Today is the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits:

St. Ignatius was born in the family  castle in Guipúzcoa, Spain, the youngest of 13 children, and was called Iñigo. When he was old enough, he became a page, and then a soldier of Spain  to fight against the French. A cannon ball and a series of bad operations ended his military career in 1521. While St. Ignatius recovered, he read the lives of the saints, and decided to dedicate himself to becoming a soldier of the Catholic  Faith. Soon after he experienced visions, but a year later suffered a trial of fears and scruples, driving him almost to despair. Out of this experience he wrote his famous "Spiritual Exercises". After traveling and studying in different schools, he finished in Paris, where he received his degree at the age of 43. Many first hated St. Ignatius because of his humble Lifestyle. Despite this, he attracted several followers at the university, including St. Francis Xavier, and soon started his order called The Society of Jesus, or Jesuits. There are 38 members of the Society of Jesus who have been declared Blessed, and 38 who have been canonized as saints. He died at the age of 65.

As a follow up to the post I wrote about "e5 Men," I wanted to share this beautiful song by Sanctus Real. It has a great message about the struggles that men can have in their vocations and illustrates the unity they should have with God - the Father to us all.

Much to the distress of the abortion industry, the new Governor of New Jersey vetoed a bill that would give $7.5 Million in funds for "family planning" clinics, most of which are run by Planned Parenthood, the nations largest abortion provider. Each year, more than a 1/3 of Planned Parenthood's income comes from state and federal grants—aka, your tax dollars.

As New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie continues to fulfill a campaign pledge to restore state government to fiscal sanity, he has vetoed a bill that would have dedicated $7.5 million in state to “family planning” clinics, most of which are run by Planned Parenthood.

New Jersey’s Star Ledger reported that Christie in his veto message said that “the state simply cannot fund every worthy program” and would not restore $7.5 million for family planning clinics that he had cut from the state’s budget for fiscal year 2011.

Marie Tasy, executive director of New Jersey Right to Life, praised Christie for standing by his decision to cut funds for Planned Parenthood.

“The taxpayers of New Jersey are under no obligation to fund the radical and failed social agenda of Planned Parenthood,’’ said Marie Tasy, according to the Star-Ledger. “We commend Governor Christie for his steadfast opposition to restoring these funds.”

Read the rest of the article here.

I went to college at Western Washington University from 2003-2005. I followed my older brother there and from him I learned about the "Shalom Center" - which is now called the Newman Center - it was the Catholic Campus Ministry for the university. It was a vibrant community of young Catholics who were passionate about their rich faith.

During my first year, I went with a group of Catholics to see Fr. Corapi in Vancouver. Ironically enough, we happened to stay the night in the youth center of Fr. Lappe's old parish in Camas. On this weekend I learned a lot.  Fr. Corapi was amazing - but what resonated with me the most was getting to know the fellow Catholics I traveled with - particularly the men. On the first night, before we went to bed, the men decided they wanted to pray for all the women in our group. So they formed a circle and faced outward, while the women made a larger circle around them and faced inward. The women rotated around and each man prayed for us individually. Each man poured out his heart in whispered prayers for our purity and our holiness.