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The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a...

Featured Term (selected at random:GLEBE  A land permanently assigned for maintaining a parish. A glebe house is a parsonage or manse.All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Believe God over the “Experts” Today's Scripture “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” (1 Corinthians 1:27, KJV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Did you know that according to all the laws of aerodynamics, a bumblebee should not be able to fly? Its wingspan is too small for the size of its body. It can’t get enough lift. But here’s the key: Nobody told the bumblebee. It didn’t get the memo. No experts were...

The Theology of Resting in God " Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? —Matthew 8:26 " When we are afraid, the least we can do is pray to God. But our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His name have an underlying confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the ones who are reliable. Yet our trust is only in God up to a certain point, then we turn back to the elementary panic-stricken prayers of those people who do...

Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.(Ezekiel 5:5)Are You Come to take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.(Ezekiel 37:12)In the passages of Ezekiel above, Jerusalem and Israel, are each literally said to be set in the center of all nations. Certainly they are the...

Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, the Nicaraguan priest who once served in the country’s Sandinista government, has celebrated Mass once again after Pope Francis lifted his 29-year suspension from ministry. Father d’Escoto, who is now 81 years old, had written to the Pontiff asking for a restoration of his faculties before his death. Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes of Nicaragua told a local reporter that he was not involved in the case, since “I was not here when he was suspended, and I barely know him.” But a pro-life activist in Nicaragua told the National Catholic Register that the lifting of Father d’Escoto’s...

Featured Term (selected at random:JUS JURANDUM A sworn oath. Any one of the oaths that the Church at times requires of the faithful, and especially of her priests. Such was the Oath Against Modernism, required of those teaching in seminaries, prescribed by Pope St. Pius X. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission. 

Proverb 12 (NKJV) The House of the Righteous Shall Stand 01 Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, 00 But he who hates correction is stupid. 02 A good man obtains favor from the LORD, 00 But a man of wicked intentions He will condemn. 03 A man is not established by wickedness, 00 But the root of the righteous cannot be moved. 04 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, 00 But she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones. 05 The thoughts of the righteous are right, 00 But the counsels of the wicked are...

Reprogram Your Life for Greatness Today's Scripture “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. ...” (Romans 12:2, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria My father grew up in a very poor environment. His parents lost everything during the Great Depression. He had no money, no education and no future to speak of. He had been programmed with poverty, defeat and mediocrity. He could have settled there. That’s all he had seen. He could have thought, “Hey, this is just my lot in life. We’re just poor, defeated...

This Experience Must Come " Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha . . . saw him no more —2 Kings 2:11-12 " It is not wrong for you to depend on your “Elijah” for as long as God gives him to you. But remember that the time will come when he must leave and will no longer be your guide and your leader, because God does not intend for him to stay. Even the thought of that causes you to say, “I cannot continue without my ’Elijah.’ ” Yet God says you must continue.Alone at...

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war… And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.(Revelation 19:11,19)One of the beautiful things about living in these turbulent last days, is the wonderful clarity that current events reveal. Evil at the highest levels has usually tried to hide behind a facade of benevolence if not righteousness, at least...

While this is definitely a "what could go wrong" story what with an atheist government creating a theology fit for its population, there's definitely a sign of hope here. Atheist China, worried about the rapidly growing number of Christians, is constructing a "theology" in order to attempt to control this whole Christian thing. Funny, I think the Romans tried to control Christianity as well. How'd that work out? The South China Morning Post: China will construct a "Chinese Christian theology" suitable for the country, state media reported on Thursday, as both the number of believers and tensions with the authorities...

Featured Term (selected at random:BULLARIUM  Various private collections of papal bulls and other pontifical documents. The authority of bullaria is simply that of the individual documents. The best known are those published by Cherubini in 1586; the "Luxembourg Bullarium," said to have been printed at Geneva (1527-30); the "Roman Bullarium," published by Mainardi (1733-62); and the "Turin Bullarium" (1857-85). (Etym. Latin bulla, seal.) All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Proverb 11 (NKJV) The Folly of Wickedness01 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, 00 But a just weight is His delight. 02 When pride comes, then comes shame; 00 But with the humble is wisdom. 03 The integrity of the upright will guide them, 00 But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. 04 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, 00 But righteousness delivers from death. 05 The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, 00 But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. 06 The righteousness of the upright...

'I was reminded of all this recently, when I read the edition by Professor Theodore Khoury (Münster) of part of the dialogue carried on - perhaps in 1391 in the winter barracks near Ankara - by the erudite Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam, and the truth of both.[1] It was presumably the emperor himself who set down this dialogue, during the siege of Constantinople between 1394 and 1402; and this would explain why his arguments are given in greater detail than those of his Persian interlocutor.[2] The dialogue...

The Holy Suffering of the Saint " Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good . . . —1 Peter 4:19 " Choosing to suffer means that there must be something wrong with you, but choosing God’s will— even if it means you will suffer— is something very different. No normal, healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he simply chooses God’s will, just as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. And no saint should ever dare to interfere with the lesson of suffering being taught in another saint’s...

This ongoing series on the Reformation of Pope Francis began in September of 2013 with a thesis and a prophecy. The thesis was that Pope Francis means to remake the Catholic Church in his image; a feat that no previous Pope has dared to exercise to this extent. The prophecy was that the Papacy and Reformation of Pope Francis will be exercised through three personal ideologies of his that I called ‘windows’; those three being (1) Rejectionism; (2) Indifferentism, and (3) Inclusivism. For those new to this series, should know that these are not slam pieces. While it is true...

Few doctrines are more central in the Christian faith than the doctrine of the church. The teachings concerning its nature, form of government, its sacraments, the priesthood of the church, its essential duties, its rights, and its relation to the world and to the state combine to form an important segment of Christian truth. Given the doctrine of the church, the rest of a theological system can almost be deduced. It is the purpose of this aspect of the study to trace the influence of amillennialism in the field of ecclesiology and to form some estimate of its importance and...

Few seem to have good answers for the question: “Why didn’t God just create us so that we would never have to experience pain, suffering, or sadness?” After all, God 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 entering our lives.What is the purpose of pain, suffering, and evil? Why does God allow humans, who were made in His image, to live on a planet where evil abounds? God could have made us...

Proverb 10 (NKJV) A Wise Son and a Foolish Son01 The proverbs of Solomon: 00 A wise son makes a glad father, 00 But a foolish son is the grief of his mother. 02 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing 00 But righteousness delivers from death. 03 The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish, 00 But He casts away the desire of the wicked. 04 He who has a slack hand becomes poor, 00 But the hand of the diligent makes rich. 05 He who gathers in summer is a wise son; 00 He who sleeps in...