Free Republic

 ·         The Meaning of Christmas: Look Deeper ·         PETER KREEFT While Christmas is so familiar that we sometimes wonder whether anything fresh and true can be said about it, there is a way to explore its meaning that may seem new to us today, yet is in fact quite traditional, dating back to the Middle Ages and the ancient Fathers of the Church.Modern interpreters often argue about whether a given Scripture passage should be interpreted literally or symbolically. Medieval writers would question the either/or approach. They thought a passage could have as many as four right interpretations, one literal...

I have not had the time to put together a post on Pope Francis political move to turn a blind eye and give the nudge and the wink to the ruthless and murdering regime in Cuba and help Obama and the commies in the United States spread communism here. I probably won't get to it until after Christmas but I did want to point out that local commie Jackie Connors was spearheading the arrangement: http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2014/12/17/pope-francis-helped-broker-the-restoration-of-us-cuban-relations/ I bet money was funneled into Church coffers somewhere. More on how Connors took control of the Boston diocese and castrated the Cardinal with money,...

Detail from "The Cestello Annunciation" (1489) by Sandro Botticelli (WikiArt.org) Readings: • 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16 • Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29 • Rom 16:25-27 • Lk 1:26-38 “Hail! tabernacle of God and the Word. Hail! holy beyond all holy ones. Hail! ark gilded by the Holy Ghost. Hail! unfailing treasure-house of life.” These words from the ancient Akathist hymn, a great sixth-century song of praise for the mystery of the Incarnation, poetically summarize the Marian themes in today’s readings. The Theotokos—the Mother of God—is the dwelling place of God, the “container of the Uncontainable God,” and “the...

The weekly magazine of major French daily Le Figaro dedicates this week's issue to what it calls the "Secret War in the Vatican: How Pope Francis shakes up the Church". The general theme is that already mentioned elsewhere, of an authoritarian pope, his strong decisions, and individuals who are dissatisfied or merely puzzled with his procedures and ideas - and are therefore eliminated one by one. There are interesting passages such as the following: Did not this pope, who feels himself to be first of all the bishop of Rome - the word 'pope' rarely comes out of his lips...

"And so we encounter another oddity of Hanukkah: Jews know the fuller history of the holiday because Christians preserved the books that the Jews themselves lost. In a further twist, Jews in the Middle Ages encountered the story of the martyred mother and her seven sons anew in Christian literature and once again placed it in the time of the Maccabees."

Catholic Traditions for Advent and Christmas ·         Catholic Traditions for Advent and Christmas ·         MICHAELANN MARTIN Issue: How can families better live the spirit of Advent and Christmas in their homes? ResponseThe Catholic Church has designated the four weeks preceding Christmas as Advent, a time to prepare the way of the Lord for His coming as our King and Savior. In addition, the Church teaches that: [w]hen the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Saviors first coming, the faithful...

Christmas Isn’t Perfect – So Find Christ in Your Real Christmas By: Msgr. Charles PopeMost of us have a perfect Christmas in mind. Often it is the creation of Hallmark, Currier & Ives, and various marketers. But none of us will have a perfect Christmas, just a real one.The First Christmas wasn’t perfect either. In fact, the only way to describe it is to call it a crisis. Mary was pregnant before marriage, a very dangerous thing in those times. Just at the time of birth they were required to travel eighty miles on foot to Bethlehem. There was no...

The Islamic State is turning Christian churches in Iraq and Syria into dungeons and torture chambers after stripping them of priceless artifacts to sell on the black market, according to reports. Ancient relics and even entire murals are being torn from the houses of worship and smuggled out through the same routes previously established for moving oil and weapons in and out of the so-called caliphate, a vast region the jihadist army has claimed as sovereign under Sharia law. "ISIS has a stated goal to wipe out Christianity,” Jay Sekulow, of the American Center for Law and Justice and the...

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2014 / 09:38 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis cautioned Christians against an egoism that excludes the need for God in his homily at Mass on Friday, saying this attitude renders our lives sterile and prevents the Church from bearing fruit. “This too makes me think of our mother Church and of so much sterility within our Mother Church,” the Pope told those present in the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse chapel Dec. 19. He noted that when too much emphasis is placed on our ability to choose to be good by following the commandments unaided by grace,...

December 20, 2014Saturday of the Third Week of Advent    Reading 1 Is 7:10-14 The LORD spoke to Ahaz:Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!But Ahaz answered,“I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!” Then Isaiah said:Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men,must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,and shall name him Emmanuel. Responsorial Psalm Ps 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 R. (see...

Our Mother of Perpetual HelpPainted in tempera on hard nutwood, 21 inches by 17, the original picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is one of many copies of the famed Hodeguitria of St. Luke. (The Hodeguitria, reputedly painted by St. Luke, was venerated for centuries at Constantinople as a miraculous icon. It was destroyed by the Turks in the year 1453.) This particular image, however, is THE ONE COPY singled out – by Our Lady herself – for special heavenly favors. You may see it today enshrined above the high altar at the Redemptorist Church of San Alfonso,...

Dr. John McAdams, a professor of political science at Marquette University whose blog posts have brought to light many of the Jesuit University’s actions undermining its Catholic identity, has reportedly been suspended, banned from campus and is now under formal investigation by the administration. The Cardinal Newman Society spoke to the University in order to determine the grounds for the disciplinary action. McAdams released the news on his blog, Marquette Warrior, which included an email sent to him from the dean of Marquette, Richard Holz. The email stated that McAdams was to remain off campus while his conduct was reviewed...

Gearing up for 2016, left-leaning Catholic political organizations prepare to make the case for the Democratic platform. Promising yet again to “move beyond partisan and ideological divisions,” the George Soros-supported Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) has refined its successful strategies of the past in its attempts to convince Catholic voters that the pro-choice Democratic nominees for public office in 2016 will do more to reduce the number of abortions than pro-life Republicans will. The group’s main argument supporting this claim is that Democrats will reduce poverty—a major factor in the choice to abort an unborn child.  It...

In the modern struggles and disagreements over the Liturgy, there tends to be a list of friends and opponents depending on one’s stance. For those of us with a more traditional leaning, Pope St. Pius X looms large as a friend and an image of tradition. He is usually seen as a defender of the tradition and a great proponent of what is called today the Extraordinary Form or Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)—so much so that the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) takes its name from him.And yet things, people, and movements are seldom as simple as we would...

" It was his efforts at peace that brought him the Nobel Peace Prize. Despite the huge popularity and respect he enjoys, he is not unaware of his increasing isolation by global leaders since being in Beijing's good books appears to be the global fascination. It remains to be seen how India reacts. It would be a sad day, indeed, if New Delhi also lacks the moral fibre and toes Beijing's line." Nobel laureates gathered in Rome last week were dismayed that Pope Francis had surprisingly refused to grant an audience to the Dalai Lama so as to not incur...

Featured Term selected at random:MASSA CANDIDA A group of about three hundred Christians at Carthage who hurled themselves into a vat of burning lime rather than offer homage to Jupiter (c. 253). St. Augustine wrote and spoke of them, and Prudentius wrote of their courage in poetry. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Pope Gregory the Great: Advice to the Married By: Msgr. Charles PopeEvery now and again when I write on Holy Matrimony, especially the Church’s more staunch biblical teachings (indissolubility, no contraception, etc.), someone will inevitably write in with a kind of sneer and wonder at or even laugh at a celibate man advising married people about marriage. To be sure, inner experience of something has its place, but so does external observance. I remember as a youth that my swimming coach, who was out of the water, would often correct us if our form was wrong, and advise us...

Welcome to the last Catholic Playlist show of 2014! We’ve reached the 4th Sunday of Advent which means that Christmas and the birth of Christ is very near. This week’s show is going to be focused on just the music, with no commentary or song titles from me as we go down the playlist. In addition to some familiar favorites, we’ll be playing some music from the new O Come Let Us Adore: A Christmas Collective album. Songs by Matt Maher, Alanna Boudreau, PJ Anderson, Ike Ndolo, Marian Grace and many more. Enjoy the music...

Average Catholics asked today how often they read the Bible likely would say that they do not read the Bible regularly. However, if asked how often they read Scripture, the answer would be different. Practicing Catholics know they read and hear Scripture at every Mass. Many also recognize that basic prayers Catholics say, such as the Our Father and the Hail Mary, are scriptural. But for most Catholics, the Scripture they hear and read is not from the Bible. It is from a worship aid in the pew. Scripture always has played an important role in the prayer life of...

STANBUL — John Chryssavgis is an author and theologian born in Australia. He received his degree in Theology from the University of Athens. He also received a diploma in Byzantine music from the Greek Conservatory of Music during those years. He completed his doctoral studies in Patristics at the University of Oxford. He has lived in the United States for 20 years now, has worked in several universities and written a number of books. But he is also an active clergyman of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. He received the title of Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Throne from Patriarch...