Free Republic

"The move effectively calls for a carve-out for religious organizations from the rarely used IRS rule called the Johnson Amendment, put in place in 1954 and named after then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson."

It may have been "rarely used", but it has been held like a Sword of Damocles over the heads of churches to keep them in fear of saying anything political.

Amazing. It just boggles the mind.

They must have had the Professor from Gilligan’s Island as a crew member!

At the time, he (Russell Johnson) was busy in the US Army Air Force. He flew 44 combat missions in the Pacific Theater during World War II as a bombardier in B-25 twin-engined medium bombers

Five major naval battles were fought in the region from August to December 1942, resulting “in the loss of over 20,000 lives, 111 naval vessels, and 1,450 planes,” the trust reports.

Unbelievable. I think the sacrifices made by the Navy in WWII is never appreciated enough.

Click here to go to the My Catholic Life! Devotional thread for a meditation on today’s Gospel Reading.

Gospel Reading:

From: Matthew 9:32-38

The Dumb Devil
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[32] As they were going away, behold, a dumb demoniac was brought to Him (Jesus). [33] And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the crowds marvelled, saying, "Never was anything like this seen in Israel." [34] But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the prince of demons."

The Need for Good Shepherds
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[35] And Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity. [36] When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; [38] pray therefore the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

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Commentary:

35. The Second Vatican Council uses this passage when teaching about the message of Christian charity which the Church should always be spreading: "Christian charity is extended to all without distinction of race, social condition or religion, and seeks neither gain nor gratitude. Just as God loves us with a gratuitous love, so too the faithful, in their charity, should be concerned for mankind, loving it with that same love with which God sought man. As Christ went about all the towns and villages healing every sickness and infirmity, as a sign that the Kingdom of God had come, so the Church, through its children, joins itself with men of every condition, but especially with the poor and afflicted, and willingly spends herself for them" ("Ad Gentes", 12).

36. "He had compassion for them": the Greek verb is very expressive; it means "He was deeply moved". Jesus was moved when He saw the people, because their pastors, instead of guiding them and tending them, led them astray, behaving more like wolves than genuine shepherds of their flock. Jesus sees the prophecy of Ezekiel 34 as now being fulfilled; in that passage God, through the prophet, upbraids the false shepherds of Israel and promises to send them the Messiah to be their new leader.

"If we were consistent with our faith when we looked around us and contemplated the world and its history, we would be unable to avoid feeling in our own hearts the same sentiments that filled the heart of our Lord" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 133). Reflection on the spiritual needs of the world should lead us to be tirelessly apostolic.

37-38. After contemplating the crowds neglected by their shepherds, Jesus uses the image of the harvest to show us that that same crowd is ready to receive the effects of Redemption: "I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see now the fields are already white for harvest" (John 4:35). The field of the Jewish people cultivated by the prophets—most recently by John the Baptist--is full of ripe wheat. In farm work, the harvest is lost if the farmer does not reap at the right time; down the centuries the Church feels a similar need to be out harvesting because there is a big harvest ready to be won.

However, as in the time of Jesus, there is a shortage of laborers. Our Lord tells us how to deal with this: we should pray to God, the Lord of harvest, to send the necessary laborers. If a Christian prays hard, it is difficult to imagine his not feeling urged to play his part in this apostolate. In obeying this commandment to pray for laborers, we should pray especially for there to be no lack of shepherds, who will be able to equip others with the necessary means of sanctification needed to back up the apostolate.

In this connection Pope Paul VI reminds us: "the responsibility for spreading the Gospel that saves belongs to everyone--to all who have received it! The missionary duty concerns the whole body of the Church; in different ways and to different degrees, it is true, but we must all of us be united in carrying out this duty. Now let the conscience of every believer ask himself: Have I carried out my missionary duty? Prayer for the Missions is the first way of fulfilling this duty" ("Angelus Address", 23 October 1977).

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY(RSV)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

From: Genesis 32:23-33 (New American Bible)
Genesis 32:22-32 (Revised Standard Version)

Jacob Wrestles with the Angel of the Lord
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[22] The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. [23] He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. [24] And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. [25] When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. [26] Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said. "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." [27] And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." [28] Then he said, "Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." [29] Then Jacob asked him, "Tell me, I pray, your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. [30] So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel," saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." [31] The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh. [32] Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew of the hip.

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Commentary:

32:22-29. In spite of the danger and even though he feels afraid, Jacob takes an important decision on his journey towards the land of Canaan--to cross the river, bringing his nearest and dearest with him. From the text we do not know which side of the river Jacob himself was on after that decision, but he was clearly alone when God mysteriously came out to meet him and transformed him. The account tells us that God revealed himself to Jacob and made him Israel and gave him a blessing which extended to all his people. The concept of God in this passage has clearly anthropomorphic features. Jacob's strength is highlighted: God fails to defeat him in this struggle and he dislocates his thigh. This fact and the fact that God wants to leave before daybreak allow Jacob to recognize God in the person he is wrestling; taking advantage of his strength and the time constraint, he asks for a blessing. First, however, Jacob has to identify himself; then God changes his name: now he is Israel.

In the context of the narrative the sacred writer explains what the name Israel means--"he who has striven with God". This shows one of the key features of the personality of the father of the chosen people--his struggle to hold on to God, trying to discover his name and obtain his blessing. This is also a defining feature of the religious nature of the people of God. We discover the significance of Jacob's attempt to discover the name of his "rival", and all that that implied as regards having some power over him. But God does not identify himself. He remains shrouded in mystery, yet he does give Jacob his blessing. This will also be a feature which should define Israel--the continuous search for the name of God, that is, for his innermost Being and his Mystery, yet realizing that God can never be encompassed within the meaning of any name.

The features whereby the patriarch Jacob-Israel is described also apply to the people that bears his name. The prophet Hosea will apply this episode to the way Israel resists God over the course of its history (Hos 12:4-6). This aspect can also be seen in the patriarch's life: in spite of his resistance, God advances his salvific plans for his people through him and through his life. We can see this in what Hosea has to say about the people of Israel and about Jacob himself.

The mysterious nature of the one who wrestles with Jacob has been interpreted in many different ways in Christian tradition. Some Fathers, such as St Jerome and St Augustine, were of the view that he was a good angel, given that that was how God most often revealed himself in the Old Testament. Origen, however, thought that he was a bad angel, the demon. Others, such as St Justin and St Ambrose, suggested that he was the Son of God, the Word, who would later become man; or an angel who prefigured Christ.

The struggle depicted here can also be taken in a spiritual sense, as standing for the interior struggle and the efficacy of prayer, which overpowers even God (cf. Wis 10:12). "From this account, the spiritual tradition of the Church has retained the symbol of prayer as a battle of faith and as the triumph of perseverance (cf. Gen 32:25-31; Lk 18:1-8)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 2573).

Along these lines St Ambrose writes: "What does fighting with God mean if not engaging in the combat of virtue and aspiring to the highest, making oneself, above all, an imitator of God? And because his faith and his devotion could not be overpowered, the Lord revealed to him the secret mysteries" ("De Jacob et Vita Beata", 2,7, 30).

32:31. After the explanation of the meaning of the name of the place (Penuel) and the name of the person or people (Israel), we are now told about the origin of a dietary law. The hagiographer uses this tradition to confirm the truthfulness of the foregoing account, offering a proof taken from the customs of the people and also providing an explanation for that custom. Although this use of groundless folk explanation is a common device, it does not take from the point the writer is making: he wants to show that what he is teaching is true.

God's Love For You

What Do Catholics Really Believe?

Searchable Catechism of the Catholic Church
(St. Charles Borromeo Church, Picayune, Mississippi)

Prayer for Pope Leo XIV

Vicar of Christ on Earth and Shepherd of the Universal Church

O Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of the Lord of Heaven and of Earth, Our Lady of Guadalupe, guide and protect the Roman Pontiff, Pope Leo XIV. Through your intercession, may he receive in abundance the grace of the Successor of Saint Peter: the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity of our Bishops and of all our brothers and sisters in the Mystical Body of your Divine Son. Unite Pope Leo’s heart to your Immaculate Heart, leading him to rest his heart ever more securely in the glorious-pierced Heart of Jesus, so that he may confirm us in the Catholic faith, in the worship of God in spirit and truth, and in a good and holy Christian life. In the tumult of the present time, keep Pope Leo securely within the hollow of your mantle, in the crossing of your arms, protecting him from Satan, the Father of Lies, and from every evil spirit. Implore Our Lord to grant him, in particular, the wisdom and courage to be a true Shepherd of the Church throughout the world. With you, I place all my trust in Christ, the Good Shepherd, Who alone is our help and salvation. Amen.

Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother, have mercy upon us!
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Queen of the Apostles, pray for us!
Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us!
Pope Saint Leo the Great, pray for us!

Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE
May 18, 2025.

Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intentions for the month of July, 2025:

For formation in discernment
Let us pray that we might again learn how to discern, to know how to choose paths of life, and reject everything that leads us away from Christ and the Gospel.

The Month of July is Dedicated to the Devotion to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

“You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
(1 Peter 1:18-19)

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The Bible doesn’t need historical or archeological corroboration, as nicely affirming as it sometimes may be. The historical reliability of the biblical text has been proven many times over.

But it’s primarily the surname of a large extended family in Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato, according to Mexican census records.

That's interesting, and of course it would make it more likely that his roots are in Mexico since Mexico is a lot closer than other Spanish speaking countries.

Not the worst looking person but do I detect a bit of the crazy eyes?

Indeed you do.

It continues to blow my mind that people can think such atrocious things, let alone take the time to post them in a public forum.