their mind.  Anne once wrote, “And therefore I am grateful to God for giving me this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me.”  Her gift continues to inspire others!

Cheryl has done such a terrific job with the creation and editing of Catholic Exchange’s Today’s Catholic Woman channel.  Along with Mary Kochan, Cheryl is providing plenty of opportunity for each of us to grow in our faith.  Thanks, Cheryl, for mentioning me in your article and for the great work you are doing.  It’s a blessing to be a part of your team!

Interested in your opinions!

More importantly, Sarah is also hosting the Mary Moments Carnival today, so be sure to spend time at Sarah’s place soaking in the Marian goodness.  Thanks Sarah for your kind comments and the opportunity to count you as a friend!

Blessedly, the wonderful Lisa Wheeler has shared a blog post today that gives voice to many of the sentiments I’ve been carrying around.  I hope you can find ten minutes today to read Lisa’s post and share it with a friend.  Regardless of whether you new Michael or have friends who are involved in LC or RC, this post is a good one to savor when you have that “Why am I even bothering?” feeling that so frequently plagues us.  Many days, when I wonder why I spend so much time at my keyboard, messages like Lisa’s post find their way to me and give me fuel for my fire.

Thank you Lisa for sharing your heart in this post and for saying what I wanted to and doing so much more eloquently than I every could have dreamed of doing.  Our prayers continue, and we each look for our own Little Way to answer that great Call.

Officials from Vatican Television and Google announced the channel Friday, January 23rd, because it’s when the Holy City celebrates the annual “Social Communications Day.”

The Pontiff praised the benefits social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace to build friendships and understanding.

In my book, Fr. Finelli represents the embodiment of the Church using social networking to the highest possible end, so it’s fitting that his commentary on this topic was sought.  Great job Fr. Jay!  If you’re not already a subscriber, please check out Fr. Jay’s iPadre podcast on SQPN, which is one of my favorites!

This channel offers news coverage of the main activities of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI and of relevant Vatican event.  It is updated daily.  Video images are produced by Centro Televisio Vaticano (CTV), texts by Vatican Radio (RV) and CTV.  This video-news presents the Catholic Churchs position regarding the principal issues of the world today.  Links give access to the full and official texts of cited documents.

Embedding of the videos in our blogs has been disabled, so I would suggest subscribing to the Vatican’s videos at YouTube so that you are notified when new videos are added.  Also, just a reminder that you can always follow the Catholic headlines on our Catholic News page here at CatholicMom.com.

Vatican YouTube Channel

This is the first time I’ve participated in this particular event and I will definitely try to go again in the future.  It was truly a treat to walk behind Eric’s Leo Club friends, who had given up their morning to volunteer for the event.  It was also great to hear many of our community leaders coming together with one voice to call for peace and caring here in our own home.  Events such as these frequently remind me that our youth can and do make a difference in our world.  I truly believe that Eric and his friends look beyond color to the content of one’s character – they see the person inside, rather than the looks outside.  This is a great lesson for all of us as we remember a man who lived and died to encourage others to love and to lift one another up, rather than dragging one another down.

Yesterday was also a good reminder to continually support our Community Food Bank and Catholic Charities, who are working around the clock to keep up with an ever growing demand for their services.

When my treatment was over, I basically ran to my car and bolted for my home to view the actual swearing in and inaugural address from the comfort of my own big screen television, tissues in hand.  Politics aside, today is a moment we will all remember – a moment for healing past hurts and coming together as one to be better, stronger than we can be individually.

I loved watching the Obama family during today’s event.  It moves me to see Michelle Obama mothering her adorable daughters and watching her husband with such a sense of pride.  Wouldn’t any of us, watching our spouse at such an amazing moment, be moved beyond measure by the anticipation of our partnership with one on whom so many are counting and placing their hopes?  I’d love to sit down to coffee one day with Mrs. Obama (and Mrs. Bush too, while I’m making a wish list!).

The part of today’s speech that moved me the most was President Obama’s call to action for each of us:

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

I truly want to take up this call and look in my own life and in our family’s life at how we can look outside of ourselves and truly serve others to answer this call.  Our response may more mimic St. Therese’s “little way” than a fireman’s heroics, but will hopefully be none less heartfelt.  As we stand at this open doorway in time, I hope we can all put past separations behind us and move forward in love and caring.

As I had my radiation treatment today, my prayers on the table (which has, by the way, turned into a wonderful time of quiet intercession) were for President Obama and his family.  I hope he can be guided by his faith and God’s wisdom to make right, moral decisions.  I hope he will be safe and that his family will be happy in their new home.  I hope that we, as a nation, can bottle the optimism many of us feel today and put it to work with real change that will ultimately lift us all, including the most needy and those unborn citizens of our country, to a better life.

Today, I will look for my answers to President Obama’s call, in my own little corner of the world.