Free Republic

Who knows our sin? While Scripture could be taken to mean saints in heaven are aware of details of our sin, it is unlikely Msgr. Charles Pope Question: Do the souls in heaven know our sins, or is that knowledge reserved to God alone?— Peter Tate, Long Beach, California Answer: We are in the realm of speculative theology when it comes to answering questions like this. However, it does not seem to pertain to God’s justice that he would reveal our sins to others (even the saints in heaven), especially our more hidden sins. We are not to reveal to...

June 18, 2016 Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Chr 24:17-25 After the death of Jehoiada,the princes of Judah came and paid homage to King Joash,and the king then listened to them.They forsook the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers,and began to serve the sacred poles and the idols;and because of this crime of theirs,wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem.Although prophets were sent to them to convert them to the LORD,the people would not listen to their warnings.Then the Spirit of God possessed Zechariah,son of Jehoiada the priest.He took his stand...

Chaos Frank opened his trap again... Francis: “Great Majority” of Marriages today are Invalid because People don’t realize it’s indissoluble — but “Fidelity” in Cohabitation = Real Marriage! [UPDATE 17-JUN-2016 18:01 UTC: Vatican edits official transcript, changes Francis’ actual words “a great majority of” into “part of”. In either case, however, the fundamental problem remains: Francis believes sacramental marriages are invalid if people do not know or understand that marriage is permanent for life — how many such cases there actually are, is insignificant; the point is that Francis admits the principle! And he furthermore believes that fornication with only...

Michael Voris, the ceo of St Michael's Media and Church Militant TV and host of the popular internet show the Vortex (where lies and falsehoods are sucked up trapped and exposed) has recently come out about his past before he returned to the Catholic faith after leading what he claimed was a sinful and bad life. Michael Voris revealed recently the full blown truth about it. Michael it turns out was gay. According to Voris, he despised his past so much that he did not ever mention what happened. That was until the Archdiocese of New York which had allowed...

A Parable to Ponder - Why Does God Permit Disability? Msgr. Charles Pope • June 16, 2016 • Photo Credit: Jaclyn Lipplemann, Catholic StandardAllow me to begin with a simple parable. Every now and then I take a perfectly good paper clip and untwist it, reconfiguring it for some other purpose. Once, I used them to hang Christmas ornaments on my tree. Another time I fashioned a paperclip into a hook to keep my broken file drawer from rolling open. Now if paperclips could see or think, they might be horrified and saddened to see a fellow paperclip so...

June 17, 2016 Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Kgs 11:1-4, 9-18, 20 When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah,saw that her son was dead,she began to kill off the whole royal family.But Jehosheba, daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah,took Joash, his son, and spirited him away, along with his nurse,from the bedroom where the princes were about to be slain.She concealed him from Athaliah, and so he did not die.For six years he remained hidden in the temple of the LORD,while Athaliah ruled the land. But in the seventh year,Jehoiada summoned the...

Accepting the Disabled in a World Obsessed with Physical Perfection Msgr. Charles Pope • June 15, 2016 • Photo Credit: Jaclyn Lipplemann, Catholic StandardAs mentioned in yesterday’s post, Pope Francis recently lamented the obsession of modern society with perfect bodies. Although our first thought on contemplating this might be cosmetics and plastic surgery, he was actually speaking about our increasing rejection of the disabled and the sick. This rejection is perhaps most sadly evidenced by the fact that more than 90% of unborn children with a “poor prenatal diagnosis” are aborted. Perhaps the parents are informed that their child...

June 16, 2016 Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Sir 48:1-14 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 brought a dead man back to lifefrom the nether world, by the will of the LORD.You sent kings down to destruction,and easily broke their power into pieces.You brought down nobles, from their...

Editor’s note: This is part 3 of a series examining Pope Francis’ papacy over the last three years. See part 1 here and part 2 here. June 15, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – It’s one of the most frequent talking points of Pope Francis. It’s definitely part of his appeal for the media and simultaneously one of the most hurtful things for those inside the Church for whom the faith means everything. I’m speaking of the Pope’s penchant for castigating faithful adherents of the Catholic faith as “obsessed,” “doctors of the law,” “neo-pelagian,” “self-absorbed,” “restorationist,” “fundamentalist,” “rigid,” “ideological,” “hypocritical,” and much more....

An awesome documentary on the Vendee uprising and the massacre of catholics in France in the French Revolution The Vendee is a taboo in France. It is nearly forgotten but thankfully isn't. In 1793, after the execution of Louis XVI, Catholic Farmers in the Vendee region of France revolted against the newly formed godless republic headed by Robbspierre. The response by the newly created republic was monstrous. Over Half a milllion people, men women children and elderly were put to death by the government for opposing it and for promoting Catholic faith. Very few acknowledged its existence, John Paul II...

Letting Go of Our Obsession with Having the Perfect Body Msgr. Charles Pope • June 14, 2016 • The Pope’s recent remarks about the obsession with having the perfect body were intended as a commentary on the rejection by some of the dignity and quality of life of the disabled. I will be writing more on that topic tomorrow. Today, however, permit me some musings on the obsession that many of us have with achieving the perfect body ourselves.Let me start by saying (with all the good humor I can summon) that I do not have a perfect body....

June 15, 2016 Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Kgs 2:1, 6-14 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind,he and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here;the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.”“As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live,I will not leave you,” Elisha replied.And so the two went on together.Fifty of the guild prophets followed andwhen the two stopped at the Jordan,they stood facing them at a distance.Elijah took his mantle, rolled it upand struck the...

If You Don’t Know the Bad News, the Good News Is No News Msgr. Charles Pope • June 13, 2016 • Following up on Sunday’s Gospel, I would like to propose the following reflection. There was a woman who was so moved by Jesus’ mercy that she wept for joy and showed extravagant, grateful love. Are we that way? Too often we are not. And as Jesus pointed out, a big reason for that is that we do not understand the magnitude of our sin. We miss the greatness of God’s mercy; we lack gratitude for what He has...

June 14, 2016 Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Kgs 21:17-29 After the death of Naboth the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite:“Start down to meet Ahab, king of Israel,who rules in Samaria.He will be in the vineyard of Naboth,of which he has come to take possession.This is what you shall tell him,‘The LORD says: After murdering, do you also take possession?For this, the LORD says:In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth,the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.’”Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me out, my enemy?”“Yes,”...

St. Anthony of Padua, Servant of the Gospel By: Jeanne Kun "Let Works of Mercy Be Our Delight"> Stories abound about the extraordinary events coloring the life of St. Anthony of Padua, the “wonder-worker.” Fish are said to have listened to him preach, their heads attentively raised out of the river, when the hard of heart refused to heed his words. A donkey knelt reverently before the Blessed Sacrament, convincing heretics who had challenged Anthony on Christ’s presence in the host. A severed foot was reportedly rejoined to its owner’s leg when Anthony blessed it. Statues depicting Anthony with the...

Why Was Christ Crucified Between Two Thieves? Msgr. Charles Pope • June 12, 2016 • There is a bit of puzzlement at the following question: Why was Christ crucified between two thieves? It might make one wonder why one would ask this question at all. Perhaps one could also ask why the Passion was on a Friday, or, why Jesus died at 3:00 PM instead of 4:00 PM. These sorts of questions could go on forever.Nevertheless, some of the best insights come from pondering seemingly insignificant questions. Seldom do the Gospel writers and the Holy Spirit provide a detail...

June 13, 2016 Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 1 Kgs 21:1-16 Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreelnext to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden,since it is close by, next to my house.I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or,if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.”Naboth answered him, “The LORD forbidthat I should give you my ancestral heritage.”Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answerNaboth the Jezreelite had made...

Parishioners visiting a church in Italy were told they must “pray in silence” so as not to disturb African migrants being housed there. Some of the faithful hoping to practice their Christianity at the church of St. Anthony in Ventimiglia were surprised when they were told by Caritas volunteers they couldn’t recite the rosary and would instead have to pray in silence out of respect to migrants who are living there. Caritas is ostensibly a Catholic charity, although much of its resources are spent on facilitating mass migration to Europe; the organisation even boasts that it contributes to and seeks...

Always Remember- A Homily for the 11th Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope • June 11, 2016 • Every now and then some will suggest that the Church should speak less of sin and instead emphasize positive things. After all, it is said that one can attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. In that vein, we in the Church have been collectively de-emphasizing sin to a large degree for more than forty years. And in spite of the saying, our churches have been getting emptier and emptier. Maybe this is because people are just a little...

June 12, 2016 Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Sm 12:7-10, 13 Nathan said to David: “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king of Israel.I rescued you from the hand of Saul.I gave you your lord’s house and your lord’s wives for your own.I gave you the house of Israel and of Judah.And if this were not enough, I could count up for you still more.Why have you rejected the LORD and done evil in his sight?You have cut down Uriah the Hittite with the sword;you took his wife as your own,and him...