Free Republic

February 2, 2015Feast of the Presentation of the Lord    Reading 1 Mal 3:1-4 Thus says the Lord God:Lo, I am sending my messengerto prepare the way before me;And suddenly there will come to the templethe LORD whom you seek,And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.But who will endure the day of his coming?And who can stand when he appears?For he is like the refiner’s fire,or like the fuller’s lye.He will sit refining and purifying silver,and he will purify the sons of Levi,Refining them like gold or like silverthat...

In the Gospel of John, we read a story where a group of Jewish Torah teachers and Pharisees (members of a legalistic sect of Judaism) bring to Jesus a woman whom they caught in adultery, asking Him what punishment He thinks the woman deserves. Masterfully — as He always did — Jesus answers the scholars with a simple, yet profound statement: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7, NIV).Recently, Newsweek featured a cover article on the Bible in which author Kurt Eichenwald — not a Biblical scholar...

January 3, 2015Christmas Weekday    Reading 1 1 Jn 2:29–3:6 If you consider that God is righteous,you also know that everyone who acts in righteousnessis begotten by him. See what love the Father has bestowed on usthat we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.Beloved, we are God’s children now;what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,for we shall see him as he is.Everyone who has this...

In this time of worry about the future of our nation let us pause to remember the gift God gave us on the first Christmas morning. Here is the story of Christ’s birth as told to us by St. Luke 2: 1-20) 1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 2 This was the first enrollment, when Quirin’i-us was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to...

December 25, 2014The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)Mass During the Day    Reading 1 Is 52:7-10 How beautiful upon the mountainsare the feet of him who brings glad tidings,announcing peace, bearing good news,announcing salvation, and saying to Zion,“Your God is King!” Hark! Your sentinels raise a cry,together they shout for joy,for they see directly, before their eyes,the LORD restoring Zion.Break out together in song,O ruins of Jerusalem!For the LORD comforts his people,he redeems Jerusalem.The LORD has bared his holy armin the sight of all the nations;all the ends of the earth will beholdthe salvation of our God. Responsorial Psalm...

December 25, 2014The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)Mass at Dawn    Reading 1 Is 62:11-12 See, the LORD proclaimsto the ends of the earth:say to daughter Zion,your savior comes!Here is his reward with him,his recompense before him.They shall be called the holy people,the redeemed of the LORD,and you shall be called “Frequented,”a city that is not forsaken. Responsorial Psalm Ps 97:1, 6, 11-12 R/ A light will shine on us this day: the Lord is born for us.The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;let the many isles be glad.The heavens proclaim his justice,and all peoples see his glory.R/...

December 25, 2014The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)Mass During the Night Reading 1 Is 9:1-6 The people who walked in darknesshave seen a great light;upon those who dwelt in the land of glooma light has shone.You have brought them abundant joyand great rejoicing,as they rejoice before you as at the harvest,as people make merry when dividing spoils.For the yoke that burdened them,the pole on their shoulder,and the rod of their taskmasteryou have smashed, as on the day of Midian.For every boot that tramped in battle,every cloak rolled in blood,will be burned as fuel for flames.For a child is born...

Wedding at Cana, Garden in Eden Lesson Goals:1. To appreciate the Old Testament symbolism that forms the deep background to the Gospel account of the wedding feast at Cana.2. To understand how Mary is depicted as a “New Eve” in this account.3. To appreciate the importance of the Old Testament marriage symbolism for John’s recounting of the “sign” at Cana. Lesson Outline:        I.        Mary in the Gospel of John                      A.        First Reading                      B.        Sign of a New Creation      II.        The Mother of Jesus                      A.        Scolding Mary?                      B.        Woman of Revelation      III.        The New Eve                      A.        Mother of All...

Leading film-makers are courting controversy with plans for adaptations of provocative books about Jesus Christ that are likely to generate a backlash from traditional Christians. British producer David Heyman is developing a film based on Reza Aslan’s bestselling book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, while Paul Verhoeven, the Dutch director, has been working on an adaptation of his own book, Jesus of Nazareth, for five years. Aslan, a member of the American Academy of Religion, made headlines last year when a Fox News interviewer challenged his credentials, as a Muslim, to write an account of Jesus’s...

“The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” – 1 John 2:17 It’s getting ugly out there. Indeed, the world is dying. Not in a false-alarmist, “OMG-global-warming-is-going-to-kill-us-all!” sort of way. Rather, this world is passing away in a Romans 1, “The-wrath-of-God-is-being-revealed-from-heaven” sort of way. How very unsettling and confusing this must all be for those absent “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (see Philippians 4:7). A spirit of death and devastation has blanketed our globe. The enemy knows that his time is short. While nobody can...

Rev. Franklin Graham, son of world renowned evangelist Billy Graham, said the last few decades in America have witnessed an increased hostility towards “the sacred nature of Christmas,” a stripping away of religious references in the public square that is “at its root and core” a “war on Christ and His Followers.”“The war on Christmas is a war on Christ,” said Rev. Graham, a “hatred” against a culture that celebrates the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh as a baby 2,000 years ago, and anticipates his second coming when, as a “conquering King,” He will “cast Satan and unbelievers...

What do you think of when you hear the words Grace and mercy? It is common in this day and age to think of the concept of grace as something of a prayer someone might say before they eat a meal, and mercy, as something of an act of restraint in wreaking loss, devastation, or retribution towards someone who committed an act against another person, or perhaps the inability to pay a debt owed to a certain person within a particular time frame. Without God’s grace and mercy, we could never truly experience a heart of thankfulness if we never...

November 23, 2014The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe    Reading 1 Ez 34:11-12, 15-17 Thus says the Lord GOD:I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flockwhen he finds himself among his scattered sheep,so will I tend my sheep.I will rescue them from every place where they were scatteredwhen it was cloudy and dark. I myself will pasture my sheep;I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD. The lost I will seek out,the strayed I will bring back,the injured I will bind up,the sick I will...

I've always felt as if I've known renowned Christian apologist Josh McDowell through his many excellent books, but I finally got to meet him in the flesh, and what a blessing it was. As I mention in my latest book, "Jesus on Trial," I read his book "Evidence That Demands a Verdict" many years ago as I was seeking God and was impressed by his comprehensive treatment of so many issues that trouble skeptics. He is nothing if not thorough; he leaves no stones unturned in his exhaustive presentation of numerous topics concerning the authenticity of Christianity's truth claims. Josh...

Featured Term (selected at random:TWELVE PROMISES The promises made by Christ to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun, in the convent chapel at Paray-le-Monial, France, between 1673 and 1675. They occurred during revelations she received on devotion to the Heart of Jesus, and have been encouraged by the Church as worthy of pious belief. They have been translated into more than two hundred languages. Although the total number is larger, the following are the most important promises made by Christ to those who are devoted to the Sacred Heart: 1. I will give them all the graces necessary in...

In my new book, "Jesus on Trial," I explain how the Bible itself serves as its own apologetic. Holy Scripture, if we'll give it a chance, can bring us to faith. So one of the main goals I have with my book is to encourage people to crack open this amazing book and give it a chance to work in their lives. They may be surprised. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). "From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in...

September 14, 2014Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross    Reading 1 Nm 21:4b-9 With their patience worn out by the journey,the people complained against God and Moses,“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,where there is no food or water?We are disgusted with this wretched food!” In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,which bit the people so that many of them died.Then the people came to Moses and said,“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us.”So Moses prayed for...

David Limbaugh has written a book that departs dramatically from his recent tomes on the worst excesses of the Obama presidency. "Jesus On Trial: A Lawyer Affirms the Truth of the Gospel" explores his journey of faith, from believer to non-believer and back. "Rush and I were raised in a great Midwest Christian family. We went to church every Sunday. Our parents raised us right so I'm not blaming them. I'm blaming myself for the message not sticking," he says. As it has for so many, his faith faded away in college. Faith was replaced by skepticism. Limbaugh wants it...

A 1,500-year old piece of papyrus recently re-discovered in a U.K. university library contains some of the earliest documented references to the Last Supper and ‘manna from heaven.’ The papyrus fragment with Greek writing, held by the University of Manchester’s John Rylands library since 1901, has also been identified as one of the world’s earliest Christian charms. Experts believe that the fragment originated near the ancient Egyptian town of Hermoupolis.

Most antiquities scholars think that the New Testament gospels are “mythologized history.” In other words, they think that around the start of the first century a controversial Jewish rabbi named Yeshua ben Yosef gathered a following and his life and teachings provided the seed that grew into Christianity. At the same time, these scholars acknowledge that many Bible stories like the virgin birth, miracles, resurrection, and women at the tomb borrow and rework mythic themes that were common in the Ancient Near East, much the way that screenwriters base new movies on old familiar tropes or plot elements. In this...