Free Republic

What would Thomas Aquinas, in his wisdom, say about President Trump’s executive order temporarily banning travel from seven Muslim countries, in terms of its justness and conformity to right reason?… I am grateful to The Imaginative Conservative for publishing Fr. Dwight Longenecker’s reasoned defence of President Trump’s executive order placing a ninety day moratorium on immigration from countries deemed to pose a terrorist threat to the United States. I am grateful also for a recent essay by John Horvat II in which Mr. Horvat discusses what Thomas Aquinas says on the thorny topic of immigration.[1] Both of these essays have served as...

Nehemiah served in a pagan government as a believer in God. He was humble and respectful to the king, but proper fear of his king did not stop him from acting to save his people. He prayed to God and made a request of the king, asking for permission to go to Jerusalem to rebuild it. He also asked for letters that he might present to various governors for safe conduct, and even a grant for building materials. Not all the pagan governors were sanguine toward Nehemiah and his plans. Indeed, some were fiercely resistant to them. When Sanballat the...

February 7, 2017 Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Gn 1:20—2:4aGod said,"Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures,and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky."And so it happened:God created the great sea monstersand all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,and all kinds of winged birds.God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,"Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;and let the birds multiply on the earth."Evening came, and morning followed–the fifth day. Then God said,"Let the earth bring forth...

Perry Noble, a pastor fired last July from his South Carolina megachurch for problems that included alcohol use, returned to the pulpit over the weekend – at Charlotte's Elevation Church. It was at the invitation of Elevation Pastor Steven Furtick. The two are close friends and Furtick chose Noble, soon after Elevation was launched 11 years ago, to be among the out-of-town pastors on the church’s board of overseers. “In July of 2016 I thought I would never preach again!” Noble wrote on his Facebook page Sunday morning. “Last night, (Furtick) allowed me the honor of returning to preaching on...

“The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah” (Neh. 1:1–2a). - Nehemiah 1:1-3 After the Babylonian empire fell to the Persians, the new world power was left in charge of all the lands over which Babylon once reigned. To help maintain peace in its territories, Persia often allowed exiled peoples to return to their homelands, including the Jews following Cyrus’ proclamation in 538 BC (2 Chron. 36:22–23). Since the...

Catholic conservatives level criticism against popeCritics target his intervention in the Knights of Malta order. On Saturday, posters appeared around Rome featuring a stern-looking Francis and questioning, "Where's your mercy?" Associated Press/Beatrice Larco A passerby lifts a paper sheet covering an anti-Pope Francis poster to read it, in central Rome, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017. On Saturday, posters appeared around Rome featuring a stern-looking Francis and questioning "Where's your mercy?" It referenced the "decapitation" of the Knights of Malta, Cardinal Raymond Burke's marginalization and other actions Francis has taken against conservative, tradition-minded groups. (AP Photo/Beatrice Larco) VATICAN CITY —Conservative criticism of...

February 6, 2017 Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs Reading 1 Gn1:1-19In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss,while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said,"Let there be light," and there was light.God saw how good the light was.God then separated the light from the darkness.God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night."Thus evening came, and morning followed–the first day. Then God said,"Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters,to separate one body of water...

"Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:1). A faithful slave fulfills the will of his master. The metaphor of Christians as slaves to Christ is common in Paul's writings. It is one his readers would have readily understood because of the prevalence of slavery in the Roman Empire. Peter, James, John, and Jude used the same metaphor of their own ministries, as did Jesus in Mark 10:45: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." In Philippians 2:7 Paul refers to Christ as a...

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). Though there is only one God, He exists in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is one, but He exists in three distinct Persons. We call this the Trinity, a contraction of “tri-unity,” meaning “three in one.” The word Trinity doesn’t appear in the Bible, but God’s existence as three Persons in one God is clear from Scripture. Old Testament evidence of God’s plurality can be...

February 5, 2017 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 58:7-10Thus says the LORD:Share your bread with the hungry,shelter the oppressed and the homeless;clothe the naked when you see them,and do not turn your back on your own.Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,and your wound shall quickly be healed;your vindication shall go before you,and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!If you remove from your midstoppression, false accusation and malicious speech;if you bestow...

February 4, 2017 Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Heb 13:15-17, 20-21Brothers and sisters:Through Jesus, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise,that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have;God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind. Obey your leaders and defer to them,for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account,that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow,for that would be of no advantage to you. May the God of peace, who...

Parashat Bo / פרשת בא Next read in the Diaspora on 04 February 2017. Parashat Bo is the 15th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Exodus 10:1 - 13:16 Next: Parashat Beshalach / פרשת בשלח Next read in the Diaspora on 11 February 2017. Parashat Beshalach is the 16th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Torah Portion: Exodus 13:17 - 17:16

Loyalty is a virtue that is linked to the biblical concept of faith. We tend to restrict or limit our understanding of faith to an act of believing, a kind of intellectual assent to the truth of a proposition. We know, however, that saving faith includes more than assent; it includes personal trust. When we probe the depths of this trust, we discover that it is multifaceted. It is within the nature of trust that we see the link between faith and loyalty. Together, faith and loyalty yield fidelity. In our language, loyalty and fidelity serve as virtual synonyms. Once,...

February 3, 2017 Friday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Heb13:1-8Let brotherly love continue.Do not neglect hospitality,for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment,and of the ill-treated as of yourselves,for you also are in the body.Let marriage be honored among alland the marriage bed be kept undefiled,for God will judge the immoral and adulterers.Let your life be free from love of moneybut be content with what you have,for he has said, I will never forsake you or abandon you.Thus we may say with confidence: The Lord is my...

“‘You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you, and state the case in order before your eyes’” (Psalms 50:21). Idolatry is more than worshiping some inanimate object; it is having an unworthy conception of God. Western society, with all its culture and scientific knowledge, is in the same satanic trap that governs the life of an aborigine bowing down to a rock. We all have our gods. Many worship the god of materialism—getting more stuff is their highest pursuit. Others worship the gods of sex or entertainment. Of course, behind all of this is the worship...

"Rejoice in the Lord" (Phil. 3:1). Happiness is related to circumstances; joy is a gift from God. Not long ago it was common to see bumper stickers proclaiming every conceivable source for happiness. One said, "Happiness is being married." Another countered, "Happiness is being single." One cynical sticker read, "Happiness is impossible!" For most people happiness is possible but it's also fickle, shallow, and fleeting. As the word itself implies, happiness is associated with happenings, happenstance, luck, and fortune. If circumstances are favorable, you're happy. If not, you're unhappy. Christian joy, however, is directly related to God and is the...

February 2, 2017 Feast of the Presentation of the Lord Reading 1 Mal 3:1-4Thus says the Lord God:Lo, I am sending my messengerto prepare the way before me;And suddenly there will come to the templethe LORD whom you seek,And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.But who will endure the day of his coming?And who can stand when he appears?For he is like the refiner's fire,or like the fuller's lye.He will sit refining and purifying silver,and he will purify the sons of Levi,Refining them like gold or like silverthat they...

Resting within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, the small piece of real estate known as Ellis Island has become a symbol of American history. There, immigrants assembled on arrival to this nation. They came from many places for many different reasons. They all looked to Lady Liberty for hope—this despite her somewhat hypocritical smile, inasmuch as she was erected two years after Congress passed a law limiting immigration. Two of my ancestors arrived at Ellis Island. One came from Ireland to escape the potato famine. He left a thatched-roof home with a mud floor. The other one came...

February 1, 2017 Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Heb 12:4-7, 11-15Brothers and sisters:In your struggle against sinyou have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lordor lose heart when reproved by him;for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;he scourges every son he acknowledges.Endure your trials as "discipline";God treats you as his sons.For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for...

Evangelical Christians love America. Some see in her the last hope of creating a Christian nation. But it is not a Christian nation. It is pagan to the core. It is in danger of becoming, if it is not already, the new “Evil Empire.” The Mayflower Compact is a museum piece, a relic of a forgotten era. “In God We Trust” is now a lie. Yes, we must always work for social reform. Yes, we must be “profane” in Martin Luther’s sense of going out of the temple and into the world. We do not despise the country of our...