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This thread is offered to all of us as a refuge from the usual Christmas conflict. Please post links to classical Christmas music, the more beautiful the better, that way we can come here, stop by to greet each other with peace in our hearts and leave the thread uplifted, perhaps with a song or piece of music we had not heard in a while. Please let each song inspire a prayer for peace in your heart, and a blessing for fellow FReepers.

Just a vanity to thank JimRob for Free Republic and the Religion Forum, to thank the Religion Moderator for all the hard work, to thank God for the freedom of religion we have, and to offer a community prayer for all FReepers for health, safety, prosperity, joy, and God's blessings throughout the coming year.

I've just read the thread at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2673911/posts It concerns a man, a husband and father of six, who is in prison being tortured in Afghanistan. He is under sentence of death. He is standing up for his faith, even though it might be better for him if he did not. He is suffering greatly, and has appealed for help. His story and his letter can be found at the link above. All us keyboard warriors for the church can certainly pray for him, and for his family, can we not? It is the least we can do. What will we...

I will be saying prayers for friends and FReepers at 3:00 a.m. and will be happy to include your intentions. No need to be specific, unless you wish. Just bump the thread to be included.

I've had a couple of serious life issues lately, and it occurred to me how beneficial humor is, in facing adversity. My brother sends me jokes all the time, and I really enjoy them; in fact, I look forward to them every day. So I thought I'd share the one from today, and ask everyone to share jokes too, just for the purpose of laughing out loud, easing tensions, general goofiness, and fun.

I have two dogs, a mastiff, and a minpin. The minpin is 14 years old, blind, and has been officially diagnosed with a brain tumor accompanied by epilepsy about 7 months ago, although the epilepsy started before that, and a brain tumor was suspected. It's not as bad as it sounds, for her. She started having seizures about once a month, and the vet said they would increase in frequency. Due to her age, no treatment was judged likely to help much, for very long. He said her lifespan would depend on how fast it grew, and how well she...

There have been numerous Catholic Caucus thread violations. The caucus designation is for threads which are meant for discussions within the particular confession. Somehow, the violators seem not to be able to see the "Caucus" label at the top. A refresher of the caucus rules would seem to be in order. With the permission of the Religion Moderator, who wrote them, here they are: Caucus threads are closed to any poster who is not a member of the caucus. For instance, if it says “Catholic Caucus” and you are not Catholic, do not post to the thread. However, if the...

The Spiritual Works of Mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in spiritual necessities (CCC #2447), those being focused on getting a soul to Heaven. The seven Spiritual Works of Mercy are: 1. Admonish the sinner 2. Instruct the ignorant 3. Counsel the doubtful 4. Comfort the sorrowful 5. Bear wrongs patiently 6. Forgive all injuries 7. Pray for the living and the dead

I seriously wonder about some FReepers, sometimes. Any other person accused of a crime would be defended by every FReeper as being innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. I've seen whole threads written by men who have been accused of child abuse by ex-wives out to deny them their visitation rights or to wrest more money out of them. These men are rightly indignant, and furious about the unjust accusations that cannot be proven but are never withdrawn. Yet where are those FReepers when a PRIEST is accused? Where is the presumption of innocence? Suddenly, every accusation...

With the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA scheduled to convene in June for the first time since the 2004 GA passed a notorious anti—Israel divestment resolution, supporters and detractors of divestment are discussing whether the Church's decision was anti—Semitic, or — somehow — anti—Israel without being anti—Semitic. Curiously, despite the storm caused by the divestment vote, most Presbyterians remain unaware of the extent to which the PCUSA leadership has involved itself in old—fashioned theological anti—Semitism. The anti—Semitic alliances undertaken by the national church are particularly surprising in light of the well—known open—minded and unbiased attitudes of the overwhelming...

MIAMI — A Presbyterian youth minister who has been teaching local children with learning disabilities is accused in a Chicago lawsuit of repeatedly sexually abusing four minor boys throughout the 1990s. The suit filed Tuesday, May 14, claims that the Rev. Douglas R. Mason took advantage of his position as the director of a youth ministry in Chicago. From 1990 to 1999 Mason had sex with the boys while taking explicit photographs and filming them, court documents said. Mason also is accused in the lawsuit of providing alcohol and cigarettes to the minors. The lawsuit said the abuse took place...

My son in law, Sam, went into the ER with severe abdominal pain the night before last; a CT scan showed a bowel obstruction, tumor, on the right side. He had surgery last night, and 5-6 inches of bowel were removed due to cancer. The doctors said there was no way to foresee this, as he is fairly young. He and my daughter have insurance to take care of the medical expenses, but they have three children under 15. After the surgery, the doctor said he was "cautiously optimistic" but the pathology reports are not due until Thursday, and at...

I'd like to thank everyone in the Catholic Caucus who participated in the "Defense of the Faith" thread, and open up a new topic of discussion under the "Ecumenical" heading. I'll post the rules from the Religion Moderator in a moment. First of all, I'd like to hear from all confessions why it is that so many of our open religion threads so quickly descend into the worst bickering. Insults are freely flung about, hiding behind the "impersonal" barrier of attacking churches instead of the people who attend them. Don't anyone say they don't know what I mean, unless you...

In the age of the internet, a lot of very good information is readily available for those who have sincere questions about the Catholic Church. The Catholic Encyclopedia, the Online Catechism, many good apologetic sites--all have excellent answers to nearly any question that anyone could devise. There is really no need for FR Catholics to engage in endless religious argument, and I would like to urge us all to simply refrain. We could resign from the debating society and let those who sincerely want to learn seek it out for themselves from a local priest or look it up on...

Time for me to leave FR.

FRiends, I am asking for a new FReeper, mickeyleroy, for prayers for Addie Ruth Halbin, of Kansas City KS. He is asking that she be cured of all her cancers and Alzheimer's. He is asking that we entreat the aid of Bl. Francis X. Seelos in this prayer. I will personally be praying to Jesus Christ, to St. Mary, to Bl. Francis and all the saints, for her healing, for peace, for comfort for those who love her. Please join....

My daughter and her husband have three children, a 13 yo girl, a 9 yo girl, and a 2 yo boy. They've lived in their neighborhood for 9 years, moved in shortly after the second daughter was born. They have a problem: There's a new family in the neighborhood with an 11 yo boy and a 3 yo boy. The 11 yo is supposed to babysit his 3 yo brother (which might be okay if he was responsible) but it turns out the neighbor's 3 yo comes over to my daughter's house to play with her kids, and no one...

FRiends, tonight I went to mass with my family, and one of the scriptures was the story of "The Road to Emmaus." The monsignor's sermon was on that topic, and it was excellent. He started out by asking why Jesus would allow the disciples not to recognize Him until He broke bread for them, and his thought was that Christ wanted us to look for Him everywhere, to remember that He said "Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me" so that we would realize though we may not recognize Him...

I've heard several times that B. Rocko Bama's Rev. Wright served as a Marine. Does anyone have any idea when or where he served? What kind of discharge he got? Did he get any medals? In other words, I am starting to wonder.

This is the strangest weather radar map I have ever seen: green circles around St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Des Moines, and a couple others--clear in the middle, green doughnut of precip all around. Yes, I am logged in. A moose bit my sister, but it was years ago. My beeber has never been stuned. These circles are strange. Can someone get a screen capture for the thread, please, as a favor?