Free Republic

There’s something disturbing about abortionists, and the activists who support them, pretending that Jesus would be totally cool with abortion. You can kill babies all day long and still be a Christian, like, for sure! That’s the latest claim from one abortion supporter, Reverend Matthew Westfox, the associate minister at All Souls Bethlehem Church. He’s insisting not only that you can be an abortion worker and still be a Christian, but that you’d also be serving God as you rip the little babies from their mothers’ wombs! Hallelujah! Many times in my ministry, a conversation with abortion clinic staffers that...

MONTREAL, Quebec, February 4, 2013(LifeSiteNews.com) – A private Catholic high school in Montreal has decided to appeal to Canada’s highest court in its fight for academic and religious freedom. Loyola High School will appeal a decision by Quebec’s Court of Appeal that forces the Jesuit-run school for boys to cease teaching its Catholic course on religion and morality and switch to the “secular” and “neutral” Ethics and Religious Culture course (ERC) provided by the province’s government. Catholic critics of the ERC have said that the course promotes moral relativism as well as ethical positions that clearly violate Catholic teaching. In...

To live well is nothing other than to love God with all one’s heart, with all one’s soul and with all one’s efforts; from this it comes about that love is kept whole and uncorrupted (through temperance). No misfortune can disturb it (and this is fortitude). It obeys only [God] (and this is justice), and is careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery (and this is prudence). – Augustine The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that prudence is the auriga virtutum, the “charioteer of virtues.” It’s “right reason in action,” the...

At a time when President Obama has announced severe gun control proposals, it might come as a surprise to note that Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest champions of non-violence and someone whom the president counts among his personal inspirations, actively campaigned for the right to bear arms during the Indian freedom struggle. Today it is often argued that a large part of the purpose behind the Second Amendment—protection against the prospect of government tyranny—is unjustified or irrelevant. But this argument is strikingly similar to the one advanced by the British colonialists who presented themselves as the redeemers of their...

The Oregon state attorney general's office is investigating a Christian baker who declined to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Aaron Klein, owner of the Gresham, Ore. bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa, told The Oregonian newspaper he chose not to make the cake because he believes marriage is “a religious institution between a man and woman as stated in the Bible.” “When someone tells me that their definition is something different, I strongly disagree. I don’t think I should be penalized for that.” His business, which he co-owns with his wife, could face as much as $50,000 in...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI asked nuns, brothers and priests not to listen to the "prophets of doom" who say that consecrated life has no future or that it has no meaning in today's world. "Do not join the prophets of doom who proclaim the end or the lack of meaning of consecrated life in today's church; rather clothe yourselves with Jesus Christ and put on the armor of light ... remaining awake and vigilant," Pope Benedict told consecrated virgins and men and women who belong to religious orders. Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass with the religious Feb....

Colbert Report chaplain and envoy-at-large to the entertainment community, Jim Martin, S.J., has announced the very good news that Walter Ciszek’s With God In Russia, is now available on Kindle, courtesy of America Press. For anyone not yet familiar with Ciszek or this book, I urge you to get hold of it. You will be rewarded by encountering heroic sanctity, not through the hagiographic distancing of centuries, but in the searing light and existential detail of a time still very much our own. It is an opportunity to be with someone who loved God the way so many of us...

Featured Term (selected at random):IMMURATION A shutting up, an enclosing. The symbolic closing of the door of a cloistered cell, voluntarily done, by a religious who attends the religious services through an opening in the chapel wall. In some cases, rare nowadays, food, light, and air are received through a window of the hermitage that is built adjoining the chapel proper. It also refers to a method of burial by which bodies are enclosed in chambers and vaults of solid masonry, for example where the native soil is impracticable for burial. Mummified bodies recovered from such places were falsely exhibited...

Many saw Jesus ascend into heaven on the Mount. Before this, Jesus told them to tarry in Jerusalem where they would be endued with power. Not many days afterwards, on the Day of Pentecost, tongues of fire appeared above those who had assembled together, and they spake with tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance. Now, a question that I have asked more than one person is this: were those who spake with tongues saved (believers) before the Day of Pentecost or before the moment they spake with tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance? If these believers were already...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem A New Journey…The Names of God in The Scriptures Elohim Kedoshim - Holy GOD(Joshua 24:19) 14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we...

Declare the Shift is Coming! Today's Scripture “You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways.” (Job 22:28, NKJV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Today I declare that a shift is coming. Whatever you need — a shift in your health, a shift in your finances, or a shift in a relationship. It may not look like anything is happening in the natural, but we serve a supernatural God. He’s about to breathe in your direction in a new way! The enemies you have seen in the...

Are You Ready To Be Poured Out As an Offering? (1) "If I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all" —Philippians 2:17 Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer—to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, “I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice....

February 5, 2013   Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr   Reading 1 Heb 12:1-4 Brothers and sisters:Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to usand persevere in running the race that lies before uswhile keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,the leader and perfecter of faith.For the sake of the joy that lay before himJesus endured the cross, despising its shame,and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,in order that you may not...

Many times in my ministry, a conversation with abortion clinic staffers that began with talking about the spiritual needs of patients ends on a far more personal note…. An office manager told a colleague of mine that she braces herself every time she checks the mail, wondering how many hate letters she’ll come across, and wants a sacred community to turn to for support. One clinic counselor said she misses the rituals and music of her faith community, and often thinks about trying to find a church, but worries about being judged or shunned when small talk leads to questions...

La Paz, Bolivia, Feb 4, 2013 / 12:09 pm (CNA).- The largest statue of the Virgin Mary in the world, dedicated to Our Lady of Socavon, was inaugurated at a Feb. 1 ceremony in the city of Oruro, Bolivia. Rolando Rocha, the lead sculptor for the project, told reporters that more than simply “a work of engineering and art,” the monument “is an act of faith that strengthens our traditions.” Towering at 149 feet, the statue is located on a 12,000-foot mountain south of La Paz, the country’s second largest city. It stands 22 feet taller than the Christ the...

DENVER (AP) — A Catholic hospital on Monday acknowledged it was "morally wrong" for its attorneys to argue in court that a fetus is not a human being under Colorado law. [SNIP] In joint statements released Monday morning, the Bishops and CHI said the operation was "unaware" of the lawyers' legal arguments. They said that CHI executives acknowledged "it was morally wrong" to make that contention because it "directly contradicts the moral teachings of the Church." The statements also noted that, while the legal status of the fetus was key to getting the case dismissed before trial, the hospital also...

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Whether it's blessed Papal rosaries, devotional icons, or wedding bands for the summer, Catholics like to shop. Unfortunately, a common challenge for Catholics is finding where to shop. While most communities have catholic stores, shoppers tend to find limited selection and are locked into paying a single price, or worse, having to choose to visit a secular store for their gifts. Thankfully, the internet is making shopping as easy as a Google search. Catholic Online has managed to make shopping easier for Catholics by aggregating in one place, hundreds to thousands of products sold...

"I feel sorry for the church next door, waiting for their three people to trickle in," says Nick Julius, glancing at the small adjacent hall that will shortly be hosting its own gathering. There are still 40 minutes before the Sunday Assembly, an atheist service run by two standup comedians, is due to begin, but a queue of eager congregants is already forming outside a grand but crumbling former church in Islington, north London, hands shoved deep into pockets against the cold. Julius arrived an hour early, just to be sure of a place at the service, which is described...

Featured Term (selected at random):JEROBOAM II The son of King Joash of Israel. Jeroboam ruled the Northern Kingdom from 783 to 743 B.C., a long, prosperous reign. Several important military victories and relative instability in the Assyrian court enabled Jeroboam to extend his territory and exercise firm control. But the prophets Hosea and Amos deplored the moral and religious condition of the country (II Kings 14:23-29). His reign illustrated the oft-repeated historical phenomenon of economic prosperity corrupting the spiritual life of a people. "Yahweh indicts the inhabitants of the country; there is no fidelity, no tenderness, no knowledge of God...