Free Republic

The beatification of the Emperor Charles I of Austria-Hungary last October by Pope John Paul II might remind Californians that we too once had monarchs — three of them in fact: Charles III, Charles IV, and Ferdinand VII: all of them kings of Spain. The pictured statue of the first of these in the old plaza downtown reminds us that he ordered both the founding of California in 1769 and the foundation of Los Angeles in 1781. The adjoining church of Our Lady of the Angels stands in itself as a memorial to his grandson Ferdinand, who paid for its...

When one reads the new atheists, one gets the impression that the influence of Christianity has been entirely baleful, that Christianity’s contribution to morality has been entirely negative, and that the United States, far from being a Christian country historically, is really the finest flower of the anti-religious Enlightenment, and that we therefore ought to stamp out all public manifestations of Christianity, which will most likely wither away anyway as Americans become as sensible as contemporary Britons and Scandinavians. These peculiar beliefs often find expression in lawsuits trying to suppress all public expressions of Christianity. It is therefore with some...

In January 2005, GOP state Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth (R-La Mesa), while in Washington, D.C., for the Inauguration of President Bush, toured Statuary Hall in the national Capitol with Congressman Duncan Hunter. Each of the 50 states provides Statuary Hall a pair of statues honoring notable persons from the state. California’s statues are of Father Junipero Serra and Thomas Starr King. Father Serra, of course, is well known. King, who lived from 1824 to 1864, was a Unitarian minister, lecturer, and orator credited with playing a prominent role in keeping California in the Union during the Civil War. Taking nothing away...

July 1, 2008                                 Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week                                 in Ordinary Time       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Am 3:1-8; 4:11-12 Hear this word, O children of Israel, that the LORD pronounces over you,over the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt: You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth;Therefore I will punish youfor all your crimes. Do two walk togetherunless they have agreed?Does a lion roar in the forestwhen it has no prey?Does a...

July 1, 2009                                 Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week                             in Ordinary Time       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Gn 21:5, 8-20a Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.Isaac grew, and on the day of the child's weaningAbraham held a great feast. Sarah noticed the son whom Hagar the Egyptianhad borne to Abrahamplaying with her son Isaac;so she demanded of Abraham:"Drive out that slave and her son! No son of that slave is going to share the inheritancewith my...

July 1, 2010Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Am 7:10-17Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam,king of Israel:“Amos has conspired against you here within Israel;the country cannot endure all his words.For this is what Amos says:Jeroboam shall die by the sword,and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land.” To Amos, Amaziah said:“Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah!There earn your bread by prophesying,but never again prophesy in Bethel;for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.”Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet,nor have I belonged to a company of...

July 1, 2011 Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Dt 7:6-11Moses said to the people:"You are a people sacred to the LORD, your God;he has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earthto be a people peculiarly his own.It was not because you are the largest of all nationsthat the LORD set his heart on you and chose you,for you are really the smallest of all nations.It was because the LORD loved youand because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn your fathers,that he brought you out...