Free Republic

Why does God allow there to be evil in the world? Are we not all created in the image of God? Many ask, and few seem to have good answers, for the question of, "Why God didn’t just create us so that we would never have to experience pain, suffering, and sadness?" After all, He has the power to make the world free of evil, yet He chose instead to make us creatures with free will. Thus, free will was the door left open for the possibility of evil to exist. If we have the right to chose between...

I seem to be spending more time under the broom tree as I get older. I have finally come to see that place as a holy place, a place of invitation, in an unfolding loving plan of God in my own life. It is under those “broom trees”, when I feel the least able to continue the struggle and surrender myself to the One who always sends His messengers, that I find the sustenance I need for the journey of life and learn the ways of living faith. Many people have heard of the dramatic encounter between the great Old...

Tears streamed down the little boy's face. He had just emerged from a memorial service for the crew of the space shuttle Challenger a few days after it had exploded in the sky over Florida, January 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts. "I just don't understand," he told the TV reporter, "why God wanted to take them now." The young boy expresses our tendency to picture God as wanting human beings to suffer and die. But do we really buy this idea? Deep down we believe that God is all good and not to be blamed for space tragedies,...

I served as Deacon at the solemn “Celebration of the Lords Passion”. This frail couple approached. The wife could barely walk without her husband’s loving firm support. As they drew closer, I could see that the husband’s face was filled with deep wrinkles, the kind of love lines etched in the face from suffering borne with grace. His head was covered with unkempt white hair and framed with a coarse white beard. His eyes were filled with pure love for his beloved wife whom he assisted so tenderly as she came forward to venerate the Holy Cross.Her eyes were distant...

I served as Deacon at the solemn “Celebration of the Lords Passion”. I had just carried the Cross into the waiting assembly chanting three times: “This is the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Savior of the world,” at which the assembly responded, “Come Let us worship.” This frail couple approached. The wife could barely walk without her husband’s loving firm support. As they drew closer, I could see that the husband’s face was filled with deep wrinkles, the kind of love lines etched in the face from suffering borne with grace. His head was covered with unkempt...

WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Tuesday the economy is suffering through a "severe contraction" and pledged to use all available tools to lift the country out of the recession that already has cost millions of Americans their jobs. In testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke said the economy is likely to keep shrinking in the first six months of this year. Housing, credit and financial crises — the worst since the 1930s — plunged the economy into its worst slide in a quarter-century at the end of last year. Bernanke hoped that the current recession...

The Book of Job is one of the treasures of the Bible. It reveals a truth about authentic spirituality to every age. The background of the Book is a dispute between Satan, whom the New Testament rightly refers to as the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10), and God. Satan contends that Job served God for what He got from Him not for who God is. How rampant is this kind of self interested service of God in some of the Christian circles in our own time? How many self styled teachers seek to reduce Christian living to formulas? At...

Excerpts from THE FRUITS OF HIS LOVE Mother M. Angelica The Value Of SufferingSuffering in any form was, from the beginning of time, a mystery, and a blot on the human race. It was feared, dreaded, and shunned—a sign of contradiction and a curse. Jesus came as man and, because He accepted the consequences of our fall and suffered as we all suffer, He elevated suffering, transformed it, gave it power, and considers the pain of each member of the human race His pain. So much so that when I alleviate the pain of my brother, or am compassionate...

Barack Obama, who has spent much of the time since his election closeted with his advisers in Chicago, sent a strong signal today that he intends to make a decisive break with George Bush on environmental policy once he moves into the White House The move was part of a carefully coded series of messages from Obama meant to reassure America and the world about the shape of his administration, which does not assume power until January 20. Also today, Obama appointed Madeleine Albright, who served as Bill Clinton's secretary of state, and Jim Leach, a former Republican member of...

Human suffering became a reality for millions of Americans as the depression continued. Many died of disease resulting from malnutrition. Thousands lost their home because they could not pay the mortgage. In 1932,at least 25,000 families,and more than 200,000 young people wandered through the country seeking food,clothing,shelter,and a job. Many of the young people traveled in freight trains,and lived near train yards called hobo jungles. The homeless,jobless travelers obtained food from welfare agencies,or religious missions in town along the way. Most of their meals consisted of soup,beans,or stew and had very little nourishment. The travelers begged for food,or stole it...

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia is in the grip of a "man drought" where women increasingly outnumber men and a good bachelor is hard to find, according to new research from a leading demographer. From its founding as a British penal colony more than 200 years ago, Australia has traditionally suffered from a gender imbalance where men were more likely to be more numerous than the fairer sex Down Under. But what was once an oversupply of testosterone began to move in the other direction in the 1990s, and single women in their thirties are beginning to wonder where all the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Demand for big-ticket manufactured goods plunged in August by the largest amount in seven months, with widespread weakness signaling a slowdown in the nation's industrial sector. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that orders for durable goods, everything from commercial jetliners to home appliances, fell by 4.9 percent in August, the biggest decline since a 6.1 percent fall in January. It was far larger than the 3.5 percent drop that economists had been expecting and resulted from across-the-board decreases in a number of categories. The concern is that the steep downturn in housing and turbulence in financial markets...

The Dark Night of Mother Teresa by Carol Zaleski On October 19, 2003, Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) will be beatified in Rome. During the three-and-a-half-year investigation into her cause, no less thorough for having been hastened by the waiver of the customary five-year waiting period, every nook and cranny of her life was studied for evidence that she is the great saint, the Christian Mahatma, that the world already believes her to be. The date chosen for her beatification, Mission Sunday, is the Sunday closest to the twenty-fifth anniversary of the pontificate of John Paul II and to the...

Sunday, April 15 “Prepare for Suffering” 1 Peter 3:13-4:6 By Ivan Parke In the study course Empowered Parenting, Robert J. Morgan titled chapter 12 “Painful Parenting: When Children Break Your Heart.” Similar wording would depict accurately this life, “When — NOT If — You Suffer.” Jesus repeatedly warned His followers to expect persecution: “You will be hated by all on account of My name” (Mt. 10:22a). He also encouraged them, “Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice, and be glad, for...

Anything that gets as much space as the doctrine of human suffering gets in the Scriptures should certainly receive careful, reverent attention from the sons of the new creation. We cannot afford to neglect it, for whether we understand it or not we are going to experience some suffering. From the first cold shock that brings a howl of protest from the newborn infant, down to the last anguished gasp of the aged man, pain and suffering dog our footsteps as we journey here below. It will pay us to learn what God says about it so that we may...

Interview With Psychologist Ann Howe ATLANTA, Georgia, APRIL 6, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Many risk factors for depression can also be valuable assets for personal and communal spiritual growth, says a Catholic psychologist. Dr. Ann Howe, a psychologist for 25 years, is the director of the Archdiocese of Atlanta counseling center Village of St. Joseph Counseling Services. She shared her experiences with ZENIT on the significance of suffering and depression in a person's psychological and spiritual flourishing. Q: What is the general attitude of psychology toward the problem of suffering? Howe: First of all, psychology would traditionally have avoided a word such...

O Lord, why does life have to be so hard? I cry out but I hear no answer. I pray to you and ask you to help me be a better person. I work towards that goal thinking that I'm in partnership but persist in making mistakes. I do 10 things and 9 of them will turn out perfectly but it's the 10th thing -- the one that I mess up -- that gets all the attention. Why am I not appreciated for the things that I do right? Why does the one thing that I mess up have to be the most...

<p>In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.</p> <p>O most merciful Jesus, with a contrite heart and penitent spirit, I bow down in profound humility before Thy divine majesty. I adore Thee as my supreme Lord and Master; I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee above all things. I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, my Supreme and Only Good. I resolve to amend my life, and although I am unworthy to obtain mercy, yet the sight of Thy holy cross, on which Thou didst die, inspires me with hope and consolation. I will, therefore, meditate on Thy sufferings, and visit the stations of Thy Passion in company with Thy sorrowful Mother and my guardian angel, with the intention of promoting Thy honor and saving my soul.</p>

Stacy at Christian Persecution Blog has an excellent article today called If your outlook is bad, then look up. It especially speaks to me because my life has been full of turmoil and upheaval lately. My wife and I sat down last week, counted things up, and found that between the two of us, we had had 5 surgeries, 4 emergency room visits, and a number of most unpleasant and painful office procedures within the past 2 years. She has also lost 2 immediate family members in the past 2-1/2 years and I have had 2 job changes. Life seems...

About a year ago, my husband and I traveled across the chilly cornfields of Indiana to have our younger son baptized...Babies, love, and family. Comfort, joy, and peace... But perhaps not so fast... What [we]forget, neglect or conveniently ignore is what we can not-too-dramatically call the Dark Side of Christmas. The really traditional Christian remembrance of the Nativity is not about sweetness. It is about awe, fear, and trembling, and it is shot through with hints of suffering to come. Mary, with a scandalous pregnancy. Joseph, courageous enough to take her on despite it. A birth among farm animals. The...

  BOILS AT CHRISTMAS by Ray C. Stedman The old Christmas carol tells us to "Deck the halls with boughs of holly ... 'tis the season to be jolly," but I have noted, as I am sure you have, a very strange and somber mood this Christmas. The energy crunch has kept all the decorations from the streets, and not many houses are showing bright lights either. It is a rather dull and gloomy Christmas in comparison with those of the past. Most of us feel the somberness of this occasion, especially as we read in the newspapers the chilling...

The earthquake victims in the mountain villages, especially the believers in Jesus Christ are suffering a lot, even starvation. Everything is too much expensive after the devastation. The village people get nothing and they are surviving. The relief items are coming to the main cities and everything is finished from there itself. Most of the relief organisations also centralising in the main cities only. You might have heard that the relief works in the villages started after a week of devastation only by the defence services. The villagers do not get needed food, medications, woollen clothes, treatments and shelter. But...

ARAB RACISM & ISLAMIC JIHAD!!! Are Militant Muslims DECAPITATING Tourists in S. Philippines? IT'S ARAB MUSLIM FANATICS' RACISM + JIHAD!!! Did Sadistic Saddam attack Arab Kuwaiti 'brothers' tortured them horrifically? IT'S ARAB MUSLIM FANATICS' RACISM + JIHAD!!! Did Sadistic Saddam BUTCHER/GASSED/TORTURED HIS OWN PEOPLE? IT'S ARAB MUSLIM FANATICS' RACISM + JIHAD!!! Do Arab Muslim Militant Hamas/Islamic-Jihad/other 'Palestinian' Militants (& often Fatah - connected to the official 'Palestinian' authority) TARGET BABIES, (not as the West targets terrorists) Yes or no? IT'S ARAB MUSLIM FANATICS' RACISM + JIHAD!!! Did Arab Islamists attack French subways? (1985) IT'S ARAB MUSLIM FANATICS' RACISM +...

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:1-3 Listen) The problem of pain and suffering has vexed humanity since the beginning. If there is a God, and if he is a good and loving God, then why does he allow his creation to suffer? If God is all-powerful, then why didn't he stop...

I won’t go into the details, but I’ve just been subjected to an unimaginable tragedy. All at once every ounce of pain, disappointment, and sadness I’ve ever experienced was made trivial by the news of this one event. Even now, I find it hard to believe that this nightmare is taking place in reality. Part of me is still thinking I’ll soon sit up in bed with my heart hammering and brood over how realistic the whole thing had seemed. I find myself asking the usual questions that arise under these circumstances: “Why God?” “Why have you allowed this?” “What...

Blood and water poured forth from His Most Sacred Heart revealing why the Yoke is so Sweet: because of the ultimate Sacrifice offered for us, if we are to share in the infinite reward, we must be willing to share in the sacrifice and carry whatever crosses God has in store for us. We've seen the Love He has for us, now it is time for us to return that love. The yoke is only heavy when we forget the price of sacrifice and our role in salvation of souls. Matthew 11:29-30: "Take up My yoke upon you, and learn...

What: THE 28th ANNUAL O.HENRY PUN-OFF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS When: MAY 14, 2005 - Noon - 5pm (SATURDAY!) Where: Brush Square Park, downtown Austin, TX (5th at Neches) Who: Friends of the O.Henry Museum / Austin Parks & Recreation Dept. Why: Jest for a wordy cause! Website: www.PunPunPun.com This should give everyone concerned (and you should be) at least 56 days notice to either prepare or brace themselves for the event. As details develop, and they certainly will, everything will be posted on the ISTPF website. Founded by the late John Crosbie in 1979, the International Save The Pun Foundation has...

GENEVA (AP) - Almost twice as many Iraqi children are suffering from malnutrition since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, a U.N. monitor said Monday. Four percent of Iraqis under age 5 went hungry in the months after Saddam's ouster in April 2003, and the rate nearly doubled to 7.7 percent last year, said Jean Ziegler, the U.N. Human Rights Commission's special expert on the right to food. The situation is "a result of the war led by coalition forces," he said. Overall, more than a quarter of Iraqi children don't get enough to eat, Ziegler told the 53-nation commission,...

During Holy Week, Terri Schindler-Schaivo has suffered in many strikingly similar ways to Our Lord Jesus Christ: Judas comes to Jesus and kisses him. Then, Jesus speaks these piercing words: "Judas, dost thou betray the son of man with a kiss?" (Luke 22:48). Michael Schaivo, who has betrayed his wife and their marriage, feigns love for Terri, his wife, while demanding her death. Terri speaks in her heart to Michael, "My husband, dost thou betray your wife with a kiss?" Soldiers mistreat Jesus and allow no one to give him water to quench his thirst. In Terri's room, the police...

The Problem of Personal Suffering (2) Doug Focht, Jr.We last considered that there are two aspects to personal suffering: Those things which happen to us which are the result of our own mistakes and sins; and those things that come upon us over which we have no control. Many argue that all suffering is the result of sin. If by that, one is referring to the perfect order portrayed in Genesis in the garden of Eden, and to the corruption of that order by the sin of Adam and Eve, then I would agree. But such is a simplistic approach...

The Problem of Personal Suffering (1) Doug Focht, Jr.In our last article, when we considered universal suffering, we cited Romans 8:18–21 to show that the Bible gives a logical reason for sufferings and hardships:“The creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20–21, NASB)Later, in verse 23, the apostle continues…“And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the...

The Problem of Universal Suffering Doug Focht, Jr.“If there is a god, why…?” is a common query by people of all time and ages. Typically, these apparently unanswerable questions are raised not only by skeptics but also by believers who have run “head-to-head” with life's injustices. A newborn infant dies a horrible death; a young man is cut down in his prime by accident or disease; villages and lives are destroyed by fire, flood, earthquakes and the ravages of nature. Why? In this and future articles, we will explore the Bible's answer to those questions. It is the only book...

TIME is running out. A remarkable life is drawing to a close. Soon the journalists will congregate on St Peter’s Square. Vatican accreditation is being organised. Hotels and studios are being booked. Clergy deemed to be ‘in the know’ are being assiduously courted. Over the coming months you will hear a lot about Karol Wojtyla, the man and his legacy. The good stuff will come from those who, whether they are believers or not, have made it their business to understand the Catholic Church, its faith, its institutions and its personalities. They will be especially familiar with the large body...

More Than Mere Suffering Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.Proverbs 27:22 Not all who suffer learn the lessons that suffering can teach. The Proverbs vividly describe the fool who is chastened often by life's painful experiences but who never learns what he's being taught. The wise person pays attention to pain, making the right changes in his life when he sees what the consequences of wrongful behavior are. Yet the fool pays no heed. He blames and he complains, but he doesn't...

Speaking through Silence © Third Millennium, LLC By: Deacon Keith A Fournier Like millions of Catholics, other Christians, people of faith and people of good will the world over, I am keeping a vigil of prayer for Pope John Paul II. I have signed up online for “breaking news”, I have found myself turning news on with ridiculous frequency, hoping to hear encouraging, or other news. As a member of the Clergy of my Diocese I have been sent “talking points”, by my Diocese, to explain how Popes are elected or, to speak to the Pope’s life and mission, should...

VATICAN CITY, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Pope John Paul, still convalescing after 10 days in hospital, told the world's sick on Friday that their suffering was "precious", but did not deliver his message in person at a special service for sick people. The 84-year-old Pontiff returned to the Vatican on Thursday evening after doctors decided he had recovered from an acute breathing crisis brought on by a bout of influenza. But Vatican officials are taking no risks with his frail health and the Pope missed Friday's commemorative Mass, held to mark the day the Roman Catholic Church dedicates each year...

A Glimpse Ahead Timothy Snodgrass The Impossible Will Come Alive In 2005 01/28/05 In January of 2004, as we began to intercede for the New Year the Holy Spirit gave us the prophetic slogan, "The Seas will Roar in 2004". This year we were given a new slogan, "The Impossible will come Alive in 2005". As the veil of darkness begins to come down over nations and regions, along with great shakings will come great breakthroughs; signs, wonders, healings and a spectacular release of miracles in impossible circumstances. This year, although we are ultimately poised to gain much ground, there...

Victim Soul What Pope John Paul II is teaching us through his suffering. Thursday, February 10, 2005 12:01 a.m. EST I have been thinking about John Paul II. Everyone has, I suppose. The pope yesterday missed Ash Wednesday services at the Vatican. This after a recent hospitalization. Ash Wednesday reminds Catholics that we will leave this world some day, that from dust we came and to dust we will return. We are asked to renew our spiritual lives, to give up some small pleasure and give that sacrifice to God, at least until the spring, and Easter. The pope's long...

“The suffering you sent was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your principles.” King David Psalm 119.71 How many of you have prayed … believed … desired … hoped and worked for something, and then, in one fell swoop, all your efforts seemingly get crossed up and don’t pay off? And there you sit, gobsmacked, as you watch all your best work and dreams go straight down the crapper. Am I the only one who has stood next to life’s toilet and had this unfortunate point of view? You see other people’s lives, and everything...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

What are we to say about a human condition in which "Nature red in tooth and claw" rears up on its massive hindquarters, and hurls a 30-foot wall of water against the lowlands of eleven of the poorest and most populous nations on earth, including some playgrounds of the rich of Europe and America, and crushes, chokes, and twists away the lives of going past 150,000 human beings? "Nature" is not the way the Greens picture it. Nature batters human beings. Nature has annihilated tens of thousands of other species, why not the human species? Most of the public voices...

Suffering to God's Children The Book of Job is concerned with the problem of suffering. Only part of the truth had been revealed at that time. Before, people had tended to think suffering was a punishment for sin. It sometimes is that, but not always. Yet that belief persisted even into the time of Christ. Cf. the question: "who has sinned" This man or his parents? (Jn 9. 2-3). Job will make a degree of progress, namely, that it comes out clearly that not always is suffering a punishment for sin. Yet the positive value of suffering remained to be...

Beware the Friends of Job By Deacon Keith A. Fournier © Third Millennium, LLC This has been a difficult year. I have experienced setbacks in several efforts which had showed so much promise and hope. I have seen serious illness in the lives of good people whom I love. I -and those whom I love the most - have had financial, emotional and physical struggles on almost every front. Sound familiar? Let’s be honest. Life is often difficult. That is the case even when you are praying, being as faithful as you can and really believing. Pain just seems to...

It wasn’t a coincidence. When Martin Luther decided to nail his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of Wittenburg Castle Church, he chose Halloween to do it. This Augustinian monk held fiercely to many grievous doctrinal errors, but he did understand one thing: the liturgical year of the Catholic Church. The liturgical year is meant to do two things at once: through it, we cast our eyes back towards Christ’s life on earth and through it we simultaneously cast our eyes forward through the long history of mankind, a history which will be crowned in the Parousia, the Second Coming of...

Do You Weep and Offer Your Suffering for Liberals / Dissidents or Mock Them? The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Excerpt from Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich, p. 48: "The signification of my sufferings in all my limbs was explained to me in the following vision: I saw a gigantic human body in a horrible state of mutilation, and raised upwards towards the sky. There were no fingers or toes on the hands and feet, the body was covered with frightful wounds, some of which were fresh and bleeding, others covered with dead flesh or turned into excrescences....

Recently many eager students took time out of their day to "take action" against various evils in the world, specifically violence against women, by writing letters organized through a campaign by Amnesty International as part of their National Week of Student Action. This is a noble cause, one might think; the event, at my school, was advertised with such slogans as Pope Paul VI's quote, "If you want peace, work for justice." But Amnesty International deserves a closer look. As with every activist group, Amnesty International has a clear agenda underlying every action, and they have a stake in every...

<p>The Passion Of The Christ is a pointless and sick film. It has been mired in controversy ever since devout Catholic Mel Gibson first announced that he was making a movie about Jesus Christ?s Crucifixion. At first the project seemed praiseworthy: unknown actors were to be cast (instead of buff starlets with impossibly perfect teeth), the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were to be consulted and the dialogue was to be rendered in Aramaic and Latin.</p>

 A Passion for Pain There is a peculiar aspect of all religions that glorifies and embraces pain, suffering, and torment as virtues. The glorification of suffering is certainly not missing from the Christian religion, recently and wonderfully illustrated by Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.In my criticism [Passion Prattle] of Rebecca Hagelin's praise for the film as an, "artistic achievement beyond any scale you could imagine," I compared the brutality of Gibson's created images to the real thing depicting the atrocities of Sadam Hussein and the Taliban to point out how the religious, revolted at images of today's sadistic...

  Passion Prattle   Rebecca Hagelin asks, "Can you handle the Truth?" in today's, WorldNetDaily. "If you only go to the movies to be entertained, don't go see The Passion of the Christ," she said, adding "but if you want to experience an artistic achievement beyond any scale you could imagine, you must see The Passion of the Christ.If the portrayal of death and suffering are now, "an artistic achievement beyond any scale you could imagine," Sadam Hussein and the Taliban have been greatly misjudge. They were only misunderstood artists. Instead of having our stomachs turned at the images of Taliban atrocities...

His Pain Like MineWe often look at Jesus with an attitude of predestination - a cold, hard-hearted acceptance of His sufferings and pain. We think, at least in our subconscious, that somehow He had to do what He did and so we sluff it all off with a shrug of our shoulders, without a thought of the awesome wonder of a suffering God. We cannot comprehend a love that desires to feel our misery. The only love we understand is the kind that warms our heart and affects our emotions. We prefer that our love feels pity or sympathy,...