Free Republic

The readings this Sunday feature two “hard sayings,” one on the Eucharist, the other on marriage. One is hard because it defies our sensibilities, the other because it is out-of-season and politically incorrect. This is a long reflection. What I present here is really two separate sermons, but both merit some attention.The first “hard saying” is Jesus’ insistence that the Eucharist is actually His Body and Blood. He says that we must eat His true Flesh and drink His true Blood as our true food, as our necessary manna to sustain us on our journey through the desert of this...

August 23rd , 2021Memorial of St. Rose of Lima St. Rose of Lima & the Korean martyrs Church, Hampton, VA Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green First reading1 Thessalonians 1:1-5,8-10 ©You broke with idolatry when you were converted to GodFrom Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, to the Church in Thessalonika which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; wishing you grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We always mention you in our prayers and thank God for you all, and constantly remember before God our Father how you have shown your faith in...

Former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden was widely panned for a retweet that signaled he equated President Trump’s supporters in the United States with the Taliban in Afghanistan. On Thursday, Hayden retweeted a split image. The top showed black-clad Islamic militants waving guns and flags from a line of cars with a caption reading: "Their Taliban." Beneath that was a line of pickup trucks hoisting American flags and "Trump 2020" flags with the caption: "Our Taliban" ,,,

The gap between COVID-19 vaccine doses will be extended from three weeks to six, the Government announced on Thursday, hoping to get first jabs into more Kiwis' arms so they have some protection should an outbreak occur. "This is an important part of our being prepared for a possible outbreak of the more infectious Delta variant of the virus," Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said on Thursday. "Early findings from a small number of well-designed studies show that an extended duration between doses of the Pfizer vaccine gives at least an equally robust immune response, with no additional safety concerns."...

<p>The woman's husband attempted to join in but got knocked out in the process.</p><p>A scuffle at last night’s matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions has gone viral, racking up 42 million views in a single day.</p><p>The video, taking place at Heinz Field, shows a woman and a man engaged in a verbal altercation in the middle of the game. It’s unclear what started the exchange. The woman tells the man to “get the fuck out” and appears to swing her arm toward him. He grabs it before she makes contact, telling her not to touch him. Then, she slaps the man in the face and all hell breaks loose.</p>

In South Africa, people who received their first shot of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine must wait six weeks before returning for the second jab. This follows updated guidance issued by the national Health Department a month ago, in light of new data showing a longer delay between doses could offer more protection. A May preprint study was the first research to directly compare the strength of people’s immune responses after receiving the second dose of Pfizer after three weeks (21 days) and after 12 weeks (84 days). Participants on the extended dosing interval had a much stronger immune response than...

A team of Special Air Service soldiers who were surrounded by Taliban hordes in Kandahar have been rescued in a dramatic desert operation.Around 20 elite SAS troops were left stranded in the province hundreds of miles from friendly forces when the militants took over.As enemy fighters closed in they sent an SOS request to Special Forces bosses back in Britain calling for immediate extraction.But they could not use Kandahar airfield – once home to 26,000 international troops at the height of the military campaign – because it had already been overrun by Taliban. So the SAS soldiers fought their way...

Brent Yonts, a former Kentucky state representative from Muhlenberg County, died Friday morning of COVID-19, a Greenville funeral home confirmed. He was 72. Yonts, a Democrat who had battled COVID-19 on a ventilator for several days, had been fully vaccinated, said two of his legislative colleagues — Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville, and retired Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville. Breakthrough infections, in which vaccinated people test positive for the virus and sometimes develop symptoms, are becoming more common in the state, according to public health statistics.

KABUL/WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - A firefight broke out between unidentified gunmen, Western security forces and Afghan guards at Kabul airport on Monday, Germany's armed forces said, as thousands of Afghans and foreigners thronged the airport, seeking to flee Taliban rule. One Afghan guard was killed and three were wounded in the battle at the airport's north gate, which involved U.S. and German forces, the German military said on Twitter.... ...CNN reported that a sniper outside the airport had fired at Afghan guards inside the facility and they had returned fire but U.S. forces had fired back at the Afghan...

... On Saturday, the department once again reminded residents that vaccinated people have greater protection against negative health outcomes should they contract the virus. "Everyone who is not yet vaccinated needs to know they do not have the same protection as vaccinated people," Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said As of Aug. 7, unvaccinated adults between 18 and 49 years old were 25 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than vaccinated adults of the same age. It's not as simple to measure the number of times more likely this unvaccinated demographic is to die from the disease because...

Nancy Pelosi was filmed speaking at a lavish, sun-soaked Napa Valley fundraising brunch - where tickets cost up to $29,000 each - as Joe Biden faced the biggest test of his presidency over America's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. The 19-second video clip taken shortly around 11:30am West Coast time - when the balmy weather was in the 70s and sunny - pans the event and shows over a hundred maskless people sitting shoulder to shoulder. Pelosi - the Speaker of the House of Representatives - and third in line to be president if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were incapacitated,...

Rachel Maddow will keep hosting her top-rated show on MSNBC for at least another year, as 'heated' negotiations scored the host a cushy transition into a weekly format. The multi-year deal will let Maddow - who is said to earn $7 million a year - develop new projects at the cable channel and outside of it with parent company NBCUniversal, according to Business Insider. It will also see her transition her five-day-a-week show into just one day a week some time next year, sources told CNN.

A team of Special Air Service soldiers who were surrounded by Taliban hordes in Kandahar have been rescued in a dramatic desert operation. Around 20 elite SAS troops were left stranded in the province hundreds of miles from friendly forces when the militants took over. As enemy fighters closed in they sent an SOS request to Special Forces bosses back in Britain calling for immediate extraction....

The U.S. population increased by nearly 23 million over the past decade, according to the Census Bureau, yet the white population dropped by 19 million, and the non-Hispanic white population dropped by 5 million. It's not that white people are shrinking as a percentage of the population, but the raw number of people counted as "white" has gone down by millions. What’s going on here? The Associated Press reports it as the "white population shrinking," but that's pretty misleading. If you dig a tiny bit, it’s pretty clear this isn’t really a question of fewer white people so much as...

Biden says there is nothing special about being an American when he was VP.

“Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell” (Proverbs 23:13-14).

There's the Kentucky Derby, and then there's the mad Kentucky highway dash that a 2-year-old filly named Bold and Bossy made this weekend. She threw her jockey during a race Saturday in Kentucky, and then escaped the race park for a 30-minute gallop along a highway and an interstate before eventually getting corralled into a barn overnight. Then, that barn caught fire...

A group of Taliban fighters released a collection of propaganda footage, including a photo where they mocked the famed World War II picture of soldiers raising the American flag on Iwo Jima.In the original 1945 photograph, a group of six Marines are depicted hosting the flag on Mount Suribachi.The Taliban’s Badri 313 Battalion recreated the image this week.

CBW ACT SANCTIONS Description of Sanctions: Pursuant to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (the CBW Act), the United States will impose a second round of sanctions on the Russian Federation over its use of a “Novichok” nerve agent in the August 2020 poisoning of Russian opposition figure Aleksey Navalny. New sanctions imposed today under the CBW Act include: Restrictions on the permanent imports of certain Russian firearms. New and pending permit applications for the permanent importation of firearms and ammunition manufactured or located in Russia will be subject to a policy of denial....

Join together with Fellow FREEPERS to Pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, 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 2:1-2Religion Forum Threads Labeled [Prayer] are Closed to Debate of Any Kind.Psalm 138:7Though I am Surrounded by Troubles, You will Bring me Safely through them.