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15 January 2026 Thursday of week 1 in Ordinary Time St. Ita Church, ChicagoReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(II).First reading1 Samuel 4:1-11Israel is defeated and the ark of God is capturedIt happened at that time that the Philistines mustered to fight Israel and Israel went out to meet them in battle, encamping near Ebenezer while the Philistines were encamped at Aphek. The Philistines drew up their battle line against Israel, the battle was hotly engaged, and Israel was defeated by the Philistines and about four thousand of their army were killed on the field. The troops returned to...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(1/15/26)[Prayer]A New Study For A New Year: PersonalitiesGenesis 9:18-2918 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. 20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. "Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God...

"[God] made known the mystery of His will according to His kind intention which He purposed in [Christ] with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth" (Eph. 1:9-10). God is intimately involved in the flow of human history and is directing its course toward a specific, predetermined climax. For centuries men of various philosophical schools have debated the cause, course, and climax of human history. Some deny God and therefore deny any divine involvement in history....

Welcome to the PRAYER REQUESTS thread. This daily thread is a listing of prayer requests that have been posted by Freepers to the main forum who wish to have continued prayer. Hopefully this thread will remind us to continually pray for our fellow Freepers’ cares and needs. GOD hears and answers our prayers.

This message was sent to me by my sister yesterday afternoon. It really, really spoke to her, and yes it was the Holy Spirit speaking to her through what she sent me. I don't know who the original author of this message is, but I know it was timely made sure to be before my sister yesterday. Today, her husband has been found to have had a series of mini-strokes, apparently over the last 48-72 hours, without notice or warning, until very early this AM. He had had two serious main strokes last year in July. Yesterday she texted me...

Dear Beloved Fellow FReepers and Intercessory Prayer Warriors, please lift up my sister's husband Wally as he has been hit by what preliminary findings from a CT and exams are showing as a series of mini-strokes over the last few days. He had suffered two serious strokes last July but had been making such good progress on recovery. The only evidence of this was this morning, as she found he was nearly choking on his own spit as he had lost the ability to swallow, only two hours after she'd tended to him very early this AM, and he was...

[Catholic Caucus] German Diocese Regrets "Slime Jesus" – But No One Is PunishedThe diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Germany, allegedly regrets its televised Christmas Eve Eucharist, which featured an adult woman covered in sticky rice paper who resembled a slimy alien in a manger.The Eucharist was broadcast Germanwide from the parish of St Mary’s in Stuttgart.The officiating priest, Thomas Steiger, said during the service: "The nativity scene shows a real human being, lying there miserable, naked and exposed."Next to him, the female actor breathed heavily and slowly writhed in the paper, which was apparently meant to represent the vernix covering a newborn...

If you think our nation is in trouble now, just wait… As our streets boil over with hate, anger, crime, drugs, and just sheer hopelessness, is there something we can do? You bet there is. I would like to call for a time of prayer and repentance this Wednesday, January 14, at 12:00 noon.

The incoming Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, recently told The Times, "Jesus was a black man". Jesus came for everyone, and it’s understandable that different cultures should want to present him in their own image. Here in the UK, for example, Jesus has typically been depicted as a white Westerner. But such unhelpful representations often ignore the fact that Jesus is Jewish. He came “to his own” (John 1:11) as the long-promised Jewish Messiah, and will return to Jerusalem as a Jew, specifically, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David”. (Revelation 5:5) As the Brighton-based author...

[Catholic Caucus] Extraordinary Consistory: what is its true meaning?The Extraordinary Consistory of January 2026 was not a mere consultative moment, but a strategic turning point: beneath the appearance of dialogue and “synodality,” a parliamentary model of the Church is being consolidated that relativizes the Petrine primacy and makes the neo-modernist drift allegedly irreversible, while Pope Leo XIV appears increasingly as an arbiter of power balances. The extraordinary Consistory of January 2026 should not be read as a simple consultative moment, but as a decisive step in the attempt to refound the Church on procedural and parliamentary bases, foreign to its...

[Catholic Caucus] Open letter to Pope Leo XIV: The heresy of Modernism lives on through Vatican IILegal scholar Raymond Marcin has urged the Pope to reject Vatican II’s path, calling it a covert revival of what St. Pius X condemned as the ‘synthesis of all heresies.’Editor’s note: Below follows the full text of an Open Letter to Pope Leo XIV by Emeritus Professor of Law at the Catholic University of America Raymond B. Marcin.(LifeSiteNews) — Your Holiness, The purpose of this letter is to express a concern regarding the path that our Catholic Church has been following for six decades...

Daily Readings from the USCCBRising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee. Mark 1:35–39Jesus’ prayer was unique. He did not pray because He needed God in His life—He was and is God. Yet,...

CHRISTMAS BIBLE-ART EPISODE #32 of 33 YOUNG JESUS TEACHING IN THE TEMPLE L U K E CHAPTER 2 Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find...

Today’s Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is a moment to reflect not only on the Lord’s Baptism but on our own. In an extended sense, when Christ is baptized, so are we, for we are members of His Body. As Christ enters the water, He makes holy the water that will baptize us. He enters the water, and we who are members of His Body go with Him. In these waters He acquires gifts to give us.Let’s examine today’s Gospel in three stages:The Fraternity of Baptism – The text says, Jesus came from Galilee to John at the...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(1/14/26)[Prayer]A New Study For A New Year: PersonalitiesGenesis 9:18-2918 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. 20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told...

14 January 2026Wednesday of week 1 in Ordinary TimeSt Mungo's Church, Dearham, Cumbria, EnglandReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(II).First reading1 Samuel 3:1-10,19-20'Speak, Lord, your servant is listening'The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli; it was rare for the Lord to speak in those days; visions were uncommon. One day, it happened that Eli was lying down in his room. His eyes were beginning to grow dim; he could no longer see. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying in the sanctuary of the Lord where the ark...

"In all wisdom and insight [God] made known to us the mystery of His will" (Eph. 1:8-9). Even if you haven’t obtained academic degrees, you have wisdom that far surpasses the most educated unbeliever. When God redeemed you, He not only forgave your trespasses and removed the guilt and penalty of sin, but He also gave you spiritual wisdom and insight—two essential elements for godly living. Together they speak of the ability to understand God's will and apply it to your life in practical ways. As a believer you understand the most sublime truths of all. For example, you know...

‘I accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior, and I look forward to spending an eternity with him,’ Adams declared in the message, adding that he hoped he was ‘still qualified for entry’ into heaven upon his death. Scott Adams, the creator of the long-running Dilbert comic strip whose art satirized the typical American workplace, died on Jan. 13 at 68 years old after a battle with cancer. “I accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior, and I look forward to spending an eternity with him,” Adams declared in the message, adding that he hoped he was “still...

Freedom of religion is on the ropes in increasingly authoritarian Canada — despite a specific charter guarantee of “freedom of religion and conscience.” Indeed, an Ontario court ruled previously that doctors can be coerced under threat of professional discipline to perform lethal jabs or abortions against their religious beliefs and conscience objections. Why? The court ruled that the unenumerated right of patients to receive any legal procedure paid for by the government superseded the specific charter protection. If doctors don’t want to kill, the court also ruled, they can either provide an “effective referral” — meaning soliciting a doctor known...