Neostarwcc said:

So I'm trying to get the government to pay for it since it's really my only option.

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I did not think my wife needed a doctor. But the women at church thought she did. So I just took her to the free clinic. That turned out to be a disaster. First of all they are just doctors in training. So they do not know what they are doing. Also they treat people like drug addict prostitutes with all of the tests that they run. You can let them pay for all of the tests but when it comes time to having the baby I would come up with the money for a real doctor with real experience. 15 years of experience would be best according to a fiend of mine that teachers at our local Medical School. He said he would never go to a doctor that does not have any experience.

What did your doctor do?

Suffering is part of our cross. Right? But what about mental illness? Its Suffering. And doesn't everyone need medical care? Is mental illness different than other illnesses? I will persevere anyway regardless of opposing views, because thats all i can do, but I would like opinions. Thanks.

for children ages 10 through 14 or 15. Books by Christian authors apecifically is what I'm asking. Thanks!

I agree.

JohnB445 said:

I will be spending 1 hour per week studying the Bible, do you think this is enough?

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I think 40 hours a week is enough. After 40 years we will just be getting started to understand.

Michie said:

“Without law, you don’t know what sinful is.

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Yes, the Law was given to teach us how deeply we need to be freed from our sin. David makes this very clear: there are consequences when we do not live rightly before God. In fact, the Great Commission is to make disciples and to teach people to follow the commandments of Jesus — to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

The problem is that many of us would rather give our neighbor a knuckle sandwich. To actually love our neighbor is beyond our natural comprehension. It requires a transformation only God can produce.

FireDragon76 said:

Claude is largely correct but doesn't go into the fact that the early church was even harsher on its regard for those who bore arms in violence, and the idea of bringing a weapon into a sacred space would have been unthinkable. Anybody that had shed blood was forbidden to be ordained as a presbyter, and Christians were expected to live peripatetically in expectation of the consumation of the Kingdom.

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In American history . . . I have been told . . . church culture people were involved in hanging a Quaker woman. And it seems there were no genuinely Christian people with power of *effective* leadership to stop that. And yet . . . were those murderers making rules against guns in a church building????

Plus, for some time, a number of Bible claiming people were invading the sovereign lands of people of the land who were there before certain European people came along. They actually killed mothers and children and fathers and community leaders, in order to invade and take their lands. However, there was no *effective* Christian church or government leadership functioning to stop that coveting of the land that belonged to a neighbor and to stop the murdering of the people living in those coveted lands. And yet, at the same time > were ineffective church leaders banning weapons from church buildings . . . right while Bible claiming people were coveting other people's land and using weapons to murder ones who already lived there????

"Don't bring guns to church > use them to kill people so you can take their land."

So . . . in case there have been killers who have made rules against guns in a building . . . while their own bodies have been temples of their murdering and coveting . . . I don't think what they have done has anything to do with what we now need to do.

It seems, too, how various groups claiming Christianity have had members who even publicly murdered others who were not of their own groups. I am told ones even have murdered at least one man who made a Bible translation; and those murderers were members of at least one major denomination or something like that. And there was no *effective* leadership which kept such murdering from happening.

So, I would not consider the rules of such ones to be relevant to if we should or may have guns for protection in a church.

My opinion is > Jesus says, the one who draws the sword will die by the sword; so be prayerfully careful about what and whom you are depending on for your well-being. Among other things, our Father is able to control what really is going to happen to each of us. So, if we depend on Him and ***obey how He takes care of us*** . . . we will be well taken care of.

And have we all not seen how things can go when we take things into our own hands??

Eventually we'll probably hare off into 'what is sin'. Which is a hopeless debate. It's been ongoing since the beginning of Christianity. It's the question Peter faced with God. The God who had covenanted with Abraham. The God who was now telling Peter that the one no-exceptions requirement for acceptance was no longer necessary. Most of the faithful believers in Christ at that time. Who had followed Jesus. Who had listened to Jesus. Who had absorbed all his challenging teachings. Remembered that he never once suggested doing away with God's necessary requirement for being in God's family. Nor ever suggested that others could get in some other way. So they were shocked at Peter accepting what for the majority of Christ's followers was not right in the sight of God. That's the way it's always been. That's the way it is now. The fruit of the Spirit is how we recognize the presence of the Spirit. (Mt 7:16, Mk4:20, Lk6:44, Jn15:8, Gal5:22, Col 1:10, Jas3:17) Not by some predefined dogma, no matter how much we quote and twist the Bible to get there. I think it has always been the case that "Additionally, an uncircumcised Gentile was not living in sin. A Gentile was not given this law. The Jews were." That's the sophistry that lets us keep our own shibboleths. Thanks for your comments.

Oh. I didn't know that.

I don't think celibacy is right for me. You see, just like a lot of adults who are single like me, I dream of love and romance and finding a life partner. Maybe someday I will....but....I am notoriously picky when it comes to men. Not every man is my type you see. I've found a few guys in my lifetime I really liked, but none of those relationships worked out you see. I think a lack of communication on my part killed things. Hhhhmm...maybe this is why I'm still unmarried?

I resisted medication for a while. It was terrible. Everyone needs some kind of medication sooner or later. We are all in the same boat. Im thankful for the medication actually. Its my faith and not one else's. If I must live it on medication then I will. Take care of yourself. God bless.

I understand severe mental illness. My heart goes out to others who suffer with it. My own journey with depression, anxiety, and psychosis is lonely and burdensome right now. I hope to find friends who understand the struggle.

We would consider ourselves blessed when things are going well and we are having a mountain top experience. But the beatitudes (Mt. 5) tell us that blessed are you when you are poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hunger and thirst after righteousness or persecuted for righteousness sake... None of these are things that feel good, that we would pray for or work toward. Verse 12 tells us to 'rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.'
There is one, Jesus Christ, who doesn't give you the cold shoulder but nurtures you through trials and troubles that you might be great in the kingdom of heaven, having the character to handle that which He desires to bestow upon His children.
Character is not a gift but must be developed and is therefore one of the purposes of the journey, that we are on. In contrast, Lucifer was created great but lacked the character to rule and therefore due to his given greatness he fell, whereas Jesus Christ hanging on the cross could have called ten thousand angles to set Him free but He Chose the Father's will.
What do we chose???

An incredible space event might be happening in the heavens, and it is likely that we are going to miss it. The Kepler-89 system is so far the only other place in the universe where we have seen a planetary alignment, where two exoplanets end up eclipsing each other as they pass in front of their star. This means that four celestial bodies – Earth, the star Kepler-89 A, and two of its four planets, Kepler-89Ad and Kepler-89Ae – will all be on a single line. The team that saw it the first time think it's about to happen again.


The alignment of three or more celestial bodies is known as a syzygy... at least in the Solar System, it is. This is exactly what happens when there is a solar eclipse like the one happening this week (sorry, unless you're a penguin, it’s unlikely you’ll see it). Observations in 2010 saw the outermost planet in Kepler-89A eclipsing the second outermost world in the first known planet-planet eclipse seen outside our Solar System.

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wrotta said:

I mean we and angels are different
Maybe they don't change their minds like we do

Angels have seen the full truth of God and when you reject it wouldn't it create the ultimate and perfect evil?

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That's what I said in post #8

Lay-run St. Nicholas Tavelić network quietly forms 300-strong underground community of ex-Muslims seeking sacraments, catechesis and a truly Catholic home.

A new support network for converts to the Catholic faith from Islam is flourishing as increasing numbers of Muslims turn to Christ, with many parishes struggling to offer the catechumens the help they need.

The “St. Nicholas Tavelić Network for Morisco Catholics” — TavNet for short — is a lay-run Catholic missionary network that since 2024 has served converts living in Muslim-majority communities or societies where ordinary parish structures cannot easily reach them.

Named for St. Nicholas Tavelić — a 14th‑century Croatian Franciscan friar, priest and missionary who openly proclaimed the Christian faith before Muslim authorities, refused to renounce it, and was martyredwith three companions in Jerusalem on Nov. 14, 1391 — its core purpose is to provide pastoral care, the sacraments and solid catechesis to often hidden or underground communities and to articulate the faith in ways that are intelligible within Islamic cultures while remaining fully orthodox and traditional.

The idea for such a network support grew out of “the sheer depth of that need” among ex-Muslims, said Hasan, one of TavNet’s founders.

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In a recent New York Times article entitled “Freedom With a Side of Guilt: How Food Delivery Is Reshaping Mealtime,” we learn that almost three out of four restaurant orders nationwide are delivered, rather than actually enjoyed in the restaurant. The author, Priya Krishna, interviews a young woman who spends $300 a week, roughly a third of her salary, on delivery. Another woman works as a sommelier but, nonetheless, has most of her food delivered at home. As we learn, “She no longer feels the social pressure she once did to meet friends for dinner.” It seems that most of those interviewed by the Times feel vaguely guilty about delivery drivers and the environment, but not, of course, enough to inconvenience themselves.

We also meet a couple from Atlanta, Kevin Caldwell and his husband, who spend about $700 a week to order in. They are, we are told, too busy raising their two young boys and working long hours to cook dinner. “His 4-year-old son doesn’t read yet, ‘but he can put together an order’ on the Chick-fil-A app, said Mr. Caldwell, 39.”

Well. It’s hard to know where to begin.
On the one hand, I too enjoy the occasional take-out dinner. When our daughter was young, every two weeks or so, we ordered pizza from our beloved neighborhood institution, V&T’s, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The same husky voice always answered the phone, and she always called me “honey.” In those days, we paid the delivery man in cash, and the pizza arrived piping hot.

On take-out night, I set the coffee table in the living room, rather than our apartment’s dining room table, but we still used candles and linen napkins. We sat on the floor, sometimes in our pajamas, and watched an old movie. It was a cozy, relaxing evening for all of us—a comforting family ritual.


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Pope Leo XIV will preside over the traditional Ash Wednesday procession and Mass on Feb. 18 on Rome’s Aventine Hill, an important place of Christian pilgrimage for more than 1,500 years.

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According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church, Latin Church Catholics are bound to observe fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday.

Here are some details. I am sure you know them already, but they are good to review.

FASTING: Catholics who are 18 year old and up, until their 59th birthday (when you begin your 60th year), are bound to fast (1 full meal and perhaps some food at a couple points during the day, call it 2 “snacks”, according to local custom or law – call it, two snacks that don’t add up to a full meal) on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday.

Some choose not to eat at all. Some choose, in the monastic style, to have something only in the evening.

There is no scientific formula for this. Figure it out.

ABSTINENCE: Catholics who are 14 years old and older are abound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays of Lent.

In general, when you have a medical condition of some kind, or you are pregnant, etc., these requirements can be relaxed.

For Eastern Catholics there are differences concerning dates and practices. Our Eastern friends can fill us Latins in. However, in the main, Eastern Catholics observe rigorous fasting disciplines rooted in ancient practice. Great Lent includes abstinence from meat, and often dairy, eggs, wine, and oil on prescribed days. The Eucharistic fast traditionally begins at midnight. Wednesdays and Fridays are penitential. Particular Churches follow their own customs.

You should by now have a plan for your spiritual life and your physical/material mortifications and penitential practices during Lent.

You would do well to include some works of mercy, both spiritual and corporal.

I also recommend making a good confessionclose to the beginning of Lent. Let me put that another way:

GO TO CONFESSION!

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18 February 2025 – Ash Wednesday – Fasting, Abstinence, and You (with remarks on coffee and the brushing of teeth) | Fr. Z's Blog

wdtprs.com

The monotheism of Islam's founder, Muhammad, came secondhand and was shaped by Jewish and Christian notions that he picked up in his environment.

Islam is the second-largest religion in the world, recently exceeding two billion members worldwide.

Muhammad (ca. AD 570–632) delivered numerous recitations he said were messages from God in his native Arabic, transmitted word for word after being commanded by the angel Gabriel in 610 to proclaim these messages. Those messages were compiled after his death in a book known as the Qur’an (which means recitations).

Arabia during Muhammad’s early years was predominantly polytheistic, worshiping numerous gods represented by manmade idols. However, other religions had a presence. There were settlements of Jews along the western coast of Arabia. The Christian representation consisted mainly of a mix of sects that had become isolated from the mainstream Christian movement, including Nestorians, Monophysites, and Ebionites.

Muhammad’s first wife, Khadija, had a cousin named Waraqah who may have been affiliated with one of these Christian-based sects, though which one is unknown. Waraqah is sometimes described as a hanif, an advocate of an Arabic monotheism that traced its origins to Abraham through his first son Ishmael. The hanifs reportedly rejected idols and regarded Allah, an Arab deity not represented by an idol, as the true God. Traditionally, Muhammad himself has been considered a hanif.

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