Free Republic

Daily Readings from the USCCBThen Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Matthew 16:22–23What a shocking statement this must have been that was spoken by Jesus to Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus said. In the paragraph before this, Peter professed that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus in turn told Peter that he...

8 August 2024 Saint Dominic, Priest on Thursday of week 18 in Ordinary Time St. Dominic Church in Brick, New JerseyReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingJeremiah 31:31-34I will write my Law in their heartsSee, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel (and the House of Judah), but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to...

7 August 2024 Wednesday of week 18 in Ordinary Time Second altar and reliquary statue of Sant'Alberto degli Abati in silver, Basilica-sanctuary of Maria Santissima Annunziata in Trapani, Italy Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II).First readingJeremiah 31:1-7You shall be rebuilt, virgin of IsraelI will be the God of all the clans of Israel – it is the Lord who speaks – they shall be my people.The Lord says this:They have found pardon in the wilderness,those who have survived the sword.Israel is marching to his rest.The Lord has appeared to him from afar:I have loved you with an everlasting...

Daily Readings from the USCCBAt that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not say a word in answer to her. Matthew 15:21–23The district of Tyre and Sidon was non-Jewish territory. The people there were said to have been descendants of Cain, the son of Adam and Eve who killed his brother, Abel, and was banished. He and his descendants settled in the area of Tyre and...

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz has faced multiple lawsuits for allegedly infringing on religious liberty during his time as Minnesota governor. Walz encountered legal challenges for lockdown policies that religious organizations argued were discriminatory, placing stricter requirements on churches than businesses. He also encountered pushback after signing a law that stripped faith-based schools of funding for a program that offers free college credits to high school students. Walz determined in a May 13, 2020, executive order that retailers would be allowed to reopen at 50% capacity, but left religious gatherings capped at ten people. After Catholic and Lutheran churches...

Daily Readings from the USCCBThen Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Mark 9:5–7Just prior to the Transfiguration, Jesus began to reveal to His disciples that He would suffer greatly, be rejected by the elders, be killed and then rise on the third day. This...

Daily Readings from the USCCBTaking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over—twelve wicker baskets full. Matthew 14:19–20An important aspect of this miracle that is easy to miss is that Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes through His disciples’ instrumentality. He did this by inviting them to assist in the distribution of the loaves and in the gathering of the fragments...

Mmm dd, 2024 Monday of week 18 in Ordinary Time St. Ulrich and Afra, Augsburg, BayernReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II).First readingJeremiah 28:1-17Jeremiah and the lying prophet HananiahAt the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, a Gibeonite, spoke as follows to Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord in the presence of the priests and of all the people. ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says this, “I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. In two years’ time...

4 August 2024 18th Sunday in Ordinary TimeSt John Vianney Catholic Church, Houston, TX -Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II).First readingExodus 16:2-4,12-15The Lord sends manna from heavenThe whole community of the sons of Israel began to complain against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and said to them, ‘Why did we not die at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we were able to sit down to pans of meat and could eat bread to our heart’s content! As it is, you have brought us to this wilderness to starve this whole company to death!’...

Simone Biles recently won her fifth gold medal and eighth medal overall at the Paris 2024 Olympics, making her the most decorated American gymnast in Olympics history, as the Deseret News previously reported. Biles, who is Catholic, has previously credited her faith in God for her success.

Daily Readings from the USCCB“Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” John 6:25–27The day before, Jesus fed the crowds at the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. The next day, the people were hungry again, so they went looking for Jesus thinking that He...

What does it mean to be a human being? What are we really? The answer our children are taught in school is that we are just animals, the result of a long process of accidents in which an amoeba became a fish, became a lizard, became a monkey, became us. So all we are is a material body, a fluke of the universe, a "selfish gene," and when we die, that's it. Of course, virtually no one can or does live consistently with this "materialist" view of human beings. Even radical atheists like Richard Dawkins get "mad" at Christians for...

3 August 2024 Saturday of week 17 in Ordinary Time St. Nicodemus and St. Joseph of Arimathea Church, Ramla, the Holy LandReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II).First readingJeremiah 26:11-16,24'This man has spoken to us in the name of the Lord'The priests and prophets addressed the officials and all the people, ‘This man deserves to die, since he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.’ Jeremiah, however, replied to the people as follows: ‘The Lord himself sent me to say all the things you have heard against this Temple and this city. So...

Daily Readings from the USCCBHerod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him.” Matthew 14:1–2Herod the tetrarch was one of three brothers and a sister who became 1st-century rulers to succeed their father, Herod the Great, when he died in 4 B.C. Herod governed much of the territory west of the Sea of Galilee, which was the territory in which Jesus spent most of His time during His public ministry. He also...

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A Catholic organization that tracks attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and churches is urging the Justice Department to investigate over 400 known attacks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The organization, CatholicVote, requested a meeting to discuss probes of pro-abortion violations of the FACE Act in a letter to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke that it shared with The Daily Signal. “The [Biden] administration has repeatedly met and coordinated with the abortion industry, but has refused to meet with representatives of the millions of pro-life Americans and concerned Catholic citizens who are...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?” Matthew 13:54Today’s Gospel goes on to say that the people in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth took offense at Him, which led Jesus to say, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” It is somewhat surprising that they took offense at Jesus after witnessing His wisdom and mighty deeds. Jesus was very familiar to the townspeople, and it seems that...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” Matthew 13:51–52At times, Jesus’ words are difficult to understand. How well do you understand what He teaches you? He often teaches in figures of speech, as well as with parables. The passage quoted above concludes a section in which He speaks three subsequent parables. The third of these parables, the parable about the fishnet,...

1 August 2024 Saint Alphonsus Mary de' Liguori, Bishop, Doctor on Thursday of week 17 in Ordinary TimeSaint Alphonsus Liguori Church in Saint LouisReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingJeremiah 18:1-6When the clay goes wrong, the potter starts afreshThe word that was addressed to Jeremiah by the Lord, ‘Get up and make your way down to the potter’s house; there I shall let you hear what I have to say.’ So I went down to the potter’s house; and there he was, working at the wheel....

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said to his disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44Today’s Gospel presents us with two very short and similar parables. In the first, quoted above, the Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a “treasure.” In the second parable, the Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a “pearl of great price.” Though these parables are very similar to each other, there are also subtle differences worth...

31 July 2024 Saint Ignatius Loyola, Priest on Wednesday of week 17 in Ordinary TimeSt. Ignatius of Loyola Church, Houghton, MichiganReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingJeremiah 15:10,16-21They will not overcome you, because I am with you‘Woe is me, my mother, for you have borne meto be a man of strife and of dissension for all the land.I neither lend nor borrow,yet all of them curse me.‘When your words came, I devoured them:your word was my delightand the joy of my heart;for I was called by...