Free Republic

Fortnight for Freedom 2013 is around the corner!The Fortnight, which begins June 21 and ends July 4 is a call for both prayer and activity on behalf of our first American Freedom — Freedom of Religion.From the USCCB website: The Fortnight for Freedom, which we celebrated for the first time last year, takes place from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day. Last year, we saw a great diversity of events promoting religious freedom across the country. In 2013, we face many challenges to religious liberty, including the August...

In the first decree of a liturgical nature of this pontificate, Pope Francis has decided that name of St. Joseph should be added to the Eucharistic Prayers II, II and IV, as they appear in the third typical edition of the Roman Missal, after the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Below please find the text of the decree issued Wednesday by the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments: DECREE Exercising his paternal care over Jesus, Saint Joseph of Nazareth, set over the Lord’s family, marvelously fulfilled the office he received by grace. Adhering firmly to the...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 24 A Psalm of David. 1. The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. 2. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. 3. Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4. He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of...

June 19, 2013   Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Cor 9:6-11 Brothers and sisters, consider this:whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion,for God loves a cheerful giver.Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,so that in all things, always having all you need,you may have an abundance for every good work.As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;his righteousness endures forever. The one who supplies seed to the sower and...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 96 A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment 1. Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth. 2. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. 3. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. 4. For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. 5. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens....

Isaiah 33:5 The LORD is exalted, for He dwelleth on high . . . 6 And the stability of thy times shall be the riches of salvation--wisdom and knowledge, and the fear of the LORD which is His treasure. . . Psalm 18:1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.

June 18, 2013   Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor 8:1-9 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, of the grace of Godthat has been given to the churches of Macedonia,for in a severe test of affliction,the abundance of their joy and their profound povertyoverflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.For according to their means, I can testify,and beyond their means, spontaneously,they begged us insistently for the favor of taking partin the service to the holy ones,and this, not as we expected,but they gave themselves first to the Lordand...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 71 God the Rock of Salvation 1. In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame. 2. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; Incline Your ear to me, and save me. 3. Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. 4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. 5....

June 17, 2013 Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor 6:1-10 Brothers and sisters:As your fellow workers, we appeal to younot to receive the grace of God in vain.For he says: In an acceptable time I heard you,and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is a very acceptable time;behold, now is the day of salvation.We cause no one to stumble in anything,in order that no fault may be found with our ministry;on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselvesas ministers of God, through much endurance,in afflictions, hardships, constraints,beatings, imprisonments,...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 84 To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. 1. How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of Hosts! 2. My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3. Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young— Even Your altars, O LORD of Hosts, My King and my God. 4. Blessed are those who dwell in Your...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Psalm 102 (Excerpt) A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD. 18. This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. 19. For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; From heaven the LORD viewed the earth, 20. To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To release those appointed to death, 21. To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, And His praise in Jerusalem, 22. When the...

June 16, 2013   Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Sm 12:7-10, 13 Nathan said to David: “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king of Israel.I rescued you from the hand of Saul.I gave you your lord’s house and your lord’s wives for your own.I gave you the house of Israel and of Judah.And if this were not enough, I could count up for you still more.Why have you spurned the Lord and done evil in his sight?You have cut down Uriah the Hittite with the sword;you took his wife as your...

“Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.” These words of Jesus, taught in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, is a universal command! This must be carried out according to one’s specific vocation of life.What are some specific ways in which men who have chosen the married state can live out this universal call and command to be holy as our heavenly Father is holy?In this short essay we will focus on the Husband’s relationship to God and his wife. Once married, the hierarchy of importance for the married man must be the following order: God, wife,...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 92 1. IT IS A GOOD THING TO GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, AND TO SING PRAISES UNTO THY NAME, O MOST HIGH: 2. To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, 3. Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. 4. For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. 5. O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. 6. A brutish...

My wife and I had to take our 19 year old son Liam to the ER yesterday. We are all crushed with sadness and it is difficult to go into details but our family is in desperate need of prayers.

June 15, 2013 Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor 5:14-21 Brothers and sisters:The love of Christ impels us,once we have come to the conviction that one died for all;therefore, all have died.He indeed died for all,so that those who live might no longer live for themselvesbut for him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh;even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh,yet now we know him so no longer.So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:the...

Two weeks before his death at sixteen, Brendan Kelly’s aunt helped him into bed one night. Owing to massive steroid treatments to fight the ravages of chemo, and being a big boy anyway, he weighed more than 200 pounds. So it was difficult getting him to bed, made more difficult because large sores covered his whole body. There was no place you could touch him that did not hurt. Except his head. She patted him there and Brendan said, “Aunt Kelly, I am so happy. All you need to be happy is to open your heart to Jesus.� A psychiatrist,...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 102 A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD. 1. Hear my prayer, O LORD, And let my cry come to You. 2. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily. 3. For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned like a hearth. 4. My heart is stricken and withered like grass, So that I forget to eat my bread....

June 14, 2013   Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor 4:7-15 Brothers and sisters:We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;perplexed, but not driven to despair;persecuted, but not abandoned;struck down, but not destroyed;always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus,so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.For we who live are constantly being given up to deathfor the sake of Jesus,so that the life of Jesus...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on;...

Romans 12:2 Be not Conformed to this World: But be ye Transformed by the Renewing of your Mind, That ye May Prove what is that Good, and Acceptable, and Perfect, Will of God.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 114 The Power of God in His Deliverance of Israel 1. When Israel went out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 2. Judah became His sanctuary, And Israel His dominion. 3. The sea saw it and fled; Jordan turned back. 4. The mountains skipped like rams, The little hills like lambs. 5. What ails you, O sea, that you fled? O Jordan, that you turned back? 6. O mountains, that you skipped like rams? O little hills, like lambs? 7. Tremble, O earth, at the presence...

June 13, 2013 Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church   Reading 1 2 Cor 3:15—4:1, 3-6 Brothers and sisters:To this day, whenever Moses is read,a veil lies over the hearts of the children of Israel,but whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed.Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,as from the Lord who is the Spirit. Therefore, since...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 131 A Song of Ascents. Of David 1. LORD, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me. 2. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3. O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever.

June 12, 2013 Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor 3:4-11 Brothers and sisters:Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take creditfor anything as coming from us;rather, our qualification comes from God,who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant,not of letter but of spirit;for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, was so gloriousthat the children of Israel could not look intently at the face of Mosesbecause of its...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 112 The Blessed State of the Righteous 1. Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who delights greatly in His commandments. 2. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. 3. Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever. 4. Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. 5. A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion. 6. Surely he...

1 Chronicles 28:20 And David said to Solomon his son: 'Be strong and of good courage, and do it; fear not, nor be dismayed; for the LORD God, even my God, is with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD be finished.

June 11, 2013 Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle   Reading 1 Acts 11:21b-26; 12:1-3 In those days a great number who believed turned to the Lord.The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem,and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.When he arrived and saw the grace of God,he rejoiced and encouraged them allto remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.And a large number of people was added to the Lord.Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul,and when he had...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 122 A Song of AscentsOf David. 1. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.” 2. Our feet have been standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem! 3. Jerusalem is built As a city that is compact together, 4. Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the LORD, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the LORD. 5. For thrones are set there for judgment, The thrones of the house of David. 6. Pray for the peace of...

June 10, 2013   Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 2 Cor1:1-7 Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,and Timothy our brother,to the Church of God that is at Corinth,with all the holy ones throughout Achaia:grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,the Father of compassion and the God of all encouragement,who encourages us in our every affliction,so that we may be able to encouragethose who are in any afflictionwith the encouragement with...

June 9, 2013   Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 1 Kgs 17:17-24 Elijah went to Zarephath of Sidon to the house of a widow.The son of the mistress of the house fell sick,and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped breathing.So she said to Elijah,“Why have you done this to me, O man of God?Have you come to me to call attention to my guiltand to kill my son?”Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.”Taking him from her lap, he carried the son to the upper roomwhere he was staying, and put him on...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 120 A Song of Ascents 1. In my distress I cried to the LORD, And He heard me. 2. Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips And from a deceitful tongue. 3. What shall be given to you, Or what shall be done to you, You false tongue? 4. Sharp arrows of the warrior, With coals of the broom tree! 5. Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar! 6. My soul has dwelt too long With one who hates peace. 7. I...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Psalm 144 A Psalm of David. 1. Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle— 2. My lovingkindness and my fortress, My high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me. 3. LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him? 4. Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow. 5. Bow down Your...

Since we’re in the middle of wedding season, now seems a good time to post this picture, which apparently caused a sensation when it first appeared online a few months ago. This blog post, by the bride, explains the story behind it: she and her groom holding hands in prayer moments before their wedding, trying not to catch a glimpse of each other before the ceremony: Right around the corner sat my soon to be husband, I so was nervous he might see me yet secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of him. In my excited state I was the...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 140 To the Chief Musician.A Psalm of David. 1. Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men; Preserve me from violent men, 2. Who plan evil things in their hearts; They continually gather together for war. 3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. (Selah) 4. Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent men, Who have purposed to make my steps stumble. 5. The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords; They have spread a net...

June 8, 2013 Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary   Reading 1 Tb 12:1, 5-15, 20 Tobit called his son Tobiah and said to him,“Son, see to it that you give what is due to the manwho made the journey with you; give him a bonus too.”So he called Raphael and said,“Take as your wages half of all that you have brought back,and go in peace.” Raphael called the two men aside privately and said to them:“Thank God! Give him the praise and the glory.Before all the living,acknowledge the many good things he has done...

What does it really mean to say that "God is Love," and how is this revealed in the Sacred Heart of Jesus? On this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, Father Steve meditates on an image of the heart of Christ, explaining what it means to be held within this pierced yet radiant symbol of Divine love.  Hanging on the wall of one of the confessionals at my parish is an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The unknown artist has opted, as many have, for a soft Jesus, whose features are as bland and inoffensive as possible and whose heart...

A friend of mine was showing a Southern Baptist neighbor around the Catholic Church. She explained the Stations of the Cross, the crucifix, the image of the Blessed Mother and the saints.Then they came to the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Baptist was bemused.“Why do y’all have a statue of Jesus with his heart on the outside?�“Well,� said the Catholic lady sweetly, “You Baptists like to ask Jesus into your heart right?�“That’s right.�“We like to ask Jesus to take us into his heart.�Perfect apologetics. Welcoming and kind and working from what the other person knows to what...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 150 Let All Things Praise the LORD 1. Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! 2. Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! 3. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! 4. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! 5. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! 6. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus "We the Christians are the true Israel which springs from Christ, for we are carved out of His heart as from a rock." -- St. Justin Martyr (d. 165) "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." -- Matthew 11:29 "There is in the Sacred Heart the symbol and express image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love in return." -- Pope Leo XIII    The heart has always been...

MY POETRY IS SACRIFICIAL PRAYER Lord, true poetry to me is loving You, the art of a lifetime; Expression of my affection is merely a prolonged longing and remembrance. Burden of love burdens my heart. I just want to live love fully expressed but remain unexpressed, But Your Will be done, O Lord, Your Will be done, receive my poetic prayers in loving. Lord, I shall do utmost to take Your words to capture souls To bring them joy, peace, tranquility, faith, hope, and most, YOU. It is my greatest desire is for You to them, greater than the desire...

One of the main things to understand about healing is that God has already made the provision of healing available for everyone. God is not choosing who gets healed and who doesn't. Just like God is not choosing who gets saved and who doesn't. Salvation and healing are part of the same package (1Peter 2:24). If someone died and went to hell you can't say God didn't save him. God has made the provision of salvation for everyone, but the difference is some receive the provision and others don't. You can't say God didn't do it just because someone didn't...

June 7, 2013   Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus   Reading 1 Ez 34:11-16 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 will lead them out from among the peoplesand gather them from the foreign lands;I will bring them back to their own countryand pasture them upon the mountains of Israelin the land's ravines and all its inhabited places.In...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. Isaiah 58:12 (NIV) ----

Job 10:12 Thou hast Given me Life and Grace: And Thy Visitation hath Preserved my Spirit.

Denver, Colo., Jun 6, 2013 / 02:02 am (CNA).- At the Archdiocese of Denver's Mount Olivet Cemetery, no person is buried without prayers being said over them – even those whose identities are a mystery. “Sometimes we don't even know the person’s name; they could come to us as a John Doe,� Llyod Swint, assistant director of Cemeteries and Mortuaries for the Denver archdiocese, told CNA June 4. “We’ll offer prayers for the repose of their souls, for the forgiveness of their sins, their deliverance into the arms of Christ.� Because Mount Olivet and the Archdiocese mortuary are on the...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 144 A Psalm of David. 1. Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle— 2. My lovingkindness and my fortress, My high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me. 3. LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him? 4. Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow. 5. Bow down Your heavens, O...

ENCOUNTER HIM ALONG THE ROAD Lord, I once longed to see you face to face; Now I know loving by seeing is less than loving by longing and contemplating. I want to love you with my whole being, with my heart, my eyes, and my mind. I want to see you in me, the deepest and most private of me, and in others. You give them to me to make our love more tender As serving them, I express my most vivid sweetness toward my Beloved. I am fulfilled when I fill your heart with kindness and care. To pass...