Prisoners Of Fear

By -

Mona may not make it through the night. She sleeps with a man who sleeps with a knife. He is the same man who verbally, emotionally and physically assaults her by day. It's been this way since she married him more than four years ago. But she can't bring herself to leave. She is afraid for herself, for her four year old son-and even for her abuser. Imagine that-worrying about the man who hits her, stomps on her feet and threatens her life. Mona is trying to win his approval-to change him-in hopes that he will love her and protect her and that her life will evolve into the fairytale she dreamed about as a child growing up in Lithuania. But tonight-as she shared her story in a room filled with battered women, Mona admitted her fairytale dream had turned into a living nightmare....and that she is in fact a prisoner of her own fear. An unwitting accomplice to the abuse that is slowly sucking the life out of her. Mona is trying to summon the courage to leave-again. This time for good. She doesn't know it yet-but the key to her freedom, the key to unlock her prison of fear-lies within. She is bright, beautiful and brave on so many fronts--except when it matters most... demanding respect for herself. My prayer-is that if Mona makes it through the night-maybe in the morning-she will find the strength-and enough self respect-to escape her life of hell...before it's too late. She deserves better-we all do!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OUR LADY OF JOY, HANCEVILLE ALABAMA

By -
Image
High atop a hill in Hanceville Alabama, broken hearts are being healed and hope is being restored. Our Lady of Joyful Hope is a community of young men who are finding new freedom through a life of authentic truth. Once lost in the darkness of addiction they are now living in the light of Christ who is transforming them from the inside out...And their families, if they are open and willing, are being transformed right alongside them. Recently, I spent three days with this community, listening to the young men, their parents and to the foundress, Mother Elvira, who flew in from Italy for the anointing of the new community house and the celebration that followed. Mother Elvira's life story is on par with Mother Teresa. She is an Italian nun who heard the call from God to snatch souls from Satan by delivering young men and women from the demonic grip of addiction. She gave up everything familiar, walked straight into the wilderness and wound up becoming a living legacy for desperate fa
Read more

HRUSHIV UKRAINE: APPARITIONS OF THE BLESSED MOTHER

By -
Image
Twenty four years ago today, April 27, 1987 the Blessed Mother allegedly appeared in Hrushiv Ukraine with a warning and words of consolation. She came on the Feast of the Ascension, exactly one year after the nuclear reactor disaster at Chernobyl saying "Do not forget those who have died...Chernobyl is a reminder and a sign for the whole world." In 1990 while producing a television documentary in Ukraine, I visited Hrushi and interviewed a handful of people who had witnessed the apparition above the church of the Holy Trinity. In all, some five hundred thousand witnesses claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary over a four month period. Mary apparently told them she came to thank the Ukrainian people because they had suffered so much at the hands of a raging lion who had been prowling around seeking whom he could devour. She said their suffering would come to an end and one day Ukraine would become an independent state. She then urged disciplined, Christian fortitude, "
Read more

CONFESSIONS OF FATHER JOE BENSON

By -
As we sat in silence, meditating...I nudged my friend Terri, "What do we have to complain about?!" I whispered. There he hung, pain stricken, vulnerable in his nakedness, sharp thorns cutting into his head, pleading eyes fixed on the heavens. What I thought, on God's green earth, do I have to complain about?! That's probably why they do it...place the life like crucifix dead center-above the altar, just above the Blessed Sacrament, right where you can't miss it...just to remind us-things could be worse, but they're destined to get better-if we keep our eyes focused-on the solution. Another friend-likes to remind me-he's not on the cross anymore...So why do we keep him there? Every one's got an opinion, but to tell you the truth, I need to be reminded of the sacrifice...and every painful moment in between. Puts my problems in perspective...helps me see clearly...gives me strength to proceed. We went to first Friday adoration in the upper ninth ward..
Read more