Forums: Christmas

An eighth-grade teacher has accused her students of committing a "hate crime" and being "cruel" because they left a Bible on her desk and a Christmas card with the word "Christ" underlined. Melissa Hussain, an Apex, N.C., science teacher at West Lake Middle School, is suspended with pay and may lose her job after she purportedly clashed with students on the subject of religion and sent students to the school office when they asked about the role of God in creation during a lesson about evolution. Hussain wrote on her then-public Facebook page that it was a "hate crime" when...

A tape said to be from Osama Bin Laden says al-Qaeda was responsible for a Christmas plot to blow up a plane. In the newly released audio tape aired on al-Jazeera, Bin Laden also warns the US there will be more attacks if it continues to support Israel. "If it was possible to carry our messages to you by words we wouldn't have carried them to you by planes," the tape says. The authenticity of the tape has not been verified. It says: "The message sent to you with the attempt by the hero Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is a...

Suspects In Christmas Attack That Killed 7 In Southern Egypt Will Be Tried In Terrorism Court CAIRO (AP) - The suspects in a drive-by shooting that killed seven people outside an Egyptian church on Coptic Christmas Eve will be tried in an emergency state security court. Prosecutor General Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud on Saturday referred the three suspects to trial on murder charges.

January 10, 2010                                   The Baptism of the Lord       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading IIs 42:1-4, 6-7 or Is  40:1-5, 9-11Thus says the LORD:Here is my servant whom I uphold,my chosen one with whom I am pleased,upon whom I have put my spirit;he shall bring forth justice to the nations,not crying out, not shouting,not making his voice heard in the street.a bruised reed he shall not break,and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,until he establishes justice on the earth;the coastlands will wait for his teaching. I, the LORD,...

On the first day of Christmas, we were attacked. On the second day of Christmas, the enemy combatant who had been dispatched from Yemen to attack us—who boarded a plane to Detroit with a valid multiple-entry visa despite our having been warned about him by his father, despite his having spent months with an al Qaeda leader in Yemen who was closely monitored by U.S. intelligence, and despite his buying a one-way ticket with cash and boarding without luggage—was arraigned before a judge, provided with a lawyer, and informed of his right to remain silent. The Transportation Security Administration ordered...

January 9, 2010                                    Christmas Weekday     Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading I1 Jn 5:14-21Beloved:We have this confidence in himthat if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,we know that what we have asked him for is ours. If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a...

January 8, 2010                                     Christmas Weekday       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading I1 Jn 5:5-13Beloved:Who indeed is the victor over the worldbut the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ,not by water alone, but by water and Blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies,and the Spirit is truth. So there are three who testify,the Spirit, the water, and the Blood, and the three are of one accord. If we accept human testimony,the testimony of...

President Obama came back to work this week after leaving the Presidency for his Hawaiian holiday vacation. Hawaii proved to be a restful retreat for the President, his team and the White House press corps who all took time off from their regular duties to enjoy the Hawaiian sun and ignore their responsibilities. But after 10 days of tropical silence, this week there is a sudden flurry of security reviews, media statements, ass-covering and more misstatements coming out of Washington from the Obama Administration. But we still don’t know why the State Department didn’t revoke the visa of a man...