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When the Catholic Family Network began hosting its Catholic Family Expo 17 years ago, the Woodstock group had a small following of mostly home-school advocates looking to broaden their Catholic horizons. Fast forward to 2007 and the organization is planning to host more than 2,000 Catholics at its four-day expo at the Baltimore Convention Center this summer featuring local speakers, Catholic scholars from throughout the U.S. and international celebrities. The co-presidents of the non-profit organization have also helped launch similar conventions in this country and abroad, many of which are making their debut this year. “The growth is very exciting, I have to admit,” said Miki Hill, who with her husband Tim established the Catholic Family Network at their Woodstock home in 1990.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Catholic bishops are joining with a coalition of medical, ethical and disability rights groups to fight a new effort to legalize assisted suicide in the state. The Web site of the California Catholic Conference, the public policy agency of the state’s bishops, includes a link to Californians Against Assisted Suicide, formed to work for the defeat of AB 374, called the Compassionate Choices Act, in the California Legislature.

ROME – Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics to rediscover the traditional “penitential weapons” of prayer, fasting and works of charity in order to make Lent a time of inner renewal. He made the comments during an Ash Wednesday Mass Feb. 21 at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in central Rome. The liturgy began with a procession from the nearby Church of St. Anselm on the Aventine Hill.

Bernard Stabb, 62, is a very healthy eater, exercises almost daily and lifts weights regularly, and he had no idea he was at risk for serious heart problems. This self-described health nut said he saw an ad in his local paper for St. Joseph Medical Center’s new online heart awareness test. After logging on to www.stjosephheartaware.com and taking the seven-minute test, which includes questions about cholesterol, blood pressure and family history, Mr. Stabb was contacted by a St. Joseph nurse. The nurse explained to him the results of the online test warranted a closer look at his heart. Immediately after his CT scan, Mr. Stabb met with a cardiologist. He had a large amount of calcium built up around his heart and yet he had no symptoms.

Her name was Jeanne Stewart. Her walk was different from the other kids. She threw her left leg out and her right hip seem to rise behind her as she labored with every step she took. The left leg was thinner then her right, and her exaggerated limp made walking a struggle. It was 1950, I was 7 years old and polio was the horrific disease of children that either killed you or left you maimed for life.

It is hoop-heaven this coming week as the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association will wrap-up their boys’ basketball tourney Feb. 23 with the A Conference tipping off at 7 p.m. at Gilman School, Baltimore, while the B and C Conference finals will begin at 6:30 p.m. at The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Log on to the MIAA web site www.miaasports.com for updated information.

WASHINGTON – The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities is urging the House to amend legislation forbidding discrimination on the basis of genetic information to include unborn children, unimplanted embryos and those in the process of being adopted as “family members” under the bill.

BOSTON – Catholics should build networks of reconciliation to nurture and support one another, U.S. Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, head of the Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary, said during a visit to Boston. The cardinal, a former auxiliary bishop of Baltimore, spoke about penance and reconciliation at St. John’s Seminary, addressing lay people Feb. 3 and priests Feb. 5. The Apostolic Penitentiary is a Vatican court that deals with indulgences, matters of conscience and the lifting of certain excommunications and other censures that are reserved to the Holy See.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Saying that “we don’t need a law to tell us what language we are already speaking,” Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell vetoed a bill that would have required city agencies and officials to communicate in English “except when required by federal law or when necessary to protect or promote public health, safety or welfare.” Bishop David R. Choby of Nashville, who stood with Purcell as he made the veto announcement Feb. 12, said the city is “noted for its friendliness and its willingness to welcome those who are new to the area.” “The characteristics of kindness, for which this city has developed a national recognition, can also be called Christian charity,” the bishop said.