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July 16, 2018 Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 1:10-17 Hear the word of the LORD,princes of Sodom!Listen to the instruction of our God,people of Gomorrah!What care I for the number of your sacrifices?says the LORD.I have had enough of whole-burnt ramsand fat of fatlings;In the blood of calves, lambs and goatsI find no pleasure. When you come in to visit me,who asks these things of you?Trample my courts no more!Bring no more worthless offerings;your incense is loathsome to me.New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies,octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear.Your new moons...

The “Donald Trump/Mike Pence Prayer Vigil” and “Pray for our American Heroes" Prayer Thread have Combined to Form the AMERICA PRAYER VIGIL Prayer Thread! Join with Fellow FREEPERS to Pray for our PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. 'And this is the Confidence that we have in Him, that, if we Ask Anything According to His Will, He Heareth us.'1 John 5:14 Religion Forum Threads Labeled [Prayer] are Closed to Debate of Any Kind.

"Jesus has no credibility" says Cardinal Farrell "Jesus is not the best person to advise people on marriage," explained Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. "He has no credibility, He never lived the experience; He may be the Son of God, but to go from there to putting His Power into practice every day - He doesn't have that experience." Some will find Cardinal Farrell's words controversial, although it is unlikely that Pope Francis will take any notice of them, let alone correct them. Cardinal Farrell (70) was appointed by Francis, along with Cardinal...

It's time to put on your "Prophectic Spectacles." It is imperative that we scrutinize everything that is happening around the world. We must take a close, discerning look at the world events that are rapidly transpiring, while taking a similar look inward into our hearts in preparation for those final signs that could signal the soon return of Christ. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq-bA9SBLwY

Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination is the consummation of one of the big bets behind the 2016 election. Many white Christians voted for Donald Trump because they believed he would appoint conservative justices who would protect religious liberty and advance the pro-life cause. Now, ostensibly, they’ve been vindicated. With less than two years in office, Trump will very possibly see the confirmation of his second Supreme Court nominee, another handpicked choice of the conservative legal establishment. At the time, however, it wasn’t at all clear how this bet would play out. Particularly in the evangelical world, the divisions over the...

The Catholic Resistance must keep Fighting and Praying for the Restoration of the Church There is no doubt that Pope Francis and his inner circle are behind the greatest crisis in the history of the Church. We at the Catholic Monitor and the Band of Bloggers have documented this catastrophe. The Catholic Resistance is fighting for the restoration of the Church by exposing the falsehoods and evil that have entered the Church. We must keep doing this, but we will fail if we don't pray at Mass and outside Mass for the restoration. Jesus Christ will restore the Church unless...

If Francis Rubber-Stamps Contraception, He Will Again Fall Into Heresy For the Austrian philosopher Josef Seifert it is “totally inadmissible and a radical break with Church teaching” to claim that using contraception is an alleged "act of responsibility." Seifert referred to a claim made by radical Father Maurizio Chiodi, a member of the former Pontifical Academy for Life. Talking to Edward Pentin (July 13), Seifert said that if Pope Francis would rubber-stamp such changes “he would accept a total ethical error and a huge heresy”. Seifert added that Chiodi's heresy is "nothing else than an old ethical error" which implies...

It has been my particular honor to create a magnificent shrine and reliquary for the Russian Royal Martyrs. The shrine was commissioned by an American convert to Orthodoxy as a gift to the Hermitage of the Holy Cross, a Russian Orthodox monastery in West Virginia, USA. It was installed in time to commemorate the centenary of the tragic murder of Czar Nicholas II and his entire family, which falls on July 17th, 2018.The donor and monastery requested a shrine that would reflect the very best of American furniture design and craftsmanship – to unite this cultural heritage with the...

Five Fundamental Freedoms for the Christian Evangelizer Msgr. Charles Pope • July 14, 2018 • One of the biggest reasons why most Christians have difficulty evangelizing effectively is that most lack the requisite freedom and simplicity of life to carry forth the task consistently and coherently. In Sunday’s Gospel, the Lord offers some counsel on what is required for effective evangelization.As we read a Gospel like this, it is tempting to think that it speaks only of specialists such as missionaries, religious, priests, or deacons, but doing so ignores the fact that everyone is called to evangelize: clergy to...

Proverb 15 (NKJV) A Soft Answer Turns Away Wrath 01 A soft answer turns away wrath, 00 But a harsh word stirs up anger. 02 The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, 00 But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness. 03 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, 00 Keeping watch on the evil and the good. 04 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, 00 But perverseness in it breaks the spirit. 05 A fool despises his father's instruction, 00 But he who receives correction is prudent. 06 In the house of the...

Moscow, July 12, Interfax - The centenary of the execution of the last Russian emperor and his family will be marked by a 21-kilometer nighttime religious procession led by Patriarch Kirill from the Church on the Blood in Yekaterinburg to the Monastery of the Holy Royal Martyrs at Ganina Yama, the patriarch's press secretary Rev. Alexander Volkov told reporters. In this way, the patriarch will pay tribute to the memory of the canonized royal family, who were executed by the Bolsheviks early on July 17, 1918 at the Ipatyev House, where the Church on the Blood was later built. After...

The meeting, the rapprochement, between the Holy See and China has a thousand faces, of course. There are the questions of faith, of religion, of souls approaching one another, of tension toward the afterlife, and communication with people on this side. All are important points, perhaps the most fundamental and profound. But seen from China, the question is essentially about power and politics. So, for the benefit of the meeting and approach, it is perhaps appropriate to understand the Chinese position. This has three acts, as in classic tragedies. A comparison of empiresFor China, the Holy See is first and...

The Vatican’s ambassador to Canada says Pope Francis is opening the door to an apology to the country’s Indigenous people for the abuse of children at Catholic-run Indian residential schools. A papal apology was one of the calls to action issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which spent years investigating the schools. And Canada’s Parliament has voted to ask Francis to visit this country and make the requested statement of regret. At a private gathering for foreign dignitaries and Canadian politicians held late last month at his residence in Ottawa, Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi, the Papal Nuncio, said the request...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Shared Meal 
 (New Testament) John 15 The Vine and the Branches 15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless...

Almighty God saw our desperate need for His righteousness and for deliverance from the tyranny and bondage of our transgressions (Rom. 7:24-25). These have separated us from Him and have brought His wrath upon us (John 3:36; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 2:1-2, 14). In His great ETERNAL love Almighty God sent forth His only Son from Heaven’s glory to pay the price for our transgressions, to be our propitiation and to rescue us from the ETERNAL ramifications of our transgressions and godless folly (John 3:16-17; Rom. 7:24-25; Gal. 1:4; Eph 2:14; 1 John 2:2). If this is you my dear friend,...

My Savior's Hands - Lyrics (Isa. 53, Zech. 12:10, Mark 1:41, John 9:6-7; 20:20, 1 Peter 3:18, Rev. 1:7; 16-18; 22:3-5) I waited patiently for my Lord and He heard my cry He spoke to me from His precious Word and said, I am nigh And at this time, He brought me to see, His precious hands Those hands, His precious hands, were pierced right through for all our sins And when I think, on such wondrous things, O my Savior's hands Those hands, My Savior's hands, testify of all His selfless love And EVERMORE, all shall see, His precious...

July 15, 2018 Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Am 7:12-15 Amaziah, priest of Bethel, said to Amos,“Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying,but never again prophesy in Bethel;for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet,nor have I belonged to a company of prophets;I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me,Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” Responsorial Psalm Ps 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14 R. (8) Lord, let us...

White Double IN THE MIDDLE AGES, this Sunday was called, the sixth and last Sunday after the Natalis of the Apostles (that is, the Feast of St. Peter); it was, indeed, the last, for the years when Easter had been kept was late in April as was possible; but, it was only the first after that Feast of St. Peter, when Easter immediately followed the spring equinox. We have already noticed the variable character of this last portion of the liturgical cycle, which was the result of Easter’s being kept on a different day each year; and that, in...

White Semidouble HENRY OF GERMANY, the second King, but the first Emperor of that name, was the last crowned representative of that branch of the house of Saxony descended from Henry the Fowler, to which God, in the tenth century, entrusted the mission of restoring the work of Charlemagne and Leo III. This noble stock was rendered more glorious by the flowers of sanctity adorning its branches, than for the deep and powerful roots it struck in the German soil by great and long-enduring institutions. The Holy Spirit, who divideth his gifts according as he will, was then calling...

Does Suffering in the World Disprove God’s Existence? By Philip Cottraux War. Plagues. Starvation. Natural disasters. Children dying in the streets. Rapes. Massacres. The Bible says For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16), yet why does He allow these things? If He is all-powerful, couldn’t He intervene and stop all of it in an instant? This is perhaps the most common argument against His existence, at least from my experience. If an atheist sniffs out a tweet I’ve made about God’s love, they’ll respond with an image of a child’s body blown to...