USA
Faith & Film: Heaven Is for Real
“Heaven Is for Real,” based on the best-selling book of the same name, tells the story of Colton Burpo, son of a Protestant minister, Todd, and his wife, Sonja. Todd pastors a small Nebraska church and sells garage-door openers to make ends meet. Sonja sings and directs the choir.
The movie opens with Todd and his health problems: He breaks his leg playing softball, and, soon after, has a painful bout of kidney stones. Returning from a family trip to Denver, 4-year-old Colton begins to have severe stomach pains and a high fever. Initially diagnosed as the flu, Sonja and Todd keep him at home, but he only gets worse. Then they rush him to the local hospital, where Colton is diagnosed with a ruptured appendix. Todd and Sonja pray for Colton, and call other members of the church to join them in prayer. The surgery is successful, and eventually Colton is able to come home. He and his family go on with their routine life.
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The Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, New York, hosted their first youth event at the Dominican Convent on Sunday, April 27. The gathering, titled “Catch the Fire” Youth Day, welcomed nearly 50 seventh and eighth grade children from local parishes in the Rockland County area for an afternoon of conversation, celebration, and mission. Sister Margaret Palliser, OP, who led the committee that organized the event, commented, “We wanted to create an atmosphere where the children could interact informally with the sisters, asking whatever questions they wanted. We were very excited because their conversations revealed that the children were indeed very curious about who sisters are, what they do, and why they choose to become sisters.” 
