One factor: the world’s largest eyewear company, the Italian firm Luxottica, controls a big chunk of the business. Lesley Stahl reports. VIDEO

A prominent American Catholic gay rights group was given VIP treatment for the first time at an audience with Pope Francis on Wednesday, a move members saw as a sign of change in the Roman Catholic Church.

“This is a sign of movement that’s due to the Francis effect,” said Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, which ministers to homosexual Catholics and promotes gay rights in the 1.2 billion-member Church. MORE

Athra Kado had never shot a gun before, let alone seen a battlefield.

Until recently Kado, 25, spent his young career in a classroom, teaching high school students how to speak Syriac, his native language.

But Kado is one of hundreds of Assyrian Christian men—many with no military experience—taking up arms to protect their towns from ISIS terrorists who invaded this part of Iraq early last year. MORE – VIDEO

A judge in Washington on Wednesday authorized the “personal ruin” of a florist whose Christian faith prevented her from promoting a same-sex wedding and who was sued by both the state and the homosexual couple.

Officials with the Alliance Defending Freedom confirmed that Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom granted a summary judgment in the case against Barronelle Stutzman, so the case won’t proceed to trial now. It had been scheduled for March 23. MORE

ISIS on a killing rampage on their way to a burning hell as martyrs for Christ worship God, their Last Words: “Lord Jesus Christ”
John 16:1-3 “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.” MORE

Written and directed by Eamonn Butler, this short was made by a visual effects studio called Cinesite as a sort of creature effect demo reel. It is not a real endorsement for Haynes Baked Beans. You can tell because 1) It’s too cool to be a real commercial, 2) It basically tells people that beans are fatal if you eat them in outer space, and 3) Haynes Baked Beans does not exist. MORE

by Nancy Thomas

When natural ingredients are combined together in certain proportions, they work great to cure many conditions. One of such amazing combination is honey and cinnamon. This combination has been used for centuries to promote general well being and cure many conditions and ailments…. This natural treatment is well known in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Unani Medicine (Greek), ayurvedic and Tibb (which means the science of medicines based on natural treatment in the East). MORE

How to Lose Weight Using Cinnamon Powder Honey? VIDEO

Favoring sales of properties to the Jews over Arabs?

Unworthy, unworthy, unworthy,” some called out in unison, their disdain aimed at Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem and leader of some 220,000 Arab Christians in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

In recent weeks, such chants repeatedly erupted during services, the latest sign of trouble for a secretive church hierarchy whose previous leader was ousted a decade ago over allegations that he sold prime church property to Jews trying to increase their presence in traditionally Arab east Jerusalem. MORE

The Islamic State has put female sex slaves from the Iraqi ethnic minority on sale and has also released the age wise price list. According to a document issued by the ISIS, Christian and Yazidi girls, aged between 1 and 9, are up for grabs for $172. Girls that are 10 to 20 are sold for nearly $129, while those aged 20 to 30 are sold for about $86. ISIS sex slave price for women that are 30 to 40 is about $6 and for those aged 40 to 50, it is $43. Slaves are not listed as women – they are labelled as Merchandise. MORE –  1VIDEO -2VIDEO

The list just got longer with this report showing that investment banker, 32 year-old Kate Matrosova, was found dead in the New Hampshire mountains on Monday. Matrosova was dropped off on Sunday night by her husband, whom the Daily Mail names as Charlie Farhoodi. According to a LinkedIn profile for the name Charlie Farhoodi, he is listed as a Vice President of JP Morgan. (Screen shot shown below) MORE

This is the incredible moment an unborn baby gave his parents a ‘thumbs up’ from the womb during a routine 20-week scan.

Paul Schofield, 31, and Cheryl Stevenson, 32, from Tameside, Greater Manchester, were left in fits of giggles after their healthy unborn son presented them with the hand gesture. MORE

At least 20 people were killed during the Haiti Carnival in the early hours of this morning when they were electrocuted by a power line falling on their packed float.

The accident happened as thousands of people filled the streets of central Port-au-Prince, the Caribbean country’s capital, for the raucous annual celebration. MORE

A journalist decided to test how safe the streets of Paris are for Jews – by wearing a religious skullcap and filming the public’s reaction using a hidden camera.

Zvika Klein, a reporter for Jewish news outlet NRG, silently walked in the city for ten hours wearing a kippah – also known as a yarmulke – on his head and a tzitzit (knotted ritual tassels). MORE

Unless the mind and will are ready to believe in God’s absolute right to teach and command, there is little likelihood that fasting and penance with extra prayer will be followed carefully.

The will must be free of self-interested desires and fears in order to bend the mind to assent to an unseen God and to His whole mysterious order of salvation. Prejudices and sinful habits easily find excuses for refusing assent to truth and to self-discipline. Continue reading →