Doctors acknowledge "miracles" in Giffords' recovery

WCSH6.com | Portland, ME | Doctors acknowledge "miracles" in Giffords' recovery

(My prayers are with the families and victims of the senseless and horrific shootings in Tucson.  Please pray as we mourn for those that have lost their lives and for the families.  Pray for Gabrielle Giffords' recovery and for all the survivors.  Additionally, please join in prayer for God's healing grace to embrace our nation and world with peace.   -Loci B. Lenar)

From the website of WCSH6.com:

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- After 5 days of urging caution, even Gabrielle Giffords' doctors are starting to call her recovery a miracle.

The Democratic congresswoman, who was shot in the head in an assassination attempt Saturday, is moving both legs and both arms, has opened both eyes and is responding to friends and family. Doctors have sat her up on the side of the bed and dangled her feet over the edge.

Her neurosurgeon, Dr. Michael Lemole, told reporters today: "We're wise to acknowledge miracles."

Few people who take a bullet to the brain -- just 10 percent -- survive such a devastating wound.

Dr. Peter Rhee says the next milestone will be removing her breathing tube, and possibly having her sit in a chair tomorrow. Doctors want to make sure Giffords doesn't backslide, and they're watching for pneumonia and blood clots.

"Miracles of Mary" Documents Miracles of the Virgin Mary

The Miracles of Mary by Bridget Curran

The video and following information is from the website of Rome Reports:

Bridget Curran is an Australian film-maker and author who embarked on a journey to tell of everyday encounters with the Virgin Mary.

In her book “The Miracles of Mary,” Curran depicts encounters with Mary by Christians and non-Christians in the form of apparitions, weeping statues, and other miracles that she notes in detail.

Bridget says, “I've had some really interesting experiences while researching and since researching the book, with people from different faiths, there's quite an interesting Muslim devotion to Our Lady because they saw Jesus as a prophet and they saw Our Lady as someone to really be respected and to look up to.”

The book takes the reader on a tour through Africa, Asia, and Europe through stories that inspire, unite, and teach about ordinary people with extraordinary experiences.

Bridget says,“There are a lot of people that have shied away from the Church but still feel connection to Our Lady which is really lovely and I think very encouraging to help people come back and explore the Church again, and to understand their faith in a different way.”

Stories about apparitions of the Virgin Mary have surfaced around the world, including one in Champion, Wisconsin which was recently approved as the first Marian apparition site in the United States.

This apparition bears resemblance to one of Curran's favorites located in England because they both served to unite people.

Bridget says, “There are a couple of stories which I really love, one of them is Our Lady Walsingham, I was really touched by how it was one of oldest apparitions and one of the first major apparitions in the UK, it was from 12th century. It was really an apparition that brought people together from all different cultures.”

The book was first released in 2008 (Miracles of Mary) and has since reached audiences as diverse those in Brazil and Indonesia, as well as the United States and Europe.

Bridget says, “It's gone into Ireland, the UK, and Europe and it's had a really good response from the readers in the US and it's been lovely to see it kind of flourishing outside of anything that I've been doing so it's really encouraging that people are interested in Our Lady and finding out more.”

“Miracles of Mary” intends to teach about the beauty and grace that people have found in her. Curran continues to be interested in stories related to the Virgin Mary, a figure that she describes as one of love and maternal guidance.

Ted Williams: Homeless to NBA Announcer in Days



Ted Williams displays the sign he used to beg for money
along a highway in Columbus, Ohio.


Ted Williams: From Panhandler to NBA Announcer in Days - U.S. - Catholic Online

The photograph and following excerpt is from Catholic Online:

By James Penrice

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.. Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:35-36, 40)

We've witnessed a beautiful manifestation of this Gospel passage this week, as much of the United States and the world has responded with love and affection to one of "the least."

Just days ago 53-year old Ted Williams stood alone along an I-71 exit ramp in Columbus, Ohio, a homeless panhandler with a lengthy criminal record-including at least one felony conviction and prison time for theft. Addictions to alcohol, marijuana and cocaine helped evaporate interest in his career as a radio announcer, and he ended up living on the streets. While going through detox Williams ate food that should have gone to his grandchildren. His life had reached just about the lowest point possible.

"There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him. He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem." (Isaiah 53:2a-3)

A reporter from The Columbus Dispatch spotted Williams holding a cardboard sign reading: "I have a God given gift of voice. I'm an ex-radio announcer who has fallen on hard times. Please! Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you and God bless. Happy holidays." The Dispatch created a video report on Williams, in which his "God given gift of voice" was given the opportunity to be heard.

Twenty-four hours later, this homeless panhandler became the most sought-after voice talent in the world.

Just days after begging for change along an Ohio highway, Williams was at the announcer's microphone for NBC's "Today" in Manhattan, after having received countless job offers-including an announcer's position with the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers that includes a house, work with NFL films, and several national commercial opportunities. He has been embraced by the nation and the world, as the Dispatch video has become an internet sensation.

Through it all Williams has been touched with a spirit of gratitude.

"I'm just so thankful God has blessed me so deeply," he told the Associated Press. "I'm getting a second chance. Amazing."

Read More: Ted Williams

Girl Cured of Chronic Pain while Watching Cardinal Newman Beatification

Catholic Deacon Jack Sullivan whose own miraculous healing came
 through the intercession of the Venerable John Henry Newman

Girl Cured of Chronic Pain while Watching Cardinal Newman Beatification - Saints and Angels - Catholic Online

The photograph of Deacon Jack Sullivan and the following article regarding intercessory prayers made to Cardinal John Henry Newman is from Catholic Online:

By Mark Greaves

LONDON, England (UK Catholic Herald) - A young girl was healed of intense chronic pain while watching the beatification of John Henry Newman on television, it has been claimed.

Deacon Jack Sullivan, whose severe spinal condition was miraculously cured after he prayed to Cardinal Newman, said the girl's mother called him after the Mass to say her daughter's pain had suddenly disappeared.

He said she was one of several people who had been cured of serious illness after attending healing services that he has conducted around America.

Deacon Sullivan's own healing, approved by the Vatican last year, led to the Victorian cardinal being beatified in September. A second miracle is all that is needed for the Church to recognise him as a saint.

He said the girl who was healed during Newman's beatification had suffered from reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome, a disease characterised by continuous and intense pain that worsens over time and for which there is no cure.

Deacon Sullivan told the Tablet: "Her mother asked me to pray for her daughter, who has been in hospital for two years. I prayed for her during the Mass and the mother called me back all excited saying that during the Mass all of the pain stopped. Lately I've been told that this young lady will be walking before Christmas."


Deacon Sullivan said two other people had been cured after he had touched them with a portion of Newman's hair in healing services in Boston and Salem, New Hampshire.

"One teenage boy was healed from a severe brain injury he had sustained in a car crash". Mr Sullivan said: "He could no longer speak or walk. When I touched him with the relic he seemed to come back to life."

Another man from Detroit was in the advanced stages of liver cancer but after the healing service he said a CAT scan showed "all the cancer had gone".

Deacon Sullivan also said that Newman was "still with me, very dramatically so". He said: "If it weren't for him I probably would have been paralysed, unable to continue with the diaconate or my job. I start my day by saying, 'Good morning, Cardinal Newman, my intercessor and my very faithful friend'."

Pope Calls for Peace Summit to Halt Violence between Religions

Egyptian Muslims and Christians raise a copy of the Quran and a Cross
 in Shubra district, Cairo to protest against the terrorist attack on a
Coptic Christian church in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria.

 

Pope calls for peace summit to halt violence between religions - International - Catholic Online

The photograph and following excerpt is from Catholic Online:

Pope Benedict has called for a summit among religious leaders to discuss how they can promote peace. Benedict told visitors in St. Peter's Square the aim of the summit, scheduled for October in Assisi would be to "solemnly renew the commitment of believers of every religion to live their own religious faith in the service of the cause for peace."

Read More: Peace Summit

Pope John Paul II to be Beatified in 2011?

John Paul II to be Beatified in 2011? - Blogs - NCRegister.com

The photograph of Pope John Paul II and following excerpt is from the National Catholic Register:

John Paul II could be beatified in 2011, perhaps even before the summer, according to the veteran Vaticanist Andrea Tornielli.

Writing in Il Giornale this morning, he reports that in recent weeks, the medical advisers of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints have produced “a favorable view on the miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope Wojtyla - the healing of a French nun from Parkinson’s - and the documentation in recent days has also passed the scrutiny of theologians.”

He says the Cause now moves to the cardinal and bishop members of the congregation who have just received the dossier on the miracle. They are to cast their vote in a couple of weeks.

Tornielli says it is “theoretically possible” John Paul II could be beatified on April 2, 2011, the sixth anniversary of his death, or a date in May. October is another possibility as that would coincide with the anniversary of his election to the papacy.

Read more: Pope John Paul II