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Proverbs 2:1-15 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding...

“The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). John 1:14 is the most concise biblical statement of the Incarnation. The first four words, “the Word became flesh,” express the reality that in the incarnation God took on humanity; the infinite became finite; eternity entered time; the invisible became visible (cf. Col. 1:15); the Creator entered His creation. God revealed Himself to man in the creation (Rom. 1:18–21), in the Old Testament Scriptures (1 Cor. 2:7–14), and, supremely and most...

“Jesus . . . gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness” (Matthew 10:1). Jesus granted the twelve disciples God’s divine authority to do exactly what He Himself had been doing. To do the kinds of works Jesus did would demonstrate they were sent by Him, just as what He did demonstrated He was sent by the Father. The book of Acts catalogs the very works Jesus gave them the authority to accomplish. The apostles cast out many unclean spirits and healed every kind of disease...

Daily Readings from the USCCBGreat crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:25–26Why would Jesus exhort the “great crowds” to hate their families? In fact, Jesus went even further than that. He said they must also hate their own lives. If they do not, then they cannot be His disciples. One thing that this shocking teaching did was to shake people out of their lukewarm faith. Sometimes we...

“Despicable.” That’s how one Columbine survivor framed some of the anti-prayer rhetoric coming from politicians and public figures after the horrific shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Evan Todd, who was shot and injured during the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, said many of those speaking ill of thoughts and prayers fail to understand the importance of invocations. “It’s heartbreaking,” Todd said in response to those decrying thoughts and prayers. “I think [it’s] despicable. I think it’s revealing of the people who are doing it.” Todd said his own story is evidence of just how powerful prayer can...

The funeral of the Duchess of Kent will be held at Westminster Cathedral on 16 September, Buckingham Palace has announced. The duchess, Katharine, died on Thursday aged 92, prompting tributes for her kindness and support for tennis and music - including working as a primary school music teacher. The duchess was a Catholic and there will be a Requiem Mass for her funeral, which will be the first Catholic funeral for a member of the Royal Family in modern history. It will be a private family service, after which the coffin will be taken to the royal burial ground in...

Have you heard about the seismic shift in one of the key demographic groups that will shape American culture, politics and economics for decades to come? No, I'm not talking about the wholly unexpected shift of younger voters away to President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.It is true that 58 percent of Gen Z men (that is, voters age 18 to 27), reported voting for Donald Trump in 2024. No GOP presidential candidate since the election of George H.W. Bush 36 years ago has received a majority of young male voters.That's a big deal, yes. But it's not...

Join 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. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men,...

Most in the West don’t know much about Islam, and what they know is often incorrect. But what about the 72 virgins? Are they real? Do Muslim men believe that after death, they will be rewarded with 72 virgins? The question needs to be addressed, because it has been suggested that there was an incorrect translation, and the men are getting raisins, not virgins. And, perhaps out of envy or jealousy, some claim the virgins are old, ugly, and in constant PMS. So what’s the truth about the 72 virgins? Muslims believe that after they die, they will be admitted...

Bishop Strickland on Pope Leo XIV, SSPX, Gaza, and MoreThis week, I was honored to host His Excellency Bishop Joseph Strickland on my new podcast channel: In preparation for our discussion, I sent His Excellency a total of seven questions covering a myriad of topics, namely:the first few months of Leo XIV’s pontificate;Pope Leo’s call for “complete commitment” to Vatican II and the post-conciliar program;the importance of recovering liturgical reverence and theocentric worship in the Christian West;the profound damage done by Pope Francis and how to correct it;the canonical status of the Society of St. Pius X, in particular, the...

6 September 2025Saturday of week 22 in Ordinary Time The Parish Church of Saint Bega Bassenthwaite interior, Lake District National Park, Lake District, England UKReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First readingColossians 1:21-23God has reconciled you by Christ's death in his mortal bodyNot long ago, you were foreigners and enemies, in the way that you used to think and the evil things that you did; but now he has reconciled you, by his death and in that mortal body. Now you are able to appear before him holy, pure and blameless – as long as you persevere and stand...

5 September 2025 Friday of week 22 in Ordinary Timefive women made their full vows to fully join the Missionaries of Charity at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DCReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First readingColossians 1:15-20All things were created through Christ and for ChristChrist Jesus is the image of the unseen Godand the first-born of all creation,for in him were createdall things in heaven and on earth:everything visible and everything invisible,Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers –all things were created through him and for him.Before anything was created, he existed,and he holds all things in unity.Now...

[Catholic Caucus] Italian bishop celebrates Mass for LGBT pilgrimage in Rome’s Church of the GesùBishop Francesco Savino, vice president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, celebrated Mass at the Church of the Gesù on Saturday for LGBT pilgrims in Rome for the Jubilee of Hope.An Italian lay association organized the international pilgrimage, which included a morning Mass celebration inside the mother church of the Society of Jesus in Rome and a St. Peter’s Basilica Holy Door pilgrimage in the afternoon.More than 1,000 pilgrims from around the world attended the Mass concelebrated by approximately 30 priests, including American Father James Martin, SJ,...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Turkson rebukes bishops and priests who continue to ‘deny climate change’Environmentalist Cardinal Peter Turkson slammed Catholic clergy who consider so-called climate change 'irrelevant' a decade after Laudato Si' was released.Cardinal Peter Turkson, the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, lamented during an interview published this week that there are still several Catholic bishops and priests that “deny climate change” despite the purported progress made by Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical letter Laudato Si’ that called for “climate and ecological justice.”During part of an interview with the Austrian newspaper, Der Sonntag,...

Spurgeon’s College in London will begin auctioning off memorabilia and artifacts from the storied institution, including several items that belonged to ‘The Prince of Preachers’ himself, such as his bookshelf and the trowel used by Spurgeon to lay the foundation of the original Pastors College. In June, Spurgeon’s College, the London-based Baptist institution founded in 1856 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, announced in a press release that it has closed its doors for good, citing financial hardships and struggles. Founded when he was just 22 years old, the college trained nearly 900 pastors during the esteemed Baptist preacher’s lifetime, and almost...

Former singer and songwriter Ray Boltz has ‘married’ his longtime partner, Franco Sperduti, after nearly 20 years together. Boltz, 72, a prominent recording artist through the late 1980s and 1990s, is perhaps best known for his song “Thank You,” which won the 1990 GMA Dove Award for Song of the Year, as well as “Watch the Lamb” and “I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb.” He briefly retired from music in 2003, separated from his wife, Carol, with whom he had four children, in 2005, and finalized the divorce in 2008. He reemerged on the music scene in 2010 with his...

Josh Hilburn is the lead pastor of Gather Houston. Founded in 2019, they are a “Christian community of healing passionate about inclusion, justice, and practicing the way of Jesus” with a wild confession of faith. At a recent Q & A, he was asked about the church’s beliefs on homosexuality. In a refreshingly honest take, Hilburn explained that he cares more about what his LGBTQ friends and family think and feel than what the bible says: It’s important to me what the Bible says about it. It is. I love the Bible. I preach from it every week. It’s very...

A he Wednesday Evening message at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills by one of the assistant pastors. The video is 58 minutes long.

By Dr. John BergsmaOne of the most famous German opponents of Adolf Hitler and Nazism was the Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whom the Nazis executed by hanging in April 1945 for his involvement in a plot against Hitler himself. Bonhoeffer’s most famous work was a meditation on the Sermon on the Mount entitled (in English) The Cost of Discipleship. In it, Bonhoeffer parted ways with a Protestantism that understood “salvation by faith alone” as some kind of easy road to heaven. Bonhoeffer criticized “easy-believism” as “cheap grace”: Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism...

<p>Hundreds of LGBTQ+ Catholics and their families participated in a Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome on Saturday, celebrating a new level of acceptance in the Catholic Church after long feeling shunned and crediting Pope Francis with the change.</p><p>The vice president of the Italian bishops conference, Bishop Franceseco Savino, celebrated Mass for the pilgrims in a packed Chiesa del Gesu, the main Jesuit church in Rome. He received a sustained standing ovation in the middle of his homily when he recalled that Jubilee celebrations historically were meant to restore hope to those on the margins.</p>