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I always seek to help any person I meet to get to heaven, trying to adapt my words to each person. Recently I found myself in a car with my car mechanic who does not frequent the Church, the Sacraments or prayer, as do the great majority of Italians today. I said to him: “Giampaolo, when your children were small, did you give them advice and guidance for their good or for their harm?” Giampaolo responded: “For their good”. (Note: When pasting this document into Free Republic, it seems that most of the special formatting is lost, such as bold,...

After a fun and exciting month of celebrating pride, the first of the seven deadly sins, Americans are gearing up to celebrate Greed Month—as well as Lust Month, Envy Month, Gluttony Month, Wrath Month, And Sloth Month. "Yeah- it's been a great pride month. I feel so prideful!" said local man Sasparillo Gunderprit. "But what I'm really looking forward to is greed month. I'm gonna celebrate by accumulating wealth for myself by abandoning all my morals. Just like Nike and Disney! Yay!" Baptist churches, on the other hand, are already gearing up for gluttony month, which has always been their...

Joe Biden keeps claiming to be a centrist Democrat. Polls show that, while most realize that President Donald Trump would be better for our economy than Biden, many think that old Uncle Joe's economic plan is relatively harmless and won't endanger jobs, paychecks or retirement savings. Think again. Let's look at what's actually in Biden's economic plan so everyone has their eyes wide open when they vote. I've read the whole thing. There is nothing centrist in this economic scheme. In many ways, it is the most radical plan proposed by a major presidential nominee of either party in any...

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.( Exodus 20:4-6)The Second Commandment is not a prohibition against...

“Do you think it is possible to be a Christian and support President Trump?” Burnett asked. “Well, I’m not going to tell other Christians how to be Christians,” Buttigieg replied. “But I will say, I cannot find any compatibility between the way this president conducts himself and anything I find in Scripture. Now I guess that’s my interpretation, but I think that’s a lot of people’s interpretation, and that interpretation deserves a voice.” Everyone Sins — Except Buttigieg ApparentlyButtigieg believes everyone else’s sin is up for discussion — except his own. He cites Trump’s behavior, but what of Pete’s? Scripture...

Ilonka Deaton was trafficked into sex slavery at the age of 12. She suffered for six years before finally getting free. Now, her brother, Jaco Booyens, runs a film company that brings the darkness of sex trafficking into the light. He’s out with a film called “8 Days.” Read the lightly edited interview, posted below, or listen on the podcast: . . . Rachel del Guidice: We are joined today on The Daily Signal Podcast by Jaco Booyens. He’s the president and CEO of the film company After Eden Pictures. He is also the founder of SHAREtogether, a nonprofit organization...

Do leftists ever think through the implications of their bright lightbulb poppings?One of their latest stupidities, via Glen Reynolds of Instapundit (who has a fine curation), came a couple days ago from the Presbyterian side of things, with seminarians at New York's Union Theological Seminary offering up their 'confessions' to plants, an act than makes even less sense than trying to talk to a goat. According to the Washington Examiner, they tweeted: "Today in chapel, we confessed to plants," the nation's oldest independent seminary declared Tuesday on Twitter. "Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow...

Learning to Name Sins Is to Have More Power Over Them – Part Two Msgr. Charles Pope • September 30, 2018 • Recently I wrote about the need to recover a vocabulary of sin and posted an example related to lying. A good number of readers asked for the other lists I have been compiling. I include them here along with introductory material similar to that in the first post. These lists are always a work in progress, so please feel free to send me any additions you have.Indeed, over the years we have steadily been losing the vocabulary...

Learning to Name Sins Is to Have More Power Over Them Msgr. Charles Pope • September 23, 2018 • Over the years we have steadily been losing the vocabulary of sin. Saying “I have sinned” is often replaced by “I made a mistake,” or “I made a poor decision,” or “I’m sorry if my behavior was hurtful in some way.”Not only are we slow to say we have sinned, we are also ignorant of the subtleties of sin, in part because our vocabulary about sin is so limited. In this state we lose a certain advantage over sin because...

It is believed that, at the Council of Nicaea, St. Athanasius said “The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops” regarding the Arian heresy. One can only sit back and wonder what this great saint would say to the current hierarchy of our days. With everything from cocaine-fueled homosexual parties in the Vatican, to the encouragement of sacrilegious Communions for the divorced and remarried, those living in sinful cohabitation, and homosexuals. It is not just St. Athanasius who is rolling over in his grave.Mid-January 2018 has seen an increased push towards encouraging these sacrilegious practices, especially in...

In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis invited Christians to contemplate their relationship with God. POPE FRANCIS “I think it would be good for us, for all of us, today to think about our choices, about the promises the Lord has made us and about how I am living my bond with God. How can I let myself – allow me to use the expression – 'be mercified' by the Lord, in light of my sins, my disobediences.” The pope reminded the faithful that only God is able to respond with mercy to the sins of people around...

Sins Against Hope Msgr. Charles Pope • January 13, 2017 • In yesterday’s post, we discussed the theological virtue of hope. This is the supernatural virtue whereby we confidently expect God’s help in attaining eternal life. The object of hope is not earthly things (e.g., better health, a higher-paying job), but rather God and the things awaiting us in Heaven. Hope pertains to things that are difficult but not impossible; we do not really need to hope for things that are at hand or easily obtained.Today, let’s ponder briefly some sins against hope. Expectation of God’s help must be...

Beware the Deception of False Prophets Msgr. Charles Pope • July 31, 2016 • In today’s first reading (Monday of the 18th Week) the Prophet Jeremiah denounces the false prophets of his day, who promise all sorts grand visions for Israel despite its sin. Jeremiah says to the people, By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke! (Jer 28:13) In other words, by failing to repent (breaking the wooden yoke) you shall know an iron yoke. (Think about the addiction to sin of many who do not show restraint earlier in life.) To the false prophets of...

Who knows our sin? While Scripture could be taken to mean saints in heaven are aware of details of our sin, it is unlikely Msgr. Charles PopeMarch 27, 2016 Question: Do the souls in heaven know our sins, or is that knowledge reserved to God alone?— Peter Tate, Long Beach, California Answer: We are in the realm of speculative theology when it comes to answering questions like this. However, it does not seem to pertain to God’s justice that he would reveal our sins to others (even the saints in heaven), especially our more hidden sins. We are not...

“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:18 I had an interesting heart-to-heart with my dad the other day. We were discussing my son, his grandson, who was spending time with my folks in Colorado over the summer. At the risk of bragging a bit – my boy, an eighth grader who recently turned 14, is already 6-foot-1, very handsome and a competitive Olympic-style boxer. Evidently, on the previous day a “drop-dead gorgeous” high school girl had made a sexual advance...

A Meditation on the Sins of the Intellect By: Msgr. Charles PopeWhen I was in the seminary, my Moral Theology Professor, Fr. Robert Zylla (R.I.P.), encouraged us to meditate on the sins of the intellect during the third sorrowful mystery (The Crowning with Thorns). In his years of teaching he had surely witnessed the intellectual pride that could beset theologians and seminary students who figured they knew a few things. And added to this human tendency to intellectual pride was the rather prideful sense of the 20th century that we had somehow “come of age.” Dissent from church teaching was rampant and...

Spy Wednesday and a Reflection on the Sins of the Clergy By: Msgr. Charles PopeWednesday of Holy Week is traditionally called “Spy Wednesday,” since it was on this day that Judas conspired with the Temple leadership to hand Jesus over. He would not accomplish his task until the evening of the next day, but this day he made the arrangements and was paid.One way to reflect on this terrible sin is to consider that Judas was among the first priests called by Jesus. We see in the call of the Apostles the establishment of the ministerial priesthood. Jesus called these men to...

Catalog of Sin – All Items are in Stock, Free Shipping and Handling from the Supplier By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe video at the bottom of the page is something of a spoof on drug commercials, treating sin like a drug. Wait till you hear the side-effects disclaimer at the end. I also thought today of doing a little post on the sins that cry to heaven for vengeance since I was talking to a parishioner today, who is suffering because his employer has not paid him for three weeks. The employer, a shipping agency says this is  due to “administrative...

Mercy! So Great a Gift – Why Many Parishes Need to Reconsider When They Offer the Sacrament of Confession By: Msgr. Charles PopeAt tonight’s Chrism Mass, the Cardinal chose to focus his remarks to the more than 300 priests in attendance on the beauty of the Sacrament of Confession and the power of mercy. What a magnificent gift the Lord gave His Church through the ministry of priests, that we can hear His blessed words, I absolve you from your sins … go in peace.My mind goes back to a beautiful story of St. John Paul II and a certain bishop (not of...

President Yoweri Museveni has repented his sins and the sins of Uganda as a nation in a move aimed at establishing Uganda as a God-fearing nation. The President made this historic move at Mandela National stadium Namboole in the early morning of today (Tuesday) at 2:00am during national prayers for dedicating Uganda to God. "I denounce witchcraft and satanic practices. I repent on behalf of Uganda. We confess our sins. We repent of the sins of shedding innocent blood, corruption, bribery, sexual immorality, drunkenness, rebellion, insubordination, tribalism and sectarianism," Museveni repented amidst ululations from the Christians. The president dedicated Uganda...