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Apparently some depraved losers have decided to use scripture to express their contempt for President Obama. It's not cute. It's not funny. It's far from an appropriate understanding or use of the text. I don't agree with President Obama on almost anything, but I would never wish any harm to come to him or his family. No decent person, certainly no true Christian, would either. For all my criticisms of President Obama, House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid, I always say that the way we change things is through elections in 2010 and 2012. May no harm come...

Scenario: You’ve been talking with Bob, a fellow worker at the office, for weeks about the faith. You can see you’ve made headway in presenting him your biblical case for Catholicism. So you decide to invite him to an apologetics Bible study you have at your parish. He agrees to come on one condition: You must first come to a Bible study at his “non-denominational” assembly for four weeks. Then he will come to your meeting for four weeks. Immediately, you jump at the chance. You’re fired up! The Lord has given you an open door for evangelism. Upon arrival...

A Biblical Comparison of the Roman Missal deprecated Rev 4:2-4 ...And immediately I was in the spirit. And behold, a throne had been placed in heaven... And surrounding the throne were... smaller thrones. And upon the thrones... elders were sitting, clothed all around in white vestments... And there were ... burning lamps before the throne.. INTRODUCTORY RITES The EntranceRev 4:10 "You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you have created all things, and they became and were craeted because of your will." Greeting of the Altar and of the People Gathered...

5 Myths about 7 Books  MARK SHEA Here are the answers to five common arguments Protestants give for rejecting the Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament. People don't talk much about the deuterocanon these days. The folks who do are mostly Christians, and they usually fall into two general groupings: Catholics — who usually don't know their Bibles very well and, therefore, don't know much about the deuterocanonical books, and Protestants — who may know their Bibles a bit better, though their Bibles don't have the deuterocanonical books in them anyway, so they don't know anything about them either....

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC LECTIONARY WEBSITE by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.Lectionary StatisticsHow much of the Bible is included in the Lectionary for Mass? Not as much as you might think, yet far more than was included in the Roman Missal before the Second Vatican Council!The bishops assembled at Vatican II declared, "The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly so that a richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God's word. In this way the more significant part of the Sacred Scriptures will be read to the people over a fixed...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Pope calls Catholics to daily meditation on the Bible Pope Benedict XVI Vatican City, Oct 28, 2009 / 10:37 am (CNA).- At today's General Audience in St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict provided a lesson on the theological renaissance of the 12th century, advising Christians to learn from the monks and set aside time every day to meditate on the Bible, “so that the Word of God will be the lamp that illuminates our daily path on earth."Benedict XVI began his address to the 15,000 faithful by recalling how the 12th century was a time of a spiritual, cultural...

It is my pleasure to be able to write on a subject where we as Catholics share so much common ground with our Reformed brothers, and even with most Evangelicals. In fact, it is no small thing that we agree upon foundational truths contra mundum in a time when even many Christians deny them.This article intends to show that, though Protestants agree with the Catholic Church on the basic truths about Scripture and its authority, the Reformed view of Scripture errs in three respects: in its assumption about the canon of Scripture, in its view of the authority of Scripture,...

Who do you say that Jesus is? Do your thoughts, upbringing, religious background, or personal beliefs about Jesus line up with God’s Christ of the HOLY SCRIPTURES? You might ask, “Well, does it make a difference? My friend, I say unto you, it surely does! TAKE THE JESUS CHALLENGE The Bible is the final AUTHORITY on who Jesus Christ is. It is God’s absolute instruction manual and blueprint for life. If you reject the authority of the Word of God, my friend, you are doomed. There is no hope for your lost, sinful condition. The Bible teaches that “All have...

News to Note, October 17, 2009: A weekly feature examining news from the biblical viewpoint (fascinating STEM CELL piece in story #5!)...

Christ,The Begotten Son of God From Everlasting,was made son of Joseph and Mary according to the flesh by Divine Artificial Insemination. Rom 1:3 (KJV) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;  Mary was the young virgin chosen by God to bear the child Jesus, whose Spirit is of The begotten Son, whose going forths have been from old from everlasting...and Joseph, from David, from Judah, was Jesus's father in the flesh..fulfilling all prophecies concerning Christ Jesus. Jesus shared in the same flesh and blood as his brethren so...

We all know the story of Lazarus. By the time in the story when Jesus is weeping, he is fairly clear about the fact He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Thus the tears are not necessary for grieving Lazarus. So, why the tears? Why does Jesus weep? Perhaps the tears are a result of Jesus feeling the pain of grief on two close friends. Seeing the hurt in their own lives, the pain present in their eyes and their voices might cause Jesus to weep. He might hurt because two of his friends hurt, and when we...

Today is the feast of the great priest, Doctor, Church Father, Scripture scholar, translator, and apologist St. Jerome (347-420). From the Holy Father's November 7, 2007, General Audience: Jerome refuted with energy and liveliness the heretics who contested the tradition and faith of the Church. He also demonstrated the importance and validity of Christian literature, which had by then become a real culture that deserved to be compared with classical literature: he did so by composing his De Viris Illustribus, a work in which Jerome presents the biographies of more than a hundred Christian authors. Further, he wrote biographies of...

The New International Version of the Bible is by far the most preferred translation of the Scripture, according to a new survey of U.S. evangelical leaders. More than 65 percent of the participating leaders named the NIV as their preferred Bible in a survey conducted by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) in light of the NIV’s 30th anniversary this year. “New Bible translations face large competition to gain a foothold in churches and homes but once established they have long staying power,” commented Leith Anderson, president of the NAE, which claims to represent 30 million evangelicals. “And, the NIV...

David’s message 7 September 2008 The Scriptures We attending this small fellowship have made a choice. We have chosen to be defenders of the Faith, and being of like mind to worship together in order to encourage and edify one another in our walk with Christ and bring glory to God’s name. An awful alternative would be to fellowship with apostates and heretics- a journey of compromise and error. There is no middle-of-the-road. What then is deemed to be heresy and apostasy? Heresy is an opinion or doctrine at variance with orthodox or accepted doctrine evidenced in God’s Word. Apostasy...

Being Men of Valor in Our Everyday Lives January 10th, 2006 by Maurice Blumberg The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. (Judges 6:12)God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong. (1 Corinthians 1:27)Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come share your master’s joy. (Matthew 25:21)During and following the tragedy of September 11, 2001, we witnessed many brave firemen, policemen, and rescue workers risking, and sometimes losing, their...

Catholics are sometimes puzzled when they hear their non-Catholic friends speaking of the "Apocrypha." If they question them they discover that they understand by that term the Books of Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Tobias, Judith, Baruch, First and Second Machabees and portions of Esther and Daniel. If further questioned, their friends should be able to say that at the Reformation the churches which separated from Rome and followed the lead of Luther and others decided that the above Books were not of equal authority with the rest since they are not to be found in the Hebrew Bible, but only in...

The Catholic blogosphere was recently set on fire by word of a document issued by the bishops of England, Wales, and Scotland entitled The Gift of Scripture. The firestorm was triggered by an October 5 article in The Times of London carrying the inflammatory headline "Catholic Church no longer swears by the truth of the Bible." The Times article contained a number of errors and distortions, but it also contained a number of quotes from the British bishops' document that were of concern to faithful Catholics. For example, the document is quoted as saying that "we should not expect...

A discussion from a comment on the post Bare Minimum for Salvation Lena: I just want to say that Jesus did in fact die for the sins of mankind. No matter what “works” you do it is not enough to get you into the kingdom.BFHU: AMEN!Lena: Thankfully though, there is hope and you can have that hope. God offers His grace as a gift for the taking, should you so choose to accept it. How do you accept this gift? You have to BELIEVE that Jesus died for you—and yes—He paid the WHOLE price!BFHU: Protestants do not believe in...

Chapter V - Of the Reading of Holy Scriptures:In the holy Scriptures, truth is to be looked for rather than fair phrases. All sacred scriptures should be read in the spirit in which they were written. In them, therefore, we should seek food for our souls rather than subtleties of speech, and we should as readily read simple and devout books as those that are lofty and profound. Do not be influenced by the importance of the writer, and whether his learning be great or small, but let the love of pure truth draw you to read. Do not inquire,...

One basic rule of thumb to understand in Catholic/Protestant conversations is that it is not the case that Catholics rely on Sacred Tradition and Protestants don't. Rather, Catholics (and by this I mean "educated Catholics speaking out of the Magisterial teaching of the Church") rely on Sacred Tradition and know they do, while Protestants rely on (parts) of Sacred Tradition and (usually) don't know they do. So, for instance, despite Paul's prescriptions (directed only at clergy of his day) that a man must be the husband of but one wife, nowhere in the text of Scripture is it made...

In the True Presence of Christ, I fall to my knees. I am humbled to be so near Him in the form of the Eucharist.A feeling of peace and joy comes over me.I start to pray in earnest because our Lord hears our prayers.I offer Him my sincerest gratitude for the many blessings in my life.I ask His forgiveness for the sins I have committed.I promise our Lord that I will go to Reconciliation soon.I unburden myself to Him and share all of my stress and anxiety as He asked us to in the Gospel.I pray for others-family, friends,...

Sotheby's might want to send a bidding paddle to Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown. In its July 7 London manuscripts sale, the auction house is offering a 1,500-year-old biblical document that includes layers of text and meaning--in three languages. Known as the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, the piece was written over the span of three centuries and stowed in a sacred monastery until landing in the hands of a pair of British twins by way of local Egyptian dealers. Now an English college is cannibalizing its library and cashing out, to pay for some building renovations. The ancient manuscript could...

Bishop James Conley, Auxiliary of Denver Denver, Colo., Jun 26, 2009 / 05:50 pm (CNA).- Addressing the National Catholic Bible Conference on Friday morning, Auxiliary Bishop of Denver James D. Conley urged Catholics to be “disciples of the Word” like King Josiah, the priest Ezra and St. Francis of Assisi. Recovery of God’s Word can create renewal and change “hearts and history,” he said.“Too few of us think of God’s Word as exciting or newsworthy enough to be sought out every day. And therefore too many of us miss the most newsworthy event in life – the experience of...

It is a sunny Sunday morning in a typical London suburb. I am doing some quick work in the garden before Mass. My next-door neighbors are Evangelical Christians, originally from India. This morning, the grandmother, wearing a sari, is walking up and down with her little granddaughter, and when we stop to chat, she tells me that she is teaching the little girl a Bible verse for the child to commit to memory. As I resume my work, chopping away at an overgrown hedge, I find I am echoing the verse too, and it follows me into the house...

Perhaps it’s the 11 kids or my own undisciplined personality, but I tend to fall asleep when I pray the Rosary in traditional positions. During adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, I am ashamed to admit, I find the prayer especially mesmerizing and struggle to recite five decades before the head nodding begins. However, while running in the woods, my soul soars as I stride along rugged cross-country trails. I have received both physical and spiritual consolations. Once, in His goodness, God enticed two deer to race across my path. He knew that Psalm 42, which begins, “As a hart longs...

The topic of slavery is usually accompanied by bitter feelings and condemnation for Americas past. Like America, many civilizations have used slavery as a means of providing labor. Samarian drawings on clay tablets dating back to 4000 BC show captives taken in battle being tied, whipped, and forced to work. Then there are ancient papyrus manuscripts from 2100 BC that record the ownership of slaves by private citizens in Egypt. The earliest mention of slavery in the Bible would be Genesis 9:25 when Noah cursed the descendants of Canaan. From Abraham on down we read of the men in...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- The Pentagon said Monday it no longer includes a Bible quote on the cover page of daily intelligence briefings it sends to the White House as was practice during the Bush administration.

Old Testament Difficulties 140. How could God harden Pharaoh's heart and then punish him for not letting the Jews go? The sense is that God permitted Pharaoh to harden his own heart. It is but a Jewish mode of speaking. Exod. VIII., 15, says, "And Pharaoh hardened his own heart." God sent Moses to ask Pharaoh to let the Jews go, and that means that He meant Pharaoh to do so. God would not, therefore, have deliberately prevented Pharaoh from doing so. God permitted Pharaoh to harden his own heart, just as He permits men to sin even in...

Value of the Gospels 103. Will you prove the reliability of the Gospels according to the five requirements outlined by yourself to a previous inquirer? By all means, although I cannot go very deeply into the matter in the brief time at my disposal. However I shall do my best to give the main elements. Firstly, the authors assigned wrote the books attributed to them. A knowledge of Hebrew shows that the authors were certainly Jews. Historical and political references show that they were Jews of the first century, for Palestine is shown under conditions before and not after the...

Old Testament Difficulties 116. I believe in the New Testament, but not in the Old Testament. There are things in the New Testament just as hard to believe as many things in the Old Testament, and on your principle you should reject much of the New Testament itself. Yet let us act on your admission that you do accept the New Testament. Christ and the Apostles had the same Old Testament as we have today. They treat it always as the inspired Word of God in its totality. Christ, the Son of God, would have been the first to...

Old Testament Difficulties 128. That Ark surely is a fable or symbol. Even on the measurements given it could never have contained all said to be in it. It is not a fable, although it does symbolize the Catholic Church in which souls are saved from the moral flood of sin. It was over 400 feet long, 70 wide, and 40 deep. The flood was most probably local, and the animals were of various types from the region only of its occurrence. We are not obliged to believe that all living animals were represented, nor that all animals outside...

Testimony of the Evangelists by Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853)   Simon Greenleaf , one of the principle founders of the Harvard Law School, originally set out to disprove the biblical testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was certain that a careful examination of the internal witness of the Gospels would dispel all the myths at the heart of Christianity. But this legal scholar came to the conclusion that the witnesses were reliable, and that the resurrection did in fact happen.   I n examining the evidence of the Christian religion, it is essential to the discovery of truth that...

The Daily Psalms: Sunday Douay Rheims Version   MATINS: First Nocturn   Psalm 1Beatus Vir The happiness of the just: and the evil state of the wicked. 1 Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence. 2 But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due...

Wolf in Calfskin: The Rampant Liberalism of the NABHow amazing is the profundity of your words! We are confronted with a superficial meaning that offers easy access to the unlettered; yet how amazing their profundity, O my God, how amazingly deep they are! To look into that depth makes me shudder, but it is the shudder of awe, the trembling of love. I regard with intense hatred all who attack the scriptures; if only you would slay them with your double-edged sword, that they might be enemies no longer! How dearly would I love them to be slain in...

EDITOR'S NOTE: When I wrote the following piece, it was meant to be tongue in cheek. Indeed, the column could have been written about Fidel Castro, Vladimir Putin or Alec Baldwin. However, those on the left were calling the surprisingly popular candidate, Barack Obama, the "savior"--a man who would supposedly put the world back on track and establish the United States as a moral beacon once again, if he were elected. I never expected to receive over 70,000 hits to this one column on RFFM.org. In addition, there are literally millions of results on the Yahoo search engine alone for...

WHO AM I? I am the salt of the earth. Mat5:13 I am the light of the world in & through Christ Jesus. Mat:14 I am a child of God. John 1:12 I am a part of the True Vine and Christ’s life flows through me John 15:1,5 I am Christ’s friend. John 15:15 I have been chosen by Jesus to bear much fruit. John 15:16 I am Jesus’ personal witness sent out to tell everybody about Him. Acts 1:8 I am a slave to God, making me holy and giving me eternal life. Rom 6:18 I am a...

We noted last week that one of the principal problems of trying to treat Scripture as a purely human book is that, though God can supernaturalize nature, we cannot naturalize the supernatural. God can assume a human nature and join it to His divinity. But we cannot take a supernatural thing and reduce it to mere nature without doing it violence. We cannot reduce Jesus to a mere man, nor man to a mere animal, nor the Bible to a mere book without saying stupid and preposterous stuff.Proof of this abounds. If we will not receive Scripture on its terms...

Jesus famously said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you as well.”Elsewhere, he restated this principle using a different image and adding a negative corollary: “Take heed what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away" (Mark 4:24-25).Moderns love to argue about the fairness of these observations, as though Jesus is somehow advocating abolition of the capital gains...

A Scriptural Way of the Cross with Meditations by Saint Alphonsus LiguoriThe Sign of the Cross In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Act of Contrition Intention You should form the intention of gaining the Indulgences, whether for yourself or for the souls in Purgatory. Prayer My Lord Jesus Christ, You have made this journey to die for me with love unutterable, and I have so many time unworthily abandoned You; but now I love You...

A Christian organization whose church-based clubs challenge kids to memorize Bible verses says its graduates are keeping the faith. The president of Awana International, Jack Eggar, told CDR Radio that it commissioned a survey of adults who had spent at least 6 years in Awana when they were growing up. "[W]e found that over 90-plus percent of these kids [now adults] remained faithful to the things of God or faithful in church, and are still active in their faith -- even sharing Christ with others," Eggar shares.

This is a great reference source for Bible study and general online reading. Links to all Books and Chapters are on one page which makes this very helpful. Also there are audios of a number of translations. Here are links to some of the more popular and reliable English language translations. 1. New International Version - http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/?action=getVersionInfo&vid=31 2. New American Standard Bible - http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/?action=getVersionInfo&vid=49#books 3. New King James - http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/?action=getVersionInfo&vid=50 4. Amplified Bible - http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/?action=getVersionInfo&vid=45 5. Holman Christian Standard Bible - http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/?action=getVersionInfo&vid=77 6. King James Version - http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/?action=getVersionInfo&vid=9

  "Exodus" is the Greek name for the second book of the Bible. In Hebrew, it is called the Book of Names. That's because, like Catholic encyclicals, the Hebrew books of the Bible are titled by the opening words of the book: "These are the names . . . ."   It is fitting that this title be given to Exodus, since Exodus is a book in which names play a huge role, both in the way they are emphasized and the way they are strategically de-emphasized. Exodus pauses to tell us the names of the two earliest pro-life...

PROVIDENTISSIMUS DEUSENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII  ON THE STUDY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE  To Our Venerable Brethren, All Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops of the Catholic World, in Grace and Communion with the Apostolic See.Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction.[...] The Authority of Holy Scripture; Modern Criticism; Physical Science17. To prove, to expound, to illustrate Catholic Doctrine by the legitimate and skilful interpretation of the Bible, is much; but there is a second part of the subject of equal importance and equal difficulty - the maintenance in the strongest possible way of its full authority. This cannot be done completely...

Christ came to redeem mankind from slavery to the passions by His life of sacrifice. Everything about Him went against the grain in a most unprecedented, radical manner causing scandal to the Jewish people who were expecting a temporal Messiah. Observe: he loves sinners, and eats with them; adulterers receive mercy; the ill He heals on the Sabbath. Most disturbing of all, He is not married but is a virgin and preaches continence for the sake of the Kingdom of God.The priesthood of the New Law is not made up of the powerful and intellectual but of men from ordinary...

In the following article, adapted with permission from his book "By What Authority?: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition" (Our Sunday Visitor Books), Mark recounts his thought processes when he was an Evangelical considering the role of tradition, which Evangelicals supposedly reject in belief and practice.I wondered: Is it really true that we Evangelicals never treat extra-biblical tradition as authoritative revelation? Is it really the case that all Evangelical belief is derived from the clear and unambiguous teaching of the Bible alone? Do we really speak forth only what Scripture speaks, keep silent where Scripture is silent, and never bind the...

Issue: What are the biblical origins of the Mass and the New Testament priesthood? Is the Mass really a sacrifice, or is it merely symbolic?Response: The biblical origins of the Mass and the New Testament priesthood are rooted in the Old Testament. Both the Old and New Testaments provide clear evidence that the Mass is a true sacrifice, offered by a priest, and the Victim is the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.      God stated three times that the Passover sacrifice would be “an ordinance for ever,” not for a temporary period, such as until the Messiah...

ROME, NOV. 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.Q: Could you succinctly state the relationship between the importance of the Eucharist versus the Word of God in the liturgy of the Mass? I was on a Eucharistic retreat with a group of Catholics, when the leader of our group said that we as Catholics believe that the Word of God is as important as the Eucharist. I have always been taught that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, but after she said this I...

CNA STAFF, Nov 19, 2008 / 12:11 pm (CNA).- To kick off the new Liturgical Year beginning on November 30, Catholic News Agency is pleased to announce the addition of a new column, “Road to Emmaus.”  The column, written by Brian Pizzalato, will assist in helping readers come to a deeper understanding of the Sunday readings.  Pizzalato, the Director of Catechesis, RCIA & Lay Apostolate for the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, is also a faculty member of the Philosophy department of the Maryvale Institute, Birmingham, England.  His column will publish each week, giving readers the opportunity to see the relationship...

 We live in a world of dos and don’ts. We use them every day: Do brush your teeth. Don’t drive too fast. They seem to impact our lives from minute to minute. Our consciences, our faith, and our knowledge of the world help us manage all the dos and don’ts we encounter. This goes for our relationship with God as well. When reading and applying the Bible to our daily lives, a few simple dos and don’ts will help us bring the Bible more clearly into our daily lives.Do: Read the Bible frequently, daily if possible.Don’t: Let your Bible go...

The Dos and Don’ts of Reading the Bible November 6th, 2008 by Marcel LeJeune ·  We live in a world of dos and don’ts. We use them every day: Do brush your teeth. Don’t drive too fast. They seem to impact our lives from minute to minute. Our consciences, our faith, and our knowledge of the world help us manage all the dos and don’ts we encounter. This goes for our relationship with God as well. When reading and applying the Bible to our daily lives, a few simple dos and don’ts will help us bring the Bible more clearly...