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Marriage is as old as humankind. From the beginning, God created the human race in his own image and likeness; male and female he created them (cf. Gen 1:27). Sexual difference and complementarity have been present from the beginning as part of God’s creative plan. Equal in dignity but complementary in their sexual difference, men and women who are called to marriage are intended to form one-flesh unions: “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Gen 2:24). Thus, marriage can be seen as the “primordial sacrament” predating the...

Deacon Keith Fournier and Deal Hudson. Washington D.C., Sep 28, 2012 / 12:38 am (CNA).- The Catholic commentators Deacon Keith Fournier and Deal Hudson, in their new column to run daily through the upcoming elections, have warned that some Catholic supporters of President Obama are misrepresenting his record. Deacon Fournier said “too many Catholics and other Christians have not figured out the consequences we face on November 6, 2012 if we do not properly inform our decision on who we will elect to lead us and vote accordingly.” He and Hudson said in a Sept. 27 column at Catholic...

A voting sign. Credit: Karen Montgomery via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Washington D.C., Sep 28, 2012 / 10:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A recent poll showing President Barack Obama with a 15-point lead over Republican candidate Mitt Romney among Catholic voters may not represent the actual attitudes of the Catholic electorate, analysts say. “Keep in mind that a survey is just that – it’s a survey,” said Dr. Matthew Green, a politics professor who deals with the field of U.S. elections at The Catholic University of America. “There’s always some uncertainty.” A poll released by Pew Research Center on Sept....

2Ch 7:14 If Gods people, which are called by HIS name, will humble ourselves, and pray, and seek HIS face, and turn from our wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2Ch 7:15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. 2Ch 7:16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 2Ch 7:17 And as for thee, if thou...

On the Sacred Liturgy as a School of Prayer "Lord, teach us to pray" VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 26, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today at the general audience in St. Peter's Square. The Holy Father began a new series of catecheses on prayer today, moving from prayer in sacred Scripture to prayer in the sacred liturgy. * * * Dear brothers and sisters, In recent months, we have made a journey in the light of God’s Word in order to learn to pray more authentically, by looking at several great figures of the...

But a decentralized government program, moving away from Washington, D.C., follows the spirit of the old Law of Moses and the new Kingdom of God that Jesus ushered in more closely than a centralized bureaucracy does. If we insist on government bureaucracy doing our charity in our place, then at least it should be local. Yet, better than any state program, individual citizens, working together, need to step up and not wait for or depend on the government to do their charity work for them. And the poor need to work. We the people need to participate. Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/the_biblical_way_to_care_for_the_poor.html#ixzz27mt4wxgo

Featured Term (selected at random):AFFECTED IGNORANCE In ecclesiastical law, directly willed ignorance of a law or of its penalty, or both. Such ignorance does not excuse a person from automatic penalties (latae sententiae), i.e., those which follow immediately on breaking the law. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

The Trial. Nay rather… the Trial of the Century! The earthquake provoking butler-who-done-it in the Vatican!The trial of the Holy Father’s document-leaking former-valet (keep repeating: the Butler, in the Office, with a Copying Machine), is comparable to what the ancient Romans called a fluctus in simpulo, “a wave in a ladle”. There is no there there.But newsies are having a nutty … because they can.A case in point is a really bad article by AP’s Nicole Winfield.Winfield doesn’t usually go off the rails, but this time the trolley slipped in an embarrassing way. Perhaps all the vapid gas being vented...

Summary:Catholics have a moral obligation to protest against the HHS mandate since it is a serious violation of religious liberty. Those who have filed lawsuits are providing tremendous witness and service. Nonetheless, once the HHS mandate goes into effect, since compliance with it would be material cooperation with evil done under duress and accompanied by serious harm to innocent persons, Catholic employers and individuals may morally comply with the HHS mandate that requires them to pay for health care plans that pay for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception.The Question:In July a Colorado judge granted an injunction that temporarily freed Hercules...

Speculation is mounting that a former oil executive who has become a prominent critic of corporate excesses could become Archbishop of Canterbury as the selection committee meets in secret.The Bishop of Durham, Justin Welby, was confirmed as the bookmakers’ favourite to succeed Rowan Williams, as the Crown Nominations Commission began a two-day meeting to make its final decision. The 16-person body is not expected to announce its decision officially until next week after receiving approval from the Queen. It is understood that the main candidates are still being interviewed. The 56-year-old bishop has strong backing among traditional evangelicals and a...

Osteen denies Christ. (FR Thread) Osteen will not condem homosexuality.(FR Thread) But he does teach us not to eat pork! He of course appeals to the OT. I guess he has never read the following: "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? (Mark 7:18) NIV Or Acts 10:9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour2 to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while...

**Note: this is a long one and probably only exciting if you’re kind of a nerd and want to know about rites and ordinariates and such. I find all this fascinating!**My last post on the Church of England was, I know, not the usual for this blog. But the new ordinariates are just so complicated that I thought you’d want some background explaining the context from which this all arose. Now we all know that the Church of England came from the Catholic Church (didn’t they all?), that there is great beauty in their traditions and liturgies, that there have...

On October 4, we shall give thanks for one of the best known and least known of all saints. Least known, that is, because Francis of Assisi was not a garden gnome, or a doe-eyed hippy skipping with animals and hugging trees. Garden gnomes do not bear the Stigmata of Christ's wounds. A vegetarian? He berated a friar for wanting to abstain from meat on a feast day and said that on Christmas he would “smear the wall with meat.” An iconoclast? He was meticulous in the ceremonials of the Mass, insisting that every sacred vessel and vestment be the...

My distinguished colleagues and friends Michael Pakaluk and Steven Long have recently opened a new chapter in the intra-Catholic debate over the Obama Administration’s HHS mandate and the moral implications of the responses to it by employers, especially Catholic employers. I think that it is an important chapter since it raises issues that have not yet been appropriately dealt with. But before commenting on their interventions, I would like to consider a little history… The debate’s first chapter — or at least an significant chapter — began in February. Robert T. Miller, now professor of law at the University of...

Pray For the Salvation of America My fellow Freepers, It is a very serious time in our nation's history and our future looks very uncertain and every day the news is full of stories that cause us to fear as it looks like we are teetering towards the edge of a cliff. It is quite obvious to even the casual observer that our great country is under a tremendous spiritual assault by the forces of darkness and hell that is causing great distress to many across this land and in other free nations. This is largely our own fault as...

Leading The Way reaches Arabic-speakers in some of the most predominately Muslim areas of America—like Dearborn, Cedar Rapids, Philadelphia, and New York City—through THE KINGDOM SAT broadcasts on Galaxy 19 in North America, on Arabic radio across America, on the Aramaic Broadcasting Television Network, and through our Arabic on-the-ground follow-up coordinator here in America. Our coordinator is a Muslim convert who was born and raised in the Middle East. He follows up directly with Muslims as they respond to our broadcasts. He answers their questions, evangelizes and connects them with pastors in Muslim communities in America for ongoing discipleship in...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Jerusalem In The Scriptures Song Of Solomon, Chapter 1 How right they are to adore you! 5. Dark am I, yet lovely, daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon. 6. Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I had to neglect. 7. Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your...

Right Companions Today's Scripture “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Your destiny is too big to accomplish on your own. That’s why it’s so important to be connected to the right people. We have to understand that God has already arranged for certain people to speak faith into you. He has already placed people in your path that will inspire you, challenge you, and help you accomplish your dreams. The reason some people never reach their...

The “Go” of Unconditional Identification "Jesus . . . said to him, ’One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor . . . and come, take up the cross, and follow Me’ " —Mark 10:21 The rich young ruler had the controlling passion to be perfect. When he saw Jesus Christ, he wanted to be like Him. Our Lord never places anyone’s personal holiness above everything else when He calls a disciple. Jesus’ primary consideration is my absolute annihilation of my right to myself and my identification with Him, which means...

September 28, 2012   Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Eccl 3:1-11 There is an appointed time for everything,and a time for every thing under the heavens.A time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.A time to kill, and a time to heal;a time to tear down, and a time to build.A time to weep, and a time to laugh;a time to mourn, and a time to dance.A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;a time to embrace, and a time...