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A pro-life pregnancy center in Philadelphia was vandalized last weekend with smashed windows and graffiti. Latrice Booker, director of Hope Pregnancy Center in Philadelphia, told CNA that when she drove by her clinic Saturday, June 11, she found four windows smashed, with one written on with graffiti. It is unclear what the graffiti says. Three glass doors were smashed as well. As of Tuesday afternoon, the windows were boarded up and the clinic is in the process of repairs, but they are still open for business. The clinic offers all its services to help women and families in need at no cost. The clinic director said that the clinic is not dissuaded in its mission by the vandalism and called on people of faith to “stand tall” despite vitriol against pro-life people.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251546/philadelphia-pro-life-clinic-vandalized
Pope Francis said this week that no Christian is exempt from aiding the poor. In his message for the 2022 World Day of the Poor, published on June 14, the pope said that the worst thing that can happen to a Christian community is to be “dazzled by the idol of wealth, which ends up chaining us to an ephemeral and bankrupt vision of life.” “Where the poor are concerned, it is not talk that matters; what matters is rolling up our sleeves and putting our faith into practice through a direct involvement, one that cannot be delegated,” Pope Francis said. “No one must say that they cannot be close to the poor because their own lifestyle demands more attention to other areas. This is an excuse commonly heard in academic, business or professional, and even ecclesial circles. None of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice,” he added.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251539/pope-francis-no-christian-is-exempt-from-aiding-the-poor
Today, the Church celebrates Saint Germaine Cousin, a simple and pious young girl who lived in Pibrac, France in the late 1500s. Germaine was born in 1579 to poor parents. Her father was a farmer, and her mother died when she was still an infant. She was born with a deformed right arm and hand, as well as the disease of scrofula, a tubercular condition. Banished from her house, she tended to the family's flock of sheep every day. Despite her hardships, she lived each day full of thanksgiving and joy, and spent much of her time praying the Rosary and teaching the village children about the love of God. She was barely fed and had an emaciated figure, yet despite this she shared the little bread that she had with the poor of the village. After she died at a young age, her body was found to be incorrupt. People in the surrounding area began praying for her intercession and obtaining miraculous cures for illnesses.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-germaine-cousin-497