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August 30, 2015   Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Dt 4:1-2, 6-8 Moses said to the people:“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decreeswhich I am teaching you to observe,that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the landwhich the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God,which I enjoin upon you,you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it. Observe them carefully,for thus will you give evidenceof your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,who will hear of...

COLD SPRING - A Baptist church in Putnam County is under fire after posting a controversial, anti-abortion sign outside its building. The sign outside the Church on the Hill in Cold Spring reads, "Defund Planned Parenthood... a person's a person no matter how small." The message went up a few days ago after videos surfaced suggesting that Planned Parenthood is selling fetal tissue. Pastor Tim Greco put up the message himself. Speaking with News 12 via Skype, he says that he wanted the community to know where the church stands on the issue. "I think the churches should stand up...

“‘Do not be anxious then, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “With what shall we clothe ourselves?” For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things’” (Matthew 6:31-32). To worry is to be like an unbeliever. For us as believers, worry is needless because of God’s bounty, senseless because of God’s promise to provide, useless because of our inability to do anything, and faithless because by doing so we put ourselves in the same category as an unbeliever. In Matthew 6:32 the Greek term translated...

"There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers" (Prov. 6:16-19). God is clear about the things that displease Him. God hates sin in any form, but Proverbs 6:17-19 lists seven that are especially loathsome to Him. First is haughty eyes (v. 17), which pictures a proud and arrogant person with his nose in the air and...

In response to the series of Planned Parenthood videos that clearly reflect the utilitarian ethos of the global abortion organization, Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago advanced an extreme application of the “consistent ethic of life.” Yet his own interventions on social teaching indicate that the principal criticism of the “consistent ethic” approach, namely that it serves to marginalize abortion in the Church’s public witness, is valid in Archbishop Cupich’s case. ‘No Less Appalled’ “The widespread revulsion over the tapes arose because they unmasked the fact that, in our public conversation about abortion, we have so muted the humanity of the...

He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns blackness into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land – the LORD is his name – he flashes destruction on the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin. (Amos 5:8-9)

Every Life is a Story, Only Known Fully by God – A Meditation on a Moving Video Msgr. Charles Pope • August 28, 2015 • When my father lay dying, I remember that one of the losses I began to grieve was that he was the keeper of so many family stories. He was the one who could look at an old family photograph, identify all the people, and tell you something about each one. As I saw him lying there, no longer able to talk much, I thought of all the memories stored up in his mind, all the...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Jonah4 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for...

August 29, 2015 Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist Reading 1 1 Thes 4:9-11 Brothers and sisters:On the subject of fraternal charityyou have no need for anyone to write you,for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.Indeed, you do this for all the brothers throughout Macedonia.Nevertheless we urge you, brothers and sisters, to progress even more,and to aspire to live a tranquil life,to mind your own affairs,and to work with your own hands,as we instructed you. Responsorial Psalm PS 98:1, 7-8, 9 R. (9) The Lord comes to rule the earth with...

A Cossack organization denied that one of its members was responsible for the removal of a 100-year-old bas relief depicting the mythical demon Mephistopheles from a historic building in St. Petersburg after a man claiming responsibility for the act said he was a member of the group. In a letter sent to the editors of St. Petersburg news site Fontanka.ru, a man named Denis Gorchin — the self-described former leader of a group known as the Cossacks of St. Petersburg — said his organization was responsible for the removal of the bas relief from the building on Lakhtinskaya Street, which...

August 28, 2015, the feast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, His Beatitude Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodore II and Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Assumption of the Moscow Kremlin.

A little comments food-fight starter for a slow Friday news cycle. Even your friendly neighborhood atheist blogger is surprised by this result: My memory of youthful Christian lessons is rusty but I do vaguely recall something about rich men and heaven and camels and the eye of a needle. Then again, there’s a difference between praying for a Lamborghini and praying for a pay raise to help make ends meet. Wanting more wealth doesn’t necessarily make you greedy.The question: Why are born-again Christians more likely than those who don’t describe themselves as born again to tie wealth to faith?...

Vatican City, Aug 28, 2015 / 04:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Earlier this year the Pontifical Council for the Family organized three seminars which gathered scholars to discuss marriage and family life in the run-up to the Synod on the Family being held in October. The lectures at these seminars were published June 2 by Libreria Editrice Vaticana in Italian as Famiglia e Chiesa, un legame indissolubile (Family and Church, an indissoluble bond), and feature a preface written by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family. On the whole, the book suggests a “penitential path” that would...

I would not describe myself as a mystic, nor would I say that I am particularly attracted to mysticism. On the contrary, I tend to shy away from such things. I would even go so far as to say that I have a sneaking sympathy for Ronald Knox’s quip (or was it Newman’s) that mysticism begins in mist and ends in schism. It’s not that I don’t respect mysticism—as long as it is grounded in orthodoxy. I have a great love for the mystical meanderings of St. John of the Cross, and who but a fool does not have...

While the Swiss Bishop Vitus Huonder of the Diocese of Chur is still under public criticism for upholding the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church on homosexuality, the Swiss Bishops' Conference is coming under pressure because of its alliance with a man who has been himself promoting the homosexual and gender agenda for many years. Dr. Arnd Bünker is the head of the Swiss Institute for Pastoral Sociology, which wrote the Swiss Bishops' Conference much-criticized report in preparation for the upcoming 2015 Synod of Bishops on the Family in Rome. The report explicitly and insistently requests that the Church cease...

August 28: Pope Francis reportedly sent an encouraging letter to lesbian founder of publishing house for children’s books. Today’s Il Giornale reports, “The Pope blesses gender ideology books. To the author he writes: “Go ahead.” The report continues, “Pope Francis still amazes, writing a long letter to the author of the books that the mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, wanted to ban from its schools. After the Synod on the family that threatens to split the church, the Pope again lines up in defense of the same-sex couples.” Francesca Pardi, founder with her partner Maria Silvia Fiengo of the publishing...

Some will tell you the Bible can't be understood. Others say you can't understand it without a theology degree, or an ordained teacher, or a special vision/revelation. I challenge those claims, and invite everyone to read Acts 3 and see whether the following questions are too difficult. And when you're done, you might find you know more than your preacher. :-) 1. What was the lame man expecting to receive from Peter and John? 2. Did the people recognize this man? Why were they amazed when they saw him? 3. How had the Jews treated their Messiah/Christ? 4. What proofs...

“‘And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith?’” (Matthew 6:28-30). Observing the flowers is a way to remember that God cares for you. In Matthew 6, some of the people...

"Hate evil, you who love the Lord" (Ps. 97:10). God’s hatred for evil is an extension of His love. After spending this month exploring fifteen characteristics of godly love, it might seem odd to shift suddenly to the topic of hatred. Additionally, "holy hatred" will sound like a contradiction in terms to those who view all hatred as evil. But love and hate are inseparable. You can't truly love something and be complacent about the things that oppose or threaten it. If you love your spouse, you hate anything that would defile or injure him or her. If you love...

There is an old Italian adagium which says: Traduttore, traditore, in Castilian (Spanish): Traductor, traidor, in English: Translator, traitor. It’s one of those brief proverbs that say so much in so few words, graced with common sense, popular wisdom, and not without reason! For indeed in just two words, this proverb sums up a fact, proven beyond any reasonable doubt: that translations oftentimes are so lacking, are so bad, as to provoke a traitorous assault on the original meaning. Be that as it may, translation is fascinating work, but it certainly has its shortcomings. It can be very easy sometimes,...