DECEMBER 17 2025 THE GOSPEL breski1 Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 1,1-17. The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of David the king. David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah became the father of Jotham …More
[Saint Elisabeth of the Trinity/Elizabeth Catez – XIX-XX Century; Avord, France/Dijon, France; (aged 26); Mystic; Spiritual Writer; Gifted Pianist] “Fourth Day First Prayer 13. “Deus ignus consumens.” (Heb 12:29) Our God, wrote St. Paul, is a consuming Fire, that is “a fire of love” which destroys, which “transforms into itself everything that it touches.” (Saint John of the Cross) “The delights of the divine enkindling are renewed in our depths by an unremitting activity: the enkindling of love in a mutual and eternal satisfaction. It is a renewal that takes place at every moment in the bond of love.” (Ruysbroeck) Certain souls “have chosen this refuge to rest there eternally, and this is the silence in which, somehow, they have lost themselves.” “Freed from their prison, they sail on the Ocean of Divinity without any creature being an obstacle or hindrance to them.” (Ruysbroeck) 14. For these souls, the mystical death of which St. Paul spoke yesterday becomes so simple and sweet …More
"15. “I have come to cast fire upon the earth and how I long to see it burn.” (Lk 12:49) It is the Master Himself who expresses His desire to see the fire of love enkindled. In fact, “all our works and all our labors are nothing in His sight. We can neither give Him anything nor satisfy His only desire, which is to exalt the dignity of our soul.” Nothing pleases Him so much as to see it “grow.” “Now nothing can exalt it so much as to become in some way the equal of God; that is why He demands from the soul the tribute of its love, as the property of love is to make the lover equal to the beloved as much as possible."
Pope Leo XIV is expected to appoint the handsome Bishop Ronald Hicks, 58, of Joliet, Illinois, as the 11th Archbishop of New York, replacing Cardinal Timothy Dolan. The rumour was spread by the Spanish-language outlet ReligionDigital.org on December 15 and confirmed by several journalists citing “independent sources.” The appointed is expected for December 18. Liberal journalist Christopher Hale was told: “This is a Chicago priest, advocated by Cardinal Cupich, appointed by a Chicago pope.” Hale describes Bishop Hicks as “more progressive than Cardinal Dolan.” Spiritual hero is Óscar Romero When he began as Bishop of Joliet in 2020, he wore a small photo of Archbishop Óscar Romero of San Salvador on the lapel of his jacket. Romero is a hero of politicized liberation theology. Monsignor Hicks had served as a missionary in El Salvador (2005-2010). Ally of Cardinal Blase Cupich Monsignor Hicks’s relationship with the pro-homosexual Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich is both structural and …More
It was “not so good” that Pope Francis had suppressed the traditional Roman Mass "in an authoritarian way," Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller said in an interview with journalist Michael Haynes. Pope Francis, Cardinal Müller said, had been "hurting and committing an injustice by accusing everyone who loves the older form of the rite of being against the Second Vatican Council in a general way, without any differentiating justice to single persons." The cardinal criticized what he sees as a double standard in the Vatican’s emphasis on dialogue and respect: "All the time they speak about dialogue and respect for other persons. When it comes to the homosexual agenda and gender ideology, they speak about respect—but toward their own people, they have no respect," he said. Cardinal Müller emphasized that the Church is like a family called to overcome internal tensions like brothers: "We do not have a police-state system in the Church, and we do not need one." And: "The Pope and the bishops …More
“They are an extraordinary family,” McGurn said in the interview. Lai’s wife, Teresa Lai, “is a rock. If Jimmy didn’t have Teresa to lean on, he knows it, he wouldn’t be strong. I mean, he has his faith, but she strengthens it. That’s what they have in common,” McGurn said.
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 16, 2025 / 07:00 am Catholic human rights and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai was found guilty following his lengthy national security trial. Lai, 78, will be sentenced at a later date but faces up to life in prison. The Dec. 15 verdict “is important, and it’s not important,” Bill McGurn, Wall Street Journal columnist and godfather of Lai, told “EWTN News Nightly.” “It’s important because it’s part of the Hong Kong process, and everyone knew he would always be convicted. So it’s important because we have to get it out of the way,” McGurn said. “Jimmy cannot be released until he was convicted, and that’s why we had to wait all these years for the trial and then his conviction.” “On the other hand, it was always this charade … the world sees it for what it is. And so in Jimmy Lai’s world, it’s not really a big milestone because it’s phony. Everything about it is phony,” McGurn said. ‘The real work begins now’ While the verdict was guilty, it is …