“How holy and beloved, how pleasing and lowly, how peaceful, delightful, lovable and desirable above all things it is to have a Brother like this, who laid down his life for his sheep.”
–St. Francis of Assisi.
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The Epistle for today is taken from S. Paul’s letter to the Church at Ephesus. Traditionally, S. Paul is understood to have written this letter while imprisoned in Rome, probably around A.D. 62, during the imprisonment described at the conclusion of the Acts of the Apostles. During this same period he also wrote the Epistle to the Colossians.
These two epistles share several important themes, particularly the nature and purpose of the Church. Christ is the Head of the Church, and the Church is His Body. Through that Body, the life of the incarnate, crucified, risen, and ascended Christ continues to be manifested in the world, as God brings His saving purpose for the whole creation toward its fulfillment. Both epistles therefore emphasize the unity that necessarily follows from our being “in Christ.”
This unity has its source and pattern in the Blessed Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three divine Persons, yet one God, possessing one divine nature and one divine will. The Persons are distinct, but never divided in their action.
For this reason, replacing the revealed names of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost with titles such as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier does not adequately express the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. These words describe works of God rather than the divine Persons. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost act inseparably. In creation, redemption, and sanctification, it is always the one God who acts—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
And something analogous ought to characterize the Church. Though the members of Christ’s Body are wonderfully diverse, they are called to unity of faith, purpose, and above all worship. This makes the divisions among Christians particularly grievous. We confess one Lord and one Baptism, yet because of our divisions we cannot gather around one altar and partake together of the one Eucharistic Bread. The very sacrament which manifests most perfectly the unity of Christ’s Body also reveals, painfully, how far our visible unity has been broken.
A second purpose of the Church is to make us holy—to make us fit for communion with God. If we are to fulfill the purpose for which we were created in the image and likeness of God, then that image must increasingly be restored within us. Like the guests invited to the wedding feast, we must be clothed with the wedding garment.
We are to be clothed with mercy and almsgiving, with the corporal works of mercy, and with the heavenly virtues, putting away those passions and vices which so easily beset us. Above all, we must be clothed with Christ Himself—with that righteousness and new life which He communicates to us through the sacramental life of His Church.
A third purpose of the Church is that we might grow together in love. It might seem relatively easy to practice the virtuous life in isolation. The real test comes when we live cheek by jowl with people who irritate us, disappoint us, misunderstand us, or simply rub us the wrong way. It is precisely there that the claims of our Christianity are tested.
S. Paul writes in this Sunday’s Epistle: I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.
Notice that S. Paul does not merely tell us to tolerate one another. He tells us to forbear one another in love. Lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and patience are not optional refinements of the Christian life. They belong to our vocation as members of Christ’s Body. Our vocation is to become what we have already been made sacramentally: the Body of Christ. We are to grow into His likeness through the Holy Ghost who has been given to us.
We can hear those words—the Body of Christ—so frequently that we cease to consider what they actually mean. To belong to Christ’s Body is to place ourselves beneath His headship. It means learning to desire what He desires, conforming our wills to His will, and forsaking those habits of self-indulgence which keep us centered upon ourselves.
The Christian life therefore requires discipline. But discipline itself requires desire: the desire to become, by the grace of God, something greater than what we presently are. And perhaps here we come to one of our greatest spiritual difficulties. We so often remain as we are because we do not really desire to become what God created us to be. Or perhaps we cannot yet imagine that such transformation is actually possible.
This brings us back to the first great vocation of the Church: worship. When we enter deeply into the Holy Mass, our vision begins to be purified. We begin to see God more clearly; but in seeing God, we also begin to see ourselves more clearly. And in beholding Him, we are changed.
As S. Paul writes to the Corinthians: But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. This is the purpose of the Christian life: to be changed into His image, from glory to glory.
And where is that desire for transformation most powerfully awakened? At the altar, in the great mystery of divine love, the Holy Eucharist. Here Christ does not merely command us to become like Him. He gives Himself to us. We receive the very life into which we are being transformed.
Perhaps we do not yet possess the desire for God that we ought to have. Perhaps we do not even possess the desire to come to Mass as faithfully as we ought. Then we can at least begin here: Ask God for the desire.
And if we discover that we do not even desire strongly enough to ask for it, then ask Him for the desire to desire Him.
For even that small turning of the heart toward God is already the beginning of repentance—and the beginning of our transformation, from glory to glory, into the image of Christ.
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Time to Change the License Plate
BY: Tom Klocek
For I don’t know how long, Virginia has touted itself as being for lovers. When you come into the state you are greeted with a big sign with a red heart on it declaring, “Virginia is for Lovers.” The implication is that it is a fitting home for loving couples.
Unless you opt for something different, that’s the “motto” you get on your license plate (mine says, “In God We Trust”). But there’s a problem. Loving couples build families; they don’t kill their children, especially children in the womb. Virginia is on the verge of being an advocate of the most egregious example of self-love (which equates to hatred of everything that is not self): abortion on demand for the entire term of pregnancy.
Many people like to call Trump and his followers, including pro-lifers, “Nazis.”
However, when everything that is not you is what is wrong with the world, then you are the Nazi. If you are your own god, then the only thing you recognize as demonic (and which you might consider bad) is that which runs counter to your wants and desires. This the basic argument as to why true Christians cannot be pro-abortion. In fact, it’s not even a Christian issue, it’s a humanity issue.
From the Christian perspective, to be Christian is to die to oneself. If you are not willing to sacrifice for the baby in your womb, you are killing that child for your own pleasure, comfort, desire, etc. You love yourself to the hatred of another life. Jesus told us to love one another and specifically pointed to the children. “Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’” (Matthew 19:14) In the Old Testament we regularly hear about civilizations and even Jewish leaders who were condemned because they sacrificed their children to other gods. That is what abortion is, sacrificing one’s child to the god of self. The First Commandment says, “I am the LORD your God, … You shall not have other gods beside me.” And yet we regularly hear of people professing to be Christian and even trying to justify abortion with Sacred Scripture.
The whole foundation favoring abortion is built on lies. And this proposed amendment to the Virginia constitution continues that strategy. The wording of it sounds very vanilla but it is wording that one could drive an eighteen-wheeler through. While it claims to protect a woman’s “reproductive rights” it actually subjects women, including teenagers, to possibilities of abuse, trafficking, loss of medical protections, while at the same time eliminates parental involvement or informed consent. It opens the door for non-medical personnel to perform abortions, without consequences. It ignores all of the facts we have learned about the misuse and misinformation about chemical abortions. And it basically denies the harm done to women both physically and psychologically for killing their babies, including increased attempts at suicide.
There’s a reason they don’t collect these statistics or try to hide them. If people really knew the facts, they might opt against abortion and that hurts many people’s bottom line, including the politicians that get financial support from abortion providers. That’s also why they attack pregnancy resource centers which focus on telling the truth about abortion, including alternative options. If you don’t believe this look at the affidavits filed in recent cases against reduced restrictions on the abortion pill or go to websites like ramahinternational.org.
Even the term “reproductive freedom” is a lie. The truth is, if they haven’t already reproduced, then there is no need for an abortion. Once a woman has become pregnant, reproduction has already occurred. The truth of science is that life begins at conception.
Another lie is that abortion empowers women. What really empowers women is their ability to say “NO!” Instead, women have been sold on the idea that they have to offer up their bodies to men in order to have any sort of relationship. It’s no wonder that liberal women find conservative men attractive, as those men believe in true relationships. But, similarly, conservative men don’t want to have anything to do with them because those women would never understand the mutual relationship and sacrifice that goes into building a family. There’s a large amount of selflessness that goes into a marriage and a family. Selfishness, on the other hand, is destructive.
Selfishness is contrary to the common good and a successful marriage; and so is abortion. Selfishness is contrary to the common good and a successful marriage; and so is abortion. Selfishness is self-love to the exclusion of others, which equates to hate of everything that is not self. Don’t believe they are hateful? Look at how they react to people who pray for them or try to express the truth on campuses, at abortion centers, or other public forums.
Pope St. John Paul II noted, “It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all inalienable rights are founded and from which they develop.” (Evangelium Vitae, 101)
He also said, “A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope.”
Consider these in light of the fact that the American reproductive rate has fallen to 1.57 (the rate necessary just for population maintenance is 2.1). If our children is our future, we are killing it.
If you are in Virginia, vote NO! on this ballot measure.
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Thank You letter
BY: Monica Chuda
“Thank You letter,
To my Lord!”
Thank You for my life my Lord.
For spirit You breathed into me at my beginning.
For the Love I was conceived in.
For the Light You surrounded me with.
Thank You for mercy You created me in and from.
Thank You Lord that You’re watching over me with Your all seeing Eye.
Thank You that You let me see Your Eye watching over me from the sky when I was four or five.
I never forgot that vision if I can call it that.
That’s when my journey with you began.
That was the day I met you in my heart for very first time even though I wasn’t fully aware of it yet.
Just as the years passed and life became harder and more complicated I remembered.
Everything is as it should be though,everything is fine and happening as You will.
Now is the time when I have to give witness how you cared for me and love me from the time when I came to be.
The time to thank You is overdue.
Thanksgiving to my loving Lord and witness to His care is overdue.
Praising You all day and every day is overdue.
My love for You is long overdue.That true love which would make me to lay down my own life for You on the altar to sacrifice my comfort,my selfishness,my laziness.
To do more every day,to witness, to evangelize,to be your apostle because you called me.
You call all of us.
Good Shepherd, Your love for us is unmatched,eternal.
Thank you Lord,my King, my Brother that you thought of me from the beginning and gave me chance.
Your ungrateful, trying to be grateful, daughter
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On Yom Kippur, America needs atonement
Our conduct as a nation has become shameful
BY: Don Feder, The Washington Times (September 20, 2026).
Yom Kippur, which began at sundown Sunday, is Judaism’s holiest day. It is a time for prayer, repentance, reflection and renewal.
This year, there is much on which to reflect. The 25th anniversary of 9/11 fell on the first day of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, when God passes judgment on people and nations.
A 9/11 ceremony in New York honored those who died and celebrated the heroism of those who gave their lives so others might live.
The left and radical Islam say we had it coming. They charge that the World Trade Center attack was our punishment for being involved in the Middle East. Our involvement consisted of defending our allies and preventing the crazies from getting weapons of mass destruction.
With rare exceptions, the Middle East is a hot mess, the haunt of religious fanatics and terrorists.
This pattern preceded the creation of the modern state of Israel, America’s involvement in the region and European colonialism. It goes back to a seventh-century warlord who fancied himself a prophet and declared holy war on all who refused to follow him. His followers still kill in his name.
Yet, in a way, we do share responsibility for the 9/11 atrocities. The Bible says that if we behave a certain way, we will receive blessings; if we behave another way, curses.
Deuteronomy promised that if the Israelites kept their covenant with God, they would be blessed with rain in its season, abundant crops and victory over their enemies. If they violated the covenant, they would suffer disease, drought, famine and death at the hand of their enemies and eventual exile from the land God had given them.
Our conduct as a nation shames me — abortion up to the moment of birth; turning mothers who murder their children into celebrities; the mutilation of adolescents in the name of our latest idol, transgenderism; pornography pushed to schoolchildren; the streets of our cities turned into open sewers; recreational drugs; and accusing a nation of Holocaust survivors of genocide.
What kind of shining city on a hill is this?
Our Founding Fathers believed that, like ancient Israel, America was a covenantal nation. In the Mayflower Compact and Declaration of Independence, we proclaimed God’s sovereignty. We acknowledged that, as long as we kept his laws, we would receive his blessings.
It worked for the better part of two centuries. We started as 13 Colonies clinging to the Eastern Seaboard, then spread across the continent in less than 100 years. We became rich and powerful like no other nation in history.
We settled the land, ended slavery here and confronted and defeated some of history’s worst tyrannies.
Then we forgot what made us great: a commitment to faith, family and freedom. Our greatness was eroded by waves of militant secularism, radical individualism, welfarism and rights without responsibilities.
The consequences are all around us. Besides 9/11, not a year has gone by without a terrorist attack against Americans: the 1983 Beirut Marine Corps Barracks bombing, the 2009 Fort Hood shootings, the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2016 Pulse nightclub shootings, the 2021 Abbey Gate attack and the 2025 New Orleans pickup truck attack. That just hits the highlights.
Terrorism is only the most visible of our punishments. We have seen the simultaneous rise of Islamism and socialism.
Since 9/11, the number of mosques in America has more than doubled, many of them preaching jihad. Despite being labeled a terrorist organization by some, such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Council on American-Islamic Relations is growing in influence.
The Democratic Party considers Muslims one of its most important constituencies. The number of Muslims in Congress (none in 2001) is set to double in this election. New York City, America’s financial hub, has a Marxist Muslim mayor.
The Democratic Socialists of America now controls the Democratic Party. Its platform can be summed up in two words: Abolish America.
The hour grows late.
On Rosh Hashana, a judgment is written in the Book of Life, for good or ill. At the end of the last service on Yom Kippur, the book is sealed and the judgment becomes final.
According to Jewish tradition, during the 10 days of penitence between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, three things can avert the harsh decree: prayer, repentance and acts of righteousness.
It is time for America as a nation to repent. May our country be sealed in the Book of Life for a good year and a bright future.
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James Talarico should be saying “Thank God for the Bible”
He should not be apologizing for Scripture
BY: Everett Piper, The Washington Times (September 20, 2026).
In a recent interview with the Center for American Progress, James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat from Texas and Presbyterian seminarian, said that including Bible stories in the school curriculum for young children is akin to “indoctrination” and that it is “deeply immoral.”
Now, you might think such a statement would be met with near-universal condemnation from the broader Christian community, but you would be wrong.
Here are a few examples of prominent Christian-led organizations that immediately went on record agreeing with Mr. Talarico.
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty stated that it staunchly opposed including any biblical material in public schools, arguing that doing so risks distorting the Christian faith and the U.S. Constitution.
The Texas Faith Network, made up of hundreds of Texas pastors, priests and other faith leaders, immediately urged the Texas State Board of Education to reject all Bible-based curriculum, saying such material overemphasizes Christianity and is too one-sided.
Then we have the Interfaith Alliance. This is a group heavily represented by progressive clergy such as Mr. Talarico, which argues that including Christian narratives in our public spaces violates the core Christian tenet of “loving thy neighbor.”
Now, the curious thing is that this is all being said while prominent atheists and agnostics such as Richard Dawkins and Elon Musk are saying the exact opposite. Yes, that’s right; while people who fancy themselves as leaders of Christ’s church are telling us that teaching the virtues of Christianity is culturally insensitive, atheists are calling for a return to cultural Christianity.
Matthew Parris, a former member of the British Parliament who was born in South Africa, is the quintessential example: “As an atheist,” says Mr. Parris, “I truly believe Africa needs God. … The continent of Africa, had it not been for Christian evangelism, would have suffered the fate of the machete, genocide, or the worship of Nike. … Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa’s biggest problem — the crushing passivity of the people’s mindset … [their] crushing tribal groupthink.”
A “crushing tribal groupthink” — that sounds a lot like what we are witnessing in the daily news, does it not?
From the blind ideological agreement that is so rampant on our college campuses to the demands for goose-stepping compliance we see in the rise of Islam across the American landscape, a “crushing tribal groupthink” is undeniable to anyone who still has eyes to see and ears to hear.
The sad thing is that while the Richard Dawkinses, Elon Musks and Matthew Parrises of the world are crying out, “We need Christianity in the public square,” apostates such as James Talarico and his tribe of acolytes are calling for its removal.
This is cultural suicide, and it is, quite candidly, just stupid and historically ignorant.
The evidence of Christianity’s positive contribution to Western civilization is irrefutable: As the historian W.E.H. Lecky once said, “The three short years of the life of Jesus have done more to regenerate and soften mankind than all the disquisitions of philosophers and all the exhortations of moralists.”
Rodney Stark, author of “The Victory of Reason,” added, “Christian theology is the very font of reason: While the world’s other great belief systems emphasized mystery, obedience, or introspection, Christianity alone embraced logic and reason as the path toward enlightenment, freedom, and progress. That is what made all the difference” in the advancement of Western civilization.
Tom Holland, who wrote “Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World,” concluded: “To live in a Western country is to be caught up in a story: One that is specifically Christian.”
Here is the take-home: Instead of trying to expunge any mention of the Bible from our culture, Mr. Talarico should be extolling its virtues and proclaiming its truth. He should be saying, “Thank God for the Bible,” not apologizing for it.
The biblical narrative and corresponding message of Christian exceptionalism that Mr. Talarico bemoans as propaganda has done more to bring freedom, wisdom and human flourishing to the world than any other worldview. Even those who do not personally embrace it acknowledge it as being essential for the formation and sustainability of a civilized people.
As historians Stark, Holland and Lecky (and a host of others) make clear, the Bible has been a bulwark against evil in the world, as well as the wellspring of much of what is true, noble and good throughout history.
Without the Bible and Christianity, the world would be a much darker place.
The opposite of what James Talarcio says is true. Our culture — every culture — needs the Bible. It is time for the church to ignore progressive charlatans like this man and boldly enter the public square with the salt and light of biblical truth.
Even the atheists of the world are begging us to do so.
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Are angels, demons and miracles real? Americans’ shocking beliefs
BY: Billy Hallowell, The Washington Times (September 18, 2026).
Are angels, demons, heaven and hell real? Do miracles still unfold today? And what do Americans believe about the supernatural?
These essential questions have generally received little attention in modern research circles. It’s remarkable that such important conversations happening inside churches and culture at large have been widely ignored by social research firms — until now.
Sure, it’s true some polling firms have sporadically asked about the occult and supernatural themes, but the consistency and fervency of such inquiries are far from robust. But the American Bible Society recently released data focused on a number of important questions surrounding angels, demons, hell, miracles and more.
Though these topics are often treated as though they’re outside the mainstream, the American Bible Society found in recent research that “belief in and experiences with the supernatural are common.”
In many ways, this is unsurprising. I’ve spent the past 10 years covering stories about miracles, evil, and related phenomena, and what I’ve observed has challenged and deepened my faith in profound ways.
I’ve traveled the nation since 2023 to host and co-produce “Investigating the Supernatural: Miracles” and “Investigating the Supernatural: Angels and Demons,” two documentaries that dive deep into fascinating arenas. I traveled America with director Jarrod Anderson asking tough questions about modern-day stories that, on paper, seemed implausible, yet the evidence said otherwise.
While it’s true that culture wants to pretend miracles, demons and related sentiments are figments of the human imagination, the new ABS data paints a fascinating picture — one affirming that the “mainstream” perspective is actually on the side of the supernatural.
“Even though America is often presented as a secular, postmodern nation, belief in spiritual realities is still very much alive,” a description of the ABS data reads. “Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) believe in spiritual beings that exist beyond the natural world.”
What’s most remarkable is that even one in three of the “nones” — those unaffiliated with religion, atheist or agnostic — report believing in spiritual beings.
Thus, these beliefs are far deeper and more profound than some might imagine, and they’re not just relegated to people who believe in God or engage in religious practices.
Miracles are probably one of the most intriguing areas of this research, as there’s profound debate over how to handle seemingly inexplicable healings that unfold all too often.
The Bible often attributes these moments to God, and we see plenty of examples of Jesus and his followers supernaturally expelling illnesses and evil. These stories are some of the most vivid and intriguing moments in the New Testament narrative.
But are they real — and do such healings still happen today? Ultimately, the ABS data proves many Americans are at least willing to entertain such prospects. It turns out, nearly half (48%) report “they have received a miraculous answer to prayer.”
It gets even more intriguing when we consider that 35% also report that “they have witnessed or experienced a divine healing.” One measure is more about the belief that a prayer has been answered in some divine way, but the other — which nearly 4 in 10 Americans embrace — is about seeing or personally experiencing a healing through inexplicable means.
And that’s truly notable.
Keep in mind these statistics were observed by ABS among all Americans, not just religiously motivated citizens. But the religious individuals surveyed certainly hold a much higher propensity for expressing that they’ve seen or experienced miracles.
Among practicing Christians, these proportions soared to 90% reporting miraculous answers to prayer. Meanwhile, 69% said they had seen or experienced a divine healing.
Belief in other supernatural sentiments was also strong. But, despite majorities expressing an embrace of a variety of elements, Americans were more likely to accept the existence of God, heaven and angels than they were to accept Satan, demons and hell.
Thus, the “positive” elements of faith are more widely clung to, as 68% of Americans believe in God, 62% embrace heaven and 64% hold a belief in angels. On the flip side, evil is a tougher pill to swallow for many Americans, as the statistics show a lesser percentage of Americans believe in concepts such as Satan (55%), hell (53%) and demons (51%).
There are some important takeaways from these findings. First and foremost, regardless of how strange or counter-cultural the supernatural might feel, it turns out the majority of Americans believe it exists — and that’s likely due to personal experience and natural intrigue.
With so many people claiming to see or experience miracles, one would be forced to assume nearly half of the nation is crazy, making it up or experiencing some sort of delusion. Statistically, that seems implausible.
Skeptics, at the least, must contend with why so many Americans embrace biblical elements and refuse to kowtow to the obsessive naturalistic claims that miracles and the supernatural are fraudulent.
GFK
