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“The Cleansing of Naaman: How Can Water Do Such Great Things?” (2 Kings 5:1-14)Our text is the Old Testament Reading for today, the story of the cleansing of Naaman. Short version: Naaman was a man who had leprosy. He was told, “Wash, and be clean.” And, after some objections, Naaman did wash, and he did become clean. But there’s more here than meets the eye, as we will see. For one thing, this story raises the question: How could simply washing in a river--and a pretty unimpressive river, at that--how could that cleanse a man of leprosy? And what does...

“And He Healed Many” (Mark 1:29-39)Yesterday, on a pastors’ e-mail list that I’m a part of, one of the men, Pastor Jay Webber of Arizona, brought a prayer request to our group on behalf of his son Paul and daughter-in-law Ruth. He’s given me permission to share this with you, by the way. His daughter-in-law, Ruth Webber, is 23 years old, and she is six months into her first pregnancy. However, she has been diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer, stomach cancer. Her chances for survival, Pastor Webber reports, are not good. Right now she’s up at the Mayo Clinic in...

Note: Kelly Clinger, a performer and former backup singer for the pop star Britney Spears, had two abortions when she was in her early twenties. She blogs about her pro-life activities here. January 26, 2012 (KellyClinger.com) - This morning I returned to the clinic where I had my abortions 12 years ago to pray for and plead with moms not to make the decision I made so many years ago. As I pulled into a parking spot, I sat in the car for a minute and closed my eyes. I wanted to pray that I wouldn’t fall apart; but before...

“Can Anything Good Come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:43-51)Can anything good come out of Bonne Terre? Can anything good come out of Potosi? Or let’s be more specific: Can anything good come out of St. Matthew’s? Can anything good come out of Redeemer? Those may be the kinds of questions in the minds of the people we meet and talk to. And the attitude behind the questions would be a rather dubious one. Believe it or not, some people may not think very much of those little podunk towns, Bonne Terre and Potosi, or of those little Lutheran churches, St....

On Christmas and Epiphany "Christmas Is Joy Because We See -- and at Last We Are Sure -- That God Is Man's Good" VATICAN CITY, JAN. 6, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave last Wednesday during the general audience held in Paul VI Audience Hall. The Pope reflected on the feasts of Christmas and the Epiphany. * * * Dear brothers and sisters, I am pleased to welcome you in this first general audience of the new year, and with all my heart I offer you and your families my affectionate good wishes:...

“Friday Night Lights” (Matthew 2:1-12; Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:1-12)“Pastor, have you lost your mind? What are you doing, dragging us out here to church on a Friday night, for goodness’ sakes! And in January, no less!” And my answer to that would be: The reason I’ve asked you all here tonight has to do with the “Friday Night Lights.” Friday night lights. Let me explain. Today is the Epiphany of Our Lord, a major festival of the church year. Epiphany is always January 6--it’s what we call a “fixed-date festival,” determined by the date on the calendar, regardless of the...

Today is January 6. Which means that it has been twelve days since Christmas. Simple math, really. Why does that matter. Well, today is the “Twelfth Day of Christmas” (you know the song – partridge in a pear tree and all). But beyond an 18th century Christmas carol, there are important historical links between today (January 6) and Christmas. Epiphany and Christmas – what’s the connection? Let’s go back to square one. First of all, nobody (that we know of) thought to write down Jesus’ birthday. Believe it or not, things like exact birthdays just weren’t that important in the...

This feast was kept in the East from the third century and its observance spread to the West towards the end of the fourth. The word Epiphany means manifestation, and just as at Christmas, it is the mystery of God appearing in visible form; only no longer does He show Himself to the Jews alone but “on this day" it is “to the Gentiles that God reveals His Son" (Collect). In a magnificent vision, Isaias beheld the Church as typified by Jerusalem, whither should flock kings and nations, the “multitude of the sea" and the “strength of the Gentiles,�...

The Visit of the Wise Men 1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men[a] from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose[b] and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he enquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told...

Defense Minister Ehud Barak alluded to the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza Sunday as he warned that Israel would strike back at terrorists there. "Since Friday, about 36 missiles have been fired from Gaza at Israeli communities," he said in a speech at the World Policy Conference in Vienna. "Israel will know how to defend itself and will not let this situation continue. [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon evacuated the Gaza Strip and took out every last soldier and civilian, gave instructions to tear down all buildings, even synagogues, so as not to supply any excuse to the Palestinians. And what happened?...

The evangelist producer of an online documentary to be released this Sunday has high hopes that the film, which shows eight pro-abortion young adults change their stance to pro-life just moments after being asked a question,

With Labor Day coming up, I find myself again reflecting on the wisdom of our elected leaders, who, in years past, had the insight to offer a holy day of celebration in honor of the American Labor Movement and its Marxist underpinnings. But that’s not all I found myself doing this fine weekend. No, I was on the road for an extended drive in my fairly new, reliable as hell, non-union-built Toyota Tacoma, which came equipped with Sirius Satellite Radio reception. Our single local “conservative talk” station, in typical lame fashion, had again bumped Rush’s Weekend in Review for some...

John Lennon was a closet Republican, who felt a little embarrassed by his former radicalism, at the time of his death - according to the tragic Beatles star's last personal assistant. Fred Seaman worked alongside the music legend from 1979 to Lennon's death at the end of 1980 and he reveals the star was a Ronald Reagan fan who enjoyed arguing with left-wing radicals who reminded him of his former self. In new documentary Beatles Stories, Seaman tells filmmaker Seth Swirsky Lennon wasn't the peace-loving militant fans thought he was while he was his assistant. He says, "John, basically, made...

Conservatives have a new celebrity spokesman-writer-thinker-philosopher. David Mamet, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright, screenwriter, movie director and sometime essayist, has come out of the closet. No longer, he declares, is he a "brain-dead liberal." Now he's a wide-awake conservative. Some time after arriving in Hollywood, of all places, and at age 60, he engaged in a conversation with his Republican rabbi (where did he find one?), who gave him the books of conservative writers, such as Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Milton Friedman and Paul Johnson. He had a dramatic political conversion. Mamet re-evaluated his own heroes, starting with the playwright Bertolt...

Earlier this week, humorist Ricky Gervais presented his arguments for atheism and why he thought he was a better Christian than many Christians. In this follow-up essay, writer Lee Strobel offers his defense of Easter. It was the worst news I could get as an atheist: my agnostic wife had decided to become a Christian. Two words shot through my mind. The first was an expletive; the second was “divorce.” I thought she was going to turn into a self-righteous holy roller. But over the following months, I was intrigued by the positive changes in her character and values. Finally,...

Via the Brody File, I feel obliged to post this now that he’s the tea-party frontrunner and the recipient of some surprisingly encouraging buzz from evangelical leaders. You know what the most fun part of having Trump in the race would be? The fact that he’s basically the bizarro Romney. They’re oddly alike in some ways. Each has been wildly successful in business and used it as a springboard to other prominent pursuits. Each is highly regarded for his managerial ability, to the extent that Trump had a whole television series built around it. And each is suspect for being...

Donald Trump Explains Conversion to Pro-Life Side on Abortion New York, NY -- Business mogul Donald Trump shocked attendees at the conservative CPC conference in February when he declared himself pro-life after years of supporting the pro-abortion position. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/04/08/donald-trump-explains-conversion-to-pro-life-side-on-abortion/

“Myth-Busters: Apostolic Witness and Prophetic Word” (2 Peter 1:16-21)“Cleverly devised myths.” That’s what we Christians are accused of believing. All that stuff about Jesus Christ being the Son of God and the only Savior of the world? “Just a bunch of fables, fairy tales, myths.” But then this is nothing new. Even back in the first century, Christians were ridiculed for believing the same thing, that they were falling for a bunch of poppycock, fables and fairy tales. St. Peter refers to this accusation in our epistle for today when he writes, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths...

“A Different Kind of Righteousness” (Matthew 5:1-37)“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” So said Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Listen to that again: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Now this saying of Jesus assumes a couple of things: 1) that entering the kingdom of heaven is something to be highly desired; and 2) that it takes righteousness to enter it. So let’s start there, with those two points. First,...

“Weak Power and Foolish Wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)The American Religious Identification Survey conducted a huge, nationwide survey in 2008, the first one since they did a similar survey in 2001. They asked people to identify themselves by their religion, and they included every religion you could think of--Catholic, mainline Protestant, Evangelical, you name it. Perhaps the most interesting result to come out of this survey is the only group they found that increased in number in every state in the union. Guess which religious identification that was. Give up? “None.” That’s right, “none” was the religious identification that increased everywhere,...

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand” (Matthew 4:12-25)“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand.” So Jesus began to preach when he entered into his public ministry, as we heard in today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 4. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” But, hey, doesn’t that sound familiar, like we’ve heard it somewhere before? Right you are, grasshopper! At the beginning of Matthew 3, we see John the Baptist enter into his ministry, and the summary of his preaching is given as, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Holy...

“Epiphany: Where to Find Jesus and Why” (Matthew 2:1-12)What’s the big deal about Epiphany? I mean, why do we come out for a special service on a weeknight in January? Why does this rate a place as a “major festival” in the church year? And after all, a lot of churches have dropped the historic practice of having Epiphany service on January 6--even some Lutheran churches, sad to say. I guess they figure it’s too much bother. Easier to stay home and not make the trip. Well, thank God, the wise men from the east didn’t stay home and not...

Today's Solemnity of the Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the Magi, an event that St Matthew emphasizes greatly (cf. Mt 2: 1-12). His Gospel narrates that some "Magi" - probably Persian religious leaders - reached Jerusalem guided by a "star", a luminous, heavenly phenomenon which they interpreted as a sign of the birth of a new king of the Jews. No one in the city knew anything; rather, the king in charge, Herod, remained very disturbed by the news and conceived the tragic design of the "slaughter of the innocents" to eliminate the newborn rival. The Magi, instead,...

Straight Answers: Who Were the Magi?   By Fr. William Saunders HERALD Columnist 1/1/97  Who were the Magi? — A reader in SpringfieldThe Gospel of Matthew mentions the Magi who came from the East to worship the newborn Christ child (cf. Matthew 2:1-12). Exactly who the magi were though remains somewhat of a mystery.Oftentimes, the English translations of the Bible use the word astrologers for magi. In Greek, the original language of the Gospel' the word magos (magoi, plural) has four meanings: (1) a member of the priestly class of ancient Persia, where astrology and astronomy were prominent in...

The Gift of the Magi ONE DOLLAR AND eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas. There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is...

Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh December 21st, 2010 by Stu WalkerIn four days we will celebrate the Birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Shortly after that, we will celebrate the event when the three wise men came to see Jesus. They brought Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. It is pretty amazing to think, for a moment, how God plans out things in a person’s life, especially when it is His Son. God knows and knew the hearts of men. When Herod asks the three kings to come and tell him where he may find Jesus, so he, too, can worship him and...

For a small moment on this morning’s “Morning Joe,” Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington echoed a common conservative prediction over the last two years: President Obama says, or promises, one thing and does another. That prediction was especially true when, after the 2008 election, many conservatives predicted all the “change” promised by Obama would be hard to deliver. It seems liberals are now understanding that’s the case. Huffington aired her grievances today, saying that Obama has fallen into a “pattern” of saying one thing and doing another. “He proposed and accepted something he’s been opposing for years,” she said:

With the classroom lights down low, our teacher Julie asked, "Feel that?" I looked at my empty hands and, echoing the class, I responded, "Oh...yeah." Julie whispered, "Move your hands closer together. Feels like you're squishing a ball." Yep, an invisible purple ball. Assuming the I-know-this-to-be-true look common to enlightened teachers in enlightened schools, Julie informed us that we were sensing the "body's natural energy." We partnered with other students to feel their energy. A very pleasant female student took an enthusiastic approach, and I felt energized. A guy sporting ear, nose, and lip rings headed my way, and my...

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 Antony Flew, Unatheist, Dies at 87 Antony Flew, world's most famous ex-atheist, has passed away at age 87. Not everyone may remember Flew or his significance. I do, because Flew was the "Richard Dawkins" of my childhood. Actually, Flew was never "Richard Dawkins," because he was never as crass and philosophically illiterate as Dawkins; but when I was younger, Flew was the key voice for atheism in the English-speaking world, as Dawkins appears to be now. When I was in fourth grade I read a book entitled "Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?", a debate between...

This is my 16th Easter.For the first 38 years of my life I did not celebrate Easter because I was one of JehovahÂ’s Witnesses, a pseudo- Christian group with a very strange economy of salvation. It is not easy to describe life in a cult like JehovahÂ’s Witnesses. It is very dark. Even their light is darkness.JehovahÂ’s Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity, so they do not believe in the deity of Christ. They believe that Jesus was Michael the Archangel before he came to earth, and that after he was resurrected, he went back to being Michael the...

Mysticism is dying, and taking true religion with it. Monasteries have dwindled. Contemplative orders have declined. Our religious leaders no longer preach the renunciation of the world; our culture scoffs at the idea. The closest most Americans come to real asceticism is giving up chocolate, cappuccinos, or (in my own not-quite-Francis-of-Assisi case) meat for lunch for Lent.

I am going to disappoint Leon Wieseltier. The famous liberal wrote this week, "A day does not go by when I do not do my humble part to prevent such a transformation [of American Jewry from liberals to conservatives] from coming to pass." Well, Leon, you let one get by. My transformation has occurred. It began with 9/11 and progressed along bumpily until the Obama, Pelosi, Reid express train came roaring down the track . . . For years I had been looking around and asking, "What the heck has happened to the Democratic Party that I grew up in?"...

LITTLE ROCK -- Have you noticed? The closer Election Day comes, the more conservative some blue-dog senators sound. Till they turn almost Republican red. Consider the case of Blanche Lincoln here in Arkansas. By the time the primary is held in May, this state's senior senator could be speaking at Tea Party rallies. A headline on the front page of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said it all: "Pressure on the rise for Arkansas' Lincoln/ Amid criticism, she chides party, Obama." To quote the story's lede: "U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln distanced herself from Democrats over and over last week. On Tuesday, the...

..former Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr has found God at nearly 70 years of age. This was revealed in a story written by Ben Todd who said, “John Lennon caused a worldwide storm by claiming that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. “Now, more than four decades on, it seems his former bandmate Ringo Starr has acknowledged a humbler place in the grand scheme of things.

January 28, 2010 (InsideCatholic.com) - Of all the things I remember about the Texas March for Life in Austin last January, the memory that stands out the most is the look on the faces of the counter-protesters who followed us along Congress Avenue and down to the capitol that frosty morning. When I glanced over to see the source of the epithets that were being screamed at us, I met the eyes of one young woman wearing a black bandana over the bottom half of her face. She happened to look over and meet my gaze, and in her...

Daily Beast columnist Christopher Buckley has clearly inherited his late, great father’s razor-sharp wit and gift for eloquence, but his political sensibilities fell considerably farther from the tree—so much so that he voted for Barack Obama, based on personal disappointment with John McCain, animosity towards Sarah Palin, and the certainty that Obama was too smart to actually believe all the left-wing baloney he espoused. Well, after a year of Hope n’ Change, we all know how that turned out. And it’s been enough to make Buckley redirect his pen in The One’s direction, penning a satirical early draft of this...

“Jesus in Nazareth: Preaching from His Call Document” (Luke 4:16-30)When a man is called and ordained into the preaching office, in his first service, in his first sermon, he is likely to make reference to his call document, the document that describes the ministry he is called to carry out. Also in his first sermon, out of the various lessons that are assigned for that day, the new preacher will select a text that will set the tone for his ministry, as he and the people look ahead to the work he will be doing among them. Referring to the...

Abortion rights activists have long preferred to hold themselves at some remove from the practice they promote; rather than naming it, they speak of “choice” and “reproductive freedom.” But those who perform abortions have no such luxury. Instead, advances in ultrasound imaging and abortion procedures have forced providers ever closer to the nub of their work. Especially in abortions performed far enough along in gestation that the fetus is recognizably a tiny baby, this intimacy exacts an emotional toll, stirring sentiments for which doctors, nurses, and aides are sometimes unprepared. Most apparently have managed to reconcile their belief in the...

“The Sign of the Wine” (John 2:1-11)What is the purpose of a sign? The purpose of a sign is to point beyond itself. The sign is designed to tell you something about what’s coming up or what’s inside or what it’s pointing to. The words or images on the sign convey a message intended to catch your interest and attention and to tell you what to expect. The other day I saw a sign with some golden arches on it, and there was an image of a French fry standing up and then two sandwiches in buns. The shapes were...

In her op-ed piece today, entitled Captain Obvious Learns the Limits of Cool, Maureen Down simply eviscerates President Obama for his cluelessness in handling the panty bomber fiasco. Here’s how it starts: Our president came down from the mountaintop. He had applied the freshness of his independent thought to the critical matters at hand. He had convened his seminar, reviewed the reviews, analyzed the intelligence every which way, thought anew about everything, and lo and behold, he finally emerged to tell us some stuff we already knew. We are under attack. There is evil in the world. Yemen is a...

“Epiphany: From Bethlehem to Baptism and Beyond” (Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 3:21-22)The Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord always falls on January 6, which this year was this past Wednesday. And the reading for Epiphany Day proper is always the visit of the wise men, to Bethlehem, when Jesus was a baby. Then for the First Sunday after the Epiphany, which is today, the reading is the account of the Baptism of Our Lord, in the Jordan, when Jesus was about age 30. Well, because of the weather, we had to cancel our Epiphany service on Wednesday, and so today,...

On the Feast of the Epiphany "A Confirmation of the Perfect Harmony Between Human Seeking and Divine Truth" VATICAN CITY, JAN. 6, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today before and after praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square. The Holy Father had just celebrated Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany in St. Peter's Basilica. * * * Dear brothers and sisters! Today we celebrate the great feast of the Epiphany, the mystery of the Lord's manifestation to all peoples, represented by the Magi, who came from the East...

The Magi and the Star January 4th, 2010 by Michael J. Miller During a 2007 BBC radio interview, the archbishop of Canterbury deconstructed elements of the Nativity story. "Stars simply don’t behave like that," Rowan Williams said. Asked about the existence of three wise men, he replied, "It works quite well as legend."But years ago Father Walter Brandmüller, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, published an essay applying the historical-critical method to the question of the Nativity story. (The essay is reprinted without cumbersome footnotes in Light and Shadows: Church History Amid Faith, Fact, and Legend [Ignatius].) He found...

When I was in college, I journeyed to Cologne, Germany and visited the city's glorious cathedral. I was a Protestant at the time, but I remember being amazed that people had been building this cathedral for so many centuries. It is one of the greatest Gothic churches of all time.

An unusual folk celebration of the Three Kings will be held in Caguas this evening, as musicians sing a third of the traditional rosary sung to the Magi. Elsewhere the typical celebration of the Epiphany got under way Sunday as the Magi and island mayors distributed toys and candy to children in their homes. A rosary to the Three Kings will be sung at 7 p.m. tonight on the steps of the Dulce Nombre De Jesús Cathedral in Plaza Santiago R. Palmer in Caguas. Folklore expert Norma Salazar of the city’s Cultural Development Department will direct the event, in which...

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Andrew Klavan, the author of such internationally bestselling crime novels.. Klavan: It was an experience that very much mirrored the pattern of the famous paradigm shift described in Thomas Kuhn’s “Structure of Scientific Revolutions.” Anomalies started to occur, things that didn’t fit into what I thought of as a “liberal” world view. ... Then the Berlin Wall fell down – everything Reagan predicted – stupid Reagan, cowboy Reagan, dumb old movie actor Reagan – every single thing he said would happen, happened. And it finally began to dawn on me, “Oh, I get it: it’s...

FP: Andrew Klavan, welcome to Frontpage Interview. I’d like to talk to you today about your journey into and out of the Left. How did you at first become a member of the political faith? Tell us about the beginnings of your intellectual journey. Klavan: Well, I was always a dissatisfied liberal. I just never knew there was anything else to be. I was born Jewish to a mother who worshipped FDR and a father who thought that any Republican victory prefigured the return of Adolf Hitler. That’s not an exaggeration: he thought Republicans were all just Hitler in disguise...

In late September, the abortionist at Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas, needed assistance, so he asked the center’s director Abby Johnson to hold the ultrasound probe during a dilation and evacuation abortion. Johnson watched as the 13-week-old unborn child attempted to avoid the probe. “I saw a full profile of the baby from head to foot,” she told me. Once the abortion procedure began, Johnson saw the child “crumple” under the pressure of the vacuum and then in an instant the child was gone. The reality of seeing the baby moving struck her as she stood in shock and dropped...

Planned Parenthood Director Leaves, Has Change of Heart Planned Parenthood has been a part of Abby Johnson's life for the past eight years; that is until last month, when Abby resigned. Planned Parenthood has been a part of Abby Johnson's life for the past eight years; that is until last month, when Abby resigned. Johnson said she realized she wanted to leave, after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. "I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that's it," said Jonhson. She handed in her resignation...

The director of a southeast Texas Planned Parenthood office has resigned after eight years. Abby Johnson had a change of heart after watching an ultrasound of an abortion. She now works for the Coalition for Life, a pro-life group that often prays outside her old Planned Parenthood office. Johnson said her bosses pressured her for months to increase profits by performing more abortions. CBN News spoke with Johnson about what prompted her change of heart. Click play for her comments.