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Following an ultimatum from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to leave Mosul, convert to Islam, or be killed, the city’s remaining Christians left for other parts of Iraq. ISIL, the jihadist group that controls large sections of Syria and Iraq, confiscated the Christians’ possessions as they departed from Iraq’s 2nd-largest city. “The heinous crime of the Islamic State was carried out not just against Christians, but against humanity,” said Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako, the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, as quoted by the Reuters news agency. In an urgent appeal, the Iraqi Patriarch reported...

Brethren, Peace be with you. For professional and personal reasons I've always cultivated an interest and a studied curiosity about foreign events, their drivers, and their meanings. The recent shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines commercial carrier over eastern Ukraine inmediately caught my attention, but I haven't said anything about it until now for two reasons: first, I wanted to wait for more facts to surface and, second, I didn't want to write out of shock and anger. However, writing this post is also due to a few precipitating factors: Russian President Vladimir Putin's call for "a moment of silence"...

Proverb 21 (NKJV) The LORD Considers the Heart 01 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, 00 Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. 02 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, 00 But the LORD weighs the hearts. 03 To do righteousness and justice 00 Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. 04 A haughty look, a proud heart, 00 And the plowing of the wicked are sin. 05 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, 00 But those of everyone who is hasty,...

Boy, our political debate is getting crasser by the moment. And so it is that the National Organization for Women has put the Little Sisters of the Poor, an international congregation of Roman Catholic nuns who have devoted their lives to caring for the elderly poor, on its "Dirty 100" list. NOW is upset that the Little Sisters sued the federal government, arguing that new ObamaCare mandates are inhibiting their constitutional right to freely practice their faith - that their vow to advance the dignity of life for every person, no matter how weak or unwanted, means they can never...

One of the most exasperating bits of exegetical trendiness to afflict first-world Catholics for the past 30 years or so has been the endless recirculation, like a bad penny, of the “True Meaning of the Miracles of the Loaves and Fishes” homily. It goes like this: Jesus found himself in the wilderness with a crowd of 5,000 people who were two millennia less smart than we suburban Americans. When people started getting hungry, Jesus took five loaves and two fishes and gave them to a couple of people around him. Suddenly, inspired by a wave of warm fuzziness emanating from...

Guns and other weapons are officially unwelcome at Catholic churches, schools and other buildings owned, leased or operated by the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Diocese of Savannah in Georgia. Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory and Savannah Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer issued a decree prohibiting guns and knives with blades longer than 5 inches from parishes, churches, schools, administrative offices and other buildings owned or used by the Catholic community effective July 1. In a statement, the bishops said Catholic places of worship are sanctuaries where “ways of peace and reconciliation” should be the rule. “This decree is rooted in...

St. Paul reminds us in his Pastoral Epistle to live out our faith so that it “may be evident to everyone.” [1 Timothy 4:14-16]How is that working for you?For example, while waiting for Mass to begin, do you analyze the people around you? Critique their choice of clothing? Hairstyle? Makeup? How they worship? Or are you focused on your purpose?Perhaps when you look at anyone at church, you pause and remember that they always have a more interesting story to tell than the one you conjure in your mind. We all need prayers, not persecution, especially in church, as one...

A confession: I am writing this column on my MacBook Air computer with my iPhone at my side. And I regularly enlist the help of a cellphone App to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. And after all, I live in the heart of Silicon Valley and have lectured to 300 actual and would-be Techies and Masters of the Universe.In addition, the Church has actually pronounced itself in favor of modern technology, inasmuch as it enables people to communicate directly throughout the world, in directly personal ways (e-mail, texting, Twitter, Skype, etc.) as well as in more formal or purely...

Naeem Fazal was born and raised in the deserts of Kuwait. He is the son of Pakistani parents who grounded him and his siblings in Islam. Naeem moved to the United States after the first Gulf War, following his older brother Mahmoud, who had previously enrolled in Spartanburg Methodist College in South Carolina. While attending the college, Mahmoud found the Lord. And on a visit to Kuwait to see his family he announced he had converted to Christianity. Naeem was furious with his brother, cursing him for renouncing the Islamic faith they grew up with. He even went so far...

Have you ever heard the claim "all smart people are atheists", or maybe its inverse: "people who believe in God are dumb"? It's quite a pervasive urban legend, and one which I've known is false for a long time, but I didn't realize just how false until the other day. I recently decided to do a quick cataloging of the ten highest IQ's on earth, and discovered that it's nearly the exact opposite of the truth! Before reading the list, however, I want to remind you of the caveat that IQ test results are not in any sense the measure...

Americans feel warm toward Jews, Catholics and Evangelicals but they are colder toward Muslims and atheists, according to a new Pew Research Survey. Respondents were asked to rate each faith group according to a "feeling thermometer" ranging from 0 to 100, 0 reflecting the coldest and most negative rating and 100 being the warmest, most positive. The outcome concluded that U.S. adults are more fond of individuals who share their same or similar faith. "In a society like the United States, where religion is such an important part of life, of how people view the world, how people approach politics...

With the in-your-face display of greed and arrogance of the so-called pastors on the reality show Preachers of L.A., I began to wonder: when will black Christians wake up and say enough is enough?  Although there are some white pastors of mega-churches who have a net worth of almost triple their congregants as well, I want to focus on the plight of the black saints who sit under the ministry of black pastors (and some white pastors) Sunday after Sunday and continue to live paycheck to paycheck.After some years of attending mega-churches pastored by both black and white men and...

Proverb 20 (NKJV) Wine Is a Mocker 01 Wine is a mocker, 00 Strong drink is a brawler, 00 And whoever is led astray by it is not wise. 02 The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion; 00 Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life. 03 It is honorable for a man to stop striving, 00 Since any fool can start a quarrel. 04 The lazy man will not plow because of winter; 00 He will beg during harvest and have nothing. 05 Counsel in the heart of man is like...

Death is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered. He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness. (Job 26:6-10)

Washington D.C., Jul 19, 2014 / 06:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Americans must be free to practice their faith in the public square – including business decisions – without being viewed as discriminatory, urged four U.S. bishops. “Churches, businesses, and individuals should not be punished in any way for living by their religious and moral convictions concerning sexual activity,” the bishops wrote in a July 17 blog post for the U.S. bishops’ conference. “Eliminating truly unjust discrimination – based on personal characteristics, not sexual behavior – and protecting religious freedom are goals that we all should share,” the bishops emphasized. “The...

Proverb 19 (NKJV) The Fear of the Lord Leads to Life 01 Better is the poor who walks in his integrity 00 Than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. 02 Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, 00 And he sins who hastens with his feet. 03 The foolishness of a man twists his way, 00 And his heart frets against the LORD. 04 Wealth makes many friends, 00 But the poor is separated from his friend. 05 A false witness will not go unpunished, 00 And he who...

Are you among those who feel uncomfortable with someone saying, “I have overcome lust”? Does it come off sounding presumptuous, brassy and overconfident? Might it even be contrary to Scripture and looking for trouble? Consider: 1.“Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) 2.“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) 3.“I have no confidence in the flesh.” (Philippians 3:3) I believe the answer depends on what is meant by the word “overcoming.”....

Jewish communities around the world are not letting terrorist attacks from Hamas deter them from relocating to Israel. This week, hundreds of French Jews arrived in Israel to settle in the towns of Ashdod and Ashkelon, while incidents of anti-Semitism continue to rise in France itself. On Thursday, as the Israeli government announced a ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza, 430 Jewish immigrants from France arrived in Israel with the intention of permanently relocating. Of these, many came as entire families, with 195 children and 18 infants on the flights in. The numbers from France are to be expected-- polls...

The modern day LGBT movement wants you to believe that the people featured in the new documentary “Desire of the Everlasting Hills” really don’t exist. They are figments of the fevered imaginations of the Christian right.Meet Dan, Rilene and Paul, all refugees from deep enmeshment in the LGBT life, each finding a home in sexual sobriety and, not incidentally, the Catholic Church.It is impossible to watch this important documentary without tears, and not sad tears either, but happy ones, tears that come from a joyful movement of the spirit.These are people who have been deeply wounded by the choices...

Christians in Mosul, Iraq, have been told that they must leave, convert to Islam or accept dhimmitude, or die. A communique from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) gave Christians a deadline of June 19, saying that if they do not leave or accept Islamic rule, "their destiny is the sword." The Aleteia web site, citing local sources, said that this message was being broadcast on loudspeakers by mosques in Mosul. Bishop Saad Sirop, an auxiliary of the Chaldean Catholic patriarchate in Baghdad, told Aid to the Church in Need: "In the last hours, the jihadists of...