A couple of notes from elsewhere:
Diane from Te Deum Laudemus has a great video she has put together on Benediction at her parish, Assumption Grotto in Detroit. She is hosting it at GodTube, not YouTube, and adds:

I had to move it to GodTube because of the filth on YouTube that came up along side my video. Apparently
some people use the word Benediction for unholy content and I had no control. GodTube is a wonderful alternative and the quality is so much better.

Regina Doman has published the third novel in her series retelling fairy tales in contemporary settings. These books are for teens, and I can say that Katie has read the first two books – several times – and speaks highly of them. 

Waking Rose, based on “Sleeping Beauty,” is the story of the second sister, Rose, who has had a crush on Bear’s younger brother, nicknamed Fish, for the past two books. Fish has always rebuffed Rose, sometimes humorously, for reasons that finally become clear in this book. “Fish feels his problems are insurmountable, and that they’ve cut him off from normal life,” Regina explains. “But Rose still has hope for him, even though she tries to move on with her life.” When a tragic accident occurs, Fish finds out that he might indeed be the only person who can save Rose. “I tried hard to make this a book that was as colorful and adventurous as the character of Rose Brier,” Regina said. “Partly to balance out how serious the problems in this book are, and partly to provide a fitting close to the trilogy about these four characters.” She hopes that new readers as well as fans will find the book a riveting, thought-provoking, and satisfying read. “I’m encouraging adults to buy the books for themselves instead of just getting them as gifts for their teens,” she says. “Moms were constantly borrowing the books from their kids, and I finally decided to market them as adult fiction. Most teens read adult fiction anyhow.”

A reader has a good question:

I think I remember reading about Anne Lamott and her outrageous views in your blog last year. (Here’s her account of a speaking engagment on the subject of abortion:)
But as a Christian and a feminist, the most important message I can carry and fight for is the sacredness of each human life, and reproductive rights for all women is a crucial part of that: It is a moral necessity that we not be forced to bring children into the world for whom we cannot be responsible and adoring and present. We must not inflict life on children who will be resented; we must not inflict unwanted children on society.
 In addition to abortion, she proudly claims to have committed voluntary euthanasia (link to LATimes column)-
So who does Creighton University’s Center for Health Policy and Ethics pick to give their lecture on Women and Health?

An excellent question.

Finally, from Lebanon and Michigan, in a completely different spirit from that last note,  Spiritual Friendship,  a blog written primarily by Rev. Antonio Elfeghali, a Maronite Catholic priest, although others contribute as well. The focus of the blog at the moment is 9-year old Karim Ahmad, who suffers from a rare, delibitating and painful skin disease. Here is an article about Karim and efforts to help him.

Elfalgahi, who was Liz Zagar’s spiritual advisor at an Ava Maria Center in Ann Arbor a few years ago, was assigned to the church in his native Lebanon in 2005, but kept in touch with Zagar via e-mail and an Internet blog.
Elfalgahi wanted to find “the poorest people,” and a Red Cross worker directed him to Karim.
He could not get the tiny boy out of his mind.
“I have met Lazarus,” he wrote in his blog, referring to the Biblical figure given new life by Christ. “He lies at my gate.”
Zagar offered to help.
She lined up doctors in Muskegon and Grand Haven who would look at the boy for free. She got Tom Powers to work with Mercy General Health Partners in securing free medications, supplies, tests and whatever else was needed.
She asked for public donations for airline tickets, visas, clothing and other expenses, and the public responded.
She and her husband, Joe, and their children Laura, 23; Sarah, 17; and Andy, 15, agreed to make Karim and his mother part of their family for “as long as it takes.”