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The fact that Israel is celebrating its 75th birthday this year is regarded by many people in the land as a miracle. Is Israel’s existence really something supernatural? It is clear that miracles are a part of the biblical past, but in the political present they are either not recognized, or are ignored. Some of the classic miracles in the Bible include the parting of the Red Sea, Balaam’s talking ass, the manna that fell from heaven, the sun standing still in the heavens, Jesus walking on the water and many other paranormal phenomena. It is often taken for granted...

God's Plan for Marriage and Family - A Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family Msgr. Charles Pope December 26, 2015 Here in the middle of the Christmas Octave, the Church bids us to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. On the old calendar, the feast of the Holy Family fell on the Sunday after Epiphany, which makes some sense. For it is a bit odd with the new calendar to read a gospel portraying Jesus at twelve years of age when we celebrated His birth just a few days ago. And then next week, on the Feast...

The Family in God’s Plan The Commandment to Honor One’s Father and Mother Reflects the Family’s Role in Church and Society By: Most Reverend William E. Lori, Archbishop of BaltimoreArticle Tools The fourth commandment instructs us to “Honor your father and your mother.” How many times as youngsters did we confess that we had disobeyed our parents in ways great and small? Yet we can understand this commandment more fully by considering how it encompasses God’s entire plan for marriage and family life.The fourth commandment instructs us to “Honor your father and your mother.” How many times as youngsters...

God’s Plan will Stand – A Word of Encouragement to the Fainthearted By: Msgr. Charles PopeAdvent is a season of waiting, waiting for God to fulfill his promises. We know that most of His promises from the Old Testament were fulfilled magnificently by Jesus. But as St. Paul reminds, we have received but the first fruits of his work in our soul (cf Rom 8:23). The created world and our physical bodies still await the full implications of what He has done. We still await a new Heaven and a new earth where the justice of God will reside...

Over the weekend, former John McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt told "60 Minutes" something shocking about McCain's former running mate, Sarah Palin. It seems that when Schmidt met Palin after McCain selected her, he was surprised that she was so calm. Schmidt apparently asked her how she could remain so tranquil in the face of such a monumental life change. She responded, "It's God's plan." Naturally, the media went bonkers over this revelation. The New York Times approvingly reported comic Jimmy Fallon's one-liner: "God responded: 'What? Really? Don't bring me into this.'" The Week asked whether Palin was "simply devout...

There is a certain immediacy about motherhood that cannot be said of fatherhood. Nature goes a long way in helping a mother know what it means to be a mother. Ovulation, pregnancy, childbirth, lactation and breast feeding are natural and immediate experiences that teach a mother a great deal about the meaning of her motherhood. Motherhood is eminent, but fatherhood is transcendent. If nature does comparatively little to teach a man the meaning of fatherhood, his wife, his children and his culture must help to fill in the blanks. Nonetheless, secular feminism, the high divorce rate and abortion most emphatically...

I just got off the phone with my sister. She called me in tears, to tell me about a dear friend of hers, a husband and a father of 2, that had had a massive heart attack at the age of 43. He was clinically dead for 30 minutes until they got him to the hospital, where he was revived 5 times, and is now in a coma. His doctors have a grim diagnosis for his recovery.His name is Dave Jones.His wife is Denise.Dave is one of the good ones. Dave NEEDS to be in this world because his place...

Sex and True Love   The news has recently reported that a leading media company, with preeminent positions in broadcast and cable television, radio, and advertising, has agreed to pay the Federal Communications Commission $3.5 million, one of the largest fines ever given by this agency, to end allegations of indecency.  Yet even as the debate about public decency goes on, TV continues to challenge its viewers with ever new boundaries about public decency.  Not to be outdone by an alleged wardrobe malfunction that bared a performer's breast during halftime at last January's Super Bowl, a Cleveland news anchor, a...

A DOCUMENT on the roles of men and women to be released by the Vatican criticises "world-wide feminism" for trying to erase the biological differences between men and woman, according to a report made public today. The 37-page document to be released on Saturday calls on governments to encourage women not to focus on their careers to the detriment of "their duty to the family", the German Bild newspaper reported. The paper also addresses homosexuality, saying that God approves only of marriages between a man and a woman, the paper reported.

BreakPoint with Charles Colson Commentary #040218 - 02/18/2004 Ward and Ward Cleaver: The New Stay-at-Home Parent Two successful working parents, one a corporate lawyer and the other an anesthesiologist, were faced with a decision. One needed to stay home to care for their newly adopted infant son. And so the lawyer gave up power lunches for peanut butter sandwiches, a high-paying job for one with no financial compensation. That's a story similar to that of many married couples, in which one parent -- usually Mom -- decides to leave the workplace to care for the kids. But this isn't the...