Free Republic

"The One greater than Moses has come with a LAW greater than than the Law of Moses. He's not going to lower the bar, he's going to RAISE it. He's going to raise it..." "...But this King is going to come to you, with words quite different than you ever imagined, words that at first will seem almost easier than the Law of Moses. And then as you grow, you'll begin to understand, these are the most difficult sayings I have ever heard. They cost more from me than the Law of Moses ever could." Law of Moses says "Tithe"...

Melrose - Wendy Golini has a reputation as boisterous conversationalist, a reputation well known to the customers at her Cedar Perk restaurant on West Emerson Street in Melrose, but when she recently saw an image of Mother Teresa on her cutting board at the restaurant, Golini said she only shared it with a few friends. “I don’t want to be the crazy lady who saw something,” she told the Free Press, laughing. The morning the image appeared, Golini said she’d been praying, particularly imploring Mother Teresa for help with tribulations relating to Golini and her friends and family. Mother Teresa,...

Hanukkah is sited in the Gospel of John 10:22 as the "feast of the dedication."

December 10, 2009                                Thursday of the Second Week of Advent       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 41:13-20 I am the LORD, your God,who grasp your right hand;It is I who say to you, “Fear not,I will help you.”Fear not, O worm Jacob,O maggot Israel;I will help you, says the LORD;your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.I will make of you a threshing sledge,sharp, new, and double-edged,To thresh the mountains and crush them,to make the hills like chaff.When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them offand the storm shall scatter them.But you shall rejoice in the LORD,and...

Bunches left this prayer request in the Spurgeon chapel today: "Wednesday, December 09, 2009 4:06:25 PM · 2 of 3 bunches to alpha-8-25-02 I respectfully request prayers from my Freeper friends. I have breast cancer and am undergoing a mastectomy tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. (Arizona time). I believe it is Stage II but it is also in the aggressive category. I read FreeRepublic daily and think the world of all the folks I have met here. If you could think of me tomorrow morning and say a prayer, I would be most grateful. Bunches." Please hold our dear bunches up...

"This shows how to witness honestly and why the "sneak the Gospel in" type of "evangelism" actually hinders ministry and is not doing unto others as you would have them do unto you." ~ Lane Chaplin

We just left Aunt Gert’s home. It’s been a bright spot in a rather lackluster winter month.

All nations surrounded me, But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surrounded me, Yes, they surrounded me; But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surrounded me like bees; They were quenched like a fire of thorns; For in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. You pushed me violently, that I might fall, But the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. (Ps. 118: 10-14)

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec 9, 2009 / 12:08 am (CNA).- In what the local vicar general called acts of “barbarism,” a priest and a nun have been killed in two separate attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fr. Father Daniel Cizimya Nakamaga, 51, was shot in the head early Sunday when gunmen broke into the presbytery of Kabare, several miles outside the eastern city of Bukavu.Two days later attackers struck a Trappist monastery just north of Bukavu, killing Sr. Denise Kahambu.A third person died when police trying to catch the killers fired upon a car containing...

Fr. Mark Gruber / Archabbot Douglas Nowicki Latrobe, Pa., Dec 9, 2009 / 06:48 am (CNA).- Catholic priest Fr. Mark Gruber, a professor at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania has been removed from ministry and barred from campus after accusations were made that he downloaded pornography to his computer. Some of his colleagues and friends are defending him, claiming his computer was tampered with.Fr. Gruber, 53, is a Benedictine monk who teaches anthropology and is an authority on the Coptic Christians of Egypt. He is reportedly a popular retreat leader in the U.S. and Canada and is known...

December 9, 2009                                    Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 40:25-31 To whom can you liken me as an equal?says the Holy One.Lift up your eyes on highand see who has created these things:He leads out their army and numbers them,calling them all by name.By his great might and the strength of his powernot one of them is missing!Why, O Jacob, do you say,and declare, O Israel,“My way is hidden from the LORD,and my right is disregarded by my God”? Do you not knowor have you...

Inspirational animation!

Father Jaques Marquette, of the province of champagne, died at the age of 38 years, of which 21 were passed in the Society — namely, 12 in france and 9 in Canada. He was sent to the missions of the upper algonquins, who are called outaouacs; and labored therein with the zeal that might be expected from a man who had proposed to himself st. francis Xavier as the model of his life and death. He resembled that great Saint, not only in the variety of barbarian languages which he mastered, but also by the range of his zeal, which...

"Thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor." - Psalm 68:10 DEAR LORD, WE THANK YOU FOR THIS DAY, THIS HOUR AND THIS SECOND. LORD, WE THANK YOU FOR THIS TIME YOUR SAINTS CAN GATHER BEFORE YOUR THRONE OF GRACE WITH PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION. LORD, WE PRAY FOR ALL OF YOUR SAINTS NO MATTER WHERE THEY MAY BE OR WHATEVER THEIR NEED. LORD, WE PRAY ESPECIALLY FOR OUR TROOPS AND PATRIOTS WHO FAITHFULLY PLACE THERE PRAYERS FOR OUR HEROES AT THE FOOT OF THE THRONE,AND TO ALL MEMBERS OF GOVERNMENT WHO HOLD YOUR TRUTHS CLOSE TO THEIR...

December 8, 2009                                 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception                                 of the Blessed Virgin Mary   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Gn 3:9-15, 20 After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”He answered, “I heard you in the garden;but I was afraid, because I was naked,so I hid myself.”Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked?You have eaten, then,from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!”The man replied,...

When people see us, they need to see the Christ Spirit in us. This cannot be if we separate ourselves from God as miserable sinners. That is self righteous hypocrisy. People saying they do what they want because they are miserable sinners. That is saying sin is God's fault. Jesus called us to be one in Christ. John 17:20-23. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, are in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in...

Please do not attempt to wake me up from what seemed like a dream from the very first day. Do not try and wrestle away my simplistic and unsophisticated faith which suggests that Jesus is the way to a place called heaven. I have heard all the new voices and all the new and fresh theologies that call us like sirens to rise above the ancient ideas, and I am a spectator to the ever changing and ever increasing nebulous and intangible faith that is being taught in today’s newer spiritual classroom. When I became a Christian I experienced one...

Psalm 33:22 Let Thy Mercy, O LORD, be upon us, According as we Hope in Thee.

Jn.3:3 - ...Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. A definite and non-compromising statement straight from the lips of the Incarnate Word of God Himself. Jesus did not say you must be white, or you must be black, or you must be red, or you must be yellow. He did not say you must be intelligent, or you must be uneducated, or you must be heavy, or you must be skinny. The Lord did not say you must be Baptist, or you must be Catholic, or you must be Hindu, or you must be...

December 7, 2009                                 Monday of the Second Week of Advent   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 35:1-10 The desert and the parched land will exult;the steppe will rejoice and bloom.They will bloom with abundant flowers,and rejoice with joyful song.The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;They will see the glory of the LORD,the splendor of our God.Strengthen the hands that are feeble,make firm the knees that are weak,Say to those whose hearts are frightened:Be strong, fear not!Here is your God,he comes with vindication;With divine recompensehe comes...

No one desires a cross. No one. We all want affirmation and recognition. We pursue security and life. We all need affection and friendship. But no one wants a cross. Of course we love the cross upon which our wonderful Savior died for us. We all love and appreciate that cross. But no one wants a cross for themselves. No one. But the cross is what we are called to. A sinner realizes he is lost. The Spirit illuminates to him just Who Jesus is, and that sinner believes that Jesus is the Savior and the only way to eternal...

How many of us --- indeed, all of us --- have at one time or another said, "Ah ... would that I had never done that! Could I only go back in time!Confucius, in one of his well known Analects, summarized it best: "What is said cannot be unsaid." How true. What is more, in so many, many ways, what is done cannot be undone ...We are prisoners of our past --- and Time, the stern warden, it appears, has thrown away the key. We are prisoners to what we have said and to what we have done. In...

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Deuteronomy 33:26,27 There is None like unto the God of Jeshurun, Who Rideth upon the Heaven in thy Help, And in His Excellency on the Sky. The Eternal God is thy Refuge, and Underneath are the Everlasting Arms: And He shall Thrust Out the Enemy from before thee; and shall Say, Destroy them.

The Christmas wreaths were still hung on the walls of the front meeting room, but it was evident that the season's mirth had ebbed away.

Note: The following text is a quote: Thursday, December 3, 2009 Russia: jihad, terror, tensions and opportunities By Elizabeth Kendal Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 033 Special to ASSIST News Service AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- Back in December 2001, al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri identified Afghanistan and Chechnya as key to the jihadist cause. Regarding Chechnya, he noted that control of the North Caucasus would give al-Qaeda's Sunni jihadists a 'mujahid Islamic belt' from the Mediterranean through Turkey and the pan-Turkic regions of the Black and Caspian Seas into Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as Xingjiang in western China. Terrorism...

December 6, 2009                                      Second Sunday of Advent   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Bar 5:1-9 Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery;put on the splendor of glory from God forever:wrapped in the cloak of justice from God,bear on your head the mitrethat displays the glory of the eternal name.For God will show all the earth your splendor:you will be named by God foreverthe peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship. Up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights;look to the east and see your childrengathered from the east and the...

A Silence That Contemplates and Adores The Apologetic Prayers of the "Ordo Missae" ROME, DEC. 4, 2009 (Zenit.org).- In this article, Father Mauro Gagliardi, a consultor of the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, explains the importance and meaning of the "apologetic prayers" said during the celebration of the holy Mass. These "apologetic prayers" are the ones that the priest recites quietly -- in "secret" -- before God, to participate more consciously and worthily in the divine mysteries that he celebrates on behalf of the whole Church. The faithful accompany these prayers with reverent, external silence and...

December 5, 2009                                 Saturday of the First Week of Advent     Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 30:19-21, 23-26 Thus says the Lord GOD,the Holy One of Israel:O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,no more will you weep;He will be gracious to you when you cry out,as soon as he hears he will answer you.The Lord will give you the bread you needand the water for which you thirst.No longer will your Teacher hide himself,but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,While from behind, a voice shall sound in...

It was Christmas, but it didn’t seem like Christmas to me. Traditional lights were glistening everywhere, and churches were abuzz with excitement, but I felt a coldness in my heart akin to the freezing rains that hit me as I trudged uphill to the hospital.

I said to the LORD: “You are my God; Hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle. Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; Do not further his wicked scheme, Lest they be exalted. Selah (Ps. 140: 6-8)

Benedict XVI has announced that the World Day of the Sick will be celebrated this liturgical year on February 11, the 25th anniversary of the institution of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers. The Pontiff drew attention to the essential nature of pastoral service for the sick and asked those who are ill "to pray and offer up their sufferings for priests" in this Year of the Priest. For February 11, the Pope said, the Church would like to "raise awareness in the ecclesial community of the importance of pastoral service in the vast world...

December 4, 2009                                  Friday of the First Week of Advent   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 29:17-24 Thus says the Lord GOD:But a very little while,and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,and the orchard be regarded as a forest!On that day the deaf shall hearthe words of a book;And out of gloom and darkness,the eyes of the blind shall see.The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD,and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.For the tyrant will be no moreand the arrogant will have gone;All who are alert to do evil will be cut off,those whose...

Christmas 2009: A Message from ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us..." (Titus 3:4-5a). Into this shadowed world light shines and joyous voices sing. Glad tidings cheer the heart and liberate hope. "A child has been born for us, a son given to us" (Isaiah 9:6). God our Savior has appeared! God's saving goodness and loving kindness have arrived in Jesus, the Word made flesh. Though hidden in the humility of a manger, and later in the scandal of the cross, God's promise is being made...

New York City, N.Y., Dec 3, 2009 / 05:25 am (CNA).- Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan will celebrate a special St. Patrick’s Cathedral Mass on Dec. 9 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. The Mass will be broadcast live on the Catholic television network EWTN.Archbishop Sheen was a radio host and bestselling author who also hosted the popular 1950s television series “Life is Worth Living.” He served as the Bishop of Rochester, New York from 1966 to 1969. He died on Dec. 9, 1979. In 2002, Archbishop Sheen was declared a Servant...

December 3, 2009                                    Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 26:1-6 On that day they will sing this song in the land of Judah: “A strong city have we;he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.Open up the gatesto let in a nation that is just,one that keeps faith.A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace;in peace, for its trust in you.”Trust in the LORD forever!For the LORD is an eternal Rock.He humbles those in high places,and the lofty city he brings down;He tumbles it to the ground,levels it with the dust.It is...

Every Christmas season, which in our home begins around the second week of November, I am on a mission. My goal: find one new CD and one new Christmas movie to add to our growing collection. The movie gets rotated in with about a dozen or so other favorites while the CD takes front and center stage. Whatever this CD is, it is played so constantly throughout the next 6 weeks that it must, by nature of its place in our routine, be extraordinary. I don’t give this spot to just any artist; but, rather, I spend time searching...

Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; In You I take shelter. Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. (Psalm 143:9, 10)

December 2, 2009                                   Wednesday of the First Week of Advent Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 25:6-10a On this mountain the LORD of hostswill provide for all peoplesA feast of rich food and choice wines,juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.On this mountain he will destroythe veil that veils all peoples,The web that is woven over all nations;he will destroy death forever.The Lord GOD will wipe awaythe tears from all faces;The reproach of his people he will removefrom the whole earth; for the Lord has spoken. On that day it will be said:“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save...

My friend is in need of emergency prayer. He is in his early 30's with 4 small girls and a wife. He has abdominal cancer, (unsure where exactly) and is in the hospital receiving chemo now. He spent the last 6 weeks in the hospital and then was transferred to Houston because the cancer has progressed. Chemo was started again and last night he spiked a fever to 103 and it is now up to 105. They are pretty sure there is an infection in the mediport and they are trying to clear the OR to address the problem. They...

Father Robert J. Fox passed away at his home on Thanksgiving day at 12:45 P.M. He died a peaceful and happy death. He was anointed the night before and he also offered Mass. A wake service will be held at the Shrine of The Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville Alabama. The body will arrive at 3:00 P.M. and the rosary at 7:00 P.M. His burial will be in Alexandria South Dakota at St. Mary of Mercy Catholic Church. PRESS & DAKOTAN Published: Tuesday, December 1, 2009 12:56 AM CST Father Robert J. Fox of Hanceville, Alabama passed away on Thursday,...

What could bring record producers, famous for working on music by Elton John, Blondie and Dolly Parton, together with Pope Benedict XVI and the former choir master of St. Peter’s Basilica? The answer is “Alma Mater,” a new CD from Decca released worldwide Nov. 28. The album features nearly 10 minutes of recordings of the Pope alongside eight tracks of Lauretan Litanies, Marian popular chants and modern classical music. Each track ends with Gregorian chant sung by the Philharmonic Academy of Rome Choir and conducted by Msgr. Pablo Colino, the former chapel master of St. Peter’s.For 26 years, the Spanish priest was...

"Thou art from everlasting." - Psalm 93:2 “He is eternal in all his attributes, in all his offices, in all his might, and willingness to bless, comfort, guard, and crown his chosen people.” DEAR LORD, WE THANK YOU FOR THIS DAY, THIS HOUR AND THIS SECOND. LORD, WE THANK YOU FOR THIS TIME YOUR SAINTS CAN GATHER BEFORE YOUR THRONE OF GRACE WITH PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION. LORD, WE PRAY FOR ALL OF YOUR SAINTS NO MATTER WHERE THEY MAY BE OR WHATEVER THEIR NEED. LORD, WE PRAY ESPECIALLY FOR OUR TROOPS AND PATRIOTS WHO FAITHFULLY PLACE THERE PRAYERS FOR...

December 1, 2009                                 Tuesday of the First Week of Advent     Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 11:1-10 On that day,A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,and from his roots a bud shall blossom.The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,A Spirit of counsel and of strength,a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.Not by appearance shall he judge,nor by hearsay shall he decide,But he shall judge the poor with justice,and decide...

A New Holiday Tradition December 1st, 2009 by Christine Hebert Most of the world will celebrate the New Year on January first. As Catholics, however, we began the new liturgical year this past weekend with the first Sunday of Advent. My family is celebrating this time of preparation and penance with a Jess tree for the first time this year. I had heard of Jesse trees a few years ago, but not until about half way through Advent last year did, I understand the Jesse tree. The Jesse tree provides as series of lessons on Salvation History from creation until...

November 30, 2009                                    Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 10:9-18 Brothers and sisters:If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lordand believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,you will be saved.For one believes with the heart and so is justified,and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.The Scripture says,No one who believes in him will be put to shame.There is no distinction between Jew and Greek;the same Lord is Lord of all,enriching all who call upon him.For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will...

1 Peter 3: 12For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

<p>I am asking for prayer for my marriage. My husband (Rick) has committed adultery. I know God hates divorce and this appears to be the direction he is taking. Lots of issues involved...I won't go into here..but he needs to come to repentance and to allow God to heal his heart...and mine too. The pain is almost too much to bear at this point. Our marriage needs divine healing and that is what I am asking you to pray for. God is not through with us as a couple yet...we have much work to do. Satan has tried to put a monkey wrench in the mix...but God is greater. Thanks for praying...</p>