Free Republic

It seems I’ve run afoul of the atheist portal here at Patheos One. More. Time. Nobody sticks in these folks’ collective craw more than I do. They love to hate me and they love to trash me. If one of them was slowly slipping away, I think the doc could show them one of my blog posts to get their poor little heart started beating again. I’m not sure how I do it, and to be honest, I don’t care, but I do get under their skin. They react to me the way Tribbles react to Klingons. I’ve studiously ignored...

December 14, 2014Third Sunday of Advent    Reading 1 Is 61:1-2a, 10-11 The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,because the LORD has anointed me;he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,to heal the brokenhearted,to proclaim liberty to the captivesand release to the prisoners,to announce a year of favor from the LORDand a day of vindication by our God. I rejoice heartily in the LORD,in my God is the joy of my soul;for he has clothed me with a robe of salvationand wrapped me in a mantle of justice,like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem,like...

The Importance of Mothers and Fathersby Archbishop William E. LoriNo one loves us quite so tenderly and persistently as our mothers. Where would we be without them? They are the glue that holds families together. Even though Mother’s Day is past, it is never too late to pay tribute to our mothers, living and dead, and to commend them to the Lord. Let me wager, however, that good mothers desire, more than anything else, good husbands and fathers. They deserve husbands who are loving and faithful. Mothers understand how important a father’s love and example is for their children....

It’s Advent and our thoughts naturally turn toward less fortunate souls, longing for basic niceties, and the call for selfless giving. Christ-like love, almsgiving, and prayer are staples of this anticipatory time which brings in the new Church year. The scripture readings at Mass remind us of those in need and our moral obligation toward them. What a sad statement about current times, then, that we are forced to look a gift horse in the mouth.No, not the gifts we receive, but the gifts we give.As the giving season continues, as well as the rest of the year, we are often...

Featured Term selected at random:FATHERS OF THE CHURCH Saintly writers of the early centuries whom the Church recognizes as her special witnesses of the faith. Antiquity, orthodoxy, sanctity, and approval by the Church are their four main prerogatives. They are commonly divided into the Greek and Latin Fathers. It is now generally held that the last of the Western Fathers (Latin) closed with St. Isidore of Seville (560-636), and the last of the Eastern Fathers (Greek) was St. John Damascene (675-749). LATIN FATHERS OF THE CHURCH St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (340-97) Arnobius, apologist (d 327) St. Augustine, Bishop of...

December 13, 2014Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr    Reading 1 Sir 48:1-4, 9-11 In those days,like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijahwhose words were as a flaming furnace.Their staff of bread he shattered,in his zeal he reduced them to straits;By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavensand three times brought down fire.How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!Whose glory is equal to yours?You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,in a chariot with fiery horses.You were destined, it is written, in time to cometo put an end to wrath before the day...

The Seven Capital Sins: Lust (Week 1)Fr. Michael gives advice on how to overcome the sin of lust in our lives. This is the first of a seven-part series on the Capital Sins. by Fr. Michael Sliney, LC | Source: Catholic.net My weekly message for the next seven weeks will be focused on the 7 Capital sins with some practical tips on how to conquer them in your daily lives. The first one is more of an issue for men and teenage boys, so the focus will be in that direction. I sincerely hope that this will be helpful....

Featured Term selected at random:NIGHT WATCH A sacred vigil or guard. One of the four ancient divisions of the night during which official prayers were offered in the early days of the Church. The later Matins and Lauds of the Divine Office probably represented those watches. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

American Catholic Laity Poll, 2011 Data Archive > U.S. Surveys > Religious Groups > Members or Leaders > Catholic > Summary SummaryCodebookSearchDownload The American Catholic Laity Poll contains many questions on pressing issues in the Catholic Church--views of the hierarchy, political positions of the church, women's roles in the church, what it takes to be a "good Catholic," how churches can respond to the current shortage of priests, and the effects of sex abuse in the church. Other questions also concern Mass attendance, prayer, Communion, and demographic characteristics. This poll contains respondents from many different generations of Catholics, and it...

A Prayer for the Internet from the 1946 Roman Ritual? Sure, and It’s Wonderful! By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe old Roman Ritual was (is) a magnificent collection of blessings and prayers. It had some of the most amazing little blessings of things it would never occur to you to find in such a collection. For example, among other more common blessings of statues, religious medals, and so forth are blessings, often elaborately laid out, for things like a seismograph, a typewriter, a printing press, a fishing boat, a fire engine, a stable, medicine, a well, a bridge, an archive, a lime kiln,...

VATICAN CITY - Tackling the problem of climate change is a serious ethical and moral responsibility, Pope Francis told negotiators from around the world meeting for a climate summit in Lima, Peru. "The time to find global solutions is running out. We can find adequate solutions only if we act together and unanimously," he said in a written message to Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Peru's minister of the environment and host president of the 20th UN Climate Change Conference. Thousands of negotiators from 195 countries gathered for the meeting in Lima Dec. 1-12 to hammer out details of a new international agreement...

December 12, 2014Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe    Reading 1 Zec 2:14-17 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,and they shall be his people,and he will dwell among you,and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,and he will again choose Jerusalem.Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling. or Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab...

VATICAN CITY - Tackling the problem of climate change is a serious ethical and moral responsibility, Pope Francis told negotiators from around the world meeting for a climate summit in Lima, Peru. "The time to find global solutions is running out. We can find adequate solutions only if we act together and unanimously," he said in a written message to Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Peru's minister of the environment and host president of the 20th UN Climate Change Conference. Thousands of negotiators from 195 countries gathered for the meeting in Lima Dec. 1-12 to hammer out details of a new international agreement...

Are You Man Enough to Take The NFP Challengeby Ellen RossiniMention Natural Family Planning (NFP) in a typical group of Catholic men and you can expect one of three responses:·    Silence. ("I don’t know what it is, but I am pretty certain I don’t want to talk about it.") ·    It’s too difficult. ("All that abstinence…")·    It doesn’t work. ("Joe uses NFP and he has six children!")There are myths and misunderstandings aplenty when it comes to the Church’s teaching on birth regulation. But according to the experts – the husbands who partner with their wives to use natural, moral...

Why is the West richer than other parts of the world? What creates wealth? The scientific journal Science Nordic reports that a new PhD thesis tries to find an answer to these questions, very topical in times of bailouts and double-dip recessions and very challenging for economists, in Medieval history. And it discovers that it was the Roman Catholic order of Cistercian Monks that left a long-lasting legacy of cultivation of the virtues which made the West prosperous. ...One of the clues the thesis follows begins in France in 1098, when a breakaway group of monks formed a new...

The proliferation of research and literature about the sexual and marital habits of “Millennials” is staggering. Research indicates a casual or cavalier approach to sexual intimacy and of marriage. Marriage is increasingly postponed or rejected in favor of transitional “trial marriages” or temporary live-in situations glamorized today in popular media as “the next step” in intimate relationships.The intimate relationship choices of young adults today expose a culture that increasingly fails to appreciate moral norms and the inherent value and beauty of marriage. The rapid acceptance of cohabitation and the dissolution of a culture of marriage in the wake of...

In his weekly address at the Vatican late last month, Pope Francis issued a remarkable statement that’s sure to come as welcome news to anyone who’s ever lost a beloved pet. According to Francis, the promise of an afterlife applies not only to believers, but to all animals as well."The Holy Scriptures teach us that the realization of this wonderful plan covers all that is around us, and that came out of the thought and the heart of God," Pope Francis said, as quoted by Italian news site Resapubblica. The Pope then went on to say that “heaven is open to all...

Featured Term selected at random:GREAT PROMISE The twelfth of the traditional twelve promises made by the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-90). It declares: "I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays of nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment." Along with the other promises, the Great Promise was implicitly approved by the Church in...

Catholic professors and other faculty members at a prominent Wisconsin Catholic university are now being trained to report any school employees who voice their opposition to same-sex marriage as a form of harassment to the university's human resources office. Marquette University has begun requiring its employees to attend workplace anti-harassment training, where they are taught that it is imperative for them to quickly report faculty members who discuss openly their opposing view of same-sex marriage. As the Catholic News Agency reports, Marquette's anti-harassment training includes a comic-style story presentation where a fictional character named "Harassed Hans," who overhears his co-workers,...

Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There! A Brief Consideration of the Importance of ExperienceBy: Msgr. Charles PopeI want to give two thumbs up for good old-fashioned experience, just experiencing life to its top … just having an experience! Too often in today’s hurried age and also in this time of 24×7 news, we rush past experience right to analysis. Too often we insist on knowing immediately what something “means” and what to think about it. This rush to think and analyze often happens before the experience is even over. And, of course, analyzing something before all the facts are...