I really do believe this was the moment in time when Christians and conservatives woke up from a long slumber. It took a simple duck hunter to inspire us. And what Middle America is saying to Obama and his socialist cabal is: “We have rights, too. We deserve free speech, too. We’ve had enough of your oppression and intolerance LINK

Pope Francis, celebrating his first Christmas as Roman Catholic leader, on Wednesday called on atheists to unite with believers of all religions and work for “a homemade peace” that can spread across the world. LINK

One of Francis’s first acts was to appoint a “kitchen cabinet” of cardinals to advise him on reforms that will begin next year. What form these will take, no one knows. But every one of those cardinals is, to some extent, a Vatican outsider. LINK

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Introducing “The Twelve Days of Contraception” or, as Planned Parenthood has named it, “The Twelve Days of Christmas (the contraceptive version),” where your true love will bestow upon you a box of Plan B, condoms, Depo-Provera shots, NuvaRings, birth control pills, dental dams, diaphragms, and other contraceptive goodies: LINK

More than 85% of American Catholics say Francis is neither too liberal nor too conservative, and 86% say he’s in touch with the modern world. By comparison, more than half of American Catholics said Pope John Paul II was out of step with the times in 2003, near the end of his 26-year-long papacy. LINK

Deutsche Bank said on Friday it will pay USD 1.9 billion to settle claims that it defrauded two US government-controlled companies in the sale of mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 financial crisis. LINK

In an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Archbishop Gerhard Müller said that although Pope Benedict XVI lifted the canonical excommunication of SSPX prelates, they remain suspended from the sacraments because “by their schism they have broken away from communion with the Church.” LINK

Christmas Lights Manger Scene

By the light of a star they traveled far to seek the lowly Manger. Let us Rejoice on the Day Christ was born, and let us also Rejoice on the Day He will come back on. Pentecost Sunday. Sorry no return for 2014. A Blessed Merry Christmas and a productive Spiritual New Year.

Grace be with you, In Christ,
Joseph B. D. Saraceno

 

North Korean Christians aren’t simply killed for their faith in Christ. They are pulverized with steamrollers, used to test biological weapons, shipped off to death camps or shot in front of children, while newborn babies have their brains pithed with forceps in front of their mothers. LINK

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In private conversations, Pope Francis often acknowledges that reforming the Vatican will be a difficult task opposed by powerful interests in the church. Developments on Monday showed both the progress he has made and the challenges that remain. LINK

In a Tournament of Roses first, two Los Angeles men will celebrate their gay marriage on a Rose Parade float as it goes down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day. The wedding of Danny Leclair, 45, and Aubrey Loots, 42, will take place atop a giant wedding cake-shaped float sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, LINK

A Houston grand jury has refused to indict late-term abortionist Douglas Karpen after a months-long investigation into allegations of illegal late-term abortions and the killing of babies born alive at his two abortion clinics. LINK