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August 13, 2013 Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Dt 31:1-8 When Moses had finished speaking to all Israel, he said to them,“I am now one hundred and twenty years oldand am no longer able to move about freely;besides, the LORD has told me that I shall not cross this Jordan.It is the LORD, your God, who will cross before you;he will destroy these nations before you,that you may supplant them.It is Joshua who will cross before you, as the LORD promised.The LORD will deal with them just as he dealt with Sihon and Og,the...

Syria's Christians belong to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, but chased away by the threat of violence some are heading for neighbouring Turkey, where they have been greeted with considerable enthusiasm. Driven by a deep and humble faith, Father Joaqim is a young man with a sense of destiny. He has returned from 11 years in Holland to revive his dying community in eastern Turkey. We are standing together on the terrace of his newly restored monastery, high on a remote escarpment near Nusaybin, looking south over the Mesopotamian Plain. "Thank God our community is alive...

Wife just got a phone call with horrible news from niece in Bombay. Ceiling collapsed in multi-story apartment building in the middle of the night. Very poor area. Wife's older sister currently is semi-conscious and bleeding. There seems to be no emergency service who will pick her up and family has no vehicle. The next few hours would seem to be critical. The sister, Margaret, was practically a saint in helping raise my wife as a child. A wonderful person. Prayers badly needed. Thank you. I will read but probably not reply tonight. Thank you.

Unintended Consequences: How the “relevant” church and segregating youth is killing Christianity. I recently spent six-months doing a rotation as a hospital chaplain. One day I received a page (Yes, hospitals actually still use pagers). Chaplains are generally called to the rooms of people who look ill: People gray with kidney disease, or yellow with liver failure, discouraged amputees, nervous cancer patients. In this room, however, was a strikingly attractive 23 year-old young lady sitting up cheerfully in the hospital bed, holding her infant daughter and chatting with family and friends. Confused, I stepped outside and asked her nurse, “Why...

Just Ask Today's Scripture “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria What do you need from God today? A lot of times, it’s easy to think that we’re not supposed to ask for too much, but scripture encourages us to go to God with all of our needs. He longs to give you the desires of your heart and pour out His favor and blessing on you. In fact, Jesus said, “You have not because...

The Theology of Resting in God "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" —Matthew 8:26 When we are afraid, the least we can do is pray to God. But our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His name have an underlying confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the ones who are reliable. Yet our trust is only in God up to a certain point, then we turn back to the elementary panic-stricken prayers of those people who do not even...

Mid-East Prophecy Update - August 11th, 2013 Pastor JD talks about the prophecy in Ezekiel 38 concerning an alliance of enemies seeking to destroy Israel as a nation and how it's yet another reason, that Christ's return for His church is sooner than we may think.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- The centrality of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement is being emphasized by Southern Baptist leaders after a state newspaper editor wrote that he does not sing certain words of a popular hymn due to its mention of God's wrath. Substitutionary atonement refers to the belief that Jesus died in the place of sinners, taking on Himself the wrath of God that they deserved. Bob Terry, editor of The Alabama Baptist, in an Aug. 8 editorial, paralleled the angst expressed by a Presbyterian Church USA hymnal committee in rejecting the song "In Christ Alone" because of the line...

Father Patrick Dowling. Courtesy of the Diocese of Jefferson City. Jefferson City, Mo., Aug 12, 2013 / 02:12 pm (CNA).- The mysterious Missouri priest who gave anointing to a woman in her wrecked car near Center, Mo. has been identified as Father Patrick Dowling, of the Diocese of Jefferson City. “I thank God and the amazingly competent rescue workers,� Fr. Dowling stated today in a comment on CNA's original article on the Aug. 4 incident. “I thank them for making me welcome in such a highly charged situation and allowing me to minister as a priest.� Katie Lentz was trapped...

A comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries finds that there are 2.18 billion Christians of all ages around the world, representing nearly a third of the estimated 2010 global population of 6.9 billion. Christians are also geographically widespread – so far-flung, in fact, that no single continent or region can indisputably claim to be the center of global Christianity. A century ago, this was not the case. In 1910, about two-thirds of the world’s Christians lived in Europe, where the bulk of Christians had been for a millennium, according to historical estimates by the Center for the Study...

� Why This Generation Doesn’t “Get” Hell… This Guy Understands… Take a few minutes and listen to this stirring speech by Rafael Cruz, the Father of Senator Ted Cruz. He speaks for the rapidly marginalized true America, which is unapologetically Christian. Whatever happens is up to God. I don’t see a political solution to our spiritual problem, but Truth is refreshing to hear, especially when passionately presented, Enjoy, and pray! Pastor Rafael Speaks

Featured Term (selected at random):OLIVE BRANCHA universal symbol of peace. It is the sign of reconciliation between God and humans, shown when it was brought by the dove returning to Noah's ark after the Deluge. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Children and Families In The Bible Joseph(Genesis 37-50) Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons 1 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days: 2. “ Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father. 3. “ Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. 4. Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed;...

[ . . . ] . . . Christian authorities need to stop thinking and writing as though the categories of homosexual and Christian can be joined—as though the Church could tolerate or accommodate, or speak gently of, much less bless or sanctify, anything peculiar to the garment stained by the flesh that those who come to Christ throw off in their baptism. In that baptism we become penitents, and as such divided from our sins. St. Paul tells us here that no penitent is to be named by, identified by, what he has abjured. Those injured people who have...

My youngest brother has been diagnosed with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA).He's been "out of sorts" for the last 6 months, but when he noticed some rather disturbingly large blood blisters on his lower legs and feet, he went to the doctor at 1030 in the morning. At 1045, he was in the emergency ward.

Professor Richard Dawkins, known as the world’s most famous atheist, has risen to rock star status for his attacks on God and religion, in particular, his attacks on the God of the Bible. But when he recently criticized Muslims, he was in for a surprise. Before looking at Dawkins’ rather mild criticism of Muslims, let’s remember the depth of his vitriol against Christians and the Bible, most of which has only enhanced Dawkins’ reputation. In an April interview aired on the Qatar-based TV network Al Jazeera, Dawkins railed on the Catholic Church, saying that, as “Horrible as sexual abuse no...

August 12, 2013Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Dt 10:12-22 Moses said to the people:“And now, Israel, what does the LORD, your God, ask of youbut to fear the LORD, your God, and follow his ways exactly,to love and serve the LORD, your God,with all your heart and all your soul,to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORDwhich I enjoin on you today for your own good?Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens,belong to the LORD, your God,as well as the earth and everything on it.Yet in his love for your fathers the...

AINA) -- The Antiochian Orthodox church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus was a landmark of al-Thawrah (also known as al-Tabqah). It was an impressive, modern structure with a large yard, surrounded by a high wall and well-situated on a main street near the corniche -- a well landscaped area hugging the southern bank of Lake Assad which was popular with locals going on an evening stroll. Its elegant dome, surmounted by a cross, could be seen from all parts of the Third Quarter (also known as Hayy al-Ishtirakiyah), where it was located. Spiritually, this church was under the jurisdiction of...

Pope Francis on Sunday urged Christians and Muslims to promote mutual respect , especially through the education of new generations. His remarks came at the end of his Angelus address when he sent greetings to Muslims throughout the world who have just celebrated the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/08/11/pope_francis_greets_muslims_and_urges_both_christians_and_muslims_to/en1-718872 of the Vatican Radio website

He writes: - A Pentecostal church in the favela is located in front of the place the Pope spoke to the people. This church lead a vigil the whole night before the visit making a lot of noise and pestering the neighbours as a form of protest and resistance against the Pope’s presence in the community. When the Pope arrived, he saw the church and said “let’s go there to salute them�. He went to the church, praised the pastors, prayed a Our Father together with them saying that we all who follow Christ are His children. The church then...

Michele Ferri is the brother of 51-year-old Andrea, a petrol station manager who was allegedly gunned down by two men including one young employee he treated like a son. The death shocked the north-eastern town of Pesaro. Michele Ferri wrote a letter to the Pope telling him of his inability to forgive the killers and was shocked when he picked up the telephone Wednesday evening to hear: "Ciao Michele, it's Pope Francis." At first Mr Ferri thought it was a joke but said he was overcome with emotion when he realised it was really Francis on the line from the...

Give Rachel Held Evans credit. She was able to generate a lot of discussion with her post, “Why millennials are leaving the church.” Evans’s contradictory article, however, is merely another polemic against the conservative evangelicalism she’s been battling for years. The solution to winning back? Churches just need to follow her lead and go liberal!

Eastern Michigan University hosted a day-long conference Saturday that dared to ask the question: “Is Islam a Religion of Peace?” Leaders of the state’s Muslim community apparently didn’t care to hear the answer because they tried mightily to get the conference cancelled. “We respect the freedom of speech,” claimed Victor Begg, senior advisor of the Michigan Muslim Community Center. “However, denying the Holocaust, yelling ‘fire’ in a theater, or glorifying Hitler would not constitute freedom of speech.” In other words, anyone who wonders aloud whether Islam truly is the peaceful religion its adherents claim is on a moral par with...

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You are a homeless person. You are sick and you know it is bad. You stagger into the ER of St. Ipsidipsy Catholic Hospital in Tall Tree Circle. You have no insurance, health coverage, or money. You are seen by a doctor and treated.The Obama Administration then punishes the hospital for treating you, a person without government-approved obligatory Obamacare.From the Daily Caller: Obamacare installs new scrutiny, fines for charitable hospitals that treat uninsured peopleCharitable hospitals that treat uninsured Americans will be subjected to new levels of scrutiny of their nonprofit status and could face sizable new fines under Obamacare. A...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Children In The Bible Joseph(Genesis 37-50) Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons 1. Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2. And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. 3. Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4. and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Stand Firm Joshua 1:5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

This Experience Must Come "Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha . . . saw him no more" —2 Kings 2:11-12 It is not wrong for you to depend on your “Elijah� for as long as God gives him to you. But remember that the time will come when he must leave and will no longer be your guide and your leader, because God does not intend for him to stay. Even the thought of that causes you to say, “I cannot continue without my ’Elijah.’ � Yet God says you must continue.Alone at Your “Jordan�...

August 11, 2013 Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Wis 18:6-9 The night of the passover was known beforehand to our fathers,that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith,they might have courage.Your people awaited the salvation of the justand the destruction of their foes.For when you punished our adversaries,in this you glorified us whom you had summoned.For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrificeand putting into effect with one accord the divine institution. Responsorial Psalm Ps 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22 R. (12b) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen...

U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama sent their warmest greetings to Muslims celebrating Eid al-Fitr around the world, calling it "part of a great tapestry of America's many traditions." "Michelle and I send our warmest greetings to Muslims celebrating Eid-al-Fitr in the United States and around the world," Obama said in his message. "For millions of Americans, Eid is part of a great tapestry of America's many traditions, and I wish all Muslims a blessed and joyful celebration. Eid Mubarak," Obama said. Eid is being celebrated on Thursday in the Arab world and most of the East...

I haunt flea markets, partly because the stuff is so cheap (and I am genetically Scottish), but partly, too, because I find things there that will never appear in a big box store, or any other chain retail environment. Likewise, I haunt second-hand bookstores, where the range of possible titles to be found is vastly greater than in stores confined to selling only those books that happen to be in print.Quality is an issue here. Most things one finds in a flea market are better made and will last longer, as well as being a lot cheaper than anything...

On one particular morning, just two weeks after His resurrection, Jesus stood on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And, seeing the Apostles in a boat just off shore he said, Little Children, Have you caught anything? (John 21:5).It is a rather strange way to speak to grown men: “Little Children� (παιδία = paidia = little ones, children, infants, the diminutive of pais (child), hence “little ones�). And yet how deeply affectionate it is.We often think of ourselves in grander terms, terms that bespeak power, wisdom, age and strength. But I suspect that, to God, we must always seem...

Events in one Syrian town cast light on the nation’s strifeIlyas was, he told me, the very last Christian to flee Qusayr. He had been one of just a handful in the town to join the revolution — an odd thing for a Christian to do because the Free Syrian Army (FSA) were and are mostly Sunnis, and the Christians mostly sided with Assad. Still, it didn’t save him. One day he heard banging on the door and saw men with Kalashnikovs standing there. There were familiar faces, some he had known for years. He said: ‘They told me: “You’re...

n artist has created a sketch of the mysterious "angel priest" who witnesses say appeared at the scene of a Missouri car accident Sunday, anointed and prayed with the teenage victim and then vanished without a trace. Fox4KC reports Tucson-based artist Randall Sands created the sketch using online face sketch software at facesid.com based on media reports, hoping someone would be able to identify the cleric. Officials are still scratching their heads over the priest, who they say appeared out of nowhere. Perhaps more mysteriously, the local fire chief said he does not appear in any of 80 photos from...

At a special ceremony on July 6, Pope Francis briefly met with clergy and officials who, over the past two years, have been involved in the diocesan phase of the beatification process of Vietnamese Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan.Cardinal Van Thuan spent 13 years in prison, nine of them in solitary confinement in Hanoi, following his appointment as coadjutor archbishop of Saigon just seven days before South Vietnam fell to the Communist North in 1975.He was released in 1988 and Pope John Paul II called him to Rome, where he eventually became president of the Pontifical Council for Justice...

To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. (2 Samuel 22:26-30)

Featured Term (selected at random):PREDESTINATIONIn the widest sense it is every eternal decision of God; in a narrower sense it is the supernatural final destination of rational creatures; and in the strictest sense it is God's eternal decision to assume certain rational creatures into heavenly glory. Predestination implies an act of the divine intellect and of the divine will. The first is foreknowledge, the second is predestination. According to its efficacy in time, predestination is distinguished as incomplete or complete depending on whether it is to grace only or also to glory. Complete predestination is the divine preparation of...

The Holy Suffering of the Saint "Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good . . ." —1 Peter 4:19 Choosing to suffer means that there must be something wrong with you, but choosing God’s will— even if it means you will suffer— is something very different. No normal, healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he simply chooses God’s will, just as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. And no saint should ever dare to interfere with the lesson of suffering being taught in another saint’s life.The saint...

The culture wars are getting hotter. �Social issues� will remain key issues in the next couple election cycles in these USA, which will probably cause a couple train-wrecks for Catholics and for libertarians… and even for Catholic Tea Party members. On that point, the great Samuel Gregg has a new book coming out (pre-order HERE) which I am reading in an advance copy.So… we track back to priest and bishops being involved in politics. Whenever a priest or a bishop enunciates clearly and accurately a teaching of the Church which would bring any sound Catholic to shun certain candidates, those...

Thomas Peters of Catholic Vote in May 2012. Credit: Michelle Bauman/CNA. Washington D.C., Aug 9, 2013 / 05:51 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A young Catholic blogger known for his defense of the faith in the public square is thankful for prayers and support as he begins the long process of recovery following a severe accident. “Rehabilitation will not be easy and there are no answers for how much Thomas will be able to rehabilitate,� said Natalie Peters in a statement collaborated with Thomas, her husband. However, she told CNA that she and Thomas “have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of prayers�...

Denver, Colo., Aug 10, 2013 / 06:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Although a controversial new book on the “historical Jesus� is topping best-seller lists, claims made by its author are tired when it comes to New Testament scholarship, a Scripture professor says. “There's basically not a lot new,� Dr. Andre Villeneuve from Denver's St. John Vianney Theological Seminary said of Reza Aslan's recent “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.� “It kind of re-hashes what's been said in the last – not just 20 or 30 years – but the last 100 or 200 years about the search...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Children In The Bible Joseph(Genesis 37-50) 1. Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen.” 2. And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. 3. Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” 4. And they said to Pharaoh,...

Scarcely a day goes by now where we do not read of yet another in a constellation of initiatives being undertaken by both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government on behalf of persecuted Christians and other victims in Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere in the world. For instance, on July 31 it was announced that a charitable drive launched at the end of June by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia had raised US$1.3 Million to assist victims of the Syrian armed conflict. That these funds will be distributed through the auspices of both Orthodox Christian Patriarch John...

August 10, 2013 Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr   Reading 1 2 Cor 9:6-10 Brothers and sisters: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 bread for foodwill supply...

American churches are losing their young people. This trend was evidenced most recently in a 2012 Pew Forum study titled “‘Nones’ on the Rise: One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation.” The summary of the 80-page report posits, “The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the U.S. public—and a third of adults under 30—are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling.” Researchers use the label of “nones,” or “religiously unaffiliated,” to clarify that these young people are not falling into hardened agnosticism or...

Pope Francis discovers charismatic movement a gift to the whole church By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- During World Youth Day celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, July 23-28, many worshippers in the crowds could be seen swaying from side to side, arms raised in the air, wearing rapt or joyous expressions on their faces.

FULL TITLE: Was the angel of Highway 19 the saint Padre Pio? Catholics suggest that the priest who's been dead for 45 years appeared at crash scene to bless and save life of teen victim Five days on, the identity of the guardian angel priest of Missouri's Highway 19 remains as mysterious as his appearance on the roadside was miraculous. Friends and family of Katie Lentz, along with rescue workers still want to thank the unidentified man whose prayers they credit with bestowing a supernatural calm as EMT's battled to cut the Illinois teen from her mangled car wreck. But...

Even in the Hard Times Today's Scripture “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria When Moses was born, the king ordered that all the male babies were to be killed. You can imagine how devastated this mother must have been. She could have easily given...

Prayer in the Father’s Honor ". . . that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God" —Luke 1:35 If the Son of God has been born into my human flesh, then am I allowing His holy innocence, simplicity, and oneness with the Father the opportunity to exhibit itself in me? What was true of the Virgin Mary in the history of the Son of God’s birth on earth is true of every saint. God’s Son is born into me through the direct act of God; then I as His child must exercise...

I Am going to move My sphere of authority into place now upon My Foundation and "TRUTH" shall be its Robe ! Zechariah 4:9 9The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this house; his hands shall also finish it. Then you shall know (recognize and understand) that the Lord of hosts has sent me [His messenger] to you. The unction of My Spirit is something to be followed not ignored ! My blessings flow through My Spirit and Guiding counselor of My very Heart ! So understand this ; To reject My Spirit is to deny Me ,...