Free Republic

I would appreciate prayers for the safety of my daughter and her fellow students who are theology students at a school in Austria. The refugee/jihadi infiltrator situation is bad over there right now, considerably worse than we are seeing reported here in the States. From what I gather, the security situation in towns that are hosting refugee camps is deteriorating and there are any number of incidents where Muslim refugees continue the persecution against Christian refugees (stealing from them, attacks against them, etc.) The police are (intentionally?) oblivious to incidents. Who knows what else they are oblivious to. Your prayers...

September 10, 2015 Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Col 3:12-17 Brothers and sisters:Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,bearing with one another and forgiving one another,if one has a grievance against another;as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.And over all these put on love,that is, the bond of perfection.And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,the peace into which you were also called in one Body.And be thankful.Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,as in all wisdom you teach...

....Yes, it's true that when one submits to God, we will be blessed, but the biblical Stephen was 'blessed' with a vision of heaven before the last killing stone crushed his head. Paul was 'blessed' with a thorn in his side which tormented him God called sufficient grace. Peter was 'blessed' with a long career preaching in a persecuting world that ended with martyrdom on a cross. Facing the Giants bought into and promoted every Western Christian cliche imaginable. I would like to have seen the coach get fired even if he had won the championships. Or what would have...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Daniel 3 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide,and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood...

September 9, 2015   Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, Priest Reading 1 Col 3:1-11 Brothers and sisters:If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.When Christ your life appears,then you too will appear with him in glory. Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,and the greed that is idolatry.Because of these the wrath of God is coming upon the...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Daniel 24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.” 25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.” 26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw...

. . . . when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Luke 18:8

September 8, 2015   Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 Mi 5:1-4a The LORD says:You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah,too small to be among the clans of Judah,From you shall come forth for meone who is to be ruler in Israel;Whose origin is from of old,from ancient times.(Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the timewhen she who is to give birth has borne,And the rest of his brethren shall returnto the children of Israel.)He shall stand firm and shepherd his flockby the strength of the LORD,in the majestic name of the LORD, his God;And they shall...

1 Chron. 16:35 Save us, O God of our Salvation, And Gather us Together, And Deliver us from the heathen, That we May Give Thanks to Thy Holy Name, And Glory in Thy Praise.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Daniel 17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;     wisdom and power are...

September 7, 2015   Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Col 1:24–2:3 Brothers and sisters:I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,and in my flesh I am filling upwhat is lacking in the afflictions of Christon behalf of his Body, which is the Church,of which I am a ministerin accordance with God’s stewardship given to meto bring to completion for you the word of God,the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.But now it has been manifested to his holy ones,to whom God chose to make known the riches of the gloryof this mystery...

A contemplative order in New Jersey, where sisters live in cloister and practice a life of prayer, is attracting eager, college-educated women.SUMMIT, N.J. — It’s been a rough year for the mechanicals at the Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary. The lawn mower died, along with the chaplain’s car, the compressor for the kitchen refrigerator and one of the “new” washers (that is, a machine bought sometime in the mid ’80s). But the 19 sisters who live here are sanguine about these and other expenses, which include more than $94,000 a year for health insurance. “Oy,” is how...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Daniel 2 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers[a] to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.” 4 Then the astrologers answered the king,[c] “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” 5 The...

September 6, 2015   Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 35:4-7a Thus says the LORD:Say to those whose hearts are frightened:Be strong, fear not!Here is your God,he comes with vindication;with divine recompensehe comes to save you.Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,the ears of the deaf be cleared;then will the lame leap like a stag,then the tongue of the mute will sing.Streams will burst forth in the desert,and rivers in the steppe.The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water. Responsorial Psalm Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 R. (1b) Praise the Lord,...

Pun intended. It’s been four months today since my dad was killed in a hit-and-run crash. He was cycling near his home on May 4 and was hit from behind by an intoxicated motorist (who was later apprehended). Dad was killed instantly. As I wrote a month after the crash, my dad was my rock, and our whole family is trying to pick up the pieces of our lives and figure out how to go on without him.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Daniel 17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. 18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found...

September 5, 2015   Saturday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Col 1:21-23 Brothers and sisters:You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds;God has now reconciled youin the fleshly Body of Christ through his death,to present you holy, without blemish,and irreproachable before him,provided that you persevere in the faith,firmly grounded, stable,and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard,which has been preached to every creature under heaven,of which I, Paul, am a minister. Responsorial Psalm PS 54:3-4, 6 and 8 R. (6) God himself is my help.O God, by...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Daniel 8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.” 11 Daniel then said...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation The War of 1812 We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what You did in their days, in days long ago. With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our ancestors; You crushed the peoples and made our ancestors flourish. declares the Sovereign LORD. Psalm 44:1-2 (NIV) ----