Names occupy a central role in the Bible. The prophet Joel assures us that “all who call upon the name of the LORD shall be delivered” (2:32).

In the Book of Proverbs, we are reminded that “[t]he name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe” (Prov 18:10).

Meanwhile, the Second Commandment instructs us not to misuse the divine name: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

It is no surprise, then, that the Catechism highlights for us the overall importance of names: “God calls each one by name. Everyone’s name is sacred. The name is the icon of the person. It demands respect as a sign of the dignity of the one who bears it” (2158).



What’s In a Name?

In their book A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament, John Bergsma and Brant Pitre explain why names matter so much from a biblical perspective:

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The Register contacted pastors across the country asking the question whether emergency personnel call them to life-threatening situations. For the most part, the answer is No.

When a multi-ton pile of clay covered a steam-shovel fireman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in early December 1952, a 40-year-old Catholic priest had himself lowered upside down into a hole workers had dug to try to save the man.

“Only the tips of the priest’s heels were visible as his murmured prayers were heard above,” The Boston Globe reported the next day. Only a portion of the man’s leg was visible when the priest first got near him, and by the time workers freed the rest of Elpidio Baia, a 55-year-old father of three, the accident victim had died. But Father John Tierney’s efforts to bring him the last rites of the Church are an example of what used to be common — police and firefighters calling a priest to an accident so he can administer sacraments to the critically injured.

Priests still frequently offer confession, Eucharist and anointing of the sick at hospitals, of course, but not so much at the scenes of accidents. The words “priest called to the scene” and similar phrases appeared in many news stories in the United States during the last century until the late 1960s, when they started tapering off, according to searches of online databases conducted by the Register.

It’s not common anymore.

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Tropical Wilds said:

Idk… I think it’s a YMMV kind of thing. The first time I sat on the lyrics to “Gangsta’s Paradise” it kind of broke my heart. And there are lots of good hype up songs that are rap.

I think since music depends on so many factors to illicit a response… Words, music, voice, pacing… It has more benchmarks to hit in order to hit people in a certain way. Like, I think Bob Dylan is a lyrical genius but his voice and accompaniments make me want to beat my head on a wall so I don’t find his music all that inspiring. Rap has a similar issue for me, but it’s because my tastes gravitate more to dance or modern pop, which in many ways is the opposite. The song that makes me feel heard, sometimes to the point of tears, is a dance pop song. It hits me perfectly, but anybody who’s not into that genre isn’t going to feel it like I do.

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For sure rap can tell an emotional story, like a book or poem can. But compared to most other music genres its typically lacking in other emotion generating factors: melody, harmonic movement, vocal expression.

Dan1988 said:

There's only one correct interpretation for every word in the Bible.

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The meaning was simple and should've been plain enough unless one just wishes to argue. Man is often the author of his own confusion- and various bible versions actually translate the same word (for tradition, as an example) in more than one way. So where the Greek word which is most correctly translated as "tradition" is used in, say, Mark 7:8 for "traditions of men", the same word is sometimes rendered as "teachings", as in 2 Thess 2:15 where it refers to knowledge which has been passed down to the disciples, whether oral or written. Perhaps a little bias there as the word "tradition" has taken on a negative meaning, not always warranted.

SoldierOfTheKing said:

Nothing personal against them, we just don't need them in the country.

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Trump said we dont have talent here so we have to import it.

After the initial shock wore off, it became quite clear to many of us that something nefarious was behind the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the Capitol Complex. Things were too pat. Narratives were set and eagerly parroted by the media within hours. Buses filled with non-MAGA people were reported and verified by congressional reps. And there were "bombs" found at the Democratic National Committee and later at a club near the RNC. Impeachment talk was openly discussed.


Suddenly, questioning the obviously hinky 2020 election was a criminal act against democracy. Trump must go to jail, the left said. And then they went about trying to make that happen. A Hollywood producer soon was under contract to produce Congress's January 6, The Movie! where no exculpatory information was allowed.

The word "insurrection" became quickly affixed to all news stories, though no one knew what really happened. President Donald Trump's slow response in urging people to go home was seen as an admission of something nefarious. And his words spoken at the Ellipse were clipped, taken out of context, and all exculpatory words he spoke were mysteriously left out of the discussion.

And the fix is still in. On Sunday, two executives at the BBC resigned in disgrace after the popular British news program Panorama was caught making egregious edits in Trump's speech to make him sound like he was encouraging a run on the Capitol Building.

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Trump admits he didn’t have to tear down East Wing for ballroom, but just wanted to

Trump also addressed reports that demolition has not gone over well with a notable group: first ladies



President Donald Trump has admitted that he did not need to tear down the East Wing of the White House in order to build his sprawling $300 million ballroom.

“I could’ve built the ballroom around it,” Trump told Fox News Monday. “I didn’t want to sacrifice a great ballroom for an okay ballroom by leaving it right smack in the middle.”

Marion County agrees to pay out $3M for newspaper raid, expresses regret​

Record editor says court cases against city continue​

“The Sheriff’s Office wishes to express its sincere regrets to Eric and Joan Meyer and Ruth and Ronald Herbel for its participation in the drafting and execution of the Marion Police Department’s search warrants on their homes and the Marion County Record. This likely would not have happened if established law had been reviewed and applied prior to the execution of the warrants,” the statement reads.

Marion County’s board of commissioners approved agreements Monday with Eric Meyer, the owner and editor of the Marion County Record, and Ruth Herbel, the Marion city councilor whose home was raided in tandem with the newspaper office, and two other journalists. The agreements coincide with consent judgments expected to be submitted in their federal cases against the county.

The county was a secondary player in the raids, in Meyer’s eyes, but the agreements could play a part in the paper’s ongoing cases against the city.

In another lawsuit against former Marion police chief Gideon Cody, who is also facing criminal charges, Gruver settled earlier this year for $235,000.

One of the key elements in any contest is to understand the tactics of your opponent and to recognize the subtleties of the strategy or moves they may employ. In the spiritual battle of life we need to develop some sophistication in recognizing, naming, and understanding the subtleties of common tactics of the Devil.

A 2011 book by Fr. Louis Cameli, The Devil You Don’t Know is of great assistance in this matter. Having read it recently, I think it would be of value to reflect on four broad categories of the Devil’s tactics that Fr. Cameli analyzes.

While the four categories are Fr. Cameli’s, the reflections here are largely my own, but surely rooted in Fr. Cameli’s excellent work, so recently read by me. I recommend the work highly to you where these categories are aptly and fully described more than my brief reflection here can do.

And thus we examine four common tactics of the devil.

Deceptions – Jesus says The devil was a murderer from the beginning he does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks according to his own nature, he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44).

1. 1. 1. The devil deceives us with many false and empty promises. Most of these relate to the lie that we will be happier and more fulfilled if we sin, or deny aspects of the truth. Whatever passing pleasures come with sin, they are in fact passing. Great and accumulated suffering eventually comes with almost all sinful activity. Yet, despite this experience, we human beings remain very gullible, we seem to love empty promises and put all sorts of false hopes of them.
      2. The devil also deceives us by suggesting all sorts of complexities, especially in our thinking. And thus, he seeks to confuse and conceal the fundamental truth about our action. Our minds are very wily and love to indulge complexity as a way of avoiding the truth and making excuses. So we, conniving with the devil, entertain endless complications, exceptions, possible difficulties, or potential sob stories, to avoid insisting that we or others behave well and live according to the truth.
      3. The devil also seeks to deceive us with “wordsmithing.” And thus the dismemberment and murder of a child through abortion becomes “reproductive freedom” or “Choice.” Sodomy is called “gay” (a word which used to mean “happy”). Our luminous Faith and ancient wisdom is called “darkness” and “ignorance.” Fornication is called “cohabitation.” And the redefinition of marriage as it is been known for some 5000 years, is labeled “marriage freedom.” And thus, through exaggerations and outright false labeling, the devil deceives us, and we too easily connive by calling good, or “no big deal,” what God calls sinful.
      4. The devil also deceives us through the manipulation of data. Information is not the same is truth, and data can be assembled very craftily to make deceitful points. Further, certain facts and figures can be emphasized, in exclusion to other balancing truths. Facts can be quoted that are true but out of context. And thus, even information or data which is true in itself becomes a form of deception. Further, the news media, and other sources of information, sometimes exercise their greatest power in what they do not report. And this too is a way that the devil brings deceptions upon us.

We do well to carefully assess the many ways Satan seeks to deceive us. Do not believe everything you think or hear. While we should not be cynical, we ought to be sober, and seek to verify what we see and hear and square it with God’s revealed truth.

Division

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Is the same as a pastor promoting being a ,liar adulterer thief etc or any other sin, make no mistake.
This is no different.

“I found the Ark of the Covenant in my heart, stored there by the one who created me … exactly as I am," Benitez wrote

Gio Benitez/Instagram Tommy DiDario (left) and Gio Benitez (right) face two priests during the confirmation mass.© Gio Benitez/Instagram

NEED TO KNOW​

• Gio Benitez, an openly gay ABC News anchor, joined a Catholic church in New York City and celebrated his confirmation mass on social media
• He said that the special moment was partly inspired by learning more about the late Pope Francis's "legacy of inclusivity"
• Benitez's husband, Tommy DiDario, served as his sponsor

Gio Benitez, an ABC News anchor who is openly gay, joined a Catholic church in New York City and reaffirmed his faith after a long spiritual journey.

On Monday, Nov. 10, the Good Morning America co-anchor shared a moving video of his confirmation mass at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan with his husband, Tommy DiDario, serving as his sponsor — a special moment partly inspired by the late Pope Francis’ “legacy of inclusivity.”

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[God] loves exceedingly, that we should treat with Him in sincerity, plainness, and clearness, and not speak one thing and mean another. He always gives more than we ask {St. Teresa of Avila (1515-82)}.

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Ave, María, grátia plena,
Dóminus tecum.
Benedicta tu in muliéribus,
et benedíctus fructus ventris
tui, Iesus.
Sancta María, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.

Establishing a government ministry to regulate people, creating a morality police department, and establishing laws that vanish the entire female population is saying, fundamentally, that people cannot be trusted to be good and do good.

The Taliban, who took control of Kabul and overthrew the government of Afghanistan in August 2021, have set up a ministry for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice. In August 2023, they published a document containing 35 articles, which are to govern the public and private lives of their citizens.

Some of these rules propagating virtues and preventing vices include: the full covering of women in public from head to ankle; women and girls forbidden from speaking, singing, or praying out loud in public; women and girls forbidden from leaving the house without a male relative or using public transportation without a male relative.

Men must be covered between the navel and knees if they are in public; they must grow beards; they are forbidden from wearing Western-style clothes, especially neck-ties, as they are a “sign” of the Christian Cross, which is a sign of infidels; men are forbidden from making friendships with Western people or acting in ways that resemble non-Muslims. Gambling, adultery, pornography, lesbianism, sodomy, and child sexual abuse are outlawed, as are the misuse of radios or the storage and viewing of images of human beings on phones or computers.

Prayers at certain times of the day are mandatory, and everyone’s work schedule, including taxi drivers, must comply to the minute. Farmers and merchants are required to pay certain tithes.

There is more, but you get the idea. No one is exempt from these rules, not even visitors to the country. The ministry has enforcers—a Muhtasib, who is an inspector—and there will be many of them employed to police the private and public lives of the people. The punishments range from one hour to three days in prison, or up to the discretion of the Muhtasib.

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House Democrats release new Epstein emails referencing Trump​

The publication of the emails comes on the same day that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is scheduled to swear in Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who won a special election last month.

Once sworn in, Grijalva is expected to provide the final signature on a discharge petition to force a vote on a House bill that would compel the Department of Justice to release the government's full investigative files on Epstein.

Here’s a first question: Who is the opposite of the Devil?

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This is Chibok, yesterday.

Boko Haram took down a Church and it’s not even making news. Glory to God, no lives were lost

Context: Chibok is a Christian area in Borno south, where over 270 girls were abducted (mostly Christians) and a precondition for their release was based on renouncing their Christian faith.

For how long can we continue like this?

Another Church Destroyed in Nigeria – Deacon Nick Donnelly on X

Catholic American Bible & Liturgy of the Hours Release Date – Catholic Bible Talk

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released three new emails from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that mention President Trump, raising new questions about the extent of their relationship.

In one 2015 email between Epstein and author Michael Wolff, the pair discuss a potential question from Trump's upcoming CNN interview about Trump and Epstein's personal ties.

"I think you should let him hang himself," Wolff wrote. "If he says he hasn't been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt."

Imagine! Inner peace from God, a deeper relationship with Him, access to His powerful graces, strong faith, lively hope, and ardent charity—all these gifts from a few moments in prayer. This is the power of praying with a prayerful heart.

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Postvieww said:

Those are already tilted to the Democrats. My point is there is little left for them to change.

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That's more true of those vast tracts of red you mentioned.

You could fit nearly 100 Rhode Islands into Wyoming, but Wyoming only has one representative (and RI has 2). You can't gerrymander a state with only one district.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved the consecration of the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2026 to accompany the country’s 250th anniversary.

At the USCCB Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, bishops voted “to entrust our nation to the love and care of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” Devoting the nation is an opportunity “to remind everyone of our task to serve our nation by perfecting the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel as taught by the Second Vatican Council,” Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, said.

“One hundred years ago, in 1925, in his encyclical instituting the feast of Christ the King, Pope Pius XI, drawing on the teaching of Pope Leo XIII, referred to the pious custom of consecrating oneself, families, and even nations to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a way to recognize the kinship of Christ,” said Rhoades, who serves on an advisory board for President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission.

To help Catholics prepare for the consecration, Rhoades said the bishops will develop prayer resources, including a novena. He said they are already putting together other resources for use by dioceses, parishes, and other groups to engage Catholics.

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essentialsaltes said:

Colombian president says US military struck Colombian boat, killed his citizens​

White House called the allegation "baseless."

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To influence Trump on Colombia, Sen. Bernie Moreno brought a fake image of the country's president in a prison jumpsuit​

Two days before the lunch, Trump, at odds with Petro for months, posted on social media that Petro was “an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs” in Colombia. Trump said he was stopping all U.S. aid to the country and told reporters he would soon announce new tariffs on Colombia.

Moreno wanted to encourage Trump to take a more targeted approach — directly aimed at Petro. To do so, the senator brought along a document titled “The Trump Doctrine For Colombia and the Western Hemisphere.” In addition to five policy ideas, the one-page outline featured large images of Petro and Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, in orange prison jumpsuits.

Three days after the lunch with senators, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against Petro, his family and a government official over allegations of involvement in the global drug trade, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying in a statement that Petro “has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity.” Petro has strongly denied involvement with the drug trade and has said he will fight the sanctions in U.S. courts.

On Sunday, the publication Cambio Colombia first reported on the existence of the document when it discovered that the White House had posted a photo from the Oct. 21 event showing James Blair, a deputy chief of staff, holding Moreno’s memo.

Petro posted on X that he was recalling the Colombian ambassador to the U.S. for the second time in a month and demanding to know why he is being portrayed “as if I were a prisoner,” calling the print-out “a brutal disrespect” to his supporters and nation.

Speak loudly and carry a banger meme.