Free Republic

Daily Readings from the USCCB“‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’ John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” Luke 7:32–35Ecclesiastes 3 is a very popular reading for funerals. It says, “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. Luke 7:11–12Try to imagine this mother. She had been married, she and her husband had a child, they raised their child, she and her son watched her husband die, and then she watched her son die and was participating in his...

It’s back-to-school time in America. In the past few weeks, more than 54 million kids went to school at the kindergarten through 12th grade level. Add preschool and college to that number, and 79.5 million Americans are students. That’s nearly a quarter of the entire population of the country. Most of these students go to public schools, but we have seen significant shifts in the past few years. The US Census Bureau says about seven million children, or about 13 percent of school aged students, go to private schools. This includes about 3.5 million homeschooled children. Both numbers represent significant...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed.” Luke 7:6–7What’s interesting is that these humble words, spoken by a Roman centurion, were not actually spoken by the centurion to Jesus. This is because the centurion did not believe he was even worthy of going to Jesus himself. Therefore, he sent some of his friends to speak these words to Jesus on his behalf. In a real...

Daily Readings from the USCCBHe summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” Mark 8:34–35Practically speaking, how do we follow Jesus and save our souls? Is it enough to profess that we believe in Jesus? If we were to arrive at the conclusion that Jesus is God and the Savior of the World, would we then...

Daily Readings from the USCCBFor God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. John 3:16–17If Jesus would never have given His life on a cross for the salvation of the world, then a cross would never have been seen in “exultation.” A cross, in and of itself, is an instrument of death, a horrific and violent death. It’s also...

While a substantial number of Christian colleges continue to maintain ties with Planned Parenthood, one pro-life organization is celebrating that over a dozen schools have taken action this year to address concerns about their ties to the nation's largest provider of abortions and cross-sex hormones for youth confused about their sex. The Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement, a project of the pro-life advocacy group Students for Life of America, released a report highlighting the findings of its 2024 Christian Schools Project. The data for the report is based on research conducted throughout the 2023-2024 academic school year, culminating with outreach...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?” Luke 6:41Saint Teresa of Ávila, one of the greatest spiritual writers and doctors of the Church, explains in her spiritual masterpiece “Interior Castles,” that one of the first steps on the path to holiness is self-knowledge. Self-knowledge produces humility, because humility is simply having a true opinion about yourself. When a person fails to know themself from the true perspective of the mind of God, then they open themselves up to many errors of judgment. One...

While a substantial number of Christian colleges continue to maintain ties with Planned Parenthood, one pro-life organization is celebrating that over a dozen schools have taken action this year to address concerns about their ties to the nation's largest provider of abortions and cross-sex hormones for youth confused about their sex. The Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement, a project of the pro-life advocacy group Students for Life of America, released a report highlighting the findings of its 2024 Christian Schools Project.The data for the report is based on research conducted throughout the 2023-2024 academic school year, culminating with outreach to...

Daily Readings from the USCCBTo the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Luke 6:29–30This must have been shocking to Jesus’ first disciples. First of all, recall that Jesus taught these words with a spiritual authority that left those with an open heart with a conviction that what Jesus taught was truth. Also recall that Jesus taught these deep...

CV NEWSFEED // California took custody of a Christian widow’s 14-year-old daughter to facilitate a “gender transition” against the mother’s will. In an interview with The Daily Signal, the mom detailed her and her daughter’s struggle with the state and with gender ideology. The widowed mother refused to let her teenage daughter make irreversible changes to her body, according to the story published by the Signal over the weekend. Due to her refusal, the state took custody of the child, placed her in foster care, and accused the parent of emotional abuse. The mother, who asked to remain anonymous, recounted...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.” Luke 6:24–26Is it dangerous to be rich, to be filled, to laugh, and to have all speak well of you? According to Jesus, it appears so. Why would Jesus warn against these things? And before that, why would He...

Sure, Christians can teach in Minnesota public schools. All they have to do is publicly deny their faith!It’s not banning Christians from teaching in Minnesota to force all new teachers to repeatedly and publicly endorse what Christianity calls evil, claims a Minnesota factchecker.“Because the law does not contain any language banning teachers from practicing not only Christianity but any religion, KARE 11 found the claim [that Minnesota’s teacher licensing board has banned Christians from teaching in public schools] to be false,” wrote Minnesota TV station KARE 11’s Samantha Fischer in a Friday “fact check” responding, but not linking, to a...

N.T Wright says Americans’ defense of gun rights is inconsistent with their defense of the unborn, because they are too polarized by social media, they accept “over-simplified” arguments to fall in line with a particular leader, they can’t handle “nuance,” and ultimately, they just aren’t an “educated electorate.” But does this sound like a nuanced, educated take on gun laws? “When I go to America, it always astonishes me that the same people are vitriolically opposed to abortion and vitriolically in favor of everybody carrying guns and being prepared to shoot people at any time. On the one hand, you’d...

Liberty Counsel urges Idaho Nat'l Guard not to implement 'No Christians as Commanders Policy'.. An infantry officer who expressed Christian views on human sexuality and other LGBT-related issues faced pressure to resign from the Idaho National Guard and was stripped of his commanding position following a complaint from a subordinate who identifies as homosexual. The subordinate who filed the complaint claimed that the officer’s speech showed “just how much [the officer] truly hates the LGBTQ community.” Liberty Counsel disagreed with this assessment, arguing that the officer believes everyone is made in God’s image and cares for those under his command,...

Are extraterrestrial intelligent beings from some other planet or galaxy? Why would beings from other galaxies target earth for their visits?

Pro-Hezbollah Lebanese commentator stirred up a virtual storm in Lebanon following a sharp attack against his Christian compatriots in Lebanon, where he claimed that the Christians’ role in Lebanon is over and alleged that American battleships are coming to the region to take them away. In his controversial rant given during an interview with Lebanon On News, Reda Saad addressed his “Christian brethren in Lebanon,” as he named them, warning them to pay attention carefully to his words. “I fear that the Christians in Lebanon will face a similar destiny to that of the Afghans when they clung to the...

According to the Pew Research Center, more than 80% of Protestant evangelicals (those who emphasize the importance of a personal conversion to Christ) are supportive of President Donald Trump over a Democratic candidate. This is the largest demographic split between Republicans and Democrats of any sample group, whether blacks (only 71% favor Harris), Hispanics (the two are statistically tied), homosexuals (70% favor Harris), female voters (55% favor Harris), male voters (56% favor Trump) or even gun owners (61% favor Trump). But a whopping 81% of evangelicals agree that not only does the Democratic Party contradict their faith, it contradicts their...

A Little Musical Entertainment to start your Saturday Night.

The Democratic National Convention meets next week to nominate Kamala Harris for president, drawing renewed scrutiny to the party’s platform. Last month, the Democratic Party released a draft of its 2024 platform that vows to nationalize abortion-on-demand across all 50 states, support taxpayer-funded abortion, protect the predatory transgender industry, and continue “fighting” against parents who seek to keep pornography out of their children’s school libraries. The draft platform, released on July 13, places a high premium on abortion and extreme gender ideology. “The word abortion is mentioned 13 times. [The concept of] reproductive rights is mentioned 14 more times. The...