Today is July 20, the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Lk 10:41-42).
For many of us, these words feel challenging. Like Martha, we often carry concerns and responsibilities that weigh on our hearts. When Jesus speaks of Mary choosing the better part, it may sound as though he is dismissing Martha’s efforts. But that is not what is happening. Jesus is gently reminding us that only one thing matters in the end: the love we give and receive in him.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati lived this balance between Martha and Mary. His life was a steady rhythm of prayer and action. He never neglected daily Mass or time spent with the Lord, yet he also threw himself into service. He called this his “Apostolate of Charity.”

‘Based on charity’​

Continued below.

(OSV News) — A federal court on July 18 temporarily blocked a new law in Washington state requiring clergy to report child abuse or neglect without exceptions for clergy-penitent privilege.
The state’s Catholic bishops previously sued in response to Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson’s approval of Senate Bill 5375, which designated members of the clergy as mandatory reporters, or people required by law to report suspected or known instances of child abuse or neglect.

The version of that legislation Ferguson signed into law did not include an exception for sacramental confessions, an exception that most other states with similar requirements for clergy have.
“The Court concludes Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their Free Exercise Clause challenge and otherwise meet the requirements for the issuance of a preliminary injunction,” the order, signed by U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, said.

Continued below.

See, my servant shall prosper;
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high (Is 52:13).



Why is the cross the central symbol of our Catholic faith? Perhaps it’s not a question we’ve ever really thought about before. On the one hand, it’s hardly surprising that the cross, the outstanding sign of God’s love for us, would be a symbol of our faith. But on the other hand, the cross has become so much more than that. Today it is not merely one symbol among many, but the central symbol in our art, our devotion, our liturgy. On its face, this is rather strange.

Think about it for a moment. Christianity is about the Good News of what God has done for us through his Son. Given this, it seems that some other symbol would do a better job of summing up what Christianity is all about. Take a lamb, for instance. Wouldn’t an image of a nice, gentle, happy lamb be more effective at capturing the peace and joy of the Gospel than the image of a man dying on a cross? Or even better, consider the empty tomb. Surely the empty tomb would be a more fitting symbol of Christ’s victory over sin and death. Yet, for some reason, this is not the approach the Church took.

Continued below.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday prayed by name for the victims of a deadly Israeli strike on the only Catholic parish in Gaza, decrying the “barbarism of the war” as he renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire.

“I express my profound sadness regarding last Thursday’s attack by the Israeli army on the Catholic Parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City, which as you know killed three Christians and gravely wounded others,” the pope said in his Angelus address from the papal estate at Castel Gandolfo, about 16 miles southeast of Rome.

He named the dead — Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, and Najwa Ibrahim Latif Abu Daoud — and said, “I am especially close to their families and all the parishioners.”

The July 17 strike on the parish compound also wounded nine others, including the local parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli. The church had been serving as a shelter for more than 600 people since the conflict began in October 2023, including Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Muslims.

Continued below.

The summer hasn’t done much to break the heat that Democrats are feeling from voters. The party of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is about as popular as a rush-hour traffic jam, according to the latest surveys. Unfortunately for Minority Leaders Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), time hasn’t helped the dismal approval ratings — nor, most Americans would point out, has the party’s supposed “self-reflection.”

In the eight months since Election night, Democrats have spent countless hours and dollars on meetings, strategy sessions, focus groups, and autopsy reports only to turn around and ignore the lessons they teach. “Woke,” “weak,” and “out of touch” were how one survey described the party that paid for the poll. With the GOP eating into the once-impressive margins that Democrats enjoyed with Hispanics, the working class, and white men, Schumer and company are looking at a pretty dismal approval rating — just 35% across those key demographics.

Equally as frustrating, there’s little to no hope in the base that things will change. Asked how optimistic they are about the future of the party, dejected Democrats have all but resigned to their fate in the political wilderness. Only 35% think things will turn around in the future — an almost 20-point drop from the 57% last July. Much to Jeffries’s and Schumer’s displeasure, congressional Democrats are taking a severe beating in the polls. A late June YouGov/Economist survey found a sharp drop in Americans’ approval of their House and Senate members: a -32 favorability rating, compared to -15 when Donald Trump took office in January.

Continued below.

A nurse in Scotland who was suspended after raising concerns about women being forced to share the women's changing room with a male doctor who identified as transgender has been cleared of gross misconduct. The internal investigation by her employer concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations made against her.

Sandie Peggie, an accident and emergency nurse at NHS Fife, was informed this week that accusations of misconduct, patient care failures and misgendering had not been upheld, Nursing Times reported.

Her lawyer, Margaret Gribbon, confirmed that the disciplinary process had ended with no finding of wrongdoing, following an 18-month-long inquiry by the health board.

Continued below.

The Scriptures offer us a sobering reality: our perception of ourselves can be completely out of sync with how God sees us. Nowhere is this more evident than in Revelation 3:17, where Jesus rebukes the church of Laodicea and said, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

This chilling contrast reveals that it is possible to be fully convinced of your spiritual health while being utterly bankrupt in the eyes of God. Sadly, many professing believers are self-deceived, thinking they are secure when they are actually standing on shaky ground. At the judgment seat of Christ — where believers are evaluated for eternal rewards, not eternal punishment — many may experience deep regret for how they lived.

The following are 10 common ways people deceive themselves spiritually and what Scripture reveals about God’s true standard.

1. Are you merely religious, or are you truly born again?

John 3:3–8

Jesus told Nicodemus, a devout religious leader, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

Continued below.

As a child, I was a big fan of the Cookie Monster.

As a new dad in my 30s, my love has turned more to the cookies themselves, and my waistline has kept me from hiding this fact. Now, lawmakers are on the verge of cutting federal funding to “Sesame Street” and all of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) along with it.

As a former member of the Cookie Monster fan club, I understand the nostalgia for certain programming, but it’s time to cut the cord, especially since PBS and NPR will almost certainly keep operating their standard programming, just without the taxpayer subsidies. How could I be so heartless to my furry childhood friend?

First, let’s consider that PBS, once the source of some of America’s favorite “Sesame Street” characters, is now a cringeworthy collection of irrelevant kids shows buoyed by the nostalgia of aging lawmakers. With the explosion of streaming services, social media, and endless entertainment options, kids are more addicted to screens than ever. But screens aren’t good for kids. I covered this in a previous podcast, and it’s backed by plenty of research. In our time of overabundance in digital content, do we really need to subsidize entertainment more?

Continued below.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned recent attacks on a Christian village and its historic church in the West Bank, calling them “a crime against humanity and God.” His statement came after visiting the site of the arson and ongoing harassment.

Huckabee travelled Saturday to Taybeh, a Christian Palestinian town that residents say has endured a wave of assaults by Israeli settlers in recent weeks, accordingto The Times of Israel. The attacks include a fire set near the ruins of the Church of St. George, which church leaders described as among the most severe incidents to date.

Huckabee, a longtime Evangelical supporter of Israel, said during his visit that the desecration of religious sites represented “an act of terror” and that such actions should carry “harsh consequences.”

Continued below.

Lovely to see so much money get raised

God bless this man. He deserves way more recognition for his kindness

God bless this incredible man and the sucess he had. Lovely news

Cograts to him! Good to see it was such a sucess

The word “love” here means “to prefer.” We are not to be those who prefer (embrace, desire, choose) the world – the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. We are not to prefer what is of human flesh, and that which is contrary to the will and purpose of God for our lives. We are not to long for and desire what is of our sinful flesh and is ungodly and unholy. We are not to be worldly people, in other words, who prefer what is immoral, sinful, rebellious and opposite of what is holy and godly.

For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross so that we will die with him to sin and now walk in holiness and righteousness, in walks of obedience to his commands. We are no longer to live as the ungodly do, according to the sinful passions of the flesh. We are not to be selfish people who do whatever it is that our flesh wants while we disregard what God wills for our lives. But we are to be separate (different, unlike) the world because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of nature of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Yet, we live in a day and time when it is barely distinguishable between the church and the world. “Christian fellowships” often mimic worldly gatherings, where people gather together in groups to play games, have fun, tell jokes, eat food, watch movies, and say nothing about Jesus Christ and of our walks of faith in obedience to the Lord for the encouragement of one another. And there is nothing inherently evil about playing decent games and having good clean fun, but the world is now replacing the Lord in so many people’s lives.

And so many people professing faith in Jesus Christ are no different, in lifestyle, and in practice, from those who make no professions of faith in the Lord Jesus. They all just blend together as one. And that is what Satan wants. And that is why he has convinced so many people to alter the gospel of our salvation to exclude God’s requirements for death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord in surrender to God’s will and purpose for our lives, in holy living. For Satan wants us to not be different, but to be like the world.

But if we prefer to live like the world, and to follow after fleshly, worldly, and sinful desires, rather than to follow our Lord in surrender to his will, in walks of holiness and in obedience to our Lord, then the love of God the Father is not in us. We are not in fellowship with Jesus Christ, and therefore we do not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God if we continue in that practice, and if we do not repent of our sins and now obey God, in practice. For it is the one who does the will of God who has eternal life with God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Do You Love Me?

An Original Work / July 24, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Do you love Me now?
Will you seek My face?
I have given you
My love and My grace.
Will you walk with Me
Ev’rywhere I lead?
Will you find in Me
All of what you need?

Won’t you meet with Me
Down upon your knees?
Will you obey Me,
And do what I please?
Will you hear My voice
Speaking now to you?
I am couns’ling you
To abide in truth.

I have died for you;
Taken all your sins –
Crucified with Me,
You have been forgiv’n.
I have set you free
From your slavery,
So that you can now
Live in victory.

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Love Not the Things of the World
An Original Work / July 20, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Pray that racial & ethnoreligious violent tensions between the Bedouin & Druze groups in Syria ends immediately:

What is this fellowship we are to have with God, with Christ Jesus, and with other Christians? It is not what so many gatherings of the church call “fellowship” these days. It is not a social event for Christians to get together to eat a lot of food and play games and tell jokes and stories to one another and to just have fun. The word is koinónia, and it has to do with partnership, cooperation, and participation with Christ and with the body of Christ in what is of Christ and of his gospel, according to his will and purpose for our lives.

So if we claim that we are in fellowship with Christ, it is a claim that we are in Christ, in communion and participation with Christ in his plan and purpose for our lives. We are in a spiritually intimate relationship with Christ whereby we cooperate with Christ in his work of salvation in our lives, in delivering us out of our slavery to sin so that we will now serve him with our lives in walks of obedience to his commands. It is our spiritual unions with Christ whereby we die with him to sin and now live to him and to his righteousness.

Nonetheless, if we claim that we are in fellowship (communion, participation, cooperation) with Christ, and with his work of salvation in our lives, yet we continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and not in walks of obedience to his commands, then we are liars who do not live by the truth. For we cannot be “in Christ,” in fellowship with him, and still walk in darkness (sin, wickedness, rebellion against God) and not in obedience to his commands, in the light of his truth and righteousness and holy living.

For, to walk in the light, as God/Christ is in the light, is to walk (in conduct) in submission to God in obedience to his commands in surrender of our wills to his will and purpose for our lives. For Jesus Christ, in his death on that cross, put our sins to death with him so that, by God-persuaded faith in him, we will now die to sin and live to God and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living. This is what it looks like to be in fellowship with Christ, to submit ourselves to doing his will for our lives.

Then, not only are we in fellowship with Christ, via death to sin and walks of obedience to his commands, but we are in fellowship (partnership, participation) with other Christians who are also in biblical fellowship with Christ via death to sin and walks of obedience to his commands. And the blood of Christ Jesus cleanses us from all sin. But we are not cleansed from our sins if all we do is make verbal professions of Christ as Lord and Savior, but while we continue in sinful rebellion against our Lord and his commands.

Now, verse 9 speaks of us confessing our sins and of Jesus being faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But this is not a stand-alone. This has to be in agreement with the rest of this passage of Scripture which requires that we die with Christ to sin and that we no longer walk in sin but in walks of surrender to our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands. We are not forgiven of our sins and cleansed from all unrighteousness if we are still walking in sin and not in obeying God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Broken and Contrite

An Original Work / May 13, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.

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Our Fellowship with Christ Jesus
An Original Work / July 20, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

I'm going to try to give you some insight into the activity of most demons, and what they are actually out to try and do with most of us, etc, but that sometimes doesn't go exactly according to plan. Let's take the man with the legion, and why Jesus sent them (those demons inhabiting that man) into the pigs, and why the pigs immediately rushed over the precipice to die for a minute, and why it was actually an act of compassion upon those demons by Jesus? Jesus sought this man out, the man with the legion, and he didn't do this with hardly anyone else, and made quite the journey/trip out of his way to do it, etc. When a demon, or a group of demons, first makes a decision to target somebody, the first thing they do is get inside the person for what they think is going to be for them (at first) somebody that is going to provide them with a lot of very great fun, and much entertainment, at first anyway, etc, but, when the fun stops being fun or entertaining anymore, then they usually try to get that person to off themselves or die so they can then get released from that person, and go elsewhere to do it with or to somebody else again, etc. Most of the time they are successful with most people and it's not a problem for them, etc. But, every once in a while, they can get stuck there with somebody for a while and then it becomes a torment for them until that person dies, etc, and this is what had happened with the man with the legion, these demons desperately wanted a release from this man by that point, because they couldn't get him to kill himself, and couldn't kill him, etc. Well, Jesus seeks this man out, knowing full well what was going on with; both that man, and the demons in him by that point, etc. Well, when these demons saw Jesus coming they knew exactly who Jesus was, and that he had full authority to send them all into oblivion if he wanted to, etc, and this is why they entreated him, and practically begged Jesus to send them into the pigs instead, and is why the pigs immediately rushed over the precipice and died, so that these could finally be released and were free to go elsewhere now after that, etc, finallyget there long sought release from this man that they originally targeted (but greatly underestimated, etc). They knew Jesus wasn't going to kill the man, or let them kill the man (something they had been trying to do with the man, or get that man to do for a very, very long time now, but couldn't) so, anyway, that's why they practically begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs nearby, and Jesus allowed them to do that instead of "something else Jesus could have done to them", etc, and it was actually Jesus having compassion on both them (those demon) and the man that those demons were inhabiting, since it was the man that Jesus was after, etc. Anyway, this is the activity/purposes of most demons with most of us, but it can backfire for them if their attempts to make the person dead after it is no longer fun anymore doesn't succeed fully for them, because once they get in a person, they don't have the power to get released from that person until that person dies, etc, which doesn't always happen always, after which they are the ones that are in torment for a while until that person dies, or until someone like Jesus comes along, and they are able to get released another way, etc, which is what happened with this man with the legion.

God Bless.

Shalom

Next weekend, evangelistic meetings will take place here in Salzburg, Austria.

In addition, the brothers and sisters here regularly hold book tables and distribute evangelistic literature.

We ask for your support in prayer in Jesus' name.

May God continue to draw the people we have already reached to Himself in Jesus' name. Amen (John 6:44).

Thank you for your prayers!

May the Lord bless you abundantly (Luke 6:38; Job 42:10) and may He bless Israel in Jesus' name. Amen!

Soli Deo Gloria

PS And I pray that the Lord will send out harvesters into His harvest (Matthew 9:38).

This is in reference to false gods, to the idols of human flesh, to people who might today claim to be Christians, and to be followers of Christ, but who may do so in order to deceive and to turn people away from Christ and from his gospel. And these people may be pastors of what are called “churches,” many of which are businesses incorporated (merged with, partnered with) the world and with the government, which are being marketed to the world just like any other business. So they dilute the gospel to not offend flesh.

And so they teach a gospel message which leads many people to remain dead in their sin, still under bondage to sin, and not freed from their slavery to sin by genuine God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing. For so many of them are teaching that all we have to do is to claim faith in Jesus and now all our sins are forgiven, and heaven is secured us, but regardless of how we live, in practice. But Jesus taught that we must deny self, die to sin, and follow him in obedience, if we want to see God.

So they are predicting a future for people which does not exist, in reality. They are promising them forgiveness of all sins and heaven as their eternal destiny, but based in a lie, and not in the truth. And they are not teaching the gospel as Jesus and as his New Testament apostles taught it, but they are denying that truth in favor of a lie. For they are not teaching that Jesus died to free us from our addiction to sin so we might now live holy lives, pleasing to God, in his service, and as his servants and witnesses.

Instead they are giving their listeners carte blanche to continue in deliberate and habitual sin against God with no hope of change; with no hope of heart transformation of the Spirit of God out of bondage to sin so that they can now walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant). They are giving a false image of what it means to be a Christian and a follower of Christ by convincing so many people that being a Christian does not require that they put their sins to death and that they now obey God.

So, they have it all wrong. They don’t know why Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross, or if they do, they are living in denial. For he put our sins to death with him on that cross that we might now die to sin and live for God in walks of obedience to his commands, and in surrender to his will and purpose for our lives. We must be those who have (past) and who are presently continuing to put sin to death, by the Spirit, and who are walking in obedience to our Lord, in practice, in the power of God at work within us.

For if we continue living in sin, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, contrary to what many of these false “gods” are teaching, we will not inherit eternal life with God, even if we have professed faith in Jesus Christ. And if we are following Jesus in obedience, and if sin is no longer our practice, our past no longer defines us, regardless of what we may have done. What defines who we are, and what our relationship with God looks like, is how we are now living in the present, either in obedience, or in disobedience to God.

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Seek the Lord

Based off Isaiah 55
Musical Instrumentation by Mark Bradley
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”

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False gods of No Account
An Original Work / July 19, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

On my mom's side----big Catholic family. The gathering wasn't quite as huge as it has been in some years past, but we had a good turnout. Good food---there was a lot of fried chicken and some homemade Rotwurst und Sauerkraut that was to die for: I had two huge helpings. My one remaining aunt was there; she's up into her nineties now, but still strong and in total control of her faculties. She sat with my niece, my sister, and I, along with her son and daughter and their spouses. (My wife didn't come; she wasn't feeling well, and my son had to work a 12-hour shift.)

After the party broke up, my niece decided she just had to drive several miles into the boondocks to visit an old family cemetery (on my dad's side) and see if she could locate a headstone for one of our ancestors so she could take a picture of it. This is a tiny, tiny cemetery, located off what is little more than a two-track; we drove in the gate, and swarms of nasty-looking green bugs rose up out of the grass and bounced off the car windows. I told my niece and my sister if they wanted to get out and deal with the insect life and beat through the wild raspberry bushes looking for this headstone, have at it, but I would wait in the car.

Which I did. They both wandered around out there for probably half an hour; I patiently waited and looked at my phone. The woods right up to the fence was tangled, thick, heavy, and sinister-looking. Any minute, I expected a couple of barefoot hillbillies with shotguns to step out of the pulpwood, fix me with beady eyes, and say, "Yew got a real purty maouth, aintcha, boy?" But of course, none did. My niece never did find the headstone, and we finally left. They wanted to backtrack the way we came, and I put my foot down and made them go straight east until we intersected with one of the main county roads, so I'd know where we were.

When we left the reunion, it was clouding up heavily to the west, and about halfway home, it opened up and just poured. It was raining so hard you could hardly see through the windshield, even with the wipers on high. But, we made it, they dropped me off at home, and they drove off to go to the town they both live in further to the north. All in all, a good day; my back hurts from sitting in those awful straight-backed chairs, but I guess I'll probably survive.

Oops I actually posted this by mistake. I didn't mean to. I pressed the wrong button. Not that I wasn't going to talk about it but it was a premature post.

LAHORE, Pakistan — Police in Pakistan have delayed registering a complaint by a Catholic woman gang-raped by three Muslim men in front of her 3-year-old daughter and are pressuring her to withdraw the case, she said.

Sheeza Intikhab, a 20-year-old Catholic woman in Chak No. 42 village, Sangla Hill, Nankana Sahib District in Punjab Province, was raped in her home by Muhammad Mohsin, Zahid Gujjar and a man identified only as Arsalan on June 11 while her husband was away at work, she said.

“What happened to me has left my child traumatized,” Intikhab said. “She fell ill after the incident, but even though she is well now, she has become very insecure and starts crying when she doesn’t see me around. I’m a poor and weak Christian, but I deserve justice regardless of my social standing. I appeal to the chief minister of Punjab, who’s also a woman, to take notice of the police’s attitude and punish without prejudice those who have wronged me.”

Continued below.

One of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s latest xAI chatbots is a female anime-themed character named “Ani” that child welfare advocates are warning can flirt with and strip for users, raising concerns about AI’s promotion of sexual violence and exploitation.

"Ani" is one of two new characters offered through xAI's new $ 300-per-month subscription. One character that users can chat with is “Bad Rudi,” a red panda who can reportedly insult users in a graphic or vulgar way.

Following the launch of Grok 4 earlier this month, which allows paid subscribers to interact with AI companions, anti-sexual exploitation advocates have been raising concerns about Ani’s design. As seen in videos on X, the AI character wears a short, strapless purple dress, fishnet tights, a choker necklace and a black corset cinched around her waist.

Continued below.

President Donald Trump on Friday followed through on his threat to sue media mogul Rupert Murdoch after his Wall Street Journal published an article saying that Trump sent his then-friend Jeffrey Epstein a “bawdy” letter for Epstein’s 50th birthday.

Trump, who angrily denies writing the letter, is seeking damages of no less than $10 billion in the lawsuit alleging defamation.

Named as defendants in the suit in federal court in the Southern District of Florida are Murdoch, his company News Corp

and its CEO Robert Thomson, the Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones & Co., and the two reporters who wrote the article published Thursday evening.

A Dow Jones spokesperson sent the following statement to CNBC: “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”

No matter how it turns out, should be good news for most Americans.

Hello everyone,

I will be taking incoming calls for the 1st time at my state volunteer opportunity. I feel very anxious about it and want to overcome this fear. I don't want to be held back by my own anxieties. I want to move forward in life and learn this valuable skill in working the phones.

Thank God and thank you for your prayers encouragement, and advice. They are greatly appreciated.