Free Republic

Ted Cruz is the first candidate to announce fourth quarter fundraising numbers.Raised a whopping $20 million and now has about $45 million to win the nomination with. Cruz has now received more than 670,000 donations from more than 320,000 donors, with the average donation only $67. Which means his donors are a renewable resource.We have never seen a principled conservative receive this kind of support. This is providential blessing kind of stuff. Unprecedented even for this cynic. We have a real shot to win this thing. To get a real conservative in the White House for the first time in...

Did you know the Catholic Church has an official blessing for beer?In the 1964 edition of the Rituale Romanum, one of the Church’s official books of rituals, there is a section with “Blessings of things designated for ordinary use.”Among the many rituals listed, you can find special blessings for pastries, medicine, cheese, fire, seeds, airplanes, and more – including beer.Why bless beer? Because it is a part of God’s good creation and a wonderful gift for human enjoyment! Ever since Jesus turned water into wine at the marriage at Cana (John 2), the Catholic Church has supported the enjoyment of alcohol...

Bristol Palin is pregnant and this is news. The 24-year-old daughter of former vice presidential candidate and “SNL” punching bag Sarah Palin has spent the last seven years since her mom’s failed bid for the White House making abstinence (and holiness in general) her personal and very profitable cause celeb. In 2008, 17-year-old Palin’s unplanned teen pregnancy threatened to derail her mom’s White House hopes. But her potentially embarrassing narrative quickly turned to one of resilience and the reality shows followed. Palin appeared on season 11 of “Dancing with the Stars” and in her own Lifetime docu-series, “Bristol Palin: Life’s...

Toward the very end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, he enters Jerusalem—knowingly headed to the Lamb’s slaughter. With less than a week of his mortal life remaining, would-be kings or rulers would not have spent their time with the least influential in society.For example, what does a presidential candidate do in his final days before an election? He seeks to rally the troops. He presents his case and seeks to explain why he would be a better leader than the other candidate. He barnstorms and campaigns. He sprints to associate himself with the most powerful persons, teams, and symbols he...

Here in Holy Week we ponder the events that led to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Among the things to ponder is a dramatic moment in the trial before Pilate when the people who were present  utter a curse upon themselves. We read of it in Matthew’s Gospel: When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our...

Katie Scrivener worried that her infant son, Fulton, would cry when he encountered a very important man in Rome. She was the one who wound up weeping, albeit tears of joy. One of the enduring images that came out of the weekly general audience Pope Francis gave in St. Peter’s Square Nov. 20 has the pontiff trading gazes with Fulton Scrivener, who will celebrate his first birthday Dec. 19. In a photo that ran the next day on Page 1 of L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, the Holy Father shows unabashed joy as he places his right hand on the...

One of the most important things people overlook in dealing with sickness is what they speak out of their mouth. You can't just speak anything because your words have an effect on your body. In the book of James he says, if you offend not in word, you are able to bridle your whole body. He also goes on to say your tongue is like the rudder of a ship, so if you want to go from sickness to healing then you are going to have to set your tongue to healing and not sickness. In 1Peter 3:10 he says,...

Featured Term (selected at random):APOLYSIS The blessing by the Greek priest at the end of Mass, Matins, or Vespers. Called a Great Apolysis after the liturgy, baptisms, and marriages; a Little Apolysis at other times. (Etym. Greek apolysis, dismissal.) All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

. And he went to an high place. And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram. And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. And he returned unto him … And he took up his parable, and said,Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram,out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?...

What are you saying about yourself and circumstances, because what you say determines whether you are blessing or cursing yourself. When God blessed Adam and Eve He blessed them saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth." When Jesus cursed the fig tree he said unto it, "No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever." And that's the same way you bless and curse, they both come out of...

Considered an Effective Witness to the Sanctity of Human LifeWASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 9, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Following Vatican approval, the “Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb” is now available for use by dioceses in the United States. The text of the blessing in English and Spanish is posted online and is being published as a booklet addendum to the Book of Blessings/Bendicional. The blessing will be included in future editions of those liturgical volumes. “We hope the use of this blessing will provide not only support and God’s blessing for expectant parents and their child in the...

‘Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb’ approved by RomeWASHINGTON (March 26, 2012) -- The Vatican has approved the publication of the "Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb," which will be printed in English and Spanish in a combined booklet and should be available for parishes by Mothers' Day. The U.S. bishops who collaborated on the development of the blessing welcomed the announcement of the recognitio, or approval, by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in Rome. "I'm impressed with the beauty of this blessing for human life...

Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond. Washington D.C., Mar 27, 2012 / 06:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. bishops are encouraging parishes to incorporate into their communities a new blessing for a child in the womb, which the Vatican approved on March 25. “I'm impressed with the beauty of this blessing for human life in the womb,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. “I can think of no better day to announce this news than on the feast of the Annunciation, when we remember Mary’s ‘yes’ to God and the incarnation of...

The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.(Psalm 33:10-13)And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:3)I believe that today our nation...

The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.(Revelation 1:1-3)The Book of Revelation is unique to all of the other books of the Bible, because it pronounces...

Balaam On Being Paid to Curse Israel Part 1 By: Pastor Bill Randles I will bless those that bless you and curse those who curse you and in you all the families of the world will be blessed. Genesis 12:3 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me, peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom thou (Balaam) bless is blest and he whom you curse is cursed. Numbers 22:6 Perhaps the most misunderstood...

Featured Term (selected at random):PAPAL DECORATION An honor conferred by the Holy See on lay people who deserve special recognition for their service to the Church. A bishop recommends a person for the honor, which, if granted, is then conferred either in Rome or in the home diocese. Papal orders of knighthood (which may also be conferred on women) are mainly, in sequence of importance: 1. Supreme Order of Christ; 2. Order of Pius IX; 3. Order of St. Gregory the Great; 4. Order of St. Sylvester; 5. Order of the Golden Militia or Golden Spur; 6. Order of the...

THE PURIFICATION, COMMONLY CALLED CANDLEMAS-DAY. Feast: February 2 The law of God, given by Moses to the Jews, to insinuate both to us and to them, that by the sin of Adam man is conceived and born in sin, and obnoxious to his wrath, ordained that a woman, after childbirth, should continue for a certain time in a state which that law calls unclean; during which she was not to appear in public, nor presume to touch any thing consecrated to God.[1] This term was of forty days upon the birth of a son, and the time was double...

Losing their 60 seat supermajority may be a good thing, Joe Biden suggested today. Speaking to a meeting of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Finance Committee, Biden said that the supermajority came with excessively high expectations. "Yes it's had a practical impact, but I'm not so sure what a blessing 60 votes was. Not a joke, I mean it sincerely," he said, according to a pool report. "When we had sixty votes there was the expectation left, right, and center that we could do everything we wanted to do, which was never realistic. Never," he explained. Biden tried to buck...

The blessings of the grapesBy Kate Gonzales Posted: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 10:35 AM CDT Father John Finley sings hymns Sunday with children after he has blessed Lavender Ridge Vineyard grapes. Enterprise photos by Kate GonzalesFinley blesses thousands of grapes with holy water. Enterprise photo by Kate GonzalesLavender Ridge Vineyard owners Rich and Siri Gilpin added an extra ingredient to their winegrapes this weekend: holy water. Friends, family and employees of the Gilpins traveled out to their vineyard along the rolling golden hills of Milton to enjoy the second annual ceremony of the blessing of the grapes. “It's just new...