The Department of the Interior (DOI) recently announced its "resident-only patriotic fee-free days" for 2026, and missing from the list were MLK Day, which has been a National Park fee-free day since 2018, and Juneteenth, which was introduced as a fee-free day in 2024.

In place of these days commemorating American history, civil rights and equality, the Trump administration has instead opted to celebrate additional former presidents' birthdays and Flag Day, which is also President Donald Trump's birthday.

The removal of these days as fee-free National Park days follows the Trump administration's pause on certain days of remembrance, including MLK Day and Juneteenth, earlier this year, as part of the president's ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

For next year, the days chosen seem to fall in line with the Trump administration's "America-first" policies.

The department also announced the launch of new digital "America the Beautiful" passes, which will allow Americans to buy and use their passes on mobile devices ... The new passes also feature Trump's face, according to People

There is a thread in the Christian-only section, consisting of lots of misinformed opinions. Apparently when you don't read the assignment, you can just cite the Bible and then complain when you fail! Here's the Fox News version:

United States senators are speaking out after a student at the University of Oklahoma said she was given a zero on an assignment for her "Christian kind of worldview" questioning gender norms. Word of the failed assignment has now reached the halls of Congress, raising eyebrows from top senators, including former presidential candidate and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who represents the university in Congress. "That’s insane," Mullin told Fox News Digital. "Especially in Oklahoma. There should be zero tolerance for woke activists disguised as ‘educators’ who punish students for no reason and put their toxic political agendas ahead of our kids’ education."

Aaaaand here's what really happened:

[From Rachel Hurley as quoted on FB]:]

The conservative media machine has been running this story for days now, painting her as a persecuted Christian hero standing up against radical transgender ideology in academia. Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s disgraced former schools chief, called her “an absolute American hero.” Fox News gave her the full sympathetic treatment. Turning Point USA blasted it out to 38 million views.


The assignment was to write a 650-word reaction paper to a 2014 study called “Relations Among Gender Typicality, Peer Relations, and Mental Health During Early Adolescence.” The study looked at 84 middle schoolers and examined whether kids who don’t fit gender stereotypes - tomboys, boys who aren’t stereotypically masculine - get bullied more. It found that gender-atypical boys especially faced more teasing, and that this teasing was associated with worse mental health outcomes like depression and anxiety.

That’s the whole thing. The study was asking whether kids who don’t fit neatly into “boys play sports, girls play with dolls” boxes get picked on, and whether getting picked on makes them depressed. The answer was yes. Not exactly radical territory.

But Fulnecky apparently skimmed the abstract and saw the word “gender” and decided the whole thing was actually about transgender people trying to turn kids demonic. Her essay argued that gender teasing in schools is not a problem because God made men and women different on purpose. She wrote that society pushing “the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth.” She prayed that children would “not believe the lies being spread from Satan.” Not a single engagement with the study’s methodology. Not a single mention of its actual findings about depression and anxiety in bullied kids. Not a single counter-argument to the researchers’ data. Just vibes about how Satan wants kids to be different genders and God’s plan involves letting gender-nonconforming eleven-year-olds get teased.

The grading rubric was straightforward: 10 points for demonstrating a “clear tie-in to the assigned article,” 10 points for a “thoughtful reaction or response to the article, rather than a summary,” and 5 points for clear writing. She met none of these criteria.

And the whole conservative persecution narrative falls apart even faster when you look at who’s running this show. Her mother is Kristi Fulnecky, a Missouri attorney who defended January 6 rioters, filed lawsuits against mask mandates, and had such a contentious tenure on the Springfield City Council that the city spent nearly $100,000 on legal fees dealing with her eligibility fight after she operated a business without a license for seven years. One city attorney accused her of “grandstanding.” Kristi posted on Facebook that her daughter was “a warrior for Christ” and helped her daughter decide who to take her complaints to.

This is a manufactured controversy.
The formula is simple: find a culture war angle, refuse to do the actual assignment, cry discrimination when the grade reflects the work quality, and then watch the right-wing media ecosystem do the rest. Fulnecky gets to do the Fox News circuit. Ryan Walters gets to rail against “Marxist professors.”
The university, spooked by political pressure, put the graduate teaching assistant on administrative leave and assured Fulnecky the zero won’t affect her grade.

But sure, religious persecution.


Years ago a teacher handed out Christian materials in class with the Declaration of independence stapled to the back. When the administration banned the assignment, the right started screaming that "Radical left bans the Declaration from classroom!"

It's a simple formula.

From Genesis to Guadalupe, Scripture and tradition reveal that Satan cannot replicate humility — the very virtue through which God and his saints defeat him.

Our God is a God of surprises. From the Son of God being born a helpless infant raised by a carpenter and then dying to bring salvation, his ways are beyond human imagination.

The humility of God is the ultimate plot twist that baffles Satan. The devil chose eternity in hell rather than to humble himself before the very one who created him. And his first big score against humanity was made possible through pride — the opposite of humility — by Adam and Eve eating the fruit so they would become like God. Humility would have protected them from their foolishness.

How infinitely clever it is that through our humility and thus obedience to God, the devil is defeated. St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars, who was often harassed by the devil, related a conversation with him.

“I can do everything you do,” said the devil. “I can also do your penances; I can imitate you in everything. There is one thing, however, that I cannot do; I cannot imitate you in humility.”

Continued below.

By reshaping competencies, tightening accountability and institutionalizing consultation, the new regulations outline how the Roman Curia will function under Pope Leo XIV in the next phase of papal governance.

The new General and Staff Regulations of the Roman Curia, published on Nov. 23, marked the conclusion of the Curial reform initiated by Pope Francis.

Almost simultaneously, Bishop Marco Mellino — named secretary of the Interdicasterial Commission for the Revision of the Regulations of the Roman Curia under Pope Francis’ pontificate — was appointed adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts by Pope Leo XIV. This appointment signals that the work is complete and that a new chapter has begun.

Origins and Mandate of the New Regulations​

Continued below.

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5:56

BETHSAIDA, Northern Israel – A wildfire on the Sea of Galilee has revealed new archaeological evidence about the birthplace of Jesus' disciples, Peter, Andrew, and Philip. The place where Jesus fed the 5,000 and healed the blind man is yielding new secrets. Just as archaeologists prepared to dig again for answers, disaster struck. One member of the scientific team, Dr. Steven Notley, dean of the School of Religious Studies at New Jersey's Pillar College, recalled for CBN News what happened this past July. Read the full story from CBN News: https://cbn.com/news/i...

Miraculous Archaeological Find CONFIRMS Catholicism?
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18:35

The book includes sermons and addresses delivered since his election on May 8, 2025, according to the publisher, which has also distributed works by St. John Paul II and Pope Francis.

Pope Leo XIV will offer his “vision for peace, unity, and reconciliation” in his first full-length book to be published in February 2026.

The Holy Father’s book, Peace Be With You: My Words to the Church and to the World, is set to be published in English and Spanish on Feb. 24 by HarperOne, according to a Dec. 4 press release.

The title of the book recalls the first words spoken by the risen Christ, which also were Leo’s first words as pontiff: “Peace be with you.”

“I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world. Peace be with you!” Leo said at his first appearance from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Continued below.

It will stay indefinitely at St. Mark Catholic Church, while the Diocese of Charlotte awaits liturgical changes from the Bishop Michael Martin.

A North Carolina pastor has decided to keep using altar rails to distribute Communion during Mass instead of stopping the practice.

The decision flips his announcement of about a month ago, when he said the church would stop using altar rails as of the first Sunday of Advent last weekend, as the Register reported in mid-November.

Father John Putnam, pastor of St. Mark Catholic Church in Huntersville, about 15 miles north of Charlotte, told the Register he received requests from parishioners he believes had consulted a canon lawyer, as they used Church law language in their communication with him.

“I had lots of parishioners who asked that I reconsider my decision or suspend my decision, as an administrative recourse. My choice was I’m fine with that, and let things stay as they are,” Father Putnam said in an interview Friday. “And if something happens from a higher authority, we’ll deal with it when it happens.”

Continued below.

The pro-life nonprofit Coalition Life is planning to ramp up its sidewalk counseling initiative at a Planned Parenthood facility in Chicago after a woman was found crying in pain outside of the clinic.

A video shows sidewalk counselor Jacob Tipre observing the woman curled up, leaning against the doorway for the Planned Parenthood Elizabeth Cohn Morris Health Center, which is located in downtown Chicago. The incident occurred Nov. 15 shortly before 4 p.m., according to Coalition Life.

Mary Jane Maharry, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Illinois, told CNA: “We’re not commenting.” Planned Parenthood Federation of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A video posted by Coalition Life shows Tipre asking the woman whether she was OK. She responded: “No, I am not.”

“They just do the procedure, and they threw me out on the streets,” the woman said, while crying. “They just threw me out on the streets.”

Continued below.

After receiving a letter of excommunication from the Vatican, the leader of a schismatic group in Colorado Springs told congregants he would ignore it — furthering the divide between the small splinter group and the Catholic Church.

Anthony Ward heads the Servants of the Holy Family, a group that labels itself as Catholic in spite of the Diocese of Colorado Springs’ declaration that the group is schismatic.

In a 40-minute speech to his congregation in which he called Church authorities “a kangaroo court” of “heretics” and “freemasons,” Ward went public on Nov. 16 about his excommunication and his plans to continue ignoring the Catholic Church’s directives.

During a secret ceremony in 2024, a bishop whose name was withheld at the time consecrated Ward as a bishop without papal permission.

In the Catholic Church, only the pope can appoint bishops. Consecrating a bishop without papal mandate is considered illicit and incurs an automatic “latae sententiae” excommunication for both parties.

Continued below.

Do you have videos of water baptism in your language?

Here is one video in finnish language ( it has english subtitles). It is important to say "...in the name of Jesus Christ" as it is instructed in Acts 2:38.


“…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…” (Acts 2:38).


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The Lord has convicted me strongly about me being arrogant.

We know that he hates arrogance. We see over and over in the Bible that sin can be connected to illness. And I have been having some health concerns.

I have been praying not to be arrogant and to be healed. But I confess to a feeling of hardness in my heart that keeps me from getting free of arrogance.

Even though in my mind, I see clearly how stupid it is. We are but dust and every good and perfect thing comes from the Lord.

Please pray that the Lord will do for me what I cannot do for myself, so that I am free from arrogance for life, and that I’m healthy in every way so that I may better glorify him for life as he deserves. Thank you.

There is a moment in every true conversion, not the dramatic kind, but the hidden, lifelong kind, when we stop trying to look at God and finally allow Him to look at us.

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God be gracious and bless us and let Your face shed its light upon us.” So begins Psalm 68, often said in the Daily Office, or Breviary, at the start of the day. In St. John’s Gospel, Philip says to Jesus, “show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus responds, “Philip, to have seen Me is to have seen the Father.” The light shining from the face of Christ is the light of the Father. The blessing of seeing the face of Christ is the gift we will soon celebrate at Christmas: God has become man, and we can look upon Him.

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Thank God we still know the world has not succeeded in pushing the true meaning of Christmas from view! Let earth CONTINUE to receive her King!

SOURCE

Marian Consecration is like Baptism in that it’s a one-time deal. Once Mary’s, you’re totally Mary’s. However, there are various times during the liturgical year and sacramental life that we renew our baptismal promises, in particular during the Easter Vigil. It should be the same for Marian Consecration—we should have a renewal of sorts that we do every year to remember that we are, indeed, hers.

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We learn in verses 7-9 that Jesus Christ is the door of the sheep and he is the way by which we must enter into salvation from sin and eternal life with God. No other way is the right way. And who are the sheep? They are all who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives who listen to what he teaches and who obey his teachings (see John 10:27). We are those who have entered into the fold of the sheep (the church, the body of Christ) by way of the cross of Christ in death to sin and walks of obedience to God.

But there are others who have entered into the gatherings of the sheep by another way other than through Jesus Christ and his gospel message. For there are many false shepherds of the people out there who are “thieves and robbers” who are leading people to believe in a false gospel message which is infected with half-truths (lies) and distortions of truth created in the minds of humans who reject Jesus’ gospel message because they don’t want to have to die to their sins and to submit to God in obedience to his commands.

So “the gospel” message these “thieves and robbers” are bringing to the people are filled with bugs, i.e. with errors, many of which are willfully being planted within the gospel message to purposefully lead people away from Christ to a false gospel message of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And many of them have deliberately skirted (bypassed) the parts of the gospel that teach death to sin and obedience to God, and they have diluted the gospel to a mere verbal profession of faith in Jesus, no change of heart.

Now, Jesus Christ is the shepherd of the sheep (verses 11-18), as well as he is the door into the fold of the sheep (the church, the body of Christ). And it is God the Father, I believe, who is the doorkeeper. For he is the one who sent Jesus Christ (God the Son) to the earth to be born as a baby and to one day die on a cross in order to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-gifted faith in him, and empowered by God, we can now die to sin and live to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands.

And all those who become Jesus’ sheep by dying with him to sin and being raised with him to walk with him in obedience to his commands, by faith in him, they listen to Jesus’ words. They heed his words, and they follow him in surrender to his will in walks of obedience to his commands. And they follow Jesus because they know his voice. But they do not follow the strangers who are lying to the people, because they do not recognize their voices. For God has given them the discernment of the Spirit to know truth from lies.

For if we are truly following our Lord in obedience to his commands, and sin is no longer our practice, but righteousness is our practice, by the grace of God, and because we are now listening to the Lord, and we are heeding his words, then as we grow in our walks of faith in obedience to the Lord we should be able to recognize more and more the lies of the enemy which are opposed to the truth of the gospel which Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught (in the correct biblical context, and not out of context).

And we should be those who are rejecting the lies of the enemy and their messengers, who are discerning truth from lies and those who speak truth vs those who speak lies. For the Holy Spirit is living within us speaking truth to our hearts and minds, and he is revealing to us the lies vs the truth so that we will now follow the truth and reject the lies. And if we are Jesus’ true sheep, we will not resist the Holy Spirit’s voice and end up following the lies, but we will desire to live for our Lord in doing what pleases him.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

When I Am Afraid

Based off Psalms 56-57
An Original Work / October 17, 2016
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

When I am afraid, Lord, I will trust in You.
Your Word, Lord, I praise. I yield my life to You.
Enemies pursue me, slandering Your Name.
Lord, have mercy. I trust in You. Hear my cry today.

Lord, I love Your Word. It comforts me today,
As I look to you, and bow my head and pray.
You are Christ, my Lord. You saved me from my sin,
That I may walk, Lord before You, purified within.

Steadfast is my heart, O God, I sing of You.
I will praise You, Lord. To You, I will be true.
Oh, how great Your love. Your faithfulness endue.
Be exalted, God of heaven. Glory be to You.

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The Shepherd of The Sheep
An Original Work / December 6, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Interesting article:


One of the more compelling threads in Viking history and Norse mythology is the winter role played by Odin, the Norse god known for his wisdom, magic, and sky-riding abilities.

Scholars like Margaret Baker have noted that the long-bearded, cloaked, and sky-faring Santa Claus shares striking similarities with Odin, particularly in his Yule manifestations.

In her work, Baker describes Santa Claus as a “blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north,” which she links to Odin’s own depiction as a gift-bearing rider in the midwinter sky (Baker, 2007, p. 62).

This resemblance is not just cosmetic. Odin, known to lead the Wild Hunt during the Twelve Nights of Yule, often rode his magical eight-legged horse Sleipnir through the night sky, a detail echoed in Santa’s reindeer-pulled sleigh.

Such traditions reveal the persistence of pre-Christian beliefs within Christmas customs and may explain how Santa is Odin, at least in part, in European folk memory.

The Wild Hunt is a spectral, airborne procession led by Odin who was central to Germanic and Norse Yule traditions.

This myth was not only widely feared but also deeply ingrained in old Norse winter rites.

George H. McKnight identifies this imagery as formative in the evolution of the Christmas tradition, with Saint Nicholas eventually assuming traits of Odin such as gift-giving, nocturnal rides, and of course with a long beard (McKnight, 1917, pp. 138–139).

Children once left hay or oats for Odin’s steed, much like the later custom of placing out stockings or shoes, ultimately evolving into a hallmark of modern gift-giving.

This is a powerful demonstration of how ancient Yule traditions stuck around, reemerging in forms like Father Christmas and Santa Claus.

In Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Clement A. Miles explores how pagan and Norse customs informed Christian celebrations.

He notes that Saints Martin and Nicholas may have served as Christianized stand-ins for Woden (Miles, 1912, p. 219).

The timing of Yule, falling close to December 6, the feast of St. Nicholas, plays a crucial role. During the Yule festival, figures like Odin were believed to ride the skies, rewarding the good and punishing the bad, basically echoing the now familiar “naughty or nice” list.

Though Miles presents other interpretations (including Roman influences and seasonal personifications), he acknowledges that the connection between Odin and Santa Claus cannot be dismissed outright.
Even Santa’s occasional mischief, generosity, and supernatural qualities align with Odin’s character in Norse mythology..............

Federal immigration officials say a Southern California sheriff's office is unlikely to help deport an illegal immigrant from Mexico who faces felony hit-and-run charges in the death of an 11-year-old boy because California is a "sanctuary state."

Hector Balderas-Aheelor, 44, was arrested Nov. 29 in San Diego County after allegedly striking the victim, Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz, in front of his home in Escondido, about 30 miles northeast of San Diego, on the evening of Nov. 26, according to Escondido Police Department Lt. Craig Miller.

The boy — who witnesses say went into the street to retrieve a soccer ball — was transported to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on Thanksgiving Day, according to police.

Officers recovered the suspect's vehicle and booked him into the Vista Detention Facility on charges of felony hit-and-run resulting in death. Balderas-Aheelor, whose name appears variably as Balderas Amador or Aheelor in records, remains in custody awaiting arraignment.

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Pastor Stuart Knechtle recently claimed that President Donald Trump's 19-year-old son, Barron, is interested in claims of supernatural dreams about Jesus Christ in the Muslim world and is "very close" to becoming a Christian.

Knechtle, who has 2.4 million followerson TikTok and serves as assistant pastor at Grace Community Church in New Canaan, Connecticut, shared Thursday on "The George Janko Show" that he recently witnessed to Barron on the phone at 12:30 a.m. about Christianity.

“I thought I was hitting him with everything but the kitchen sink when it came to all the evidence for God and Christianity," Knechtle said.

"I thought I was really on, I was pumped," he said. "And at the very end, I came up pretty much totally open-handed with nothing. But I brought up dreams and revelations."

Knechtle claimed Barron was fascinated when he brought up reports that have circulated in recent years of many Muslims experiencing striking encounters with Jesus Christ in their dreams. Mission Frontiers magazine reported that a quarter of Muslim conversions to Christianity are because of such experiences.

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Canada saw a record number of citizens end their lives by assisted suicide, with an official report documenting that over 5% of all deaths in the country were as a result of the controversial procedure.

According to a Canadian government report released on Nov. 28, titled “Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada,” 16,499 people ended their lives in 2024 by medically-assisted suicide, officially known as “Medical Assistance in Dying.”

The 16,499 assisted suicides were among the 22,535 requests for premature death sent to Health Canada. Of the requests that did not result in assisted suicide, 4,017 individuals died of another cause, 1,327 individuals were deemed ineligible for the procedure, and 692 individuals withdrew their requests.

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The murder of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk appears to have "sparked a wave" of spiritual actions, particularly among younger generations, according to a recent poll.

The Barna Group, an Evangelical polling firm, published a survey on Wednesday of 5,003 U.S. adults roughly two months after Kirk's Sept. 10 assassination during an outdoor speaking event at Utah Valley University. The survey is based on interviews with adults ages 18 and older conducted from Oct. 17 through Oct. 30, with a sample error of +/- 1.3 percentage points at a 95% confidence interval.

Among the respondents, one in four Americans reported taking spiritual action after Kirk's death, while fewer reported taking political action.

Continued below.

I do take advice from AI, but I learned to not treat AI like it is perfect in its answers.

I asked AI about forgiveness, it said it's a good thing, but not good to forgive those who are not remorseful, and who are still malicious.

I would find it hard to forgive those people, and very hard to forgive someone who took pleasure in hurting me.

What does the Bible say, am I supposed to really forgive a murderer that killed my mom and dad if it happened? It did not happen just as an example, what if the murderer doesn't take any accountability has no remorse, and the murderer took pleasure in his crimes. Am I still supposed to forgive?

I've been reading lately about suggestions to denaturalize legal immigrants. The Trump administration has already been working on revoking green cards and deporting legal immigrants in certain cases. I'd like to know what people around here thing about this, and specifically how far the government should be able to go.

Should the government be able to denaturalize legal immigrants if they've committed crimes in the US? Or for any reason at all? For that matter, should the government be able to revoke the citizenship of citizens born in the US and deport them? Although discussion of babies born in the US of illegal immigrants would deserve another thread, I wouldn't consider it to be off topic here.

Personally, I am currently against denaturalization unless fraud was committed during the application process (as per 8 U.S.C. Section 1451). As far as I'm concerned, once you're a citizen, you remain a citizen unless you voluntarily move out and revoke your citizenship.

Now, this isn't meant as a criticism of the Trump administration. They're exploring the legality of denaturalization, and that's fine. I would just hope that they run into a hard legal wall.