Jacques Agency

Pope Francis has closed an assembly of Catholic bishops that revealed deep divisions on how to respond to homosexuality and divorce, saying on Sunday the Church should not be afraid of change and new challenges. Francis, who has said he wants a more merciful and less rigid Church, made his comments in a sermon to some 70,000 people in St. Peter's Square for the ceremonial closing of a two-week assembly, known as a synod. The working session of the gathering ended on Saturday night with a final document that reversed a historic acceptance of gays by the Church made just a week earlier -- a result some progressives see as a setback for Francis. "God is not afraid of new things. That is why he is continuously surprising us, opening our hearts and guiding us in unexpected ways," the pope said. At the Mass, he beatified Pope Paul VI, who died in 1978, bringing the pontiff best known for concluding the ground-breaking reforms of the Second Vatican Council and enshrining the ...

Estad siempre gozosos;  orad sin cesar; dad gracias en todo, porque esta es la voluntad de Dios para vosotros en Cristo Jesús.  No apaguéis el Espíritu;  no menospreciéis las profecías.  Antes bien, examinadlo todo cuidadosamente , retened lo bueno;  absteneos de toda forma de mal.        Y que el mismo Dios de paz os santifique por completo; y que todo vuestro ser, espíritu, alma y cuerpo, sea preservado irreprensible para la venida de nuestro Señor Jesucristo.  Fiel es el que os llama, el cual también lo hará.    La gracia de nuestro Señor Jesucristo sea con vosotros. Si te gustaría mandar solicitudes de oraciones o ofrendas por correo, por favor mandarlas a:  Universal Church of the Living God P.O. Box 210-240 Brooklyn, NY 11221 Email: universalchurch@live.com USA Que Dios Te Bendiga!

The Islamic State (ISIS) has the potential to be more dangerous to the United States than al-Qaida if its advance is not stopped, said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The potential 2016 presidential candidate said President Barack Obama made the right decision to launch a military offensive against the extremist group in Syria and Iraq, The Washington Post reported. "It's a serious threat because this is the best-funded, most professional, expansionist jihadist military force that we have ever seen," Clinton told the Economic Club of Chicago, according to the Post. "This is far more advanced and far richer than al-Qaida ever was." She added that the group "will attempt to launch attacks against Western targets if it has the ability to do so." Clinton also predicted that Congress would take "some kind of legislative action" when it reconvenes after the November election. Last week, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reveal...

Dutch researchers have determined drinking two glasses of milk each day may lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of developing heart disease.  The findings, presented at a European medical conference in France this week, are based on an analysis of nine studies involving more than 57,000 individuals — and 15,367 cases of hypertension.   Lead researcher Sabita S. Soedamah-Muthu, M.D., from Wageningen University in the Netherlands said the analysis found drinking about two cups of milk per day reduced the risk for high blood pressure and that more may be better.   "These meta-analyses indicate that there is a link between increasing the number of glasses of milk a day and a lower incidence of hypertension," explained Dr. Soedamah-Muthu.  The findings echo research by Daniel R. Machin, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in May, that showed the addition of four servings of nonfat dairy per day to a routine diet lowered blood pressure in middle-aged and o...

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  Since we having been justified by the blood of Christ, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does...

Melchizedek – Priest of God Most High Melchizedek was one of those puzzling people in the Bible who appear only briefly but are mentioned again as examples of holiness and right living. His name means "king of righteousness," and his title King of Salem also means "king of peace." The startling fact about Melchizedek is that although he was not a Jew, he worshiped God Most High, the one true God. Melchizedek blessed Abram, later to be renamed Abraham, after Abram rescued his nephew Lot  from enemy captivity and brought back other people and goods. Abram honored Melchizedek by giving him one tenth of the plunder of battle, or a tithe. Melchizedek's graciousness is contrasted with the rudeness of the King of Sodom. God revealed himself to Abraham, but we don't know how Melchizedek learned of the true God. Monotheism, or worship of one god, was rare in the ancient world. Most of the people worshiped several gods. Some even had dozens of local or household go...

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done h...