The LOOP
The Monday Loop - January 13, 2025
BIDEN GIVES MEDAL OF FREEDOM TO POPE FRANCIS
President Joe Biden awarded Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction this weekend. This is the first time Biden has awarded the medal “with Distinction.” Other January recipients of the medal from the outgoing president include failed 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and left-wing billionaire George Soros.
NEWSOM APPEARS TO DEFLECT CRITICISM OF FIRE RESPONSE
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom “appeared to deflect when he was confronted about Los Angeles residents being angry over his wildfire response, saying local leaders and people on his own team weren’t giving him a clear picture of the devastation,” reports FOX News.
CALIFORNIA DEACON HELPS SAVE CHURCH FROM FIRE
Deacon José Luis Díaz of Sacred Heart Church in Altadena, California, helped save his parish from destruction during the Eaton Fire. Dcn. Díaz said afterward that he has found solace in praying psalms of “agony, supplication, and pleading” as he continues to serve and pray for his community.
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3 HUMVEES STOLEN FROM CALIFORNIA ARMY RESERVE CENTER
“Three Humvees and other military equipment were stolen from an Army Reserve Center in Tustin, California,” FOX News reports. “Unknown suspects entered a storage warehouse at the Army Reserve Center on Wednesday between 8 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.”
KofC LAUNCH PROGRAM FEATURING SACRED HEART OF JESUS
The Knights of Columbus recently unveiled their 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 January 3rd.
JACK SMITH RESIGNS FROM DOJ
“Special Counsel Jack Smith – who oversaw two historic prosecutions against President-elect Donald Trump – has resigned from the Justice Department,” reports The New York Post. “The move by the embattled prosecutor — effective Friday — was expected ahead of the end of outgoing President Joe Biden’s term.”
HOPE
A statue of the Virgin Mary was discovered untouched in the ruins of homes destroyed during the Los Angeles fires.
NORTH CAROLINA RELEASES NAMES OF HELENE VICTIMS
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has released the names of 104 individuals who lost their lives due to Tropical Storm Helene. The list was made public this week, more than three months after historic flooding struck the western part of the state in late September.
CARDINAL: DEDICATION OF MIDDLE EAST CHURCH REPRESENTS HOPE
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, called the Friday dedication of a new church in Jordan that commemorates the Baptism of the Lord “a moment of hope.” It symbolizes the “unity and a testament to the Church’s desire for continuity, growth, and vitality in Jordan and throughout the Middle East” amid the war raging in the area, he said.
INTO THE DARKNESS WITH GOD
When the shepherds were visited by the angels, they were wrapped in light and glory, but when they arrived where the angel had pointed them, the scene was nearly opposite: dark, impoverished, ordinary, dirty. Hans Urs von Balthasar explains how Christ’s incarnation was a plunge into the darkness of the world, and how we are called to follow Him into it.
CATHOLIC 101
Yesterday, the Church celebrated the Baptism of Jesus. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are filled with sanctifying grace and the stain of original sin is washed away. Why then would Jesus need to be baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin, John the Baptist?
SAINT OF THE DAY
Less than 10 years after St. Hilary (c. 310 - 367) converted to the Catholic faith, the people of Poitiers called on him to be their bishop. Not long after his ordination to the episcopacy, Hilary was exiled for his orthodox beliefs by Emperor Constantius II. Rather than becoming discouraged, Hilary continued to propagate the faith. He wrote his most famous work, “On the Trinity,” during his exile.
DAILY PSALM
“Let all his angels worship him.” (Psalm 97:7)
DAILY READINGS
Today's Mass readings.
DEVOTION
Christ is King! Watch as the Crown of Thorns is returned in triumph to the restored Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.