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“We Have Now Received Reconciliation” (Romans 5:6-11)Our text this evening is the same as it was earlier today, a portion of Romans 5. At noon, under the theme “Christ Died for the Ungodly,” we focused on these verses: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die--but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Now tonight we continue on from that point: “Since, therefore,...

“Christ Died for the Ungodly” (Romans 5:6-11)“Christ Died for the Ungodly.” What an awesome, profound statement that is! The words come from Romans, the fifth chapter, reading as follows: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die--but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” “Christ died for the ungodly.” Every term here has great meaning. Let’s start with the term, “the ungodly.” That...

Indonesian police foiled Islamic extremists’ plan to bomb a church ahead of Easter celebrations in Serpong, just outside of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. On Thursday, authorities discovered about 150 kg (3330 pounds) of explosives not far from Christ Cathedral Church. Bombs were found beneath a gas pipeline and in bags near the church entrance. Police safely diffused the explosives after 10 painstaking hours, according to officials. The militant cell had planned to detonate the explosives remotely using a mobile phone at 9 a.m. on Good Friday, just when service at the 3,000-seat Catholic church would begin. Authorities were led...

Next for the day is the crucifixion itself. It’s recorded in all four Gospels and I will post the relevant passages in their entirety, in as close to chronological order as possible based on research done. Here are links to the Scripture passages which record the crucifixion and burial account: Matthew 27:32-61 , Mark 15:21-47 , Luke 23:26-56 , John 19:16-42 . Luke 23:26-33 26 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27And there followed him a...

"I'm gonna have to take your eggs and spread them around..." "And then the Easter Muslim said....'all you infidel bunnies must die, unless you bow down to Allah'..." And who's the evil wittle puppet, working to destroy our fweedoms? A man walking along a road in the countryside comes across a shepherd and a huge flock of sheep. He tells the shepherd, "I will bet you $100, against one of your sheep, that I can tell you the exact number in this flock." The shepherd thinks it over; it's a big flock so he takes the bet. "973," says the...

April 22, 2011Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Is 52:13—53:12See, my servant shall prosper,he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.Even as many were amazed at himC so marred was his look beyond human semblanceand his appearance beyond that of the sons of manC so shall he startle many nations,because of him kings shall stand speechless;for those who have not been told shall see,those who have not heard shall ponder it.Who would believe what we have heard?To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?He grew up like a sapling before him,like a shoot...

Reflecting on the Celebration of Our Lord's Passion Opening Prayer: Let us pray.Father, look with love on your people,the love which our Lord Jesus Christ showed uswhen he delivered himself upand suffered the agony of the cross,for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever.  Amen. We enter the liturgy on Good Friday in silence.  We don't need a "gathering rite."  It is as though we have been "gathered" since the night before.  The first act of the liturgy is for the Presider and ministers to lay face down before the cross, in silence. ...

Hezbollah is planning an attack on Western targets, a Lebanese news website reported on Tuesday, basing its claims on information intercepted by a Western intelligence agency. According to the Beirut Observer article published Tuesday, Western intelligence officials believe Hezbollah intends to strike Western targets, citing the unusual movement of suspected Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guards operatives.

The Canticle of the Passion The Canticle is chanted in some Dominican monasteries on the Fridays of Lent. My friends and My neighbors * have drawn near and stood against Me. I was delivered up and came not forth; * My eyes languished through poverty. And my sweat became as drops of blood, * trickling down and upon the ground. For many dogs have encompassed Me * the council of the malignant hath besieged Me. I have given My body to the strikers * and My cheeks to them that plucked them. I have not turned away My face from...

Lent And Holy Week (A Primer) Posted by Frank -Feast of St. Vincent Ferrer  We are officially past the half-way point of the Lenten Season.  Before you know it, it will be Holy Week. As a convert who entered the Church on Holy Saturday in the Year of Our Lord 2008, I'll never forget that experience. Those who serve as sponsors for the Catechumens and Candidates never forget it either.But if you are like me, it is good to be reminded of not only what is taking place on that day, but for the whole season. The recollection of what...

Police investigating the attempted murder of three PSNI officers during 12 July riots have seized guns in north Belfast.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – Police battled Irish nationalists for control of a Belfast road Monday as a day dominated by peaceful Protestant parades across Northern Ireland turned violent when night fell.

Officers were responding to reports of rioting at Lecky Road on the Bogside shortly after 0100 BST on Tuesday when the shots were fired.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Northern Ireland leaders condemned Irish nationalist rioters Tuesday who wounded 82 police officers during two nights of street clashes sparked by the province's annual parades by the British Protestant majority.

When a town in Iowa seeks to rename Good Friday "Spring Holiday," you know America has problems. Those of us who affirm the Judeo-Christian values that have constituted the basis of America's values since before the founding of the United States expect such things on the two coasts. The West Coast and the East Coast (at least down to Virginia) have largely abandoned the God-based morality of the Declaration of Independence and all the Founders. Yes, all the Founders. Even the so-called deists, while not theologically Christian, were ethical monotheists, i.e., strong affirmers of ethics rooted in the will of...

ROME – On Good Friday, two days before Easter, a prayer titled “Let us Pray for the Conversion of the Jews” was recited in Latin by traditionalist Catholic congregations in Italy, plus 16 sections of the Society of Saint Pius. The ultra-conservative society, whose excommunication was lifted by Pope Benedict XVI last year, has yet to be fully reintegrated into the Catholic Church, because of its refusal to accept the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. In 2007, in an effort to bring the traditionalist elements of the Church back into the fold, Benedict issued a “Motu Proprio” declaration allowing...

Elizabeth Scalia is a contributing writer to First Things Magazine as the blogger known as The Anchoress. The question has come my way several times in the past week: "How do you maintain your faith in light of news stories that bring light to the dark places that exist within your church?" When have darkness and light been anything but co-existent? How do we recognize either without the other? I remain within, and love, the Catholic Church because it is a church that has lived and wrestled within the mystery of the shadow lands ever since an innocent man was...

Any theory about on which days of the week our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected stands or falls by its answering for the day He was BURIED on: "That Day great day sabbath" of the passover, Abib 15, from its BEGINNING "EVENING HAVING HAD COME", Mk15:42 Mt 27:57 Lk23:50 Jn19:31,38 -- UNTIL its ENDING having begun "MID-AFTERNOON" "by the time of the Jews' prepararions" "the Sabbath (Seventh Day of the week) drawing near", Lk23:54 Jn19:42 -- "That Day having been The Preparation which is The Fore-Sabbath" : the Sixth Day of the week, 'Friday'. Any theory about on...

“Torn Curtain” (Hebrews 9:11-14; 10:19-25; Luke 23:44-46)At just about the time that Jesus breathed his last, something very unusual happened not far away there in Jerusalem. “The curtain of the temple was torn in two,” our text in Luke 23 tells us. Matthew and Mark, in their gospels, likewise report this occurrence, and they add the fact that the curtain was torn in two “from top to bottom.” Now that’s strange, isn’t it? What does Jesus dying have to do with the curtain of the temple being torn in two? Was it just a coincidence? Or is there some connection?...