Faith-focused search for Catholics

12+ min ago (836+ words) This is a chapter from my book, "Sleuthing The Scriptures". I wrote the book in late 2022. It's Christmas time again, so I am offering it to me fellow freepers. I pray you enjoy it. When you think of the first story of Christmas, it's usually about Mary and Joseph looking down at their new born son in a manger, surrounded by barn animals and maybe a shepherd or two looking on. Angels singing praises of joy to the Lord Most High, and maybe even the star that is guiding the wise men from Babylon to the destination of the Jews Messiah. We live at a time when children are born in sanitized hospital rooms with the best of care, before and after the mother gives birth. When we hear of stories of women giving birth at home, or alongside the…...

13+ min ago (1348+ words) By Dr. John Bergsma 1. Our First Reading is Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10: The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song. The glory of Lebanon will be given to them, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Isaiah seems to be prophesying the agricultural fertility of the southern Judean desert. Yet when I was last in Israel this past June, the Negev (southern desert) was just as dry as it was in Isaiah's day. So was the prophet wrong? This leads us to understand that Isaiah's prophecy here is cryptic. The "desert" and "parched land" are the hearts and souls of God's people, who have become resistant to his word, like the soil along the…...

2+ hour, 5+ min ago (644+ words) Read about the healings, conversions, material assistance and apparitions that were granted through the intercession of the beloved saint. "A SHOWER OF ROSES THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MIRACLES OF ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX 196 pages, $17.95 (paperback) Camille Burette, the archivist and author of A Shower of Roses, has sifted through the 14,000 materials detailing the spiritual miracles that St. Th'r'se performed through her intercession with Jesus to include the most poignant among them in this volume. The miracles are archived in the Carmel of Lisieux, where the saint lived and died as a Carmelite nun." Each chapter covers a different aspect of the types of miracles, such as healings, conversions, material assistance and apparitions, that were granted through the intercession of the beloved saint. Many French and German soldiers during World War I were protected by the Carmelite or were wounded but had…...

2+ hour, 16+ min ago (360+ words) Prayer as I Age Moses urges us to pray with the same ardor of Jesus, to intercede for the world, and to remember that despite all its frailties, it still belongs to God. Everyone belongs to God. The worst sinners, the most wicked people, the most corrupt leaders, are children of God... Prayer as I Age Moses urges us to pray with the same ardor of Jesus, to intercede for the world, and to remember that despite all its frailties, it still belongs to God. Everyone belongs to God. The worst sinners, the most wicked people, the most corrupt leaders, are children of God, and Jesus feels this and intercedes for everyone. And the world lives and flourishes to the blessing of the righteous, to the prayer for mercy. Prayer as I Age Moses urges us to pray with the…...

2+ hour, 48+ min ago (126+ words) But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14) Bible Verse of the Weekend: Dec. 13-14, 2025 Published 4:37 am Saturday, December 13, 2025 But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14) Free evening shuttle launches in downtown Tyler City of Tyler librarian position is vacant Tyler mayoral candidates Hene, Nix, Wynne address priorities during Smith County Republican Club panel Shops at The Hill showcases Chapel Hill High School student talent through Christmas marketplace...

2+ hour, 52+ min ago (408+ words) December 13, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print Rome Newsroom, Dec 13, 2025 / 09:00 am A Swedish youth choir marked the feast of St. Lucy by singing at a Mass at the Vatican on Thursday, Dec. 11. Students from Nordiska Musikgymnasiet " The Nordic Music High School " in Stockholm performed traditional Swedish "Lucia songs" during an afternoon Mass in St. Peter's Basilica ahead of the Italian saint's Dec. 13 feast day. "It was just really amazing" singing in St. Peter's Basilica, choir member Alfio Tota told EWTN News after the Dec. 11 Mass. "It's so enormous " And the acoustics are very interesting." The student recalled that though Sweden is a very secular country, the tradition of St. Lucia, as they call her, is quite strong. "I think everyone feels quite a lot of joy and nostalgia in singing" the St. Lucy hymns, he said. Choir member Fabienne Glader…...

3+ hour, 15+ min ago (153+ words) CHRISTMAS BIBLE-ART EPISODE #1 of 33 JESUS' VERY INTERESTING GENEALOGY MATTHEW 1 & LUKE 3 Derived from LUKE, Chapter 3: Adam by MICHELANGELO "The Creation of Adam" Seth "Patriarch Seth" Enosh by ROBERT BARRETT "Enosh Praying" Methuselah "Methuselah" Noah by JAMES EDWIN MCCONNELL "Noah's Ark" Shem by JAMES TISSOT "Shem, Ham and Japheth" Quoted from MATTHEW, Chapter 1: A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, by WEYLON SMITH "Abraham and Stars" Isaac the father of Jacob, "Abraham & Isaac" Jacob the father of Judah... Derived from LUKE, Chapter 3: Quoted from MATTHEW, Chapter 1: A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to…...

3+ hour, 42+ min ago (442+ words) Archaeologists in T'rkiye have uncovered one of the most important finds from Anatolia's early Christian era, a fresco of a Roman-looking Jesus as the "Good Shepherd. The painting was discovered in August in an underground tomb near Iznik, a town in northwestern T'rkiye that secured its place in Christian history as the place where the Nicene Creed was adopted in AD 325. Pope Leo XIV recently visited the town as part of his first overseas trip. At the time, the region was part of the Roman Empire, and the tomb in the village of Hisardere is believed to date to the 3rd century, a time when Christians still faced widespread persecution. The Good Shepherd fresco depicts a youthful, clean-shaven Jesus dressed in a toga and carrying a goat across his shoulders. Researchers say it is one of the rare instances in Anatolia…...

3+ hour, 55+ min ago (808+ words) COMMENTARY: The council profoundly advanced our understanding of what we believe in ways that can immensely help our spiritual and moral lives today. Imagine a pope convening an ecumenical council and never showing up. Imagine a world leader overruling him as to where it should be held. Imagine only 30 bishops turning up to inaugurate it. Imagine the council then dragging on for nearly two decades. Imagine no further, for such a council took shape exactly 480 years ago. Its name was the Council of Trent (1545-1563). Recognized as the 19th council in the history of the Catholic Church, it was one of the most impressive and influential councils in Church history. The Catechism of the Catholic Church footnotes its teaching no less than 141 times. So, if the Council of Trent didn't change what we believe, what did it do? The doctrine of justification…...

4+ hour, 30+ min ago (239+ words) Swiss Guard / Aleteia A close look reveals that Pope Leo got an orange in his stocking (no coal this year!). While the tradition is no longer so common, those of us who have parents or grandparents from the Great Depression years probably associate oranges with Christmas. There are a few reasons that an orange became linked to St. Nick's gifts. As we know, the story goes that Bishop Nicholas left gold in the stockings of young women who needed a dowry. While we'd all love a real sphere of gold in our stockings, a sweet orange is a close replica! Oranges are ripe and ready for picking in the winter months, so in the warm zones of southern Europe they would have been easy to acquire for Christmas. For northern Europe, however, an orange would have been a real treat....