What You Need To Know - Thursday Edition

***Today is the Solemnity of the Epiphany - The Pope visited a pediatric unit with children who have Spina Bifida. He had this to say:

"Dear babies and young people, I've also wanted to come see you that I might be a little like the Magi we celebrate on this Epiphany Feast: they brought some gifts to Jesus -- gold, frankincense and myrrh -- to show adoration and love. Today I've also brought you some gifts, that you might feel in them a little sign of the care, the closeness and affection of the Pope. But I would wish that in these Christmas days, all of us, adults and children alike, remember that God has given the greatest gift to each one of us."
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***The leader of the Miles Jesu movement has been dismissed for "totally unacceptable behavior". Pray for the members of this movement, some of whom we have in our local community.

***Jill Stanek has the story of a woman who ate rat poison, gave birth to a baby, then the baby dies three days later from the poison. The question must be asked - is it a homicide? What makes it different from an abortion. These kind of uncomfortable questions don't have to be answered randomly by pro-lifers.

***Dr. Ed Peters, my former canon law prof, takes the National Catholic Reporter to task. I can't say I blame him.

***The Marriage debate continues.

***Fr Z says the reason to be Catholic is because we are all going to die.

***The new White House Chief of Staff doesn't like Cardinal George or the US Bishops.

***Eric Sammons asks "does homeschooling violate Vatican II"? I wrote a detailed paper on this question in grad school. So, I already knew the answer. :-)

***One Catholic school in Dallas has a neat fundraiser that pits Aggies vs Longhorns vs Red Raiders vs Horned Frogs.