Denver Catholic

8 JULY 22-AUGUST 11, 2017 | DENVER CATHOLIC Around the Archdiocese Deacons of St. Thomas More Catholic Parish "Reverence the deacons as you would Godʼs commandments" St. Ignatius of Antioch Deacon George Brown Deacon Bob Cropp Deacon Tim Kenny Deacon Alan Rastrelli Deacon Steve Stemper Thank you for your love of God and service to His people. many thanks, Nativity of Our Lord | 900 W. Midway Blvd. | Broomfield, CO | nool.us THANK YOU, Deacon Leonard 'Buz' Onesky, for your many years of service at Nativity of Our Lord. We wish you a long and joyous retirement! Deacons Martin Hetzel and Steve Vallero, for your continued faithfulness and dedication to our community. welcome, Deacon David Arling, to Nativity. Congratulations on your ordination to the diaconate. May the Lord abundantly bless your time of service with us. Nativity of Our Lord C AT H O L I C C H U R C H & S C H O O L Golden, Colorado Training-Retreat Mrs. Carol Weiler at carolweiler@cox.net or 504-439-5933 Father Marty Gleeson, OP at mgleesonop@gmail.com or 504-717-8770 Lord Teach Me To Pray I G N A T I A N P R A Y E R S E R I E S Learn how to deepen your prayer life and help other deepen theirs! Saturday, August 26 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Mother Cabrini Shrine 20189 Cabrini Blvd. Golden, CO 80401 www.lordteachmetopray.com BY AARON LAMBERT A young girl kidnapped by ISIS at the age of three was recently returned to her parents after almost three years. Now, St. Ra± a's Mission of Hope and Mercy is work- ing to bring this girl and others like her back to the United States to get proper medical and psychological treatment. St. Ra± a's Mission of Hope and Mercy had been closely following the case of young Christina Khodor Abada, who was taken out of her mother's arms by ISIS forces in August 2014. It was initially reported that Christina was being sold into sex slavery for $500 per day. However, Father Andre Mahanna, pastor of St. Ra± a Maronite Catholic Church, has since been told that she was in fact not sexually abused — though he has not received any sort of o¯ cial documentation confi rming this. Chris- tina was rescued and reunited with her parents June 9. The homecoming came a month after Father Mahanna met with Presi- dent Donald J. Trump during a March 6 visit to Washington D.C. and advocated for her rescue. "On May 6, I spoke to [President Trump] about her in the White House, and he said 'Let me know what I can do,'" Father Mahanna recalled. "All I can tell you is a month and three days later, Christina is back with her family." According to Father Mahanna, American military forces carried out a campaign to liberate northern Mosul from ISIS forces around this time, and this cleared the path for Christina — and nearly 1,000 other children — to be rescued from captivity. "It was a clear link when I spoke to the president and when I saw things hap- pening in that particular area," Father Mahanna said. "These were the areas I told namely the president that we know there are children there, and all of the sudden, American troops were working in that area. [President Trump] really facilitated work, and I'm so proud of him in doing this. I just ask him, and whoever is doing this, let's bring the children here. "These are the kinds of cases we need to look at and bring to the United States. Regardless of what kind of su› ering and amount of pain they su› ered from, these kids need to be here. They don't belong in Iraq anymore, at least for the time Third Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast to honor Lebanon as a 'Place of Hope'

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