GEORGIA GUV: BIDEN TO BLAME;JIHADIST KILL 15 IN BURKINA FASO;WHO CHECKS THE FACT-CHECKERS?AFTER DEATH, LGBT ACTIVISTS ATTACK BATHROOM LAW; JUDGE UPHOLDS NOTIFYING PARENTS ON GENDER

 

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26 THUNE ENDORSES TRUMP  Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-SD, announced his endorsement of Donald Trump after the former president’s decisive win in the South Carolina primary Saturday. “The primary results in South Carolina make clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president in this year’s pivotal presidential election. The choice before the American people is crystal clear: It’s Donald Trump or Joe Biden," said Thune, who becomes the highest-ranking Senate Republican to back Trump.  READ MURDER SUSPECT ENTERED USA ILLEGALLY  Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that the Venezuelan national charged in connection with the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley entered the United States illegally near El Paso on Sept. 8, 2022. ICE also confirmed that Jose Antonio Ibarra was arrested in New York City for child endangerment but was released in September 2023 before a detainer could be issued.  READ GEORGIA GUV: BIDEN TO BLAME  Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, R-GA, demanded answers from President Biden relating the circumstances involving 26-year-old illegal immigrant Jose Antonio Ibarra, who is accused of murdering a Georgia college student. Kemp wrote Biden in a letter: “The American people deserve to know who is illegally entering our country due to your administration’s failures, and what risks and challenges every state must now face.” Kemp called Biden’s refusal to work with governors “outrageous.”  READ JIHADIST KILL 15 IN BURKINA FASO  At least 15 Catholic worshippers were killed in a Burkina Faso village on Sunday when armed men attacked Catholics gathered at a small village to celebrate the Second Sunday of Lent. “In this painful circumstance, we invite you to pray for the rest in God for those who have died in faith, for the healing of the wounded and … for the conversion of those who continue to sow death and desolation in our country,” wrote Abbot Jean-Pierre Sawadogo, vicar-general of the Catholic Diocese of Dori.  READ WHO CHECKS THE FACT-CHECKERS?  Veteran, author, and former Republican congressional candidate Sean Parnell took to X (formerly Twitter) to expose the left-wing bias of “fact-checking” company PolitiFact. Parnell had quoted a recent X post by the Las Vegas Review-Journal reporting: “Numerous Nevada voters looked at their voter history and found that their mail ballots were counted in the [state’s February 6, 2024 presidential] primary, even though they didn’t participate in it.”  READ AFTER DEATH, LGBT ACTIVISTS ATTACK BATHROOM LAW After a 16-year-old Oklahoma girl died the day following a fight in her school bathroom, many LGBTQ activists began to use the unclear circumstances of her death as a rallying cry to garner support for their movement. However, the available facts surrounding Nex Benedict’s death do not seem to match up with the activists’ claims. READ JUDGE UPHOLDS NOTIFYING PARENTS ON GENDER  A California judge upheld a local school district’s policy requiring the notify parents if their child decides to ‘change’ genders. The judge also let stand the Temecula Unified School District’s policy banning the teaching of critical race theory.  READ CONFRONTING LGBT AGENDA  A listener asked: “How can I effectively confront the LGBT agenda at my child’s school?” Catholic radio host Patrick Madrid provides some advice for Anai, a valiant Catholic mom whose 16-year-old daughter is facing pressure to complete an assignment that goes against Catholic teachings on sexuality, sparking a fierce defense of faith and family values.  READ PODCAST  CatholicVote President Brian Burch recently went on the BeatiDudes podcast to discuss the importance of Mass-attending Catholics to focus more on getting their fellow parishioners to vote in each election than to worry about converting a longtime holdout. Knowing that the current culture and politics can be daunting and frustrating, Burch lives by the mantra, “The greater the challenge, the greater the adventure.”  WATCH AMERICA’S LONGEST-RUNNING PASSION PLAY  The city of Cincinnati, Ohio has the longest, continually-running Passion play in the United States. The St John’s Passion play was established by Fr Richard Wurth, a Franciscan pastor at St John the Baptist Church, in February 1917, following the deaths of eight local men during World War I.  READ YOUNG WOMEN DRIFTING LEFT?  An increasing number of women in the United States are becoming liberal in their political views, according to a recent Gallup survey. The survey reported: “From 1999 to 2013, about three in 10 women aged 18 to 29 consistently identified as liberal, after which the figure rose (a bit unsteadily) to 44% by 2020.”  READ SACRED SEX  It’s been said on podcasts, in books, in articles… Men have been plagued by religion-influenced shame for watching porn or masturbating. Marriages have broken as Christian wives are twice as likely to divorce their husbands over porn use. Without religious prohibitions, many secular men may not experience shame from their partners over porn – in fact, they might even be encouraged to indulge in it. So does religion play a toxic role in the sexual lives of ordinary people? This article shows how faith is actually a force for good in the world of sex and romance.  READ CATHOLIC 101  While we would all love for the spiritual life to be one joyful experience after another, that’s not usually how it works.  Everyone goes through times of dryness.  It is God’s work in the soul that leads us into and out of these periods, but we are not to be inert.  Fr. Esper offers some outstanding advice for how the saints overcame spiritual dryness that we highly recommend.  READ SAINT OF THE DAY  St. Alexander of Alexandria is known for his stalwart defense of the Catholic Church against the Arian heresy, which claimed that Jesus was not fully divine. Bishop Alexander was at first gentle with Arius, a priest under his authority, however, he ultimately excommunicated the heretic when he obstinately continued to teach falsehoods.  READ DAILY PSALM  “Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.” (Psalm 103:10)  READ DAILY READINGS  Today's Mass readings  READ BEAUTY  Soak in some celestial beauty through this virtual tour of the Cathedral of St. Helena in Helena, Montana! Built in 1914, this neo-Gothic Cathedral was modeled after the Votivkirche in Vienna, Austria.  TOUR Paid for by CatholicVote Civic Action, a 501(c)(4) organization. CATHOLICVOTE  |  PO Box 3310  |  Carmel, IN 46082  |  (317) 669-6127