Welcome to S+L’s Weekly News Round-Up. As the Director of Marketing and Communications here at S+L, many interesting Catholic news stories and articles come across my desk on a daily basis. Some of them we’ll cover on our different television programs and others I’d like to share with you on this blog.
This blog column is where I’ll point out some of the more interesting news pieces that I’ve come across over the past week! Enjoy!
We’re now into the second week of Lent and I’m wondering how everyone is doing with their resolutions. I’m sure many of you (not all) are probably a bit grumpy from the withdrawal caused by your ambitious resolutions: abstaining from sugar, coffee, junk food, tv or whatever you’ve decided to give up for Lent. Some of you are probably wondering why only Christians have to give something up.
Well, I’m not sure if you’ve seen this, but apparently it's not only us Catholics giving up things for Lent! Did you see the #Muslims4Lent campaign where Muslims show Solidarity with Christians by giving things up for Lent? It seems like we Christians are being supported by our Muslim brothers and sisters! Read about it here.
Now here is a very interesting character coming up for sainthood. When you think of a surfer dude, you don’t often think of a saintly seminarian. Let me introduce you to Guido Schaffer, a seminarian from Brazil who died just weeks before his ordination to priesthood. Check out the story here.We all know them: friends, families and co-workers who are Catholic by birth but non-practicing, yet mildly curious about their grandmother's religion. These are the seeds of conversion. Ever thought about what books you can give them to pique their interest? Well, then check this article out: Top Ten Books to Give Fallen Away Catholics. In addition to those books, I’d also throw into that list: The Call To Sainthood.Now if your particular friend, family member or co-worker who is Catholic by birth, but non-practicing and yet mildly curious about their grandmother's religion, happens to be big into twitter, here is another article that you can forward to them entitled: Top 24 Catholics to Follow on Twitter plus 1 Protestant.
And to close off that religious conversion with your particular friend, family member or co-worker who is Catholic by birth but non-practicing yet mildly curious about their grandmother's religion, you can always throw them this: the top 10 reasons why it’s great to be Catholic. :)
OK pop quiz time… I never would have imagined how many of you readers would actually email me to say that you love the quizzes! So be it. Here are 2 pretty cool quizzes that I personally enjoyed last week.
QUIZ 1: Can You Fill in the Blanks of These Bible Verses?
QUIZ 2: Did The Pope said that?
Just to set the bar, I got 8 on quiz 1 and 7 on quiz 2. These are more difficult than I thought!
Finally now, who in the world hasn’t heard of Nutella, that hazelnut-chocolatey goodness that you spread on your toast in the morning? Did you know that the founder, Michele Ferrero, attributes its success to Our Lady of Lourdes? Read about it here.
That’s it for this week folks. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments on these stories. If you have any interesting stories yourself, please feel free to send them to me!
I hope you enjoy these little stories! I certainly have. Till next week!
- Noel