By Ellie Gardey Holmes, American Spectator – On Newsom’s first full day in office as governor of California, on Jan. 8, 2019, Newsom held a press conference in which he declared war on the state’s wildfires and said that the state’s approach to combatting them “fundamentally has to change.” The following year, he signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Forest Service in which he pledged to “sustainably treat 500,000 acres” of forests and wildlands annually by 2025… The problem is that Newsom has wildly failed to reach that goal. Cal Fire, California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, claims that it treated 103,506 acres in fiscal year 2019-20, 116,668 acres in fiscal year 2020-21, 101,548 acres in fiscal year 2021-22, 91,601 acres in fiscal year 2022-2023, and 131,034 acres in fiscal year 2023-24. ….

By Rachel Roth Aldhizer, First Things – At the end of 2024, Washington State implemented a month-long pilot program that allowed some pharmacists to prescribe mifepristone to patients via telehealth screening. Mifepristone is one component of the two-part drug regimen needed to end pregnancies up to ten weeks of gestation. (The second part, misoprostol, is widely available.) The program, Pharmacist Abortion Access Project, is spearheaded by Uplift International and aims to serve as a model for other interested states where abortion is legal. ….

A Shepherd’s Voice, by Bishop Joseph Strickland, LifeSiteNews – Pope Francis scandalously stated last year that “all religions are a path to God,” which violates the First Commandment and shows us how deep the crisis in the Church goes. In the inaugural episode of A Shepherd’s Voice, Bishop Joseph Strickland introduces his new weekly series, drawing inspiration from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fireside chats to guide Catholics through today’s challenges. Attributing the current crisis in the Church to weak leadership and Modernist deviations from fundamental teachings, Bishop Strickland calls us to return to the foundations of the faith ….

By Brad Miner, The Catholic Thing – John Paul was shot on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. When the Blessed Virgin spoke to the children in 1917, she warned about what would result from the Russian Revolution. Karol Wojtyla had faced communism’s rise in Poland, just as Reagan had in Hollywood… Throughout the West, post-war policy had been to contain communism. But this president and this pope had a different plan, which Reagan made public in a speech at Notre Dame just six weeks after he’d been shot: “The West won’t contain communism, it will transcend communism.” It will “dismiss it as some bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written.”

Patriot Post – “Is the relinquishment of the trial by jury and the liberty of the press necessary for your liberty? Will the abandonment of your most sacred rights tend to the security of your liberty? Liberty, the greatest of all earthly blessings — give us that precious jewel, and you may take every things else! Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel.” —Patrick Henry (1788)

By Gavin Ashenden, The Stream – One of the greatest scandals since the second World War is currently unfolding in the United Kingdom: the systematic rape of some 250,000 working-class, mostly white girls at the hands of Muslim Pakistani gangs. It has been going on for more than a decade; our first reports date from 2011, but all were aggressively swept under the rug by politicians eager to hide the effects of mass immigration and Hoover up Muslim votes. Police offered no protection to these British citizens.  …

By Conor Gallagher, Catholic Exchange – Because God is a loving Father, He offers us not only the eternal reward of Himself but also an earthly reward for surrendering ourselves to Him. And He wants you to experience this immediate reward. He even wants you to seek this immediate reward… God is not hiding this gift from you. He has no desire to “surprise” you with peace and happiness. He has told you repeatedly that there is a reward waiting for you right now!… The obvious reward for trustfully surrendering to Divine Providence is the ultimate reward: paradise. This is obvious, this is simple, but it is not easy.

By Susan Berry, Ph.D., CatholicVote – GOP Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming stated clearly Sunday that while the situation in southern California during the wildfires is “heartbreaking” and devastating for people of all economic sectors, the federal government cannot provide a “blank check” in response to requests from state elected officials… “When you see what’s being shown on television, in addition to the tragedy on the ground, you’re also seeing gross mismanagement in California by elected officials, and it’s heartbreaking to hear the fire chief say that they’ve diverted all of this money away from the fire department to be used for social programs when they were already stretched too thin,”

By LifeSiteNews – There are striking parallels between Anne Catherine Emmerich’s prophecies and the challenges facing the Catholic Church today. Her visions, along with other warnings from saints and mystics, speak of a time of crisis marked by betrayal from within, schism, apostasy, and diabolical infiltration… These prophetic insights offer both a sobering reflection on the state of the Church and a call to prayer, vigilance, and faith.

By Jordan Estabrook, LifeNews – As the fires in California consumed Mel Gibson’s house and the homes of others, proclaimed Catholic Mel Gibson talked with Joe Rogan and entered philosophical territory. For almost three hours, they discussed the mismanagement of California neglecting the benefit of people for tiny fish, how choosing woke criteria over competence makes bad leaders, an in-depth discussion about the return of Passion of the Christ, and most interestingly, the longstanding nature of child sacrifice and how it lives today through abortion.

Franciscan Media – After his baptism at 30, Gregory gladly accepted his friend Basil’s invitation to join him in a newly founded monastery. The solitude was broken when Gregory’s father, a bishop, needed help in his diocese and estate. It seems that Gregory was ordained a priest practically by force, and only reluctantly accepted the responsibility. He skillfully avoided a schism that threatened when his own father made compromises with Arianism. …

By Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Catholic Register – Careful observers of papal-presidential relations were mildly surprised when President Joe Biden did not include Pope Francis in his final list of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients on Jan. 4… Alongside the Congressional Gold Medal, which is voted upon by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – (Sunday’s) Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is a moment to reflect not only on the Lord’s Baptism but on our own. In an extended sense, when Christ is baptized, so are we, for we are members of His Body. As Christ enters the water, He makes holy the water that will baptize us. He enters the water, and we who are members of His Body go with Him. In these waters He acquires gifts to give us.

By Rachel Quackenbush, CatholicVote – The Knights of Columbus recently unveiled its latest Pilgrim Icon Program, an initiative centered on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The program launched at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut, the birthplace of the Knights of Columbus, with a Sacred Heart Holy Hour Jan. 3… At the core of the Knights’ initiative is a reproduction of the iconic 1767 painting of the Sacred Heart by Italian artist Pompeo Batoni.

Catholic Culture by Staff – Out of total expenses of $13,163,258, only 52% ($6,849,470) was allotted to Catholic Relief Services, according to the report (p. 7). The percentage of total Catholic Relief Services Collection revenues ($13,933,699) that went to Catholic Relief Services was even lower: 49.2%… Much of the collection was allotted to offices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), though some funds were directed elsewhere: 15.4% ($2,031,216) of the total expenses were allotted to the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services …..