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| MONDAY, DECEMBER 31 – 7TH DAY OF THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS |
| WHAT A YEAR FOR THE LOOP! It’s been an amazing year for the Loop. We were humbled to see the number of subscribers double in 2018 to over 50,000! The secret to this success? Loopers like you encouraging your friends to sign up! Use the referral button below to recommend the Loop to your friends. You might win a cool Loop coffee mug. (We sent out dozens of free ones…) |
| OBAMACARE DECISION HALTED A federal judge who recently declared Obamacare unconstitutional has stayed (or halted) his decision to allow for appeals. Judge Reed O’Connor says he stands by his earlier conclusion that the law was effectively invalidated by the recent tax law that reduced the penalty for not getting insurance to $0. READ |
| NOT REALLY ASKING FOR A WALL “To be honest, it’s not a wall,” says John Kelly, outgoing chief of staff for President Trump. “The president still says ‘wall’ — oftentimes frankly he’ll say ‘barrier’ or ‘fencing,’ now he’s tended toward steel slats. But we left a solid concrete wall early on in the administration, when we asked people what they needed and where they needed it,” said Kelly. READ |
| DEMOCRAT ISSUES WARNING Recently-defeated Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-IN, said that Democrats “start losing the people” in the Midwest when they trumpet ‘Medicare for all.’ READ |
| RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION Tom Gilson takes a look back at the major religious liberty stories from 2018, from the Little Sisters of the Poor to baker Jack Phillips to the outlawing of Catholic adoption services in Philadelphia. READ |
| CONTROLLING SPEECH Prominent evangelical leader Franklin Graham was barred from Facebook for 24 hours for “dehumanizing language” over a post from April that focused on legislation to ensure people use the bathroom of the sex listed on their birth certificate. Facebook said the post violated their hate speech policies, but later reversed their decision and restored the post. READ |
| ANTI-CATHOLIC BIGOTRY “Our country’s sad history of anti-Catholic bigotry contributed to the founding of the Knights of Columbus, and we are proud of the many Catholics who overcame this hurdle to contribute so greatly to our country,” said Kathleen Blomquist, spokeswoman for the Knights of Columbus. Her comments come in reaction to two Democratic senators who questioned a judicial nominee for his membership in the fraternal organization, which they claimed held ‘extremist” views.” Blomquist responded: “We believe that membership in the Knights of Columbus, which helps everyday men put their Catholic faith into action, is worthy of commendation and not something a nominee for public office should be asked to defend.” READ |
| A CANDIDATE FOR CATHOLIC LIBERALS Peter Wolfgang with a provocative essay at the CatholicVote blog: “[It] is a strange turn of events when you consider that President Trump has re-made the GOP in approximately the way the Catholic Left has always said it wanted.” READ |
| CHRISTIANS EXECUTED A mass grave of Christians killed by ISIS in 2015 has reportedly been unearthed in Libya. READ |
| McCARRICK INVESTIGATION The Vatican begins its investigation of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington who has been been accused of committing sexual abuse by several different individuals. READ |
| QUOTE OF THE WEEK “If the first family—Adam and Eve—are characterized by disobedience to God, the Holy Family is characterized by perfect obedience to Him. In fact, what binds the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, and Our Lord together is the obedience each of them gives to God.” — Fr. Thomas Petri, OP |
| SAINT OF THE DAY Saint Sylvester lived during the time of Constantine when the Church was coming out of hiding and becoming the Church of the empire. Little is known about him, but much is presumed. READ |
| DAILY READINGS “Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!” (Ps 96:11) READ |
| TRUTH Tomorrow is the Feast of Mary, Mother of God. It is a Holy Day of Obligation. Here’s an article explaining her title as “Theotokos” or Mother of God. SHARE |