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The latest from Lutheran Satire. I think all critics(both Protestant and Roman Catholic alike) of theological liberalism can appreciate this one.

Readers along Utah’s Wasatch Front will have a rare opportunity to hear from the foremost expert on the history of the text of the Book of Mormon between late February and the middle of March. In a series titled “25 Years of Research: What We Have Learned about the Book of Mormon Text,” professor Royal Skousen will discuss “The Original and Printer’s Manuscripts” (Tuesday, Feb. 26), “The Printed Editions” (Tuesday, March 5) and “The Nature of the Original Text” (Tuesday, March 12). A professor of linguistics and English language at BYU, Skousen is the founder of the “analogical modeling” approach...

Austin, Texas – Leaders from several Protestant denominations met with representatives from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last night to sign an ecumenical document agreeing to recognize each other’s baptisms. The document, entitled “These Living Waters: Common Agreement on the Mutual Recognition of Baptism,” has been approximately four years in the making. The Presbyterian Church USA was reportedly the first to deliberate the move, followed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.“The Common Agreement affirms that both Catholic and Reformed Christians hold that baptism is the sacramental bond of unity for the Body of Christ, which is to be performed...

The FALSE POPE – Saint Hildegard Forewarned is forearmed! Saint HILDEGARD of BINGEN (d. 1179), the newest Doctor of the Church, wrote that when the new Pope is elected immediately before the Antichrist, a cardinal will kill the elected pope before he is crowned through jealousy, he wishing to be Pope himself. Then when the other cardinals elect the next Pope this cardinal will proclaim himself (anti) Pope, and two-thirds of the Christians will go with him. She notes that this Antipope as well as the Antichrist are descendents from the tribe of Dan. If this private revelation of St....

"Homosexuality is incompatible with the priestly vocation. Otherwise, celibacy itself would lose its meaning as a renunciation. It would be extremely dangerous if celibacy became a sort of pretext for bringing people into the priesthood who don't want to get married anyway," the pope said. The pope cited a 2005 Vatican document that drew a sharp line against priestly ordination of homosexuals. He said the document emphasized that homosexual candidates cannot become priests because their sexual orientation interferes with "the proper sense of paternity" that belongs to the priesthood. The pope said it was important to select priestly candidates very...

HAPPILY EVER AFTER—Cardinal Dolan congratulates Curtis and Wilhelmina Jones, one of many couples from the archdiocese honored on World Marriage Day, Feb. 11, at a reception after a Mass the cardinal celebrated at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The Joneses, who attend Mass at Resurrection Chapel of St. Charles Borromeo parish in Harlem, will mark their 70th anniversary April 21. At left, they show the cardinal their marriage certificate. Parents of six, the Joneses have 11 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandson. A cigarette and a lollipop, not an arrow, were all Cupid needed to strike up the courtship of...

Pope Benedict XVI responds to the crowd at the Feb. 17, 2013 Angelus. Credit: Stephen Driscoll/CNA. Vatican City, Feb 24, 2013 / 05:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Around 120,000 pilgrims heard Pope Benedict XVI deliver his last Angelus address, in which he said that “the Lord called me to ‘climb the mountain,’ to devote myself even more to prayer and meditation,� a change that does not mean he is “abandoning the Church.� “Dear brothers and sisters,� the Pope said as he dwelt on the Sunday Gospel on the Transfiguration, “the Word of God feels particularly directed at me, at this...

The Delight of Sacrifice "I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls . . ." —2 Corinthians 12:15 Once “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,� we deliberately begin to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ’s interests and purposes in others’ lives (Romans 5:5). And Jesus has an interest in every individual person. We have no right in Christian service to be guided by our own interests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem A New Journey…The Names of God in The Scriptures YHVH Goelekh - The LORD Thy Redeemer(Isaiah 49:26&60:16) “You will also suck the milk of nations And suck the breast of kings; Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

A brave 16-year-old girl, who is 10-weeks pregnant, won a case in Texas Family Court recently, which protects her from being forced by her parents to get an abortion. Her name has not been revealed because she is a minor. When this girl’s parents found out she was pregnant, they took measures to make her life miserable unless she agreed to have the abortion. They took away her phone and her car; they took her out of school; they forced her to get two jobs. The parents subjected the girl to verbal and physical threats; her mother even spoke of...

February 24, 2013   Second Sunday of Lent      Reading 1 Gn 15:5-12, 17-18 The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”Abram put his faith in the LORD, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness. He then said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.”“O Lord GOD,” he asked, “how am I to know that I shall possess it?”He answered him,...

Three priests and former priest report Cardinal Keith O'Brien to Vatican over claims stretching back 33 yearsThree priests and a former priest in Scotland have reported the most senior Catholic clergyman in Britain, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate behaviour stretching back 30 years. The four, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, have complained to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican's ambassador to Britain, and demanded O'Brien's immediate resignation. A spokesman for the cardinal said that the claims were contested. O'Brien, who is due to retire next month, has been an outspoken opponent of gay...

One of the argumentroids of Robert Heinlein has annoyed me for years. I was irked not the least because this particular argumentroid suckered me in my innocent youth, back when I was so proud of being a nonconformist, as were we all in my generation, and so proud of believing exactly what all the other nonconformists believed. But let me first explain what my silly made-up word is supposed to mean. I have always held that Science Fiction was never actually fiction stories about science. Instead, it is stories about fictional science. Writers routinely commended for the “hardness” of their...

Read correspondence between bishops and Equalities MinisterThis week the bishops' conference of England and Wales published its correspondence with Maria Miller, Minister for Women and Equalities, on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. The Government rejected proposed amendments by the Church to its gay marriage Bill, and said the new definition of marriage will have to be taught in Catholic schools. The Church suggested a number of amendments to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill during a meeting with Culture Minister Maria Miller in January. In a letter to Archbishop Smith that was released yesterday, Ms Miller said teachers in...

Click on the link and enjoy! Purim sameach!

Your proximity to My Spirit is where the anointing begins to take affect. So be engulfed in "My Will" for it is as I surround you that I AM magnified and miracles exist. "BE" My door mat and welcome ME into your presence for I will not be denied by a true heart filled with "MY LOVE". Psalm 22:3 3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. Genesis 29:35 And she conceived again, and bare a son. And she said, This time will I praise Jehovah. Therefore she called his name Judah. And she left off bearing....

Of all the possible advice I could give to a new Pontiff, perhaps the most important would be on the subject of name selection. I wouldn't presume to tell the new Pope what name to pick, but I feel very qualified to tell him which names not to pick. All of the names below are previous names of Popes that should not be repeated. Let's just say they would send the wrong message or offer too many opportunities to detractors.Hilarius Picking this name is just asking for trouble. Trust me, Holy Father, it will be very difficult for you to...

A nun has been implicated by prosecutors in a troubling case of election fraud, according to local news reports. It's been alleged by Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters that Sister Marge Kloos of the Sisters of Charity mailed in an absentee ballot of Sister Rose Marie Hewitt who had reportedly passed away on October 4th of last year. Deters sent a letter to the Board of Elections that said: Re: Deceased Voter Rose Marie Hewitt. Please be advised that sufficient information has been developed with respect to the above mentioned matter to determine that there is probable cause to believe...

This morning, a headline blazed across many Catholic computer screens stating German bishops’ decision to allow the ‘morning-after pill’ in rape cases. The article quoted Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg as saying that the ‘morning-after pill’ could be used “as long as this has a prophylactic and not an abortive effect.� The outrage among faithful Catholics that such an announcement generates is understandable, as the bishops’ decision not only continues to create a market for the ‘morning-after pill’ but, more notably, dances a line between preventing pregnancy and killing a baby.What might surprise many Catholics is that the new position...

The freedom of the College of Cardinals, which alone, under the law, is responsible for the election of the Roman Pontiff, has always been strongly defended by the Holy See, as a guarantee of a choice based on evaluations solely for the good of the Church. Over the centuries, the Cardinals have faced multiple forms of pressure exerted on the individual voters and the same College, with the aim of conditioning decisions, to bend them to a political or worldly logic. If in the past it was the so-called superpowers, namely States, who sought to condition the election of...

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless...

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Friday the creation of 58 new missions, including one in Utah. The announcement came after the LDS church saw a drastic increase in members interested in serving missions following LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson's October announcement that the church would lower the age of mission eligibility to 18 for men and 19 for women.

Ratzinger's forgotten prophesy on the future of the Church   Benedict XVI A week after Benedict XVI's shock announcement, an important statement he once made comes to lightMarco BardazziRomeA restructured Church with far fewer members that is forced to let go of many places of worship it worked so hard to build over the centuries. A minority Catholic Church with little influence over political decisions, that is socially irrelevant, left humiliated and forced to “start over.”But a Church that will find itself again and be reborn a “simpler and more spiritual” entity thanks to this “enormous confusion.” This was...

One of the two iconic photographs of Father Emil Kapaun shows him and another soldier carrying an exhausted GI off a battlefield in Korea, early in the war. The photo shows Kapaun to the GI's left. The soldier on the GI's right side was Capt. Jerome A. Dolan, a medical officer with the 8th Cavalry regiment.Emil Kapaun, a priest from Kansas celebrated for his actions during the Korean War and in a North Korean prisoner of war camp, will be awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama, the nation’s highest military award for bravery Former Kansas Congressman Todd Tiahrt...

Is there a network of homosexual clerics working within the Vatican? Undoubtedly, Yes. Was the discovery of that network a major factor motivating Pope Benedict to resign? Undoubtedly, No. Rome is abuzz with reports about a story that appeared in two Italian publications, La Repubblica and Panorama, alleging that in a confidential report to Pope Benedict on the “Vatileaks” scandal, three cardinals said that one faction within the Vatican bureaucracy was “united by sexual orientation” and could be subject to blackmail. The story—which has quickly spread around the globe—goes on to speculate that the cardinals’ report, submitted in December, shocked...

A group of Christian priests from a local Coptic church in Egypt were told to convert to Islam or face death, according to an Arabic news site. The incident, which comes in the midst of continued persecution and pressure on Egypt’s Christian community, took place this week in the town of Safaga, near the Red Sea, the El Balad site reported. According to El Balad, the threats are from a new group in Egypt, Jihad al-Kufr, whose name translates to Jihad against non-believers or non-Muslims. The group targets non-Muslims, and reportedly pressures them to convert to Islam. “It’s not the...

CNA STAFF, Feb 18, 2013 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- A priest who was conceived in rape when his mother was only 13 years old is sharing the story of how he met, forgave and heard the confession of his father, who is now living a life of faith. “I could have ended up in a trash can, but I was allowed to live,� said Father Luis Alfredo Leon Armijos of Loja, Ecuador. In a Feb. 6 telephone interview with CNA, Fr. Leon, who is pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Loja, said his mother, Maria Eugenia Armijos Romero, was working...

Saverio Petrillo, director of the pontifical villas at Castel Gandolfo. File photo CNA. Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Feb 23, 2013 / 06:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Residents of the town that is home to the Pope’s summer residence say they are happy Pope Benedict is returning to live there. “When the Pope arrives he will find his apartment the same as always, but also the affection and devotion of everyone here,� Saverio Petrillo, director of the pontifical villas in Castel Gandolfo, told CNA Feb. 20. Pope Benedict will officially end his ministry at 8:00 p.m. on Feb. 28, but at 5:00...

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan is greeted by his brother cardinals at the Feb. 18, 2012 consistory in St. Peter's Basilica. CNA file photo. Vatican City, Feb 23, 2013 / 08:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the conclave to elect a new Pope approaches, the media has ramped up its speculation about why the Pope is resigning, causing the Secretariat of State to warn about “completely false and unverifiable� news stories aimed at swaying public opinion to influence the vote.  “It is deplorable that as we draw closer to the time of the beginning of the Conclave … that there is...

“…As we grow olderthe world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated…�–T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets, East CokerThe WitnessesLast night, my phone rang twice, just before 3 in the morning. In the morning, I found three emails from the same person, a priest I know. He called again this morning.He wanted to know about my letter of yesterday, which discussed an Italian press report that the Pope has received information that his Curia is riven with factions, and that this was part of the reason he decided to step down from the papacy.“What are you doing?� the priest asked me, excitedly....

Left to right: David Fagerberg, Matthew Arnold, and Jesse Romero A little more than 90 years ago, G.K. Chesterton, one of the 20th century’s most famous converts, entered the Catholic Church.  Explaining “why I am a Catholic,� he wrote: “there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true.� A prolific writer, Chesterton used his considerable talents to author numerous works which won, and continue to win, many converts. The following are stories of three converts—the first of whom specifically credits Chesterton with being an influence on his conversion—who, since entering the Church, have devoted...

The Gatestone Institute reported yesterday that the government of Spain has agreed with the government of Morocco that Moroccan children adopted by Spanish families will be required remain culturally and religiously Muslim.  The Spanish government will create a "control mechanism" that will allow Moroccan religious authorities to monitor the children until they reach the age of 18 to see that they have not converted to Christianity. Spain agreed to these conditions so that Spanish families who are in the process of adopting Moroccan children can bring them to Spain. Morocco has a high rate of child abandonment, and Spain has been...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem A New Journey…The Names of God in The Scriptures YHVH Maginnenu - The LORD Our Defense(Psalms 89:18) For the LORD is our defense; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

The Determination to Serve "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve . . ." —Matthew 20:28 Jesus also said, “Yet I am among you as the One who serves� (Luke 22:27). Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s— “. . . ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake� (2 Corinthians 4:5). We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a “doormat� for others— called to be their spiritual...

February 23, 2013 Saturday of the First Week of Lent   Reading 1 Dt 26:16-19 Moses spoke to the people, saying:“This day the LORD, your God,commands you to observe these statutes and decrees.Be careful, then,to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.Today you are making this agreement with the LORD:he is to be your God and you are to walk in his waysand observe his statutes, commandments and decrees,and to hearken to his voice.And today the LORD is making this agreement with you:you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you;and...

The Baltimore Catechism Revised Edition (1941)   Part One: The Creed Actual Sin Lesson 6 from the Baltimore Cathechism63. Is original sin the only kind of sin? Original sin is not the only kind of sin; there is another kind, called actual sin, which we ourselves commit.Amen, amen, I say to you that whosoever commiteth sin is the servant of sin. (John 8:34)64. What is actual sin? Actual sin is any willful thought, desire, word, action, or omission forbidden by the law of God. 65. How many kinds of actual sin are there? There are two kinds of actual sin:...

    The Baltimore Catechism Revised Edition (1941)   Part One: The Creed The Creation and the Fall of Man Lesson 5 from the Baltimore Cathechism48. What is man? Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God.And God created man to his own image. (Genesis 2:7)49. Is this likeness to God in the body or in the soul? This likeness to God is chiefly in the soul. 50. How is the soul like God? The soul is like God because it is a spirit having understanding and free will, and...

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI receives a papal tirara - New Liturgical Movement In Defense of the Papacy: 9 Reasons True Christians Follow the Pope by HHAmbrose on Feb 21, 2013 • 11:44 pm No Comments Listers, glory and honor to God for giving us the grace of the papacy. The Pope is the “Advocate of Christian Memory� and he holds the King’s people to the King’s laws until our Savior returns. Each year on February 22nd the Church celebrates the Cathedra Petri – the Chair of St. Peter.This feast brings to mind the mission of teacher and pastor...

As veteran Vatican writer Andrea Tornielli reminds readers today in La Stampa, one way to judge how serious a papal candidate may be is by how much whispering, rumor and character assassination that person generates. By that standard alone, one probably ought to take Cardinal Marc Ouellet seriously indeed.

Hoot Family. (File Photo/CNA). Woodburn, Ind., Feb 22, 2013 / 04:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The story of an Indiana teen who continues to make local sports headlines despite having prosthetic legs has highlighted the Catholic faith and pro-life devotion of his parents. Like most American teens, Nik Hoot, a 16 year-old sophomore at Woodlan High School in Woodburn, In., has yet to meet an extra-curricular activity he does not enjoy. He has played football, baseball, basketball and is now a semi-state qualifier for his weight class in wrestling. He plays drums, trumpet and mellophone and is active in his...

The pill, contraception. Credit: Jess Hamilton (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Rome, Italy, Feb 22, 2013 / 11:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Doctors and people involved in pro-life work say that the German bishops’ decision to allow morning-after pills for rape victims raises strong concerns and that the drug in question can cause a chemical abortion.   “There is a real dangerous precedent that could be set here again because the news moves so quickly,� said Vicky Thorn, founder of Project Rachel, in a Feb. 22 interview with CNA. “There is real danger in Europe, Canada, the U.S., Latin America and Africa...

In the Gospel of Sunday of the First Week of Lent, we are given a lesson of what it takes for us to attain salvation through the saving work of Jesus Christ. “Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry” (Luke 4:1-2).

Msgr. Guido Marini, right, the papal master of ceremonies, applauds with others at the conclusion of Ash Wednesday Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Feb. 13. (CNS/Paul Haring) By Cindy WoodenCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has ordered several changes to the Masses and liturgies that will mark the inauguration of the next pope's pontificate. Rites and gestures that are not strictly sacramental will take place either before a Mass or in a ceremony not involving Mass, Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies, told the Vatican newspaper Feb. 22. One of...

“Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.� –Psalm 143:4The Secret Report Given to the Pope on December 17Today a veil of secrecy was shredded in this eternal city.Today therefore marked the beginning of a difficult, important struggle for the purification of the government of the Church desired for so many years by Joseph Ratzinger.We were given a glimpse today into some of the reasons, previously unknown, that prompted Pope Benedict XVI to announce his resignation on February 11, to take effect February 28, in seven days, reasons that apparently “overwhelmed his spirit within him�...

Family Guy is one of the most openly anti-Christian shows out there. In one of their shows the baby is shown being shot in the chest and killed. (And in the same show, a joke is made about the suicide of Michael Hutchence, of the rock band INXS.) The show disrespects God and life so much, and Seth McFarlane will be the Oscar host. It says a lot of how the Bible says the earth will be in the last days.

Over the years I have repeatedly discussed with LDS members Mormonism’s teaching about persons being able to become a god. The reactions have been varied. Some readily admit that this is LDS teaching and they wholeheartedly accept it. Most, however, try to qualify it and downplay it. They have done this in two different ways. The first is by saying that Mormonism teaches that they can become like God. They claim that even though LDS Scripture clearly says that people can become gods. The classic passage is D&C 132:20: “Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore...

<p>DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement Monday regarding an LDS missionary who was sent home to answer felony charges of child rape, which allegedly occurred before he left for the mission.</p>

Cardinal Peter Turkson made the comments to an American journalist He said similar sex scandals would not happen in African churches Cardinal Turkson is second favourite to take over as PopeThe African cardinal widely tipped to be the first black pope in modern history faced a firestorm of criticism last night after he laid the blame for clerical sex abuse crises at the feet of gay priests. Cardinal Peter Turkson, who comes from Ghana, told an American journalist that similar sex scandals would never convulse churches in Africa because the culture was inimical to homosexuality. ‘African traditional systems kind of...

After a week of international news coverage about the pope's imminent retirement, China's news has so far failed to announce it. China's Catholics, even the priests, are still unaware of what is happening in Rome, and this media silence in China about the pope's retirement comes at a time when the government has begun a three-part campaign to "eradicate non-sanctioned Christian activities." The government's official response to the pope's announcement has not appeared in the news, which reiterates the Communist party line. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman stated:

Several people have been asking who I would like to see elected once Pope Benedict steps down. This is always a delicate question, for numerous reasons. First, it is quite clear that I do not, nor should I, get a vote. Whatever opinions I hold are simply that: my opinions and hopes. Second, should someone “off my list” be elected, I would not want people to think that I “disapprove.” Just like everyone else, I have various qualities that I would like to see in the new pope, but I also will pledge my undying fidelity and unceasing prayers to...