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“But emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). As part of His humble descent from Heaven to earth, Jesus set aside the exercise of His divine privileges. The next step in Jesus’ pattern of humility as He came to earth and lived among mankind was His emptying of Himself. But Scripture is clear that while on earth our Lord claimed to be God: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). At no time did He stop being God. The Greek word for “emptied” gives us...

As a major conference on Africa gets set to open in Rome, the principal organizer, Nigerian Father Paulinus Odozor, says the debate over Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics unleashed by 'Amoris Laetitia' is already settled in Africa -- and that the answer is 'no.'

Do you remember being a kid and attempting to debate grown up topics with friends? I remember from my youth having a friend whose father was an atheist. After hearing frequently his father mock and criticize theists and religious people, my young friend became rather indoctrinated. By the age of 10, he could take up the arguments he’d heard a million times around the home and challenge classmates and children in the neighborhood. To be that young and such a cynic seems awfully sad now as I look back. In retrospect I suppose my childhood pal figured if he could...

In his address to the participants in a course on the “internal forum” at the Vatican, Pope Bergoglio promoted the novelty in moral theology which he has attempted to introduce into the life of the Church via the already infamous Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia (AL): “discernment.” What exactly is this “discernment”? Quite simply, it is a code word for the application of situation ethics in the confessional in the case of public adulterers living in “second marriages” so that they can receive Holy Communion without having to cease their adulterous relations. In other words, discernment is a sham. If...

What Were Houses Like at the Time of Jesus? Msgr. Charles Pope • March 21, 2017 • N.B.: I am in the Holy Land at this time. As my travel schedule is heavy, I am republishing some articles about life in Jesus’ day. I hope you will enjoy reading (or re-reading) them as much as I did.The smallest homes of the very poor might be little better than a square, stone structure, covered with a whitewashed sort of stucco. There would typically be one larger multi-purpose room and a smaller back room for the animals. Some houses in hilly...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Book of Psalms Psalm 124 Psalm 124 A song of ascents. Of David. 1 If the Lord had not been on our side—     let Israel say— 2 if the Lord had not been on our side     when people attacked us, 3 they would have swallowed us alive     when their anger flared against us; 4 the flood would have engulfed us,     the torrent would have swept over us, 5 the raging waters     would have swept us away. 6 Praise be to the Lord,     who has not let us be torn by their teeth. 7 We have escaped like a bird...

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens,...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. 1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. Religion Forum threads labeled Prayer are closed to debate of any kind. Please join us in prayer.

When we ask questions about matters that elude our full understanding, we tend to look for models or patterns that are similar to what we do understand. We seek for clues to a new and different paradigm. The shift from earthbound thinking to conceiving of heaven is a massive paradigm shift. To speak of our mysterious future is to search for analogies that will give us a hint about what to expect. We cannot say what heaven is, but the Bible does give us hints as to what it is like. We try to imagine the unknown in the light...

Once again breaking news in Novus Ordo Land: The Roman Novus Ordo cleric who goes by the pen name of Fra. Cristoforo (“Bro. Christopher”) has just published some additional information about the four “dubia cardinals” (Caffara, Brandmuller, Meisner, and Burke) and why the previously announced “formal correction of the Pope” has been scrapped.Last week, after Fra. Cristoforo had revealed that the formal correction was not going to happen, Vatican journalist Edward Pentin sent out some tweets (see here and here) contradicting the claim, saying that the information was not correct and the formal correction was “still on.” Fra. Cristoforo, however,...

I have a growing sense that we’ve entered a new phase in the war for the soul of Catholicism. I have the distinct impression that the enemies of truth and goodness within the Church have been displeased with the effectiveness of a handful of feisty publications in exposing their anti-Catholic agenda at nearly every turn. I think of something Bishop Athanasius Schneider said concerning the first Synod on Marriage and Family in 2014: That in the very bosom of the Church, there are people who undermine the teaching of Our Lord became an obvious fact and one for the whole world to...

March 21, 2017 Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent Reading 1 Dn 3:25, 34-43Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud: "For your name's sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever,or make void your covenant.Do not take away your mercy from us,for the sake of Abraham, your beloved,Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one,To whom you promised to multiply their offspringlike the stars of heaven,or the sand on the shore of the sea.For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation,brought low everywhere in the world this daybecause of our sins.We have in...

A new investigation shows the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) gave preferential treatment in 2014 to a satanic organization by quickly approving a non-profit request. Judicial Watch, a government watchdog organization, released a report on March 16, exposing how the IRS fast-tracked an application to approve a satanist-after-school club while holding up the approval of conservative organizations. The report notes the Satanic Temple (ST) of Seattle, also called the Reason Alliance, applied for tax-exempt status on October 21, 2014 and received it 10 days later on October 31 — the satanic feast of Samhain. The group, based in Somerville, Massachusetts, started...

The adversary is a master at spinning truth in lies and deceit. As a result, those who are not grounded in the Word have tremendous difficulty discerning the difference between God's truth and man's truth, creating a web of confusion and distraction. In this week's update, John brings us up to date on issues in the world, including the recent movement toward the idea that each person must determine their own gender-identity (as opposed to it being determined by physical and DNA attributes), plus of folks into the churches without worry about their Middle East, including Turkey's planned expansion and...

Moscow, March 17, Interfax - Representative of the Moscow Patriarchate calls extremely untimely the idea to bury Lenin's body and urges to introduce a moratorium on a war against political symbols in Russia. "We understand that his presence on Red Square has nothing to do with Christian traditions. But we can raise a question about reburial only when a campaign on decommunization and desovietization is stopped in the post-Soviet territory. And afterwards, when we pose this question, we should base only on religious, not political grounds," first deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for Church, Society and Media relations, PhD...

Is the Catholic Church’s traditional sexual morality too rigid? Cardinal Christoph Schönborn’s flock is certainly being led to think so. In December, the website of the Archdiocese of Vienna led by Schönborn published a new presentation of the Ten Commandments. It included a commentary on the Sixth Commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” that could be interpreted to justify everything from masturbation to pornography and prostitution. The article concludes — openly invoking Pope Francis’ solicitude for sinners — that refusing communion to the divorced and remarried “seems very questionable from a theological point of view.” Says the article on the...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: The blessed Salvator à Horta of the Franciscan order | Etching | Wellcome Images Saint Salvator of Horta Saint of the Day for March 20 (1520 – March 18, 1567)  Saint Salvator of Horta’s Story A reputation for holiness does have some drawbacks. Public recognition can be a nuisance at times—as the confreres of Salvator found out.Salvator was born during Spain’s Golden Age. Art, politics, and wealth were flourishing. So was religion. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus in 1540.Salvator’s parents were poor. At the age of 21, he entered the Franciscans...

This petition has been created and sponsored by a coalition of Italian pro-life and pro-family groups. BACKGROUND Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the new head of the Pontifical Academy for Life recently gave remarks expressing unqualified admiration for longtime friend Marco Pannella, one of Italy’s most radical proponents of the culture of death. Speaking about the Italian Radical Party founder, Paglia stated that he was "a man of great spirituality" and that his death was “a great loss, not only for the people of the Radical Party, but also for our country,” among many other glowing statements. Pannella spent his life fighting...

PARIS, March 17, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) -- Canon lawyers, theologians, and scholars will be meeting in Paris in two weeks to discuss a topic that has never been the focus of a Catholic conference before: How to depose a heretical pope. Titled Deposing the Pope: Theological Premises, Canonical Models, Constitutional Challenge, the conference seeks to explore the mechanisms that are built into the Catholic Church for dealing with a pope who openly teaches falsehood and even heresy. Speaking at the conference will be University of Paris Professor Laurent Fonbaustier who published a 1200 page book last year on the topic that...

"Thy kingdom come" (Matt. 6:10). Conversion to Christ involves three elements: invitation, repentance, and commitment. Someday Christ will return to earth to reign in His kingdom. In the meantime He rules in the hearts of those who love Him. Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus gave us a mandate to evangelize the lost and teach them His Word (Matt. 28:19- 20). When we do, sinners are converted and transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13). That's how His kingdom grows. Conversion is a work of the Spirit in the heart of unbelievers. He uses...