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Painting: Michaelangelo's Prophet Isaiah Dear friends, We are all familiar with Isaiah's well known prophecy of Christmas: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son and his name shall be called Emmanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) However, Isaiah made another (lesser known) prophecy of Christmas: "Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a Manchild" (Isa 66:7) This verse is the basis for the Catholic teaching that Mary experienced no pain when she delivered Christ at Bethlehem. The Roman Catechism teaches that Christ passed through her...

One of the most significant losses in the modern era has been the loss of the Biblical narrative in the hearts and minds of most people. Scripture is the story of the human family, told by God himself. In story form He tells us how we were made and why, what happened why that things are the way they are today. Why do we have infinite longing in a finite world? Why do we struggle with sin so much? How can we be rescued from sin and death and find our hearts true satisfaction? The Biblical narrative answers these sorts...

Currently in the Liturgies of daily Mass we have been reading the Book of Revelation. It is commonly read at the end of the liturgical year, for it bespeaks the end of, and passing qualities of all things of this world.It is also a book of glory, depicting the ultimate victory of our Lord Jesus Christ, after a great period of conflict between the doomed kingdom of this world, and the victorious Kingdom of Christ. In this context the Book of Revelation is not a mere tour guide to the last days, but is a book of glory reminding us...

Copies of the Italian version of Pope Benedict XVI's new book, "The Infancy of Jesus," are seen during their release to journalists at the Vatican press office Nov. 20. (CNS/Paul Haring) By Carol Glatz and Francis X. RoccaCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Nativity story, like the whole story of Christ, is not merely an event in the past, but has unfolding significance for people today, with implications for such issues as the limits of political power and the purpose of human freedom, Pope Benedict writes in his third and final volume on the life and teachings...

Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings. When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.(Psalm 9:11-12)The message of Psalm 9, is the coming of the Lord. He comes to deliver Israel from the enemies who besiege her in the last days. He comes to Judge the world in righteousness. He comes to put an end to the wanton destruction of the enemy. Here we see another of the reasons the Lord comes again, He comes as the judge to to make inquisition for...

An amazing story told by Fr. Dean: Reading “The Fire of the Word” reminded me [Fr. Dean] of a story, a true story… A woman was browsing through some used books for sale in an antique store, more for curiosity than anything else, and she spotted a title which grabbed her interest. The books were a quarter a piece, so she unceremoniously grabbed the book and went to the counter. She paid the twenty-five cents and the store owner asked, “You you like a bag for that?” “No thanks,” she said, “I’ll just put it in my purse.” With that...

Tim Tebow just pointed out a very devilish fact ... tonight's NFL matchup is the 666th Monday Night Football game ... and it just so happens, Tim's team is playing in the game. As the NY Jets prepare for battle with the Houston Texans ... Tebow just tweeted, "Looking forward to giving God all the glory in tonight's 666th Monday Night Football game. Romans 8:37-39." Before you head to Google, here's the bible quote Tim referenced: "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life,...

Are Catholics into the Bible? In this Article What does the Catholic Church teach about Bible access and reading? The Catholic Mass is totally Bible centredThe Catholic Church protected the BibleDoes the Church agree that the Bible is the unerring word of God?Why do we need help interpreting Scripture?Paul & Barnabus consulted Church authority on Scripture interpretationIsn't the Bible the only authority?Why does the Catholic Church think it has the right interpretation?Catholics take the Bible at its wordIs the Church squashing private interpretation?Is an evolving understanding of Scripture relativistic?Don't most Evangelicals trust an interpretive authority?Why do Catholics refer to the...

By Todd Starnes Street vendors across downtown Charlotte are selling posters and artwork depicting President Obama as Jesus Christ and the Democratic National Convention is expected to feature a stained-glass window backdrop during their meeting. One poster features an image of the president in prayer with the headline, “Prophecy Fulfilled.” “Barak is of Hebrew origin and its meaning is ‘flash of lightning,” the poster notes, referencing a passage in in the Old Testament book of Judges. Hussein, they allege, is a Biblical word meaning “good and handsome.” “So you see, Barak was destined to be a good and handsome...

Today it is popular among those promoting same sex marriage to say that Jesus never addressed the issue, that He was silent on the subject. Those who affirm the historical and traditional understanding of marriage between a man and woman often are admonished to go and read more carefully the Bible. If we do so we are told we will see that Jesus never addressed the issue. So, the question that I want to raise is, “Is this assertion correct?” Is it indeed the fact that Jesus never addresses the issue of same sex marriage? When one goes to the...

Matthew 19:4-9 King James Version: 4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 8 He...

Since the 1980s, In-N-Out prints discreet references to Bible verses on their paper containers. These consist of the book, chapter, and number of the verse, not the text of the passage, in small print on an inconspicuous area of the item.

“Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesy and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true.” - Eric Hoffer (American Writer 1902 – 1983) Some times as I write to you it can be extremely overwhelming to understand how, or even what to write about. This is just so much truth to spread, just picking one item just sometimes make me feel very inadequate. I want to wake you up. I need to wake you up. You have to wake up. I cannot stop. People’s lives are at stake....

The 17 Most Misused Verses in the Bible By Trevin Wax Last weekend, I read a helpful book by Eric Bargerhuff titled The Most Misused Verses in the Bible: Surprising Ways God’s Word Is Misunderstood (Bethany House, 2012). Eric takes the reader through 17 often misquoted verses and helps us see their proper meaning and application.Since some of these misinterpretations are more damaging than others, Eric doesn’t recommend we run to correct people who innocently mis-apply the passages. He does recommend, however, that pastors and teachers take special care to avoid the common mistakes that lead to misuse.I should note that...

150 Titles of Christ from the ScripturesBy: Msgr. Charles Pope There are many, many titles of Christ in both the New and Old Testaments. As one prays and studies them, they amount to a mini-Catechesis of the Lord Jesus.Presented below are over 150 titles of Christ. I have also presented “hot-links” to the Scriptures from which they are drawn for your further study. The list is compiled from various sources, but most come from The Catholic Source Book, compiled and edited by Fr. Peter Klein. I have also placed this article in PDF Format here: The Titles of Jesus Christ...

Featured Term (selected at random):DREAM INTERPRETATION The personal or professional analysis or night (sleep) dreams, to ascertain their meaning. Night dreams are dreams in the proper sense of the term. In sleep, which is by no means a passive state, a person's sense of activity is not dominated by his higher faculties of reason and will. This sense activity, when natural, is due to a variety of traceable causes, such as the physical condition of the body, external stimuli, such as talking or the ringing of a bell, or psychical factors, such as desires, fears, past thoughts and experiences. Consequently...

One of the disappointments of the post-Vatican II period has been the glacial pace of the growth in Catholic biblical literacy the Council hoped to inspire. Why the slow-down? Several reasons suggest themselves.The hegemony of the historical-critical method of biblical study has taught two generations of Catholics that the Bible is too complicated for ordinary people to understand: so why read what only savants can grasp? Inept preaching, dissecting the biblical text with historical-critical scalpels or reducing Scripture to a psychology manual, has also been a turn-off to Bible-study. Then there is the clunkiness of the New American Bible,...

Recognizing Jesus In The Eucharist Apr 11th, 2012by Gary Zimak.  And it happened that, while He was with them at table, He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him… (Luke 24:30-31)For the second consecutive day, the gospel reading from daily Mass presents a story of someone who was dejected…and shouldn’t have been! Just as we saw yesterday with Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus were sad about the Lord’s death and didn’t realize that He was right...

Bible Burning and other Allegations There are some things in them (Epistles of St. Paul) hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.2 Peter 3:16 Ever since the Protestant Revolt in the 16th century, the Catholic Church has been accused of ignoring, opposing, hiding and even destroying the Bible in order to keep it from the people. Allegedly, copies of the Bible were chained to the walls of churches during the Middle Ages so that people could not take them home to read. Supposedly the Church during the Middle...

ORLANDO, Fla., March 28, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Dead Sea Scrolls have long been considered words from God recorded by men under inspiration. Since their discovery they have been a source of great wonder and revelation for the faithful, and now an author is arguing in his new book that the Hubble telescope validates a passage from the scroll of Isaiah confirming God to be the energy source behind the Universe. The book retraces the history of the telescope, and is based on Hubble's discoveries made over the past two decades. It chronicles how Hubble has photographed the greatest cinematic...