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And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon...

Sober and Serious about Salvation – A Homily for the 21st Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope • August 20, 2016 • In the readings today the Lord describes a danger: our tendency to make light of judgment and not be sober that one day we must account for our actions. In the first reading the Lord sets forth His desire to save us, but we must understand that our will, our yes, is essential to our salvation. In the second reading (from the Letter to the Hebrews) Our Lord sets forth a plan whereby, having accepting Jesus,...

Calvinists teach that a tiny percentage of baptized Christians known as the "elect" will go to heaven. But most Christians are not Calvinists. If human meritocracy is not needed to get to heaven, shouldn't the majority of baptized Christians go to heaven?

The solution to racial war. All lives matter, but the problem is sin, not skin (though aspects of cultural can be sinful). The Cross and the Switchblade movie (1969, copyright Dick Ross and associates, and which can be seen here) is about the true story which is told in the book, the Cross and the Switchblade written in 1962. The movie (which mostly used local talent) stars Pat Boone as David Wilkerson and Erik Estrada as Nicky Cruz, the teen gang member whose life was dramatically transformed by Christ. Nicky was the leader of the notorious Brooklyn Puerto Rican gang...

Why is Original Sin Called the “Sin of Adam”? Msgr. Charles Pope • July 21, 2016 • Original sin is that first sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, committed when they ate the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 3:1-7). And while it clearly involved both of them, Scripture and Tradition refer to it formally as the “Sin of Adam” or “Adam’s Sin,” not the “Sin of Adam and Eve.” It is also described as coming to us “through one man,” not “through a man and a woman.”...

Absolution—that is, the declaration that your sins are forgiven in Jesus Christ—has fallen on hard times. In many churches, you will never hear the words: “Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace!” This is a sad fact, because the grace that God has shown us in and through the work of his son, Jesus, is the best news the church has to offer a broken, rebellious, and sinful world. In an effort to recover forgiveness in our churches, here are five things you need to hear about forgiveness. For all of you who trust in Jesus Christ alone for your...

With the presidential match-up apparently set now between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Republican candidate is opening up a bit more about his faith in Jesus. “Who do you say Jesus is?” was the question posed to Trump Wednesday by noted columnist and author Cal Thomas. “Jesus to me is somebody I can think about for security and confidence,” responded Trump. “Somebody I can revere in terms of bravery and in terms of courage and, because I consider the Christian religion so important, somebody I can totally rely on in my own mind.”

Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them…(Ephesians 5:12)For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.(Luke 12:2-3)We are in danger of losing some of our precious political freedoms, blessings derived from Judeo/Christianity; freedoms painfully instituted over centuries and purchased time and again with the blood of our ancestors. We have been bequeathed an incredible, blessed way...

Faith vs. works.  Christians have debated this topic for two thousand years and still do.  At the heart of the debate you have two (seemingly) opposing sides: Team Faith says works are not required for salvation.  Salvation is received by grace through faith alone (John 6:28-29, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 4:5, Romans 11:6, Galatians 2:21).  They believe that making works a requirement for salvation ignores the very message of the Gospel that Jesus died for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), which the Apostle Paul calls "of first importance."  This is Christianity 101.  If Jesus died for your...

We should only look to Jesus for Heaven, Pope Francis said during a recent mass. The pontiff made his comments Monday while speaking from Casa Santa Marta at the Vatican, saying that only through Jesus can people go to heaven "The Lord thus clearly says: you cannot enter eternal life by any entryway that is not the door – that is not Jesus," the pontiff said. "He is the door of our life – and not only of eternal life, but also of our daily lives." The pope added that he who attempts to reach heaven by an alternative way...

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit," - Titus 3:4-5 The Gospel is the ultimate rags-to-riches story. We were pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, deserving death because of our sins, and unable to help ourselves. We felt unloved and in turn were unloving. This bleak existence of dust-to-dust was all there was.  And then Jesus came. He revealed to us a loving Daddy in heaven who...

An Indiana state trooper is off the force after offering people he pulled over tips on their faith. Brian Hamilton, a 14-year veteran of the state' police force, was fired Thursday after a second public complaint that he was preaching while on duty. Hamilton asked a driver he pulled over if she had “been saved” and invited her to his church, even giving her directions. The second infraction came in January, and the motorist filed suit with the American Civil Liberties Union Tuesday. “Ms. Pyle was extremely uncomfortable with these questions,” the lawsuit says, adding the plaintiff felt intimidated by...

I have been in a few face-to-face debates with Muslims, and all of them were polite and respectful. One question from my Muslim friends kept popping up, however: "Why did Jesus have to die on the cross for our sins? If we sin, God just forgives! He does not need for someone to take our place." Muslims have told me that this substitutionary sacrifice is actually very unfair of God. God would never let a righteous man die for the guilty. They illustrate it this way: "Would God allow an innocent baby to die for the crimes of murderers? Of...

PSALM 22 A Psalm of David;For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered:...

What did Jesus mean when He uttered the words “It is finished!” in John 19:30? The phrase actually translates one word in Greek, tetelestai, from the root teleo, which means “to finish, fulfill.” Significantly, this specific form of the verb, tetelestai, is only found twice in the entire New Testament, both times in John 19. In fact, the two occurrences of tetelestai are found within three verses of each other: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’ . . . When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is...

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto...

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.(Isaiah...

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens,...

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens,...

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens,...