Please Pray that The Heavenly Father grants Godly Wisdom to Bangladesh's new interim government as they decide the next steps to take in order to lead:

An action can be wrong without being sinful. So how do we know what's what?​

Everyone knows—or almost everyone does—that there are morally good actions and morally evil actions. But when is an action not only wrong, but sinful? And particularly mortally sinful? After all, as St. John says, “all wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not mortal” just as “there is sin which is mortal” (1 John 5:16,17). A mortal sin is one that “destroys in us the charity without which eternal beatitude is impossible. Unrepented, it brings eternal death,” as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) puts it (1874). That’s what makes it “mortal,” or deadly: it cuts us off from God forever, unless it is “redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness” (CCC 1861).

Thanks be to God, not every evil action is mortally sinful. So how do we know which is which? Just as there are three ingredients in evaluating a moral action (the object, intention, and circumstances), so there are three ingredients in a mortal sin: (1) “grave matter,” (2) “full knowledge,” and (3) “deliberate consent.” And the Catechism is clear that all “three conditions must together be met” (1857).

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As usual, Charlie Kirk does an amazing job at highlighting everything that Tim Walz has done, and everything that Tim Walz is... and everything that Tim Walz has done here in Minnesota has been disastrous, catastrophic, and has been a blunder for the state of Minnesota.

Charlie Kirk: Everything You Need to Know About Kamala's Minnesota Marxist VP
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Michele Bachmann: Tim Walz is 'as radical as AOC or more'​

(Member of Congress served with Kamala's VP pick for years)

Former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, now dean of the Robertson School of Government, served with now Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for years.

And after Kamala Harris tagged Walz as her pick for the Democrat party's nomination for vice president, she spoke out.

"I went to Congress with Tim Walz in 2006 and served with him for 8 years. On the outside, he looks like an awe-shucks, back slapping, nice guy politician, when in fact he is as radical as AOC or more," Bachmann said.

She said, "Because of Tim Walz, more people have moved out of the state than at any other time in Minnesota's history. Last year, $2 billion and 30,000 people left the state of Minnesota." And she noted Walz promoted "the strongest transgender protection bill in the country and the strongest pro-abortion bill in the country."

I used to pride myself on being mainstream. I didn’t want to be an intellectual or a scholar. I did not want to write books that would be read and admired by eleven of my friends. I wanted to write for regular folk. I liked being invisible and was always grateful for the fact that as a writer, I could be. As far as my beliefs went, I considered myself what I called a “meat and taters Catholic.”

And then I became a “radical.” I did so without moving an inch. Instead, the world moved under my feet, and, sadly, the Church moved as well. Everything around me shifted and suddenly I went from being mainstream to being considered a member of the fringe element. I did so because I could not swallow “it’s all good,” just as I cannot now swallow “Jesus gets us.” I knew that it was not all good. Anyone who has been paying attention knows that it hasn’t been “all good” since Adam and Eve. And yes, I came to be considered part of the fringe element because I clung to my Bible. I had to. It was the only thing not moving.

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Prayer (Sanskrit: प्रार्थना, romanized: prārthanā) is considered to be an integral part of the Hindu religion; it is practiced during Hindu worship (puja) and is an expression of devotion (Bhakti). The chanting of mantras is the most popular form of worship in Hinduism. The Vedas are liturgical texts (mantras and hymns). Stuti is an umbrella term for religious literary creations, but it literally means "praise."

The Hindu devotional Bhakti traditions place a focus on repetitive prayer, known as japa. Prayer is centred on the personal forms of gods and goddesses, such as Vishnu's avatars, most notably Rama and Krishna, Shiva, or Shiva's sons such as Kartikeya and Ganesha, as well as Mahadevi, the supreme goddess, and her forms, such as Lakshmi or Kali.


If I have an acquaintance who is Hindu, and they want to pray with me to Vishnu. Is is acceptable for me as a Christian to pray with them? Would this prayer be acceptable to God?

National Guardsman
Teacher
Football coach
Hunter / gun owner
Rural background
Governor

....and as we all expected
White
Male

He's also crossed the aisle politically in some ways Im not sure I approve of. But you cant have everything.
All in all, a good choice.

Who is Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' pick for vice president?

Some Protestants say yes. The Fathers' writings say no.​

Perspicuity is the Protestant doctrine that Holy Scripture is clear enough that any humble, prayerful Christian, regardless of academic pedigree, intellectual ability, or ecclesial authority, is able to understand what is necessary for salvation. But did the Church Fathers teach this doctrine?

This has been perhaps the most frequentresponse to my 2023 book The Obscurity of Scripture: Disputing Sola Scriptura and the Protestant Notion of Biblical Perspicuity, in which I present the various philosophical, theological, historical, and sociological problems with the doctrine. If the Church did teach the doctrine of perspicuity, it would certainly undermine, though not necessarily cripple, the thesis of my book. So let’s examine the evidence.

When Protestants argue that the Church Fathers did in fact teach biblical perspicuity, they will appeal to quotations from several Fathers that seem to affirm the clarity of Scripture. Here I’ll cite some of the most common.

St. Ireaneus in Against Heresies declares,

When . . . they are confuted from the Scriptures, they turn round and accuse these same Scriptures, as if they were not correct, nor of authority, and [assert] that they are ambiguous, and that the truth cannot be extracted from them by those who are ignorant of tradition (3.2.1).

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Similarly, in St. Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine, we read this:

Those matters that are plainly laid down in them [the Scriptures], whether rules of life or rules of faith, are to be searched into more carefully and more diligently; and the more of these a man discovers, the more capacious does his understanding become. For among the things that are plainly laid down in Scripture are to be found all matters that concern faith and the manner of life (2.9.14).

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Around the world, there is a consistent awareness of and belief in a deity that stands at the foundation of the world’s religions. Many people seek a connection with a higher or transcendent power that has made itself known to us through the internal spiritual or mystical awareness of and desire for God that each individual has.

Throughout history, philosophers, theologians, and psychologists have written extensively on this internal awareness of a higher power, which most religions call “God.” They identify eight major indications of this “interior sense of God”:

1. The awareness of and desire for perfect truth
2. The awareness of and desire for perfect love
3. The awareness of and desire for perfect justice/goodness
4. The awareness of and desire for perfect beauty
5. The awareness of and desire for perfect home
6. The numinous experience
7. The awareness of the sacred in the world
8. The awareness of a cosmic struggle between good and evil

What do these 8 indications of an interior sense of God have to do with proof of a soul? Plato and Augustine both believed they had a transphysical soul on the basis of indications 1-5, which grouped together are called the 5 transcendental desires. Indications 6-8 describe our interior awareness of a “transcendent reality” (God) and give further evidence that we ourselves are transcendent.

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June is traditionally the most popular month for scheduling weddings. There’s something appropriate about the flowering of a romantic relationship at the time of year when the trees and the fields are also blooming—and producing new life.

In recent years, however, more American couples have been choosing to marry in September or October. Is that because the weather is more temperate in the fall months? Or because couples are marrying later in life, and no longer bursting with the same effervescent spirit? Or is it simply a temporary fashion, which will lose its currency, and June will regain its rightful place as the peak of the marriage season?

(Bear in mind that “June” rhymes with “moon” and “croon” and “tune” and “spoon,” whereas “September” and “October” hold little appeal for would-be romantic poets. But I digress.)

January, however, is the undisputed champion for divorce filings. Apparently some unhappy couples agree to stay together through the holiday season, for the sake of the children or for the convenience of setting up separate accounts at the start of the new calendar year. (Here I refer to the “holiday” season, because those who celebrate the “Christmas” season are less likely to divorce.)

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Rinaldo Nazzaro, 51, a former Pentagon contractor and analyst at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) turned founder of the Base, wrote on his personal Telegram account that he’s seeking a stateside leader for his organization and is willing to pay them a salary of up to $1,200 a month.

The Russia-based leader ... is not known to have set foot in the US in years. With the recent surge in racially motivated riots in the United Kingdom, authorities across the west have become increasingly concerned with Russian sponsorship of far-right extremists.

The Base was considered a domestic terrorism threat in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election campaign. The group adheres to the principles of accelerationism; a hyper violent political doctrine calling on followers to hasten the collapse of society through acts of terrorism.

A 2020 Guardian investigation revealed Nazzaro had purchased several acres of undeveloped land near Republic, Washington, that he intended to use as a training ground for the Base. His latest job listing asks for a candidate who preferably lives near Republic and that land.

“Neo-Nazi accelerationist groups are mainly keeping a low profile,” he said. “Their focus on promoting chaos raises the possibility that they will encourage violence or commit acts of intimidation before the election.”

Nazzaro, who is married to a Russian national and is believed to be living in St Petersburg, has long faced allegations from inside the Base and elsewhere that he is a Russian intelligence asset. In a 2020 appearance on Russian television, he tried to dispel those rumors, claiming “I’ve never had any contact with any Russian security services” and that he is a misunderstood family man.

see also:

Two neo-Nazis from 'the Base' given 9 years for terrorist plot to overthrow US government​

My boyfriend (male 29) and I (female 32) met about a year ago and we’ve been in this great relationship, he brought me closer to God and made me in general a better woman. So I have a lot to thank him for but that’s also why I hold him in high standards.

When we first started dating he mentioned he had an addiction with porn but that since we met he stopped watching it. Because he knows as a man of God that’s not ok.

Yesterday, I had a feeling he watched porn when I came home and I asked him and he said “yes I’m sorry” and he went on for 4 hours telling me That throughout our relationship he’s done it 2 other times and that he didn’t say anything to me because he thought I would judge him so he was working it on it on his own.

Btw, I consider myself a beautiful latin woman (sorry if my English isn’t perfect when typing, this isn’t my first language) and I’m sure I make him happy in every aspect of life, I know he wants to marry me, etc. but yet he watched porn. He says it has nothing to do with me because he finds me very attractive. He says this is like any other addiction where the dopamine needs to be fed. But that he would never cheat on me or anything like that.

Besides this issue he really is a good man but I can’t stop thinking that I’m not enough for him and that he still in a way cheated on me abs that his intentions were not to tell me but because I asked him then he had to. This makes me doubt his integrity and his feelings for me. Even though he says this is not who he is and is just a temptation coming from the dark side and that he lost the battle but not the war.

I just don’t know if I can take away the images of him watching porn. He also said he didn’t get to the point of masturbation (but that’s mostly because I called him saying I was coming home) but he said that when I called he was already “on his way out”

At this point his word has taking credibility and I don’t even know if I believe him that when I called he was on “his way out” of it.

I just want to make sure that I’m choosing the man God wants for me and that later on when I’m old, my husband will still want me and won’t be wishing other woman. He says he wouldn’t do that but I don’t know anymore.

Please if you are of Christian faith as a man or a woman I’d love to hear your advice. I don’t want to tell anyone in my life close to me because they might judge him for a long time without knowing all the good things on him but I do need advice. I want to know what should I do. If I break up with him, if I forgive him, if I take my time been cold to him and distant (this one is how I currently feel)

Long story short, my boyfriend who’s supposed to be a man of God whom I told him that if he ever watched porn he should tell me, didn’t tell me until I asked him and I don’t know if I should stay on this relationship or break up.

Father Jim Sullivan, a Catholic priest from Waterbury, called the five-day, 365-mile route unrelenting but exhilarating.

Father Jim Sullivan, the rector of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury, Connecticut, enjoys pushing himself physically; but a five-day, 365-mile cycling race of the Tour de France’s “Circle of Death” in the Pyrenees — a mountain range between France and Spain — was “the most physically challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

“It was unrelenting, but it was also the most exhilarating,” Father Sullivan told the Register. “And it was deeply prayerful, probably the most prayerful experience I’ve had since I became a priest.”

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The TV talk-show host has openly expressed his Catholic faith over the years.

This is awesome! Praise God!

Television host Carson Daly recently commented on a Father Mike Schmitz video from the 10th National Eucharistic Congressthat explains transubstantiation and the power of the Eucharist.

“When you [...] go to Mass, and here is the priest holding up Our Lord like this and just saying, ‘God, Father, this [is] for you,’ you get to be a part of the redemption of humanity,” Father Schmitz said in the video posted on Catholic News Agency.

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Keep at it JD.

Oh my. But I’m sure there are Christians who won’t find fault with any of this.

I met somebody (Ken) in one date app and since the first time I knew I was not attracted to him as a man since he appeared taller in his profile and was older than in looked in his pictures, without mentioning his intense personality…

I should have listened to the red flags in both of us from the beginning, but I chose to ignore them apparently, like “I miss you” after the first time he took me to dinner.

After some weeks he invited me to a “friendly” Valentines dinner with my mother whom I take care of after her hip replacement surgery. He said he wanted to make it easier for me due to the fact that she is my priority for this time of my life and until she heals better and/or decides to go back to her country.

He felt in love with my mom and we both saw him as a generous soul that God had put in our path. That night due to his smoking I did realize but my nose started to react and I almost fainted of not being able to breath… he took us to his house being so near to that restaurant and took care of me giving me hot tea and some medication for allergies. We grew fond of his friendship inviting him over to our place for a home-made dinner on a later date. He was utterly happy, and my mom and I felt we reciprocated his attentions.

By March he invited me to dinner again and wanted to include my mom as well for me to feel more comfortable. I was already having some dates every 15 days with other people without any good results, so I took his invitations as friendship with a very sociable and nice man who several times cooked for us in his home, introducing us to his adult kids. We both are 53 y.o.

In April I lost my job and didn’t want to tell him, but my mom’s eye surgery was confirmed and I had to take her to the hospital due to the urgency of the procedure. He insisted on paying for it and I totally denied it arguing that the same hospital suggested me to request financial aid due to a hardship. I did so and I received it, but he paid for the rest without me knowing it and I was a bit mad but then had to be thankful assuring him that one way or another I would be able to pay him back whenever I recover from the financial situation.

After my mom’s recovery in a couple of weeks, she suggested inviting him again to have dinner over. There is when he asked me to explore the possibility of a relationship and I was certainly not excited since after coming back from the conference, I sort of rekindled another relationship with a out-of the country prospect, Clark. (I have to say that after losing my job I strongly considered moving back to Europe)

In June I went to Europe for work and Ken insisted on visiting the place and events I went, and I denied it since there was a strong possibility to finally meet Clark to consider our future possibilities. Before leaving Ken asked me if I was ready for an exclusive relationship with someone and I told him no, but I made the mistake of continuing in touch with him just to not make him feel used and left or discarded. I propose him to give us a break until my come back and he refused. I went to Europe met Clark for a brief lunch at near the train station on his was back home from some business meeting a near city and I felt I would love to explore a life with him but had to wait until the end of September to see him again in my country of residence but he started being too distant and almost stop conversations, video calls, etc. in spite of giving me an exact date of arrival here. I texted him and he said he is dealing with too much related to his last daughter about to leave to university and that after that would announce his “girlfriend” mood with me.

In the meantime, Ken stayed in Europe attending the events and I had to eventually introduce him as potential investor/entrepreneur to some of my key contacts in order to make this easier of everyone and not have to explain too much around my people. They accepted him and even invited him to the next events, and he proposed to in fact make some investments in the company, I was speechless.

At this point, my key contact tried to convince me that I should consider giving him a chance since his behavior towards me was more than obvious showing a genuine interest and that I should stop being mean to him, which I never thought I was. I sort of accepted and stayed with him his last days visiting different venues and receptions belonging to my work field. Unfortunately, in one of them he made a jealousy scene, and we fought until his return short after. I had to stay one more week attending to some other events and conferences.

Back in the country he proposed me to have an exclusive relationship which I tried to explore, overlooking his intense character and jealous nature.

By July he proposed us to move to his enormous house so I should stop paying rent and save for a better financial situation as well as to buy my first house as a divorced single daughter to provide a better life for my mom and myself. I agreed at first thinking that we could make it work specially after the almost complete indifference of Clark, who would only text me as a reply but never as own initiative.

Few weeks ago, Ken and I spoke about my move, but I was still very doubtful. At that time to my surprise, I met Tom who I always wanted to meet by 2022 and who just popped up into my life. I didn’t want to have sex with him since I was as an “official situationship” with Ken. I was super confused but felt an incredible connection with Tom as I haven’t felt in a very long time. We texted some more times and all of the sudden a colleague invited me to a conference in another state and Ken insisted on taking me there with my mom. I didn’t want to go and even didn’t want him to join either. I have no idea why and how; he convinced me and then I accepted after he mentioning again his interest in investing on my contact, my siblings, etc. and making everybody’s life better.

I thought I should finally define this crazy situation and accepted to go with him. It was decent time always with his jealousy scenes when I bumped into several male colleagues from abroad and out of state who he considered hitting on my in a disrespectful way.

Back in town from the conference he made me a proposal to for one year cover all my debts, move into his big almost empty house, stop paying rent and focusing on my professional growth without going to work as much as I normally do for the last 20 years and just enjoying a better life until recovering, improving and helping him at home and as his current girlfriend.

I was very grateful for this offer, but I had to stress the fact that I was not romantically interested in him and if he would like to collaborate with me and key contacts in the field he was welcome but I could not promise him to grow in love with him after actually having tried for about 3 months already.

He was crushed and I felt the most evil and deceitful girl in the world. I tried to tell him that I didn’t want to feel as I am selling to someone and he said, “what is wrong with me to take over your life when you know that I love you more than my own life and would take a bullet for you?”

I was appalled and went back home crying. Next day he requested a “goodbye dinner” and for some reason after crying with my mom I ended up saying “Ok, ok we will move, since apparently it’s on me to save your face from your executives at the company, your kids, family and friends after you turning around your house to accommodate my mom and myself”

I felt super guilty and even worse when finding myself very interested in Tom with whom I had zero drama and lot of chemistry and apparently a promising relationship in the future.

I have found another job that seems promising to give me back my previous lifestyle in spite or Ken accusing me of having an employee mentality instead of an executive like him.

In conclusion:

1. I am not sure still if Tom would end up committing to a stable relationship. 2. No idea if Clark will end up coming to see me and what are his real intentions. 3. The fact that I “am playing ping pong with a high executive” as Ken told me, is killing me especially when I know this is taking a toll on his health.

I am so so confused and August is already here…

Hi, I'm in an awkward situation. It's been discovered that I have a knack for stage comedy (and some impersonations), through my having partaken in the talent show at my church's New Year's Eve Extravaganza.

The issue is I have had scoliosis of the spine for years, which has caused my head to be cocked over to one side. This has also resulted in my having a twitch.
The feedback I got on the video footage of my last performance was great.
However, I felt very uncomfortable about how my head looked being cocked over to one side.

My wife has "warned" me that I had better be obedient and pursue this talent uncondionally, while I am of the mindset that if God really wants me to pursue this, He will remove this issue---that is SO discouraging me from pursuing my talent

Can anyone offer men any sound advice?

God bless.

(OSV News) — At least 11 churchmen have been detained by police and paramilitaries over a weeklong assault in northern Nicaragua, depleting the already demoralized Diocese of Matagalpa — whose leader, Bishop Rolando Álvarez, lives in exile.

Nine priests and a deacon were detained Aug. 1 and 2 — with some taken from parishes and parish residences — according to independent Nicaragua media. An octogenarian priest was also detained July 27 in the Diocese of Estelí, where Bishop Álvarez is apostolic administrator.

“The Diocese of Matagalpa practically no longer has any clergy. We’ve been expelled, pressured and forced to flee. Parishes are on their own,” an exiled priest, familiar with the diocese, told OSV News.

Ongoing repression in Nicaragua: Church leaders detained​

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Simple question - She's bloviating about debating her opponent, but has not even given an interview yet.

Video Resurfaces of Walz Declaring ‘One Person’s Socialism Is Another Person’s Neighborliness’​

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the desert, and they died. This is the bread which descends from heaven, so that if anyone will eat from it, he may not die. 6:51 I am the living bread, who descended from heaven. 6:52 If anyone eats from this bread, he shall live in eternity. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world." (John 6:48-52)

Christ now no longer calls the belief in him, or the preaching of the gospel, the bread that he will give them; but he declares that it is his own flesh, and that flesh which shall be given for the life of the world. (Calmet)

This bread Christ then gave, when he gave the mystery of his body and blood to his disciples. (Ven. Bede)

Media mogul and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai will remain in solitary confinement after a Hong Kong court on July 25 delayed the 76-year-old’s national security trial until the end of November.

Lai, the Catholic Chinese-born founder of the newspaper Apple Daily, which Hong Kong shut down in 2021, entered a not guilty plea at the beginning of 2024 to the charges of conspiring to collude with a foreign power.

Initially set to begin in 2022, the landmark national security trial was delayed until Dec. 18, 2023. The prosecution — estimated to last 80 days — ran until June 11 of this year. The trial has been further pushed out until Nov. 20.

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Richard DeGraff (at left, next to Mother Angelica in early 1981, and at right) played a key role in getting EWTN off the ground. | Credit: Photos courtesy of the DeGraff family

Richard DeGraff, a founding board member at EWTN who was instrumental in helping Mother Angelica launch the network in 1981, passed away on July 31 at age 94. 

DeGraff met Mother Angelica in 1980 while working for the Family Rosary in Wisconsin. It was DeGraff who connected Mother Angelica, at the time seeking funding to purchase EWTN’s first satellite dish, to the De Rance Foundation, a Catholic philanthropic organization that provided crucial early support for the acquisition.

During those critical moments when EWTN was being birthed as well as for decades to come, DeGraff played a key role in getting the first Catholic satellite television network off the ground and keeping it going.


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There was a significant increase in unsupervised abortion attempts from 2021 to 2023, according to a new study published by the American Medical Association.

The percentage of American women who have undergone an unsupervised, self-managed abortion (SMA) rose from 2.4% in 2021 to 3.4% in 2023, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on July 30.

JAMA said that 3.4% represents a conservative estimate, given that abortion numbers are typically underreported. When adjusted to account for this underreporting, the percentage of American women who underwent a self-managed abortion in 2023 was 7.1%.

The researchers, some of whom have ties to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, attributed the rise to the increase in the number of states with pro-life laws and of people who “fear criminalization for seeking pregnancy-related care.”

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