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February 1, 2015Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Dt 18:15-20 Moses spoke to all the people, saying:“A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for youfrom among your own kin;to him you shall listen.This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horebon the day of the assembly, when you said,‘Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God,nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.’And the LORD said to me, ‘This was well said.I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among...

It was just over 500 years ago, in the fall of 1510, that a desperate Roman Catholic monk made what he thought would be the spiritual pilgrimage of a lifetime.He had become a monk five years earlier—much to the surprise and dismay of his father, who wanted him to become a lawyer. In fact, it was on his way home from law school, that this young man—then 21 years old—found himself in the midst of a severe thunderstorm. The lightning was so intense he thought for sure he was going to die. Fearing for his life, and relying on...

January 31, 2015Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest    Reading 1 Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 Brothers and sisters:Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a placethat he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go.By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country,dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was looking forward to the...

============================================= . The Accounting of Simon Peter's Six Denials of Christ ============================================= Abstract: Harmonizing the Scripture passages concerning Peter's denial of Jesus at the time of His pre-crucifixion trial shows that Peter denied Christ six times, not three as some insist. These were predicted by Jesus to His disciples the night before He was executed. The denials occurred in groups of three, each group marked by a cockcrow. The denials were Peter's responses, twice to a doorkeeper maidservant, and once each to another maidservant, to a subordinate of the high priest conducting the trial, to a group of other menservants,...

There were two extraordinary men living in the city of Jerusalem when Christ was on earth. One of them has come down through history nameless--we do not know who he was; the name of the other is given. One was not only a beggar, but blind from his birth; the other was one of the rich men of Jerusalem. Yet in the Gospel of John, there is more space given to this blind beggar than to any other character. The reason why so much has been recorded of this man is because he took his stand for Jesus Christ. Look...

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy met with Vatican officials that helped draft Pope Francis’ climate-related encyclical on Friday, The Associated Press reports.An encyclical, a letter from the pope addressed to faithfuls worldwide when he feels he needs to reach them, is set to be published in June and might make environmentalism a Catholic doctrine like Pope Pius IX’s encyclical about infallibility. It might also be a simple condemnation of human destruction of the environment like Pope Pius XI’s encyclical against Italian Fascists. The visit was aimed at showing the Holy See that the Obama administration share similar thoughts on...

The parents of a Utah family found dead in a locked bedroom at their home last year often discussed religiously-held notions of the apocalypse and orchestrated a multi-drug familicide using methadone and over-the-counter cold medication, police said on Tuesday. The bodies of Benjamin and Kristi Strack and three of their children aged 11 to 14 were discovered by the Stracks' lone surviving child and his grandmother on Sept. 27 in Springville, about 45 miles south of Salt Lake City. "It was a fairly common theme for the parents to talk about, the apocalypse, the end of days, final judgment," said...

We have all heard evangelists quote from Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). Usually the evangelist applies this text as an appeal to the unconverted, saying: “Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. If you open the door, then He will come in.” In the original saying, however, Jesus directed His remarks to the church. It was not an evangelistic appeal. So what? The point is that seeking is something...

January 30, 2015Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Heb 10:32-39 Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a great contest of suffering.At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and affliction; at other times you associated yourselves with those so treated.You even joined in the sufferings of those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you had a better and lasting possession.Therefore, do not throw away your confidence; it will have great recompense.You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what...

How can Planned Parenthood stand in the midst of mega churches? VIDEO ONLY ON LINK

“It is oppressive to live in the city of St. George as a non-Mormon,” St. George City Council applicant Tara Dunn announced to a crowd comprised of some of Southern Utah’s most influential people, many of whom are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her words seemed to hang in the air on Jan. 23 during the brief but tense pause that followed her speech in the St. George City Council chambers. Many were shocked to hear such strongly worded criticism of Latter-day Saint culture. Some were offended at what they felt was an attack on...

  Brethren: Peace be with you! As I approach my half century of life I began thinking about the lifespan for an American male like me. I've begun to reflect in all seriousness about my mortality. The Bible tells us that the typical lifespan for a man is 70 years, or 80 for "those who are strong" (Psalm 90:10). Contemporary scientific estimates fall within this ballpark for those of us who live in developed societies: between 75 and 80 years old. What does that mean? 75 years are almost 27,394 days; 657,450 hours; 39,447,000 minutes; or 2,366,820,000 seconds.80 years...

WASHINGTON— In a bid to bolster the Obama administration's "moral" case for combating climate change, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency will meet senior Vatican officials Friday to enlist papal support for its policies. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said Pope Francis, who has become a vocal climate advocate since his 2013 election, can be an ally for President Barack Obama's Climate Action Plan. "As one of the world's most respected and influential leaders, Pope Francis, and those who advise him, will play a crucial part in advancing climate change [action] domestically and overseas,'' McCarthy, a Roman Catholic, said in...

January 29, 2015Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Heb 10:19-25 Brothers and sisters: Since through the Blood of Jesus we have confidence of entrance into the sanctuary by the new and living way he opened for us through the veil, that is, his flesh,and since we have “a great priest over the house of God,� let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he...

Just lately I've noticed a lot of commercials promoting virtues like kindness, patience, generosity, etc. They are produced by something called "The Foundation for a Better Life," web site "values.com." Their message seems so secular humanist, since there's no mention of Jesus (and that's further confirmed in that their site even says that they believe people to be "basically good,") that I thought to look them up, and finally remembered to today. I discovered that Philip Anschutz, the founder, is actually said to be a very wealthy, "conservative Presbyterian," and liberal Media Matters says he has supported groups who have...

Perhaps because the author is a sober-minded professor of ecclesiastical history at Germany’s University of Münster, his subtitle is considerably less lurid than it could have been. The scandals at a convent scarcely a kilometre from Pope Pius IX’s palace in Rome included heresy, lashings of sex (gay, straight and all-around religio-erotic kinky), and attempted murder... ...The book turns on the blue-blooded connections of its whistleblower, the 41-year-old wealthy, devout, twice-widowed, passionately romantic (with a capital “R”) Princess Katharina von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. She was first cousin both to the Protestant king of Prussia and to Catholic archbishop Gustav Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst,...

In a sense we are fortunate that we cannot see God. If for one second the veil were removed and we caught a brief glimpse of the face of God, we would perish instantly. His effulgence is so brilliant, His glory so dazzling, that in our present corrupted state we could not bear the sight of Him. He remains invisible both as a curse and as an act of protecting grace. As long as we remain infected by sin we are doomed to wander in His world sightless with respect to Him. We may be comforted by His Word and...

The identity of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse has mystified and intrigued people for centuries. Each symbolizes something, but what do they symbolize? When you see the connection between Revelation, the gospels, and historical facts, then you, too, will begin to understand John's incredibly powerful letter. Let's begin. I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he...

 January 28, 2015Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church    Reading 1 Heb 10:11-18 Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins.But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool.For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying: This is the covenant I will establish with themafter those days, says the...

Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites…and Other Lies You’ve Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media, by Bradley R.E. Wright (Bethany House, 2010). In 2002, the Barna Group conducted a survey of 270 non-Christians. They asked these non-Christians their impressions of actors, lawyers, and nine other different groups in society, including ministers, Evangelicals, and born-again Christians as three of the eleven groups. The Barna Group found that born-again Christians and ministers scored high in respect, but Evangelicals scored rather low. Based on these data, the Barna Group concluded that non-Christians are “dismissive” of Evangelicals. According to the...

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Supreme Court of California has unanimously voted to ban judges in the state from working with groups such as the Boy Scouts of America due to their stance on homosexual behavior. The court voted on the matter on Friday, taking up a recommendation from the court’s Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics.

Full title: Scholar Marcus Borg Who Claimed Jesus Never Said Many of the Things Found in the Bible Dies at 72 Marcus Borg, a scholar popular for participating in the Jesus Seminar, died at the age of 72 last Wednesday. His publisher HarperOne said the cause of death was related to his long battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He died at his home in Powell Butte, Oregon. Borg was known for being a pioneer in what is labeled by some as progressive Christianity, and he participated in the Jesus Seminar around 30 years ago where a group of scholars gathered...

Mormon church leaders are making a national appeal for a 'balanced approach' in the clash between gay rights and religious freedom. The church is promising to support some housing and job protections for gays and lesbians in exchange for legal protections for believers who object to the behavior of others. It's not clear how much common ground the Mormons will find with this new campaign. The church insists it is making no changes in doctrine, and still believes it's against the law of God to have sex outside marriage between a man and a woman. Scroll down for video

Gospel tracts, sidewalk evangelism, street preachers with bullhorns—all of these things seem like evangelistic efforts of yesteryear. But if this seems true, where does that leave the state of evangelism today? Is faith-sharing a fading practice, or does it simply look different today? In all their innovative efforts to engage culture, have Christians left this ancient practice so integral to their faith behind? Barna Group has charted evangelistic practices and attitudes for more than two decades, and the latest study sheds light on the gaps between evangelism in theory and practice, the social groups who are sharing their faith the...

A Christian nurse says the U.K.'s National Health Service suspended her for "harassment and bullying" because she prayed a short prayer for her Muslim colleague who was going through heath and personal problems. The nurse is filing a legal challenge against the NHS. "God, I trust You will bring peace and You will bring healing," Victoria Wasteney, a 37-year-old senior occupational health therapist at the John Howard Centre, a secure mental hospital in east London, prayed for her Muslim colleague, Enya Nawaz, 25, according to The Telegraph. East London NHS Foundation Trust suspended her for nine months, but on full...

An evangelical Christian who said he was forced to retire from his job as a general laborer at Consol Energy/Consolidation Coal Co.'s mining operations in Mannington, West Virginia, for his religious beliefs was awarded $150,000 in compensatory damages last Thursday by a federal jury. Senior Judge Frederick P. Stamp Jr. is also expected to determine other compensation owed to the ex-employee, Beverly R. Butcher, at a later hearing, according to a report in The Exponent Telegram. The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit on behalf of Butcher against Consol Energy in September 2013 after the company refused...

Many years ago, I wrote a book that was first titled The Psychology of Atheism, then later retitled If There Is a God, Why Are There Atheists? In it, I included a chapter on the nakedness motif that we find in sacred Scripture and in Western philosophy. I did a word study of gumnos, which is the Greek for “naked.” In the garden of Eden, the man and the woman were naked but without shame until sin came into their lives. The very first psychological self-awareness of guilt and shame was an uncomfortable awareness of nudity. Since then, human beings...

I was in Baton Rouge a few months ago and somebody from the Chamber of Commerce, upon my request, took me out to see evangelist Jimmy Swaggart's place, which is a four-iron from the plush new Country Club of Louisiana. You can't actually set foot on Jimmy's spread, of course. There are guards to keep you out, not to mention a wall around the estate that locals report cost $800,000 to build. I've seen bigger spreads than Swaggart's. I was at Peter the Great's palace outside Leningrad once. But Swaggart hasn't done badly to come in second to a czar.

January 27, 2015Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Heb 10:1-10 Brothers and sisters:Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of them, it can never make perfect those who come to worship by the same sacrifices that they offer continually each year.Otherwise, would not the sacrifices have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, once cleansed, would no longer have had any consciousness of sins?But in those sacrifices there is only a yearly remembrance of sins, for it is impossible that the blood of...

Satan hates the Blessed Virgin Mary. In fact, he has been doing everything in his power to discourage devotion to her and instill hatred for her for two millennia. Have you ever noticed that it is Marian dogmas and devotions that stir the strongest reactions in those who reject the Church? Even some good Catholics are embarrassed by devotion to our Lady, and they feel we should not be too extreme in our veneration of her. Perhaps you, too, have wondered why the Church holds the Immaculate Virgin in such high regard. Perhaps you have wonder why God has chosen...

Even though pro-lifers were criticized for saying that "Obamacare" funds abortion, some liberals, including House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, are now complaining about Obamacare abortion funding that the U.S. House voted to remove Thursday. The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which passed 242-179, would require that insurance plans that receive government funding no longer cover elective abortions. In reaction, some liberals have argued that the bill would increase taxes on small business. "Republicans Include Tax Hike In Latest Abortion Bill," announced the headline of a Huffington Post article by Jennifer Bendery.

Full title: Christian Blogger Veronica Partridge Says She Is 'Under Attack From Satan' After Post Claiming Leggings Tempt Men Draws Criticism A Christian blogger under fire for saying women who wear leggings inadvertently risk tempting members of the opposite sex, says that she and her husband are under attack from Satan. Oregon resident Veronica Partridge, 25, sparked a firestorm of criticism earlier this month when she said she had chosen to stop wearing leggings as pants in public to honor her Christian faith in a candid blog post that went viral. "I've had a lot of both positive and negative...

Pope Francis met privately with a Spanish transgender man this weekend, according to new report featured in the Washington Blade. Diego Neria Lejárraga told the Spanish newspaper Hoy that he and his fiancée met with the pontiff at his official Vatican residence on Saturday, in what would mark the first meeting of a pope with a transgender person.

Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" had another jaw-dropping weekend, reaching an impressive $200 million at the domestic box office. Despite the film's colossal success, liberals like former DNC chairman Howard Dean and director Michael Moore just won't let "American Sniper" go. Over the weekend, Moore invoked Jesus in a slew of incendiary tweets aimed at dishonoring American soldiers and the Iraq war. One tweet stated "Tomorrow's Sunday School (1 What Would Jesus Do? Oh, I know what he'd do --hide on top of a roof and shoot people in the back!" He followed that tweet with: Sunday School: (2) But What...

A man has interrupted the consecration of the Church of England's first female bishop. The unidentified man said that "it was not in the Bible", when Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu asked the congregation if it was their will that Mrs Lane should be ordained. The man asked to speak to Dr Sentamu about the "absolute impediment" before walking off. VIDEO ON LINK

January 26, 2015Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops    Reading 1 2 Tm 1:1-8 Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of Godfor the promise of life in Christ Jesus,to Timothy, my dear child:grace, mercy, and peace from God the Fatherand Christ Jesus our Lord. I am grateful to God,whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears,so that I may be filled with joy, as I recall your sincere faiththat first lived in your grandmother...

Sound familiar? All clichés. They may sound nice, but clichés are often just like Band-Aids on cancer…useless. ... What do you do about your past? Let’s check out lessons from the Apostle Paul in Acts 9:21-31. To say that Paul had a bad past is a gross understatement. As Saul, Paul lived the worst kind of sinful life you could imagine—persecuting, killing and binding up the saints of God. In fact, at this point in Acts, Paul had just participated in the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church. What did Paul do about his past? What...

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth... (snip) Jesus calls us to not only do what is required, but to go the extra mile. How can a Christian learn the joy of the selfless, Christ-filled life in such a selfish world? Christ calls us not to merely go one mile, but to go that extra mile ─ that miracle mile, the one that causes our lives to change. The Principle of the Miracle Mile When Christ said these words, Palestine had been occupied by Rome for about one...

January 25, 2015Third Sunday in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Jon 3:1-5, 10 The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying:“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,and announce to it the message that I will tell you.�So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,according to the LORD’S bidding.Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;it took three days to go through it.Jonah began his journey through the city,and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, “when the people of Nineveh believed God;they proclaimed a fastand all of them, great and...

THE CELEBRATED PRAYER of the great German astronomer, Kepler, has been a benediction to many: "O God, I thank Thee that Thou hast permitted me to think Thy thoughts after Thee." This prayer is theologically sound because it acknowledges the priority of God in the universe. "In the beginning God" is undoubtedly the most important sentence in the Bible. It is in God that all things begin, and all thoughts as well. In the words of Augustine, "But Thou, O Lord, who ever livest, and in whom nothing dies, since before the world was, and, indeed, before all that can...

Here are artistic representations of two goddesses who are considered the Queen of Heaven and Goddesses.  The Buddhist/Taoist Kuan Yin (or Guan Yin) (觀音) And The Catholic depiction of Mary Note the similarities in representation.  This relates to a thread last week on the leftover, or accretional pagan beliefs or rituals that are still present in the Catholic church.  The Goddess of Mercy is a universal idol/icon in pagan belief systems. 

As the forty-second anniversary of Roe v. Wade draws near, we are reminded of how large and formidable the abortion industry has become in the United States. Planned Parenthood survives with a heavy dose of government funding, even as overall abortion numbers are down and seem to indicate the entire industry is diminishing. The battle between life and choice is being fought one story at a time.On one side is 25-year-old Emily Letts, who uploaded to YouTube, as a “positive” story, what she claims is her abortion procedure (the actual procedure is shielded from view and the authenticity of Letts’s...

NASHVILLE (BP) -- LifeWay Christian Resources' decision to stop selling a discredited book about a 6-year-old's supposed vision of heaven is being cited as a reminder that followers of Jesus should rely on the Bible rather than subjective experience for their knowledge of the afterlife. "Anytime you step away from the clear, revelatory, propositional statements of Scripture into your own experience, then you open yourself to every kind of weird existential idea out there," Chris Osborne, a Texas pastor who believes books like Malarkey's are unbiblical, told Baptist Press. "We want people bound to truth, not to what they feel...

January 24, 2015Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church    Reading 1 Heb 9:2-3, 11-14 A tabernacle was constructed, the outer one,in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of offering; this is called the Holy Place.Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies. But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not...

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?-Psa. 139:7 In all Christian teaching certain basic truths are found, hidden at times, and rather assumed than asserted, but necessary to all truth as the primary colors are found in and necessary to the finished painting. Such a truth is the divine immanence. God dwells in His creation and is everywhere indivisibly present in all His works. This is boldly taught by prophet and apostle and is accepted by Christian theology generally. That is, it appears in the books, but for some reason it has...

New Mexico’s three Roman Catholic bishops hope Republican control in the state House of Representatives will help them achieve a ban on late-term abortions that Albuquerque voters rejected in a 2013 city election. Allen Sánchez, executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the new Republican majority in the House provides the first “window of opportunity” in years to end late-term abortions in the state. “For years (Republicans) have made the claim that if they could take the House, they could get pro-life legislation on the governor’s desk,” Sánchez said. “We see pro-lifers, both Republicans and Democrats,...

The St. Mary and St. Joseph Family Memorial Foundation has purchased the Twin Spires in Downtown St. Joseph with plans to create a national pro-life shrine. When it opens this spring, the church will become the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the first national pro-life shrine in the country. It will serve as a location for prayer to end abortion, and for atonement for the babies and the conversion of their parents, the nonprofit said. “It was kind of miraculous. We were going to build a shrine,” said Richard Mahoney, president of the foundation. “I got a call from a...

The “Director of Civil and Human Rights” for the United Methodist Church, Bill Mefford, posted a picture to Twitter yesterday mocking the pro-life marchers. Mefford, who works for the church’s lobby arm, the General Board of Church and Society, ridiculed the marchers by posting a picture of himself standing before them with a sign saying “I march for sandwiches.” TWEET ON LINK Here’s a thought. A great proportion of the pro-life marchers are young people. They are volunteers, unpaid and untrained. Mefford, on the other hand, is a grown man, one whose actual job is to represent Christians in the...

I will never forget the first ultrasound of my unborn child. Expecting an idle smudge on a grainy screen, my wife and I were greeted by a hyperactive baby, all four flailing limbs foiling the doctor’s attempt at accurate measurement. Our child was beautiful, and very much alive. This week marks the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and across the country pro-lifers gather to profess the humanity of unborn children. However, as Brennan Manning noted in The Ragamuffin Gospel, “the danger of the pro-life position… is that it can be frighteningly selective.” Recent events provide repeated and disturbing evidence...

The “Director of Civil and Human Rights” for the United Methodist Church, Bill Mefford, posted a picture to Twitter yesterday mocking the pro-life marchers. Mefford, who works for the Church’s lobby arm, the General Board of Church and Society, ridiculed the marchers by posting a picture of himself standing before them with a sign saying “I march for sandwiches.”[...]