!catholics !christians happy 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time!

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First Reading

    Thus says the LORD:

Shout with joy for Jacob,

    exult at the head of the nations;

    proclaim your praise and say:

The LORD has delivered his people,

    the remnant of Israel.

Behold, I will bring them back

    from the land of the north;

I will gather them from the ends of the world,

    with the blind and the lame in their midst,

the mothers and those with child;

    they shall return as an immense throng.

They departed in tears,

    but I will console them and guide them;

I will lead them to brooks of water,

    on a level road, so that none shall stumble.

For I am a father to Israel,

    Ephraim is my first-born.

-Jeremiah 31:7-9

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Responsorial Psalm

R. (3) The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,

we were like men dreaming.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with rejoicing.

R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Then they said among the nations,

"The LORD has done great things for them."

The LORD has done great things for us;

we are glad indeed.

R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like the torrents in the southern desert.

Those that sow in tears

shall reap rejoicing.

R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Although they go forth weeping,

carrying the seed to be sown,

They shall come back rejoicing,

carrying their sheaves.

R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

-Psalms 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6

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Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

Every high priest is taken from among men

and made their representative before God,

to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,

for he himself is beset by weakness

and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself

as well as for the people.

No one takes this honor upon himself

but only when called by God,

just as Aaron was.

In the same way,

it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,

but rather the one who said to him:

You are my son:

    this day I have begotten you;

just as he says in another place:

You are a priest forever

    according to the order of Melchizedek.

-Hebrews 5:1-6

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Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Our Savior Jesus Christ destroyed death

and brought life to light through the Gospel.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-2 Timothy 1:10

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Gospel

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,

Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,

sat by the roadside begging.

On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,

he began to cry out and say,

"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."

And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.

But he kept calling out all the more,

"Son of David, have pity on me."

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."

So they called the blind man, saying to him,

"Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you."

He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?"

The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."

Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you."

Immediately he received his sight

and followed him on the way.

-Mark 10:46-52

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The second reading here makes me think of the process of discernment. I would imagine that it's the holiest men who come to the priesthood, yet even the holiest men are still sinners. It also makes me think of the Protestant Reformation, as I think this passage undermines the core ideas of Martin Luther, that sinful priests take away the legitimacy of Catholicism.

I'll open with my first impressions having given it a reading with my morning tea: It's great! This is by far the most doctrinally clear, Biblically and Traditionally grounded encyclical out of the Pope Francis episcopacy. Not coincidentally, it sticks within a defined theological scope rather than attempting to address hot button social issues (though honestly I wish American Catholics were more keen to submit and obey rather than openly resist). My favorite section is 86-89:

86. Many Jansenists found this difficult to comprehend, for they looked askance on all that was human, affective and corporeal, and so viewed this devotion as distancing us from pure worship of the Most High God. Pius XII described as "false mysticism"[79] the elitist attitude of those groups that saw God as so sublime, separate and distant that they regarded affective expressions of popular piety as dangerous and in need of ecclesiastical oversight.

87. It could be argued that today, in place of Jansenism, we find ourselves before a powerful wave of secularization that seeks to build a world free of God. In our societies, we are also seeing a proliferation of varied forms of religiosity that have nothing to do with a personal relationship with the God of love, but are new manifestations of a disembodied spirituality. I must warn that within the Church too, a baneful Jansenist dualism has re-emerged in new forms. This has gained renewed strength in recent decades, but it is a recrudescence of that Gnosticism which proved so great a spiritual threat in the early centuries of Christianity because it refused to acknowledge the reality of "the salvation of the flesh". For this reason, I turn my gaze to the heart of Christ and I invite all of us to renew our devotion to it. I hope this will also appeal to today's sensitivities and thus help us to confront the dualisms, old and new, to which this devotion offers an effective response.

88. I would add that the heart of Christ also frees us from another kind of dualism found in communities and pastors excessively caught up in external activities, structural reforms that have little to do with the Gospel, obsessive reorganization plans, worldly projects, secular ways of thinking and mandatory programmes. The result is often a Christianity stripped of the tender consolations of faith, the joy of serving others, the fervour of personal commitment to mission, the beauty of knowing Christ and the profound gratitude born of the friendship he offers and the ultimate meaning he gives to our lives. This too is the expression of an illusory and disembodied otherworldliness.

89. Once we succumb to these attitudes, so widespread in our day, we tend to lose all desire to be cured of them. This leads me to propose to the whole Church renewed reflection on the love of Christ represented in his Sacred Heart. For there we find the whole Gospel, a synthesis of the truths of our faith, all that we adore and seek in faith, all that responds to our deepest needs.

For our ESL Catholics like @szrotmistrz you can scroll up and find the translation in your local language, including Portuguese, Polish, Spanish etc. Please join me in reading this. For the less interested here is the Vatican News summary.

The text concludes with a prayer, and I ask all !Catholics and !prayerwarriors to join me:

"I ask our Lord Jesus Christ to grant that His Sacred Heart may continue to pour forth the streams of living water that can heal the hurt we have caused, strengthen our ability to love and serve others, and inspire us to journey together towards a just, solidary and fraternal world. Until that day when we will rejoice in celebrating together the banquet of the heavenly kingdom in the presence of the risen Lord, who harmonizes all our differences in the light that radiates perpetually from his open heart. May he be blessed forever" (220).

@JoyceScaryOates @Paragon @carpathianHORRORist you neighbors can't escape me by being outside the ping group. Please read this.

wtf how could he do this to us

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Two days after opening the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica to inaugurate the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis will travel to a Rome prison to open a Holy Door as a "tangible sign of the message of hope" for people in prisons around the world, the Vatican announced.

The pope will go Dec. 26 to Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome, "a symbol of all the prisons dispersed throughout the world," to deliver a message of hope to prisoners, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization's section for new evangelization and the chief organizer of the Holy Year 2025, announced at a news conference Oct. 28.

Pope Francis will open the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 24. He will then open the Holy Doors at the major basilicas of St. John Lateran Dec. 29, St. Mary Major Jan. 1 and St. Paul Outside the Walls Jan. 5.

In his "bull of indiction," the document formally proclaiming the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis wrote that during the Holy Year he will have close to his heart "prisoners who, deprived of their freedom, feel daily the harshness of detention and its restrictions, lack of affection and, in more than a few cases, lack of respect for their persons."

Archbishop Rino Fisichella speaks at a news conference.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization's section for new evangelization and the chief organizer of the Holy Year 2025, speaks during a news conference at the Vatican Oct. 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Justin McLellan)

In the document, the pope also called on governments to "undertake initiatives aimed at restoring hope" for incarcerated persons during the Holy Year, such as expanding forms of amnesty and social reintegration programs.

Archbishop Fisichella announced that the Vatican had signed an agreement with Italy's minister of justice and the government commissioner for Rome to implement reintegration programs for incarcerated individuals by involving their participation in activities during the Jubilee Year.

The archbishop also outlined the schedule of cultural offerings leading up to the Jubilee Year, during which the city of Rome estimates that 30 million people will visit the Italian capital.

The Vatican will organize a concert of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, to be performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in Rome Nov. 3; three art exhibitions in November and December, including a display of rare Christian icons from the collection of the Vatican Museums; and a concert from the Sistine Chapel Choir two days before the opening of the Holy Door.

Archbishop Fisichella also unveiled the official mascot of the Holy Year 2025: "Luce" (Italian for light), a cartoon pilgrim dressed in a yellow raincoat, mud-stained boots, wearing a missionary cross and holding a pilgrim's staff. Luce's glowing eyes feature the shape of scallop shells, a traditional symbol of pilgrimage and hope.

The mascot, he said, was inspired by the church's desire "to live even within the pop culture so beloved by our youth."

"Luce" will also serve as the mascot of the Holy See's pavilion at Expo 2025, which will take place in Osaka, Japan, from April to October 2025. The Holy See pavilion -- which will be hosted inside of Italy's national pavilion -- will have the theme "Beauty brings hope," and display the 17th-century painting "The Entombment of Christ" by Caravaggio -- the only one of his works housed in the Vatican Museums.

!Catholics blame @Strachmistrz and all the other weebs for this. I can't defend this one.

I am bringing questions from DMs with @Nightcrawler to public posts so that others can benefit and to fund his gambling habit

Corinthian pointed me to this bishop and his perspective on hell. This includes an FAQ in which the bishop is asked

BEN SHAPIRO: I promised awkward questions, and so there shall be. So let's start with the most awkward of the awkward questions. I don't really care about this question particularly much, but I get this question a lot: As a Jew, how does it feel that there are other religions that don't think you're getting into heaven? So let me ask you: What's the Catholic view on who gets into heaven and who doesn't? I feel like I lead a pretty good life, a very religiously based life, in which I try to keep not just the Ten Commandments but a solid 603 other commandments as well, and I spend an awful lot of my time promulgating what I would consider to be Judeo-Christian virtues, particularly in Western societies. So, what's the Catholic view of me? Am I basically screwed here?

BISHOP BARRON: No [i.e., Ben is not "basically screwed"]. The Catholic view, go back to the Second Vatican Council, says it very clearly. Christ is the privileged route to salvation: "For God so loved the world he gave His only Son that we might find eternal life." So, that's the privileged route.

However, Vatican II clearly teaches that someone outside the explicit Christian faith can be saved [cf. Lumen Gentium 16]. Now, they're saved through the grace of Christ, indirectly received. So the grace is coming from Christ. But it might be received according to your conscience. So, if you're following your conscience sincerely, or in your case, you're following the commandments of the Law sincerely, yeah, you can be saved.

Now, that doesn't conduce to a complete relativism. I mean we [Catholics] still would say the privileged route and the route that God has offered to humanity is the route of his Son. But you [a non-Christian] can be saved. Even Vatican II says an atheist of good will can be saved in following his conscience.

John Henry Newman said the conscience is the "aboriginal vicar of Christ in the soul." It's a very interesting characterization, that [the conscience] is in fact the voice of Christ. If he's the logos made flesh, if he's the divine mind or reason made flesh, then when I follow my conscience, I'm following him whether I know it explicitly or not. So, even the atheist, Vatican II teaches, of good will, can be saved.

Can Ben Shapiro be saved by sacrificing goats? There are lots of instances of animal sacrifice in the Bible, with the purpose apparently to purify oneself. I'm fairly sure Christians would say that doesn't work, but if it doesn't, then what was the point of sacrificing all those goats?

!catholics !christians happy 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time!

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First Reading

The LORD was pleased

to crush him in infirmity.

If he gives his life as an offering for sin,

he shall see his descendants in a long life,

and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.

Because of his affliction

he shall see the light in fullness

    of days;

through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,

and their guilt he shall bear.

-Isaiah53:10-11

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Responsorial Psalm

R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

Upright is the word of the LORD,

and all his works are trustworthy.

He loves justice and right;

of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,

upon those who hope for his kindness,

To deliver them from death

and preserve them in spite of famine.

R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

Our soul waits for the LORD,

who is our help and our shield.

May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us

who have put our hope in you.

R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

-Psalms 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22

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Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,

Jesus, the Son of God,

let us hold fast to our confession.

For we do not have a high priest

who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,

but one who has similarly been tested in every way,

yet without sin.

So let us confidently approach the throne of grace

to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

-Hebrews 4:14-16

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Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The Son of Man came to serve

and to give his life as a ransom for many.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-Mark 10:45

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Gospel

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him,

"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."

He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"

They answered him, "Grant that in your glory

we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."

Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking.

Can you drink the cup that I drink

or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"

They said to him, "We can."

Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink,

and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;

but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give

but is for those for whom it has been prepared."

When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.

Jesus summoned them and said to them,

"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles

lord it over them,

and their great ones make their authority over them felt.

But it shall not be so among you.

Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;

whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.

For the Son of Man did not come to be served

but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

-Mark 10:35-45

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My priest gave a homily about how we're all called to greatness and it was pretty cool.

Lol at Kamala doing a recorded video

!trump2024

The Zgharta district is overwhelmingly Maronite Christians, who are in communion with the Roman church. 21 people blown up, including 12 women and 2 children.

Why would the Israelis do this? They also keep bombing the Irish peacekeepers. Could it possibly be out of irrational religious hatred?

!catholics !christians happy 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time!

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First Reading

I prayed, and prudence was given me;

    I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.

I preferred her to scepter and throne,

and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,

    nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;

because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,

    and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.

Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,

and I chose to have her rather than the light,

    because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.

Yet all good things together came to me in her company,

    and countless riches at her hands.

-Wisdom 7:7-11

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Responsorial Psalm

R. (14) Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Teach us to number our days aright,

that we may gain wisdom of heart.

Return, O LORD! How long?

Have pity on your servants!

R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,

that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.

Make us glad, for the days when you afflicted us,

for the years when we saw evil.

R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Let your work be seen by your servants

and your glory by their children;

and may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;

prosper the work of our hands for us!

Prosper the work of our hands!

R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

-Psalms 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17

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Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

Indeed the word of God is living and effective,

sharper than any two-edged sword,

penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,

and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.

No creature is concealed from him,

but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him

to whom we must render an account.

-Hebrews 4:12-13

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Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-Matthew 5:3

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Gospel

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,

knelt down before him, and asked him,

"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good?

No one is good but God alone.

You know the commandments: You shall not kill;

you shall not commit adultery;

you shall not steal;

you shall not bear false witness;

you shall not defraud;

honor your father and your mother."

He replied and said to him,

"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,

"You are lacking in one thing.

Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor

and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

At that statement his face fell,

and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,

"How hard it is for those who have wealth

to enter the kingdom of God!"

The disciples were amazed at his words.

So Jesus again said to them in reply,

"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle

than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,

"Then who can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said,

"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.

All things are possible for God."

Peter began to say to him,

"We have given up everything and followed you."

Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,

there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters

or mother or father or children or lands

for my sake and for the sake of the gospel

who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:

houses and brothers and sisters

and mothers and children and lands,

with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

-Mark 10:17-30

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"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." I believe this to be the most important line of the Gospel today. While the iconography of the camel and needle is very striking, it is not the case that the wealthy are damned in their own special way. It is impossible for any human to achieve salvation on their own, only through Jesus we can be saved.

He has a YouTube channel, and a substack.

https://robertsungenis.substack.com/p/geocentrism-101-308

!catholics

has request all Catholics to fast and pray to rosary tomorrow. Not only for the feast of of the rosary but for peace in the holy land.

!catholics !christians happy 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time!

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First Reading

The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone.

I will make a suitable partner for him."

So the LORD God formed out of the ground

various wild animals and various birds of the air,

and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;

whatever the man called each of them would be its name.

The man gave names to all the cattle,

all the birds of the air, and all wild animals;

but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.

So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,

and while he was asleep,

he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.

The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib

that he had taken from the man.

When he brought her to the man, the man said:

"This one, at last, is bone of my bones

    and flesh of my flesh;

this one shall be called 'woman, '

    for out of 'her man' this one has been taken."

That is why a man leaves his father and mother

and clings to his wife,

and the two of them become one flesh.

-Genesis 2:18-24

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Responsorial Psalm

R. (cf. 5) May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD,

who walk in his ways!

For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;

blessed shall you be, and favored.

R. May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine

in the recesses of your home;

your children like olive plants

around your table.

R. May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.

Behold, thus is the man blessed

who fears the LORD.

The LORD bless you from Zion:

may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem

all the days of your life.

R. May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.

May you see your children's children.

Peace be upon Israel!

R. May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.

-Psalms 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

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Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

He "for a little while" was made "lower than the angels, "

that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

For it was fitting that he,

for whom and through whom all things exist,

in bringing many children to glory,

should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering.

He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated

all have one origin.

Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them "brothers."

-Hebrews 2:9-11

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Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If we love one another, God remains in us

and his love is brought to perfection in us.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-1 John 4:12

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Gospel

The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked,

"Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?"

They were testing him.

He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?"

They replied,

"Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce

and dismiss her."

But Jesus told them,

"Because of the hardness of your hearts

he wrote you this commandment.

But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother

and be joined to his wife,

and the two shall become one flesh.

So they are no longer two but one flesh.

Therefore what God has joined together,

no human being must separate."

In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this.

He said to them,

"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another

commits adultery against her;

and if she divorces her husband and marries another,

she commits adultery."

And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them,

but the disciples rebuked them.

When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them,

"Let the children come to me;

do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to

such as these.

Amen, I say to you,

whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child

will not enter it."

Then he embraced them and blessed them,

placing his hands on them.

-Mark 10:2-16

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stupid Adam he should've just picked the horse (RIP /h/equestria)

I'm only pulling a section because this is a long article, but I shared this with one of my !Catholics friends recently and Rene Girard is a treat to read. !Christians nothing explicitly Papist in here:

In the Byzantine Empire, I understand, the Oedipus tragedy was read as an analogue of the Christian Passion. If true, those early anthropologists were approaching the right problem from the wrong end. Their reduction of the Gospels to an ordinary myth snuffed the evangelical light with mythology.

In order to succeed, one must illuminate the obscurity of myth with the intelligence of the Gospels.

If unanimous victimization reconciles and reorders societies in direct proportion to its concealment, then it must lose its effectiveness in direct proportion to its revelation. When the mythical lie is publicly denounced, the polarization of scandals is no longer unanimous and the social catharsis weakens and disappears. Instead of reconciling the community, the victimization must intensify divisions and dissensions.

These disruptive consequences should be felt in the Gospels and, indeed, they are. In the Gospel of John, for instance, everything Jesus does and says has a divisive effect. Far from downplaying this fact, the author repeatedly draws our attention to it. Similarly, in Matthew 10:34, Jesus says, "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." If the only peace humanity has ever enjoyed depends on unconscious victimization, the consciousness that the Gospels bring into the world can only destroy it.

The image of Satan—"a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44)—also expresses this opposition between the mythical obscuring and the evangelical revealing of victimization. The Crucifixion as a defeat for Satan, Jesus's prediction that Satan "is coming to an end" (Mark 3:26), implies less an orderly world than one in which Satan is on the loose. Instead of concluding with the reassuring harmony of myths, the New Testament opens up apocalyptic perspectives, in the synoptic Gospels equally with the Book of Revelation. To reach "the peace that surpasseth all understanding," humanity must give up its old, partial peace founded on victimization—and a great deal of turmoil can be expected. The apocalyptic dimension is not an alien element that should be purged from the New Testament in order to "improve" Christianity, it is an integral part of revelation.

Satan tries to silence Jesus through the very process that Jesus subverts. He has good reasons to believe that his old mimetic trick should still produce, with Jesus as victim, what it has always produced in the past: one more myth of the usual type, a closed system of mythical lies. He has good reasons to believe that the mimetic contagion against Jesus will prove irresistible once again and that the revelation will be squelched.

Satan's expectations are disappointed. The Gospels do everything that the Bible had done before, rehabilitating a victimized prophet, a wrongly accused victim. But they also universalize this rehabilitation. They show that, since the foundation of the world, the victims of all Passion-like murders have been victims of the same mimetic contagion as Jesus. The Gospels make the revelation complete. They give to the biblical denunciation of idolatry a concrete demonstration of how false gods and their violent cultural systems are generated. This is the truth missing from mythology, the truth that subverts the violent system of this world. If the Gospels were mythical themselves, they could not provide the knowledge that demythologizes mythology.

If you enjoy, please read the rest and I highly recommend picking up Girard's books on Christianity. They're all gems. I see Satan fall like lightning is my favorite of them.

"Evil must not be hidden, it must be in the open, discovered, as some of the abused did with courage … so that the abuser is judged, whether they be a layman or a laywoman, a priest or a bishop, that they be judged. The word of God is clear."

That language drew applause, but on another front, the Pope's treatment of the role of women in the Church, some Belgians weren't so pleased.

During the Sunday Mass, every time a woman took the microphone, some women in the crowd stood dressed in white as a protest over the refusal to ordain female priests.

The gesture came a day after the Catholic University of Louvain publicly upbraided Francis for expressing positions on the role of women it called "deterministic and reductive".

Remember how women on twitter were saying that they don't want to infiltrate all the male-only spaces

He also condemned instances when "a woman wants to be a man" – remarks that drew criticism from the university itself, and from students in attendance.

Woman, am I right, fellas?

Hallejulah @BURN_THE_WITCH

Very earnest essay on faith and papal infallibility. Thought some would be interested.

Speaking to students at the Catholic University of Louvain, the pope addressed the role of women, saying, "There is much involved here, including the questions of violence and injustice, as well as ideological prejudices."

Women, he said, are members of a communal Church and must carry out their roles as daughters, sisters, wives and mothers, just as men must fulfill their own roles as sons, brothers, husbands and fathers.

Men and women have been called into the world to love, he said, saying this must be expressed in their roles both in society and in the Church.

"What characterizes women, that which is truly feminine, is not stipulated by consensus or ideologies, just as dignity itself is ensured not by laws written on paper, but by an original law written on our hearts," he said.

It was that phrase in particular which promoted the university to issue a note of protest.

"UC Louvain expresses its incomprehension and disapproval of the position expressed by Pope Francis regarding the role of women in the church and in society. UC Louvain can only express its disagreement with this deterministic and reductive position," the statement said.

Stop calling yourselves a Catholic University if you're going to argue against natural law theology. So many souls have been lost to the limp wristed leadership and poor catechesis offered by the modern education system.

"UC Louvain is an inclusive university and committed to the fight against sexist and sexual violence. It reaffirms its desire for everyone to flourish within it and in society, whatever their origins, gender or sexual orientation," the university said. "It calls on the Church to follow the same path, without any form of discrimination."

No.

For his part, Francis framed his reflection in terms of human dignity.

Human dignity is an innate quality that can never be taken away, he said, insisting that Christian culture seeks "to develop ever fresh understandings of the vocation and mission of men and women and their mutual being for each other in communion."

"They are not meant to be rivals, but truly to be for each other," he said.

Women, he said, are "at the heart of salvation history," since it is through Mary that Jesus came into the world. Womanhood, then, "speaks to us of fruitful welcome, nurturing and life-giving dedication."

In this regard, the pope in an off-the-cuff remark condemned s*x-change and transgenderism, saying, "It's ugly when a woman wants to be a man, no, she's a woman!"

I love Pope Francis so much. He's got a little something for everyone. But that's not all! He doubled down:

Pope Francis on Sunday brushed aside criticism of his rhetoric on women during his weekend trip to Belgium, insisting that to masculinize women is "not Christian" and the product of an "exaggerated feminism."

Francis then invoked a classic Argentine trope, a reference to the Tango, to imply that suggestions he has a conservative mentality vis-à-vis women, or their role in the Catholic Church, are ridiculous.

Yet the pope may actually have added more fuel to the fire at another point, when, referring to Belgium's former King Baudouin, who resigned for a day in 1990 rather than sign a law legalizing abortion, Francis praised his courage by saying what he did required "a politician with pants."

Based King Baudouin, Pope Francis has announced he will be entering the process for canonization. New royal saint dropping soon.

!catholics !christians happy 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time!

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First Reading

The LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses.

Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses,

the LORD bestowed it on the seventy elders;

and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied.

Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad,

were not in the gathering but had been left in the camp.

They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent;

yet the spirit came to rest on them also,

and they prophesied in the camp.

So, when a young man quickly told Moses,

"Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp, "

Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses' aide, said,

"Moses, my lord, stop them."

But Moses answered him,

"Are you jealous for my sake?

Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets!

Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!"

-Numbers 11:25-29

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Responsorial Psalm

R. (9a) The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

The law of the LORD is perfect,

refreshing the soul;

the decree of the LORD is trustworthy,

giving wisdom to the simple.

R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

The fear of the LORD is pure,

enduring forever;

the ordinances of the LORD are true,

all of them just.

R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

Though your servant is careful of them,

very diligent in keeping them,

yet who can detect failings?

Cleanse me from my unknown faults!

R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

From wanton sin especially, restrain your servant;

let it not rule over me.

Then shall I be blameless and innocent

of serious sin.

R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

-Psalms 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14

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Second Reading

Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.

Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,

your gold and silver have corroded,

and that corrosion will be a testimony against you;

it will devour your flesh like a fire.

You have stored up treasure for the last days.

Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers

who harvested your fields are crying aloud;

and the cries of the harvesters

have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure;

you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.

You have condemned;

you have murdered the righteous one;

he offers you no resistance.

-James 5:1-6

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Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Your word, O Lord, is truth;

consecrate us in the truth.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-John 17:17b, 17a

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Gospel

At that time, John said to Jesus,

"Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,

and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."

Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him.

There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name

who can at the same time speak ill of me.

For whoever is not against us is for us.

Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink

because you belong to Christ,

amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,

it would be better for him if a great millstone

were put around his neck

and he were thrown into the sea.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.

It is better for you to enter into life maimed

than with two hands to go into Gehenna,

into the unquenchable fire.

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.

It is better for you to enter into life crippled

than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.

Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye

than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,

where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'"

-Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

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The letter to James is written very interestingly, it has a poetic tone I don't usually see in Paul's letters. It like how it ties into the reading from Mark addressing the reality of Heck, and how the first reading also ties into the Gospel with how there are people blessed by God not counted among the "official" prophets.