By Bridget Sielicki, Live Action News – The March for Life has announced the theme “Life is a Gift” for its 53rd annual National March for Life, set to take place on Friday, January 23 in Washington, D.C… The March for Life will take place in Washington, D.C. on January 23… This year’s theme, ‘Life is a Gift,’ serves to focus on a “key message of the pro-life mission.”

By Gavin Oxley, LifeNews – Americans United for Life (AUL), alongside leading partners including the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, and the Family Policy Alliance, is urging President Trump, Vice President Vance, Majority Leader Thune, and Speaker Johnson to not be “flexible” on Hyde… John Mize, CEO of AUL, emphasized, “The Pro-Life Movement is unified in ensuring our national leaders do not compromise on the most basic federal pro-life provision, preventing forced taxpayer funding of abortion. …

By Brad Miner, The Catholic Thing – In The Cost of Discipleship (1937), Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes that Christ invited St. Peter “to the supreme followship of martyrdom for the Lord he had denied. . .thereby forgiving him all his sins. In the life of Peter, grace and discipleship are inseparable.”… In Bonhoeffer’s famous reckoning, this was a case of costly, as opposed to cheap, grace. Bonhoeffer, of course, would come to embody the former. On his way to be executed by the Nazis at the Flossenbürg concentration camp in 1945, Bonhoeffer told a fellow prisoner, “This is the end – but for me it is the beginning of Life!”… That’s the attitude of all true martyrs when their time comes. …

The Editors, National Catholic Register – Many Catholics who have been personally impacted, or deeply unsettled, by the “liturgy wars” dividing our Church are understandably disappointed that liturgical matters were not, in the end, discussed during Pope Leo XIV’s now-concluded meeting with the College of Cardinals in Rome… Liturgy had been one of four announced agenda items for the Holy Father’s first extraordinary consistory since his election in May. That plan, however, proved too ambitious for a gathering that lasted only a day and a half …

By Pete Connolly, The American Spectator – The Minnesota fraud scandal is just a symptom of the government’s bad habit… When Steppenwolf released “The Pusher” in 1968, it wasn’t a riff about casual hippie vice, but a cautionary tale about the business incentives of hard drugs. The pusher doesn’t moralize. His job is simple: keep the junkie hooked and the money flowing… But what happens when the pusher gets hooked — when he gets high on his own supply? Things spiral out of control, and this is exactly the dilemma our out-of-control government spending has locked the American people into.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 3:22-30 – 22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea; there he remained with them and baptized. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people came and were baptized. 24 For John had not yet been put in prison. 25 Now a discussion arose between John’s disciples and a Jew over purifying. …

By Franciscan Media – Saint Gregory of Nyssa’s Story – The son of two saints, Basil and Emmilia, young Gregory was raised by his older brother, Saint Basil the Great, and his sister, Macrina, in modern-day Turkey. Gregory’s success in his studies suggested great things were ahead for him. After becoming a professor of rhetoric, he was persuaded to devote his learning and efforts to the Church.

By Fr. Ignatius John Schweitzer, OP, Catholic Exchange – The Baptism of Jesus is like a hinge between the Nativity and Paschal Mystery. Every aspect of Jesus’ life involves the Triune God manifesting and saving. Jesus’ Nativity and His Passion, Death, and Resurrection are two key moments of this work of God manifesting Himself and saving us. The Baptism of the Lord, however, has a special place in bringing together so many key themes and rich dimensions of Jesus’ saving revelation and work… The themes of creation and grace come together as God’s creation of water is taken up anew by Him in His plan of salvation.

By Cassy Cooke, Live Action News – According to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, hundreds of Russian villages have disappeared over the last year, as the population in Russia continues to shrink… At least 266 settlements and villages have disappeared over the last year in Russia… Russia has been experiencing widespread population decline… The issue of plummeting birth rates has become a global crisis. … Russia is far from alone on this issue. The United States and virtually all of Europe likewise have fertility rates well below replacement levels, leading to worldwide demographic crises and frantic efforts to reverse the trend.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – The Holy Family: Not a Whitewashed Icon – For me, as for many other pro-family activists, the scene at Bethlehem is so powerful, because it points to the fundamental simplicity of the solution to so many evils of the culture of death, i.e., the family, united in love… Just as, in becoming human, Christ sanctified and elevated human nature… so too, in entering into a family, Christ sanctified and elevated the human family, in all of its complexity.

By Elise Winland, Catholic Vote – Iran experienced a near-total nationwide internet blackout Jan. 8, according to internet monitoring groups, as authorities moved to contain widespread protests fueled by economic collapse and anger at the Islamic Republic. Hours later, President Donald Trump renewed warnings that the U.S. could strike Iran if authorities begin killing protestors… Internet connectivity dropped sharply … the shutdown followed “a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country and hinders the public’s right to communicate at a critical moment.”

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 5:12-16 – 12 While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 13 And he stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And he charged him to tell no one; but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.” ….

By Fr. Joseph Gill, Crisis Magazine – as a Catholic priest, I have discovered yet another reason why I love and appreciate the gift of celibacy: I do not have an immediate family (wife and kids) upon whom Satan could wreak havoc and suffering. Spiritual warfare either falls upon me directly (which is difficult enough) or upon the chosen victim souls who offer their suffering for priests (and thanks be to God for their heroic love!). But thankfully, celibacy has spared me the heartache of watching my family suffer for my ministry.

By Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, The Daily Signal – Vice President JD Vance announced that the Trump administration has created a new assistant attorney general position to crack down on fraud nationwide… The new official will have “nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud,” Vance said at Thursday’s White House press briefing… “Unfortunately, the American people have been defrauded in a very nationwide way,” Vance said… Federal prosecutors have estimated that welfare fraud in the state could have topped $9 billion, and more than 90 individuals have been charged in connection to fraud schemes there.

By John Daniel Davidson, the Federalist – Forget January 6. It turns out January 7 might go down as the date when insurrection really arrived in America — not from the MAGA right, but from the anti-Trump left… In the aftermath of the fatal shooting Wednesday in Minneapolis of a woman who appears to have tried to ram an ICE agent with her vehicle, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced at a press conference that he had issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard to mobilize to “protect Minnesotans” from “rogue ICE agents.”… Walz said, “We’ve never been at war with our federal government,” and at one point told Minnesotans, “do not allow them to deploy federal troops here.” …