Free Republic

011814As Ordinary Time (tempus per annum) opens up, the lectionary continues to “introduce” Christ to us. The Christmas cycle now done, we must ask, “Who is Jesus Christ? Who is this savior who has been born for us?” In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist elaborates on this. John’s words are brief, but they are packed with Christological teaching. In this Gospel we learn at least five things about Jesus. We learn that He is prefigured, preexistent, preeminent, powerful, and is the presence of God. Let’s look at each one. -------- I Prefigured – John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward...

The Department of Public Safety in Minnesota says the National Guard has been mobilized and is staging to support local law enforcement.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) revealed that Democrats would “restore most of the cuts” that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had made. While taking part in a discussion at the Center for American Progress, Schumer received a question about what he “can do about bringing” the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) back, after DOGE came in and made cuts. “If you look at the budget actually, we’re working on right now — and we’ll have the T-HUD budget, you know, transportation and HUD budget, we restore most of the cuts and even go higher than previous...

WASHINGTON — Federal officials are investigating the partner of Renee Nicole Good to determine whether she may have impeded a federal officer moments before he shot and killed Good in Minneapolis, according to two people familiar with the investigation who spoke to NBC News. The federal investigation into the shooting by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross is focusing more on Becca Good, including what officials said were her possible ties to activist groups, and less on Ross’ actions when he fired into Renee Good’s vehicle during an immigration operation last week, the people said. The fatal encounter has...

During a summit hosted by the far-Left Empowerment Congress in Los Angeles, Swalwell told the crowd, “They’re going to lose their immunity. They’re not going to be able to drive. I will take your driver’s license.” “Good luck walking to work, assholes,” he added before framing ICE as kidnappers and murderers. “Also, I will direct law enforcement to use every power to prosecute them for battery, false imprisonment, and murder.”

We were predestined "to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:12). In salvation, as in everything else, God is preeminent. He deserves all the credit. Preeminence implies supreme standing, picturing one who excels over all others in a particular quality or achievement. There is no one more preeminent than God. Ephesians 1:12 underscores that truth. You were redeemed and granted an eternal inheritance that God might be glorified. Certainly you benefit greatly from salvation, but God's glory is the primary issue. Our man-centered culture doesn't...

🚨 BREAKING: President Trump and the Department of War have put **1,500** active duty soldiers on standby pending potential deployment to the Minneapolis area, per multiple U.S. officials The soldiers are from the 11th Airborne division, ready to hit the ground if Walz does not quell the nonstop daily riots out here in the Twin Cities 47 could deploy them here in just DAYS h/t @HumanEvents

Vice President of the United States JD Vance took aim at Indiana State Senator Rodric Bray in a post on X Saturday afternoon. The post pertained to the Virginia State Senate’s decision to advance a proposed constitutional amendment to redraw the state’s congressional maps. According to the Associated Press, the Virginia State Senate skews more Democratic than Republican. “I’d like to thank (Bray) for not even trying to fight back against this extraordinary Democrat abuse of power,” Vance wrote in his post. “Now the votes of Indiana Republicans will matter far less than the votes of Virginia Democrats. We told...

We hear all the time about how young men have lurched rightward, moving toward a fascist view of things. There are endless thinkpieces out there trying to divine why men have become so right-wing. The evidence, they say, is clear: the gender gap between men and women is growing, which obviously shows that something is deeply wrong with men. But...if you dive into the available data, it shows that men have not moved much at all ideologically. The movement is almost entirely among women, who have lurched—dramatically, as a group—leftward. So far left that in many cases, they verge on...

Nicholas Kristof has a column today about China's desire to seize Taiwan and what it might actually do to make that happen. The column opens with a scenario in which China goes all in on a military invasion of the island, including some kind of attack on nearby US bases as a way to hinder our response. But Kristof and the people he's spoken with (he's in Taipei at the moment) don't think that's the most likely scenario.The more likely scenario is going to be something like what China did with Hong Kong. Not an invasion, exactly, but a gradual...

"What should I eat?" is perhaps the most common question patients with inflammatory bowel disease ask their doctors. Now, new research provides one potential answer. Their national, randomized controlled clinical trial found that a short-term, calorie-restrictive diet significantly improved both physical symptoms and biological indicators of mild-to-moderate Crohn's disease. The findings were notable, demonstrating significant declines in objective markers of inflammation in biologic samples alongside improvements in clinical symptoms. The study compared the symptoms and biological indicators of patients with mild-to-moderate Crohn's disease as they either followed a fasting mimicking diet or ate their normal diet for three consecutive months....

It's always nice to be able to report some good news. On Saturday, FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest of one of the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted; this goblin has been evading capture for the alleged murder of his former co-worker since 2016. He was caught in Mexico.The FBI announced on Saturday that it had arrested Alejandro Rosales Castillo, who has been a Ten Most Wanted Fugitive since 2017. FBI Director Kash Parel said Castillo was arrested in Mexico on Friday. He had been wanted in connection to the 2016 murder of his former co-worker, 23-year-old "Sandy" Ly...

America spent the last decade insisting that redefining marriage to include same-sex couples would never open the door to anything else. Opponents were dismissed as hysterical, warned that slippery slopes weren’t real. But marriage did not stop evolving at “two people.” A new frontier is forming — not directly from the LGBTQ movement, but from two radically different cultural currents now converging on the same legal question.On one side is a revival of biblical polygyny, championed by figures such as Missouri pastor Rich Tidwell and author and cultural commentator Rob Kowalski. On the other is Gen Z’s normalization of polyamory,...

On Saturday, we learned from the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) that an Al-Qaeda affiliate who was in part responsible for the attack last December, which resulted in the deaths of two American service members and an interpreter, has been located in Syria and removed from play. Permanently.https://t.co/kTqYU5xMb4— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 17, 2026The CENTCOM release states:U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) conducted a strike in northwest Syria on Jan. 16, that resulted in the death of a leader affiliated with Al-Qaeda who had direct ties to an ISIS terrorist responsible for an ambush which killed two U.S. service members and...

A German politician has suggested that boycotting the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico could be a “last resort” in response to Donald Trump’s threats against Greenland. US President Donald Trump believes his country needs to acquire Greenland, the world's largest island, for national security reasons. The demands have been rejected by Greenland's leaders and by Nato member Denmark, of which the island is a semi-autonomous territory. Trump, meanwhile, has not ruled out using military force. In fact, Trump recently threatened to impose tariffs on countries that do not “go along” with his plan to annex...

The survey of 1000 Scots voters also signalled that support for Scottish independence would increase even further should Nigel Farage's Reform UK take power at Westminster. It is the latest of a series of polling results compiled for The National by polling firm Find Out Now which will be published this week. The poll found that 49.9% of Scots would support Yes if a vote on the constitution were held tomorrow, while 43.7% would vote No and 6.4% said they were undecided. Excluding these “don’t knows” and rounding to the nearest whole number, Scots would back independence by 53% to...

During the winter, coughing becomes one of the most common reasons for clinic visits. Many people mistake a persistent cough for an unresolved cold, turning to over-the-counter medications or throat lozenges, only to see little to no improvement. Meanwhile, in some cases, symptoms may worsen. In Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), treating a cough begins with identifying the pattern and determining whether it is caused by cold or heat, or by external factors or internal imbalances. This approach helps address the root cause rather than simply alleviating symptoms. With proper home care and guidance, a chronic cough can often be effectively...

[Catholic Caucus] Open Letter to the Priests and Pastors of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, USAJanuary 15th, 2026Feast of Our Lady of Prompt SuccorTo my dear Brothers in the Vineyard of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,Grace and peace to you in this holy Season of the Nativity of Our Lord.With pastoral concern and fraternal affection, I write to you at a moment of genuine trial for the Church, to recall to your hearts the true nature of that obedience which must ever animate the soul of the priest. You are called, above all, to obedience to Christ Himself,...

….that’s led several immigrant-owned businesses across the state to temporarily close their doors or reduce their hours because even staff members who are in the U.S. legally are worried about being profiled and detained by ICE. ….. At least eight local restaurants in Rochester are closed or have been forced to reduce their hours this week… That includes Corona's Tacos. It had to close temporarily after many staff members didn't show up for work. Owner Jesus Corona Ortiz says many of his workers are scared to leave their homes. "People are talking a lot. They get afraid, especially the workers...

2028 Democrat presidential candidates should learn a lesson from California Governor Gavin Newsom. Anything less than denouncing ICE as a terrorist organization will quickly disqualify from any hope of winning the nomination from their increasingly deranged party base. Newsom made the intolerable error of backing down from his own press office's description of ICE as "state-sponsored terrorism" while speaking to Ben Shapiro on his podcast. The New York Post's Brad Appleton described the scene on Thursday which incurred the wrath of the left in "Gavin Newsom backtracks on outrageous ICE claims made by his own team."