Questions to Stimulate Productive Conversation

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Why are you Here? What’s Next? 

                              Do you want to get to Heaven? 

Who in their right mind would say no?

The Catholic Church is very clear: Honor the Sacraments, Worship and obey one God, offer up every moment of your life to God, Love God and your Neighbor, keep the Faith and demonstrate your faith through good works. Then, the “four last things.”

Yet, since I converted from Agnostic/Protestantism to the Catholic Faith 24 years ago, I have noticed a slow, subtle, mostly quiet Protestant-like incursion that some “cradle Catholics” might be unaware of.

In straightforward terms, it might be stated thus, “Pray that you get yourself to Heaven.”

                                      Yankee Boy Wakes Up

I’m no theologian – as far from one as might be possible – but I’m also rather attentive to language and intention.

I have lived all over the U.S. and when young, in much of the deep south*, among Southern Baptist and other Protestant denominations. Their constant, almost exclusive message was, “Get yourself to Heaven. Do everything you can to get on the Heaven-bound train. God wants you to get yourself to Heaven.” Etc., etc.

                              That Protestant idea troubled me

I grew up in a (Protestant) family whose primary ethos was to honor and serve others, first and before ourselves. 

Even in my youth, that constantly droning Protestant message actually made me a little ill and seemed rather too selfish and self-centered.

                              Have we Drunk the New Kool-Aid?

But then in the past few years I began to hear whispers, implications and outright statements of the same message from Catholic priests, bishops and deacons: homilies, Catholic news sources, Catholic commentators and respected opinion leaders.

More and more about ‘Heaven’ and less about what Jesus instructed us we need to do right down here on earth.** 

It’s almost like things have gotten so incredibly screwed up down here on earth that we have thrown up our hands and given up any serious effort trying to fix the brokenness in our families, our church and our society.*** 

The stink of cultural rot seems to have driven many of us away from the holy sheepfold and into the unknown desert, blindly groping for something better.

                                        What is going on?

I’m sure many will disagree with my opinions. It truly may be just me. Perhaps I have lost my own spiritual sight? I’m open to serious and informed dialogue and debate.

Maybe I need a new catechesis? Perhaps I missed something in the last 24 years of study of the Scriptures, Catechism(s), Church history and Canon Law? 

For the life of me I’m at a loss to understand.

>>> What have I missed?

>>> Can anyone help me?

Or do we share an unaddressed problem?

.======================================.

Coming soon, Part 3 of Living the Beatitudes

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* Including Alabama, Georgia, Texas/Louisiana bayou country and two others.

** As we semiconsciously recite these familiar words, “Thy will be done on earth…,” do we ever meditate on their deep implications and relationship to the entire message of Jesus in the Gospels?

*** And God help anyone who dares talk about the relationship between the cultural rot and our church and governmental politics. Such conversations are forbidden among Christians as we breathlessly encourage and await the rest of secular society to fix some of the brokenness for us. And hope for the best.

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The Beauty of the Traditional Latin Mass 

                        History of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)

Before Vatican II the form of the Eucharistic Liturgy had been relatively unchanged for more than 900 years. It was finally canonized in 1570 and the service was in Latin everywhere. 

In 1963 Vatican II called for reform. Many changes were made and by 1970 a new form of the Mass was approved, called the Novus Ordo Missae, or Novus Ordo (N.O.) for short. Latin was replaced with local indigenous languages and many other changes ensued.*

However, the TLM remained approved and celebrated throughout the world in many places. In the past few years there has been a drive from the Vatican to eliminate it in favor of the Novus Ordo. 

Most recently several were cancelled in the Diocese of Tyler, Texas where only one parish is now allowed to celebrate the TLM. Unfortunately, very little reason has been offered for this change and many parishes are confused and greatly upset as a result.

                              Some Less Visible Differences

Not only is there a tremendous beauty in the celebration of a High TLM Mass. Surveys show that the people who attend the TLM and N.O Mass seem to have some distinct differences 

Examples: **

Approve contraception: TLM, 2%      N.O., 89%
Approve abortion : TLM, 1%      N.O., 51%
Weekly Mass attendance: TLM, 99%      N.O., 22%
Approve gay marriage: TLM, 2%      N.O., 67%
Income % donated: TLM, 6%      N.O., 1.2%
Fertility rate: TLM, 3.6      N.O., 2.3

                              Consecration in the TLM 

Here is a five minute video of a priest, quietly explaining the high point of an ongoing TLM: Click Here to see the video.

                              Questions:

>>> Did you notice in the video how almost everyone is reverently dressed? I didn’t see any beach wear or blue jeans. 

>>> Why is the Vatican disfavoring, discouraging and even forbidding the practice of the TLM?

>>> How many of those who are currently leaving the Church were raised in the old tradition of the TLM? How many in the Novus Ordo? Is there any statistical relationship?

>>> What can the laity do to better understand and support the decision of the Vatican to favor the Novus Ordo Mass? What can our Episcopate do to assist this understanding?

____________________________ 

* Dr. Taylor Marshall has an informative video on YouTube with more detail:
“10 Differences between Latin Mass and Novus Ordo Mass.” Click here to view it.

** Source information from several surveys. Supplied on request. 

____________________________ 

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Living the Beatitudes, Part 2

                                        The Pragma of Christ

What about Righteousness? 

Matthew 5:6 and 5:10 of the Beatitudes:

+++ Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

+++ Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed? Persecuted? Hunger and Thirst? We hear of these things in the Beatitudes but how might we best reflect on their relevance to our life’s journey?

We learn that the sacrament of Baptism and the Holy Spirit are precursors and necessary for full righteousness. But why and how?

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousnessand all these things will be given you besides.” 

Here, the words, ‘all these things … besides’ refers to our earthly needs. But there is much more that God desires to give us.

God is the source and author of this righteousness – a divine righteousness.

The Greek word (and its Hebrew relative) for ‘righteousness’ can also be translated to mean, justice, justness or righteousness. ‘Justice’ is less emphasized to avoid confusion with the earthly idea of legal jurisprudence which is more frequent in the Old Testament where it can mean, righteousness, justice or acts of charity.*

                         Justification, Righteousness, Faith and Love

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, (which has been widely misinterpreted in many Protestant circles), he tells us that we receive justification through Faith. Separately, James, in his epistle, makes it more clear that faith alone is insufficient. We must demonstrate our faith through good works. And St. Paul advances the idea further, in 1 Corinthians 13. He makes it clear that faith without love is like a dull, worthless clanging cymbal.

                                                 Blessed?

But, what does it mean to be ‘blessed’? Do we ever think deeply about these blessings? 

The scriptural Greek word which translates to ‘blessed’ typically means, happy, fortunate, or to be envied. And to some of us it may be even more profound.**

God says if we hunger and thirst for something holy, that indicates our innermost spiritual desire. When this is of the spirit, it becomes more than an earthly desire and with a little ‘push’ can focus on the holy will of God.

                                     Practical Righteousness

But how about those who are persecuted because they seek the righteousness of God? 

The WW-II family that hid Anne Frank and her family comes to mind. They were killed for their righteous acts. And there were many others who suffered greatly. Names like Bonhoeffer and Schindler come to mind.

                                   A Pandemic of Suffering

We have just come through a so-called ‘pandemic’ in which many who tried to avoid a so-called ‘vaccine’ for religious reasons were denied that right. 

Some were fired; some lost licenses and certifications; many were publicly shamed. Hopes, careers, and families were destroyed. Now as the darkness fades and a new dawn of awareness opens, with the forced release of 450,000 pages of CDC documents, we are finding that thousands had their health and their lives destroyed from a questionable medical treatment.***

Do you suppose some of those who were persecuted, might have been seeking righteousness? I am personally aware of several ‘candidates’.

                       These two Beatitudes Aroused World Change

David Maloof****, whom we mentioned in Part 1, last week, devotes six of the fifteen chapters in his book to the two righteousness Beatitudes and makes compelling arguments for how they changed the world:

+++ Formal education came to the masses,

+++ Constitutional government, democracy and religious freedom became common,

+++ The country of India became free and was re-created,

+++ An underground movement of religious freedom remains active in China,

+++ In the 20thCentury, it helped defeat totalitarianism in Communist Europe,

+++ The hunger and thirst for righteousness promoted, through free enterprise, the moral economy in the 12th through the 20th Centuries.

>>> So, history aside, what is righteousness in our time? What does it mean to you?

>>> Do you know anyone who has suffered for righteousness? Have you?

.===============================.

Next week, Part 3 will further explore our gift of the Beatitudes.

____________________________ 

* Strong’s Concordance, Hebrew # 6666.

** (In my own still developing mind, I reflexively go back to the French language where the word ‘bless…’ with different endings, means to wound, or wounded. However the English word, ‘bless’, actually derives, from the Anglo-Saxon and Middle English, not from the French. Yet, silly as it may sound – it is my personal phonological problem – I can’t get it out of my head when I consider the woundsof Jesus through which he truly blessed all of mankind.)

*** Wolf, Naomi, Editor, The Pfizer Papers, Pfizer’s Crimes Against Humanity, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., Delaware, 386 pp., 2024.

**** Maloof, David T., Christianity Matters. How over Two Millennia the Meek and the Merciful Revolutionized Civilization – and why it needs to Happen Again, 70x7 Publishing, Rye, New York, 2016   

____________________________ 

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Christian Group Consensus 

                              Are There Peaceful Ways?

If we were truly a Christian nation, how would we make important group decisions? 

Practically speaking, how might we make difficult group decisions within our personal Christian groups, be it family, parish, local community or beyond? Decisions that unite, rather than divide?

                              What would Jesus recommend?

We in America have just gone through a rather tedious national voting process. We call it, “democracy,” (after the Greek, demos (people) and kratos (rule)) – the rule of the people. In a democracy, sadly, it seems that someone almost always feels defeat or loss.

Many regard democracy as a great system, although a few historians and philosophers, including Plato have warned us of its dangerous imperfections.

How about making important decisions by drawing straws? Or by encouraging group ‘consensus’ (from the Latin, consentire, to ‘feel together’)? Some functioning societies use such methods successfully.

Is there a better way for Christians?

                                             For Study

Here are some scriptural references to ponder that might be worth discussing or studying alone or with your children and grandchildren. 

>>> How did the Apostles chose deacons, in Acts 6:1˗6?

>>> How did the Apostles chose the twelfth apostle, Matthias , in Acts 1:23˗26? Why do you think they used that approach rather than voting?

                    How did the Apostles Resolve Differences?

How did the early Christian communities make difficult group decisions? And how did they settle differences when they arose? How did they rely upon the Lord, the Holy Spirit and one another when making important decisions?

                                      In the Old Testament

>>> Ponder how discontent and group decision-making led to the rebellion of Korah, in Numbers Chapter 16.

                              ‘Voting’ in the New Testament

>>> The only example I can find in the Gospels of actual ‘voting’, is in Matthew 27:15-26 (see also in Mark Ch. 15) where an obviously pre-selected crowd was asked to ‘vote’ on the fate of Jesus.

How do you think the Pharisees might have ‘rigged’ that vote?

.================================.

(In Sunday’s letter we plan to cover Part 2 of “Living the Beatitudes.”)

____________________________ 

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Living the Beatitudes, Part 1

The Pragma of Christ

You probably know that what turned pagan European society into a productive and peaceful civilization had its roots in early Christianity. 

What you may not know is that the Beatitudes – that teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount – (Matthew 5:3-10) – were at the heart of the transformation. 

They laid the foundation for economic success, public education, emancipation of women, medical and health care advances and a system of justice, as well as the eventual end of slavery in Christian nations.

Who are the “Poor in Spirit”?

Scholars understand that “poor in spirit” refers to those who empty themselves of material possessions to focus their attention on God’s Kingdom, “… on earth as it is in Heaven.”

The opposite is a greedy person – one who worships the idol of materialism and is prevented from inheriting the Kingdom. (Ephesians 5:5)

Who are the “Merciful”?

Early believers who practiced, “Blessed are the merciful…,” rescued and adopted unwanted, discarded babies which increased female survival by 40% in the First Century. Their self-sacrificial attention to the pagan sick and infirm persuaded and converted Roman citizens. And led to the establishment of early hospitals.

Common People Noticed

Early Christians didn’t get people’s primary attention by worshipping Jesus and preaching, which of course they did. What won the hearts and minds of the pagan masses was their selfless mercy and caring. Their help for the oppressed and their humility and sincerity is what caused Christianity to be noticed, accepted and spread throughout Europe.

If it worked once, perhaps America might consider trying it again?

Many feel this void in today’s world as we slowly revert to becoming a godless, self-centered society.*

For further study, I strongly recommend the book:

Christianity Matters. How over Two Millennia the Meek and the Merciful Revolutionized Civilization – and why it needs to Happen Again, by David T Maloof**

To quote from Maloof:

The Beatitudes can … be viewed as more than a prescription as to how to get to heaven; they can also be viewed when practiced en masse as step-by-step sequential directions – a MapQuest so to speak – setting out the pathway to achieve a better world.***

Malouf suggests the Ten Commandments can tell us what not to do; while the Beatitudes state a positive action plan of what we must do to further Christ’s Kingdom.

What do you think? 

>>> Does the state of our civilization concern you and those you love?
>>> Do we need to reconsider how we live and demonstrate our faith?
>>> Is this a job for our church? The laity?
>>> Or have we surrendered and given in to government monopoly?

Next week, Part 2 will cover this topic in more detail.

____________________________ 

* Pew Research surveys show that in 1950 the number of Americans who said they didn’t believe in any god was 0%. Today that number is 20%.

** _____, 70x7 Publishing, Rye, New York, 2016 

***Ibid., p198

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Let’s make Halloween Catholic Again

Make Halloween Catholic Again

Here’s a very short video to make us think twice and wonder…

Video of Children celebrating All Saints Eve in Vietnam. Click here: “Make Halloween Catholic Again”

Almost 10% of Vietnam is Christian* but the government controls their activities and does not let them proselytize.

____________________________ 

* 7% Catholic, 2% Protestant by one estimate.     

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A.I.: How to Destroy America? (No. XXVI)

Dr. Robert Malone is the inventor of the MRNA Vaccine, a research doctor who for several years has been warning us NOT to take the so-called Covid vaccine. He has been vilified, and cancelled and persecuted, along with several dozen other medical researchers with similar information, concerns and warnings.

He has testified before Congress and written extensively about his concern for the future of America.

Recently he posted the following rhetorical question on his Substack*, with open permission to republish, which we do here, in part:

A "Chat GPT" analysis
Robert W Malone MD, MS

The question posed to ChatGPT was:

“If you were Satan and/or a long-term strategic enemy of the United States, what approach would you take to undermine the morale of American citizens, destroy their faith in God, and make them question their allegiance to their country?”

.=====================================.

Answer from ChatGPT:

If I were to take the perspective of Satan or a long-term strategic enemy seeking to undermine American morale, destroy faith in God, and create disillusionment with the country, a subtle and multifaceted approach would likely be most effective. Here’s how that might look:

Sow Division and Tribalism: I would exacerbate existing social, political, and racial divisions, using propaganda to deepen mistrust between different groups. By fostering extreme polarization, I could weaken the national identity, making people see each other as enemies rather than fellow citizens. This could be achieved by manipulating the media, social networks, and public discourse to fuel conflict and outrage.

Erode Trust in Institutions: I would target trust in key institutions like the government, the church, and the justice system. By amplifying scandals, highlighting hypocrisy, and promoting cynicism about leaders, I would encourage people to lose faith in the structures that hold society together, making them feel betrayed or abandoned.

Attack Religious Foundations: To weaken faith in God, I would promote secularism and materialism while mocking traditional religious values. I would work to make belief in God seem antiquated, irrational, or intolerant, and highlight religious conflicts or corruption to turn people away from their faith. Normalizing moral relativism would erode people’s connection to religious principles and community.

Promote Hedonism and Self-Interest: I would encourage a culture of immediate gratification, material wealth, and self-centeredness. By making people prioritize individual desires over communal good or spiritual growth, I could reduce the importance of both faith and national solidarity. People focused on personal success and pleasure are less likely to sacrifice for others or a higher cause.

Undermine Patriotism: I would spread the idea that the U.S. is inherently flawed, and beyond redemption, focusing on historical injustices and failures. While criticism can be healthy, I would make sure it devolves into a form of nihilism, where the country’s ideals are seen as hypocritical or unattainable. This would make people question their allegiance and pride in the nation.

Create a Sense of Hopelessness: I would foster economic, environmental, and existential anxieties, making people feel that the future is bleak and out of their control. This could involve amplifying fears about job loss due to automation, environmental collapse, or global instability. A hopeless, fearful population is much easier to manipulate.

Co-opt Technology for Control: I would use technological advancements, such as social media algorithms and surveillance, to create echo chambers, promote unhealthy comparisons, and foster isolation. People would feel constantly watched, judged, and disconnected, leading to anxiety and despair. Simultaneously, I would push distractions that numb critical thinking and increase apathy.

In sum, a combination of division, demoralization, cynicism, and isolation would gradually unravel the social fabric, making Americans question their faith, their values, and their country’s worth.

.=====================================.

That’s from a computer – an artificial intelligent computer that has been fed all the information available on the Internet.

>>> Having read this, what do you think? Is this a prediction; or are we already there? What is the proper role, if any for the Church? The Laity?

____________________________ 

* Substack blog: "Who is Robert Malone" <rwmalonemd@substack.com>, posted daily by Robert W Malone MD.

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Why do we Fight so Much More Nowadays?

Don’t Blame the Devil

Has it always been like this? The younger generation says, Yes, of course. But those of us with more or less gray on top remember earlier days when we had friends who were black, white, yellow and green. (Well, maybe the first three unless you were a Trekkie.*) 

These friends might have been from any party, religion or other persuasion. We didn’t care how they voted or lived. In college, I had a Communist friend who subscribed to and read The Daily Worker. We all kidded him but that was it. Nobody took it seriously.

And some of us remember when the two different congressional party leaders would battle it out on the House floor, raising dust from hell itself. Then they would adjourn and go have a pleasant, jovial lunch together. Normal as normal could be.

What Changed?

My thesis: In the past few decades a relatively few powerful people have emerged who incite much of our division and benefit from it financially. 

In what follows, we will suggest how these people have perverted our economic society. What is implicit is how this division has crept into the lives and physical and spiritual welfare of our families and our communities.

Of course, there are and have always been many unpleasant interactions between different social and ethnic groups. Look no further than how each of the newly arriving immigrant groups – the Polish, the Irish, the Jews, etc., were ‘welcomed’ when first they arrived on our shores. 

But something big, new and unprecedented has happened to our world.

Bingeing on Power

There seem to be three required factors to bring a group interaction to a boil or in nuclear language, “Critical mass”:

.1. Two or more groups with diametrically opposite viewpoints.

.2. An antagonistwho encourages them and even helps them fight.**

.3. Power and resourcesto fuel the fire.

The first two have been around since antiquity.

It’s that third factor that has had the most recent influence. A few very powerful people and corporations are now running much of the world. And it’s not just Blackrock, State Street and the World Economic Forum. We are seeing ‘big money’ take over where we once imagined that democracy ruled. 

Increasingly powerful corporations have gained great influence over our so-called ‘democratically elected’ leaders. The voting citizens no longer control our legislatures as they once did. Big business now has gained enormous sway over our government and our lives.

Study after study show that the morals and ethics and values of these corporations and their leaders are in direct opposition to that of the majority of Americans.

Common Law and legal precedent, treat corporations as ‘people’. But, while a corporation may have a ‘body’ (corpore), it has no soul.***

Many Things Have Changed

One key change began accelerating several decades ago. Big businesses were growing larger as they swallowed thousands of smaller ones. Every business publication was alive with stories of hundreds of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). 

That included media companies. 

There was a time when every town had two or more local newspapers and many had a low power radio station. Then Congress began passing new legislation that was partly responsible for their demise. They removed earlier barriers that had protected small daily newspapers and radio/TV stations from being eaten up in the M&A frenzy.

Then came the Internet that offered to eliminate the middleman. 

Hundreds of thousands of mom and pop stores and small shops, once the attraction of Main Street, disappeared, replaced by giants and shopping malls. Amazon is a prime example (pun intended).

A Tsunami of Lobbying Began

As these companies grew, they began to wield their new power on legislatures and regulatory agencies as they lobbied and manipulated for even more power. Legislators, who once worked exclusively for ‘we the people’, now began to act for powerful special interests.

That includes our so-called fourth estate – social media, electronic media, and the dead tree news corporations who supposedly keep us informed and alert. But recent revelations have shown intentional censoring of some very evil governmental doings behind the veil.

Questions

>>> Do you believe more small wars and hotter international conflict is profitable to some corporations?

>>> Do you believe that some corporations might actually encourage government agencies into these scenarios?

>>> What can we do to return control of our lives and our God-given rights to the people?

____________________________ 

* ‘Trekkie’ = Star Trek fan, for those of you who only remember as far back as Madonna and Beyoncé.

** Read about Antonio Gramsci who was mentioned in our last QOTD. Also, look at Sol Alinsky, and the politicians and religious institutions he influenced. He was the subject of Hillary Clinton’ master’s thesis at Barnard. Barack Obama was a protégé.

*** P.R. firms are paid big bucks to try to convince us otherwise. 

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Will God Help Us or Punish Us? 

So Much Unconfronted Evil…

Those who know me know why I decided to join the Catholic Church 24+ years ago. And it was not to find a politically activist group. To the contrary. I saw the beauty of a Holy Catholic Church that was energetically doing what Jesus told us to do – take care of the needy, spread the Gospel and bring his people together in body and in soul.

To those of us who have been paying attention, things seem to have changed.

Our Less-Visible Church

As the secular world goes crazier and crazier, I see a church that withdraws more and more from the world. Little spiritual or practical guidance is given to struggling families in the most important areas.

The result, thousands leave the church every day as they turn to secular and government sources and other denominations for their physical, emotional, and yes – their spiritual needs.

It is sad to watch the division taking place, of all places, in our Church! So many issues: Novus Ordo vs. TLM, bishops against priests, with dozens of now ‘cancelled priests’ who dared to speak up about controversial issues like vaccines or homosexuality. Abp. Viganò – cancelled; Bishop Strickland – cancelled. These are not normal times.

Our society, and sadly our parish congregations, have become divided on just about every major issue. There is a societal reason for it, and few people are aware that it is not accidental.* 

Timidity?

I have discovered there is an unwritten rule – among much of the clergy. Go along and get along. We have so few priests, they have little time for challenges from superiors. So, controversial matters are usually avoided. Unfortunately, many of these ‘controversial matters’ are destroying families, our society and the very fabric of our country.

Tyranny 

But what about our government? Doesn’t anyone see what is happening? Our federal and state governments are becoming agents of tyranny. Our God-given rights are being slowly eroded.

Mammon

Big Money, in the palms of a handful of powerful men – Nearly every single one, a self-proclaimed atheist or non-believer – have taken control of 90% of our communications, print media and television and are controlling what the people hear and don’t hear like never before. And their interests are not those of the American people.

Will Godless Leaders Respect God-Given Rights?

We have an election coming up that some say will potentially change America forever if the current party retains power.

But what do we hear from our episcopal superiors and our priests about the evils that are being proposed. Sadly, practically NOTHING.

We might hear a muted call from the pulpits that we should go vote. But so what? Only half of Catholic Christians in America are even registered to vote. And of those, only half typically do vote.

As a well known management consultant once said, “Things are the way they are because they got that way.” And we all just watched.

Why Vote?

Seven key issues are on the ballot in a few days, when and if we vote:

· Sanctity of Human Life

· Marriage, Family and Parental Rights

· Education and School Choice

· Religious Liberty

· Immigration

· Judges

· Health Care

The two parties are worlds apart. Sadly, so are the members of the Catholic Church according to recent studies. Much of this might have been prevented with more fervent leadership who had less concern for upsetting the donor class and more concern with educating the people in basic Christianity.

Two Opposing Platforms

If you want to view the individual platforms of each national party, visit:

REPUBLICAN – prod-static.gop.com/media/RNC2024-Platform.pdf  

DEMOCRAT – democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FINAL-MASTER-PLATFORM.pdf 

The Republican document is 28 pages; the Democrat document is 91 pages.

One question that continues to puzzle me. Why in the heck do I keep hearing people say that one candidate smiles and the other doesn’t and that affects their vote? 

Why has it also become popular to determine who is best to run the largest ‘corporation’ on the face of the earth based on personal strengths or weaknesses that have absolutely no relationship to running a business. 

Make no mistake this country is a big, complicated business. The world is complex and we have many enemies and our fingers in just about every conceivable pie. Here in the US we have 463 federal agencies and 2,500,000 employees, most of whom are now working at home and many are unknowingly working at odds with each other. It’s very inefficient and complex.

So, who will we choose to lead us through what might be World War III?

I like people who smile. But God help us if that’s all we get.

And God help us if the Socialist agenda prevails.

____________________________ 

* For more information, study the life and work of Antonio Gramsci, the man who started the Italian Communist Party and who created what became ‘Critical Theory’. Fascinating reading that involves Germany, opposition by Hitler and final acceptance in New York City, in, of all places, Columbia University.

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                             'Love' in the Old Testament

This message is being sent to you from the Garden of Eden, Well, it is almost as beautiful here as the original Garden. Except it’s colder and there’s a wisp of snow in the air. I am deep in the Adirondack forest wilderness with my laptop, a cell phone-created Wi-Fi hotspot and a woodfire. There are no other human beings for at least a mile and a half of winding trails and back roads. 

Contemplation in the desert? This is better. And there was a perfect view of the new comet in the clear evening western sky.

Total silence is common here, except for the nightly beaver splash on the creek below and the occasional snapping of a burning log. During the day my friends, George and Klaus often visit. George is a bald eagle who sits on a dead tree limb. Klaus is a ruffed grouse who amuses by startling me on the trail when he suddenly rockets past me from his hiding place. 

And there is an occasional deer. The bears are getting their winter residences ready and are nowhere to be found; the many forest hummingbirds have long ago flown south. All is still. The peace of God that passeth all understanding is here. Now.

                                                          ●●●

                             Our Testamentary Inheritance from Jesus’ 

In two previous QOTDs (numbers XX and XXI) we saw that Jesus gave us a new emphasis on the concept of ‘love’. The Koine Greek word, agàpē, leads us to the almost indescribable self-sacrificing love of God for Jesus – and through Jesus to and for – us.

And that is a major development over and above the ideas of ‘love’ we find throughout the Old Testament.

                             What about ‘Love’ in the Old Testament?

In the Old Testament there are eight Hebrew words that translate to English ‘Love’ according to Strong’s Concordance of the King James Bible.

Of these eight words, the two most common, (Strong’s #157 and #160)* account for 85 percent of use. #157 is often used to refer to affection, sexual and otherwise; #160 is sometimes used to refer to love as a sexual activity. 

The great medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides proclaimed that Hebrew was the most perfectly holy language because it contains not a single word for foul and disgusting matters, especially concerning sex.** (Maimonides focused much of his attention on the concepts of body and soul in scripture, especially in the Torah.) 

This makes one wonder about the power of language for good or for evil.

Christianity has given us a new focus – more on others and less on ourselves, our feelings and our emotions. And an emphasis on sacrificial love that cares for others, beyond our personal comfort zones.

What about our personal vocabularies? How can we learn the better ‘language’ and reject the worse? Is it not true that we adopt language and ideas from those with whom we work and socialize? Babies don’t learn it from books, neither do (most) adults.

Saint Paul recognized that those with whom we associate can lead us either to depravity or holiness. In 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV) he advises, “Do not be misled: Bad Company corrupts good character.”

And in 2 Timothy 2:22 he writes, Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

Question:
>>> Is there a way to train our children and grandchildren in a better language? One that will lead them to greater holiness?

In 1 Corinthians 5:11 (NIV) Saint Paul implores, “But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.”

So, with whom do most of our children and grandchildren associate? Have we ever wondered how much their open little minds absorb from the older kids as they spend an hour each day on the school bus?

Are their vocabularies moving closer to Jesus or farther away? 

____________________________ 

* These numbers are from Strong’s study of the Protestant King James Bible which does not include the seven books deleted by Martin Luther from the original canon of Sacred Scripture. 

** Strong's Hebrew:
157. אָהַב (aheb) – to love (verb) and
160. אַהֲבָה (ahabah) – love (noun).

*** Kellner, Menachem, Maimonides Confrontation with Mysticism, Liverpool University Press, 2006, Chapter 5.

____________________________ 

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                              Have You Been Offended?

Have any of us ever been personally offended? And once offended, do we go and tell someone else of how offended we are? Or do we go to the one who has offended us and seek redress?

How are Christians instructed to handle this?

Sadly, too many of us, when offended, do not go to the offender to resolve the issue. Often the impulse is to go to friends or friendly groups and ‘report’ on the offender. I guess there’s an immediate reward – some kind of good feeling of satisfaction – as in, “Someone I trust understands and is affirming my hurt.”

But now we may unwittingly have enabled a third party who has been given the seed of gossip.

Ask any priest – when a parishioner hears or sees something they find upsetting*, the first impulse is often to write a ‘note’ to the diocesan archbishop, or someone else in authority. This is often about as un-Christian as one can imagine. It is a serious sin if it is gossip that leads one to violate the Commandment about bearing false witness. 

Why is that so?

                              The Doctrine of Fraternal Correction

Jesus gave us a better way to deal with sin among us in the church. Unfortunately, His so-called ‘doctrine of fraternal correction’, known to other denominations, is almost never taught in the Catholic Church – to children or to adults. The Catechisms** totally ignore it and it is only briefly mentioned in one Sunday Gospel reading that occurs once every three years. (The next time will be Sunday, June 6, 2026.) And since there are two parts to that reading, many homilies tend to focus only on the unrelated second part.

In the first part of the reading, Matthew 18:15‑17, says, if your (Christian) neighbor offends you, you are given a four step process to resolve the offense. 

.1. First, go and talk with the offender and try to resolve the problem between onlythe two of you.

.2. If that is unsuccessful, bring one or two other witnesses to try to help resolve it.

.3. If they still won’t listen, take the problem to the church (the body of believers).

.4. If they won’t listen to the church, treat that person like a “pagan or a tax collector.” (In other words, break any closer relationship.)

And St. Paul especially cautions us against taking such problems to non-believers for resolution.***  He argues that, as a body of believers, we should be able to settle disputes among ourselves since believers are guided by a higher power.

                              What if?

Imagine what a better place this world would be if we could adopt this lesson from Jesus as a part of our everyday first reaction! We could expect greater interpersonal harmony, more honest communication, better mutual understanding and a lot more peace among us.

                              Order and Peace from Canon Law…

Here’s another thought. Canon Law**** tells us that if a layman might “have the knowledge, competence and prestige,” and notices that someone in pastoral authority has seriously erred, it may actually be his or her dutyto offer correction, but to do so with reverence and attentive to personal dignity.

So, here’s another way to save a costly postage stamp to the archdiocese!

There is a Christian way; and there is a temporal way. Let us avoid the secular trap.

>>> What did your Faith training teach you to do in similar situations?

>>> How might you instruct a child or grandchild?

____________________________ 

* Such as what Jesus or St. Paul said about matters such as, divorce, abortion, homosexuality, responsibilities of wives, need for confession, or a host of other established Catholic Christian truths.

** No mention of this scripture or this command is found in either the most recent, published Catechism of the Catholic Church, nor in the older Baltimore Catechism.

*** 1 Corinthians 6:1-2

**** CIC ¶212, §3 – “According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they [the Christian faithful] possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church…”, but to do so with reverence and attentive to the dignity of persons involved.

NOTE: Recently we received a comment about a past QOTD that needs to be repeated. We asked, “What is the opposite of ‘Love’.” A thinking Christian responded, the opposite of love is indifference. Makes one think: how busy or distracted do we have to get to become indifferent to the pain and needs of others? And how easily that indifference could become a habit?  

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                                       Christian ‘Love’?, Part 2

In our last offering, we mentioned the different implications of the word, ‘love’. One such meaning appears in Scripture most frequently – the self-sacrificing, all-giving love of Jesus: “agápē,” (in Greek, ἀγάπη).

St. Paul gives us a complete presentation of agápē love in Chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians.

A century and a half ago there was a popular song familiar to every soldier on every Civil War battlefield. The words of Lorena  told the trepidations of a soldier who feared he might never return from battle to see his beloved. 

The melody of that song has haunted me ever since I first pecked it out, note by note, on my Grandmother’s old piano, many years ago.

A few years ago I borrowed part of that tune and, using the words from St. Paul’s beautiful 1 Cor. 13 verse, composed and arranged a hymn for four voices, God’s Gift of Love. A video of that hymn, using computer-simulated voices * can be seen and heard on YouTube (Click here).

Here are the words of the hymn, which attempt to capture Saint Paul’s message:

                        V. 1

True Love is humble and protecting,

     It trusts, forgives and perseveres.

‘Tis ever hopeful, kind and patient,

     Rejoices with the truth it hears.

This Love, oh Lord you freely gave

     To Jesus Christ your blessed Son,

That we might share with one another

     So peace among us might be won!

                        V.2

Not “love” that takes and is self-seeking,

     But Love that gives one’s life to bind!

Boasts not, nor will delight in evil;

     For recompense t’is truly blind.

It keeps no record of one’s wrongs;

     ‘Tis slow to anger; rudeness pales

Beyond what God gave us to offer.

     For love endures and never fails!

                        Coda:

As fragile life meets journey’s end

     Nor Faith nor Hope dare to pretend

To enter Heaven’s realm above, above,

     Where naught cross o’er but Abba’s Love!

Amen.

“Three things abide, Faith Hope and Love, and the greatest of these is Love.”

Question: Which of the following do you believe is the opposite of love:
*** Hate?  or
*** Fear?

*** And why do you believe this?
*** What keeps many of us from loving some of the ‘others’ in our lives?

A bit more in our next posting and its implications for our Church, our society and our families.    

___________________________

* It’s hard to find people who can read music anymore, much less sing parts for tenor, baritone and bass. So now we adapt to living in the age of the computer. (Sigh.)

** Click here to download the sheet music.    

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               What is Christian ‘Love’?

“Love,” a word we all understand. Or do we? In vernacular American English we have this commonly overused, all-purpose word. As in, “I love chocolate, I love Jesus, I love my wife, I love the new movie about Jesus, we love our children, I saw two dogs making love and we absolutely love our new subscription to Netflix.” And so forth…

We have many different meanings for one word – personal desire, general affection, friendliness, and romantic, familial and spiritual love –and more…  Subconscious ambiguity and confusion anyone?

               Does Language Matter?

Linguists teach us that language itself is not thought. Rather, it is a tool  for thought. It can help us express our thoughts and it can help us shape our thoughts and our deeper ideas and concepts behind them. 

Anyone who is familiar with George Orwell’s book, 1984, understands how the story’s language, “NewSpeak,” was designed and intended to control behavior.

Do you suppose the Devil might have any similar plans?

Cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists tell us that the way we live our lives is shaped by our inner, conscious and subconscious concepts of reality.

Today’s society is focused on two deep-seated concepts: a culture of death and sexual gratification. And both topics have become hotbeds of popular entertainment. * (Pornographic websites are among the largest users of the Internet. 8% to 12% of search engine queries are for pornography.) 

               What does the Bible Say?

For research, I often use Strong’s Concordance of the King James Bible, a 2,000 page reference to the occurrence and meaning of Hebrew and Greek words therein. I was amazed to find that the Greek word for sexual desire, érōs (ἔρως), does not appear once in the New Testament! Not a single time!

Another word, agápē, (ἀγάπη), is translated as ‘love’ and appears more often than any other. Agape love is the sacrificial love that God gave to Jesus, for him to give to the church and in turn to give to us. 

Jesus tells us in John 15:13, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” That is agape love and it involves a lot more than just being ‘nice’.

Different words for ‘love’ appear 175 times in the NT. This word, agápē**, appears 155 times. The next most frequent word, phileo and its ‘relatives’, (meaning to be a friend or showing brotherly love), appear only fifteen times.

In summary, eros is based on feelings and is me-oriented. Phileo is based on shared interest and is we-oriented. Agape is Christ-centered and is others-oriented.

Our culture has drifted away from the deep suffering and needs of others. We are witnessing the atrophy – indeed, the spiritual suicide – of a once faith-filled, sacrificially loving society. 

Three questions:
*** What has caused us to become more ‘me-oriented’?
*** What should our Church be doing to change people’s hearts?
*** Where will it end?

In our next posting, we hope to take a deeper dive into this subject and its implications for our Church, our society and our families.

___________________________

* Reminds us of what preceded the Roman Empire collapse.

** And its variant, agapeo.

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               Suffering

Why does a loving God allow His children to suffer?

One hears all sorts of deep theological reasons, most of which are inaccessible to the average person. Let’s look at it from a different perspective. Maybe one that our children might understand?

Didn’t Jesus come to earth and heal a great deal of suffering? Of course he did. Isn’t it likely that God in his infinite mercy would want all of his children not to suffer? Well…

Maybe it’s part of a great plan? Without going into the different known origins of suffering, including… 

· Natural (earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.), 

· Human-initiated evil (wars, greed, theft, etc.), and 

· Godly vengeance…

… Perhaps some (or all?) suffering has an eternal purpose. After earthquakes and hurricanes do their damage, people build stronger houses and structures. After a great war, the United Nations was formed to get nations to talk out their problems first. Scripture reveals several cases when God threatened a sinful people, some then returned to him and they were spared.

               Can We Think of any Earthly Examples?

Fire purifies gold and fire is used with water to make steel harder and stronger. 

A young lawyer, Ralph Nader* wrote about excess automobile deaths. Governments followed by requiring safety regulations and annual inspections. Thousands of lives were saved.

A deadly wheat fungus (ergot) disease, called “St. Anthony’s Fire,” caused tremendous suffering and played havoc for centuries. ** So farmers finally bred new strains of wheat and rye and corporate food processors made changes, to all but eliminate the danger.

And there are hundreds of other examples. 

There seems to be a pattern: 

First comes suffering, then more strength for the survivors or their progeny.

I remember a professor illustrating the optimal amount of mistakes to attain fastest adaptation. Substituting suffering and strength for mistakes and adaptation, his graph might look like this: 

(Picture missing)

But even though suffering might lead to strength, we dare not try to convince the suffering human or animal creature that it is “all for the good.” Only God knows.

               Endless Human Suffering

There are many ways one may suffer. There is the sobbing, jilted teenager whose world has fallen apart when their girlfriend/boyfriend suddenly has broken off.

At the other end of the spectrum there is the cancer patient who has been in abject unbearable pain for months or years. Or the little child who suddenly lost one or both parents. Or the unspeakable pain when a mother loses a child.

Some suffering is so unbearable that a person may give up and not try to overcome. Or even worse.

               Acquired Strength

But what happens to the person who bears the suffering? If they endure, do they become stronger? Perhaps some do and some do not.

We know that the discalced – those who wear no shoes – eventually develop thick callouses that protect them from rough ground. But there is discomfort, pain and suffering first.

After World War II we had thousands of returning soldiers and many of them were destroyed mentally and/or physically. But many more came back with a kind of endurance they had never before possessed. And we embraced a generation of stronger men and families.

My own father was one such person. Wounded three times in battle, he returned with ‘shell shock’ (we now call it PTSD). For three years, screaming nightmares every single night. And then as he recovered, and my mother periodically picked the shrapnel fragments out of his back, he began to do some amazing things he probably would never have been able to accomplish before.

               Overprotection?

Take it back a step – Would one of us ever consciously desire our own earthly children to suffer? The answer is obvious – a resounding NO! But…

There is a current popular pejorative – the ‘helicopter parent’. That’s a fearful parent who tracks every move of their child. Often it’s mommy who makes sure the child is continuously watched and guarded, 24/7. The overprotected child must live and play only where the ‘dear darling’ will never get hurt, scraped, cut or bruised. Sadly, this can often persist well past puberty.

So, what happens to those children whose loving parents do everything to keep them from suffering?

Do we have any evidence on how these children develop? Do we know how they ultimately treat others? Or what they grow to expect of others – employers, co-workers, or spouses? ***

               My God, What Shall I Do?

Every one of us will or has already endured deep suffering. That is a fact of life. We can choose to offer it up to God, just as Jesus did.

We can also be assured that we will never suffer alone. Not only is Jesus always with us; but we often forget that God has given each of us a Guardian Angel.**** Always present, always praying for us, even when we are too far gone to do so for ourselves. 

So why do you think a loving Father God would allow suffering?

As we suffer, might God be preparing us for our ultimate strength, our final destination?

___________________________

*  Nader, Ralph, Unsafe at any Speed, The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile, Grossman Publishers, 1965

** Which caused erratic behavior, hallucinations and psychotic episodes. Often suggested as playing a role in the Salem Witch Trials.

*** Recent studies, reported in ScienceDaily, Psychology Today and Neuroscience News and a number of professional journals, describe many of the resulting maturity-retardation and mental health issues.

**** Catechism, CCC ¶336, one of four paragraphs on the scriptural evidence and role of angelic beings.

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[Note of apology – this offering is much longer than I wished, but the topic is important and after several re-writes I realized I was unable to express its complexity with fewer words. A.C.O’H.]

               Is it Time for National Repentance?

Most of us love this country called America. But America’s past and more recent actions and foreign policy decisions have done much to damage world peace and stability. Now the world is starting to recognize our complicity. Foreign nations have become uprooted. Their citizens are fleeing. And it’s not a nice picture.

All of this massive evil persists yet we hear barely a murmur from our Christian Church. Occasional prayer, few meaningful deeds and zero guidance, other than from the secular (biased?) corporate media. So when election time comes we often unknowingly vote for more of the same.

Twenty-five million undocumented immigrants are now being sent to and distributed across every American city, town and village. 

Many of them are doing very well but most have been suffering greatly. Countless numbers have died or been assaulted, raped and wounded on the way here. It is impossible for anyone with half a heart to have too much compassion for their incredible tales of suffering.

But there is also a very dark side. Many of these immigrants – one estimate is 200,000 – have come from foreign prisons and have pending criminal charges or convictions. They are on the loose in America. Lock your doors and windows.

European countries are also suffering greatly. France, Germany, England and Ireland among others have begun to lose much of their cultural values. Crime is skyrocketing. Every major city in The Netherlands now has a majority – mostly Muslim – immigrant population. Citizens are now fighting other citizens over the consequences. Chaos everywhere.

And much of it is tied, one way or another to us; to America’s foreign policy and clandestine activities. Let’s look at some details.

               Evidence

The U.S. has a history of destabilizing other countries, leading to mass casualties and refugee crises. Here is a small sampling of our recent foreign policy disasters:

Vietnam – We lied – gave false reason to start the war (Gulf of Tonkin ‘incident’ – we fired first), a war which killed hundreds of thousands and destabilized much of Asia and America. Our CIA assisted the assassination of foreign leaders we didn’t like: In Vietnam: Ngô Dinh Diêm. In Libia: Muammar Gaddafi. Then, more fleeing refugees.

Iran – Was stable and growing toward western ideals. Then we helped the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini return and take control as we rejected and destabilized their leader, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Next we sent billions of dollars and helped the radical Iranian regime finance worldwide terrorism. That terrorism had earlier destroyed Lebanon and almost destroyed Jordan. Lebanese Christians, Druze and Muslims have since fled by the hundreds of thousands.

Iraq – We lied to the United Nations, accusing Iraq of having weapons of mass destruction. They had none. We then invaded and destabilized a country that up until then had kept crazy Iran in check. More refugees.

Syria – We watched Bashar Al Assad kill many of his own people and side with Russia and then we dallied, deciding what to do, often helping the wrong side. More refugees.

Afghanistan – We abandoned them; turned control back to their evil enemy, the Taliban. In Ukraine – We helped overthrow their previous leader, and then we ignored Putin’s Russia threat. And further irritating the tyrant, we pushed a larger NATO in his face. Now Ukraine has 200,000 dead, 1,000,000 wounded and millions of homeless. Citizens fleeing their ancient homelands by the millions.

Meanwhile, we continue to ignore major wars and genocides and pleas for help in Sudan, Armenia, Nigeria, Ethiopia and others. Unless, of course, we can sell them weapons or help them rebuild. * 

We have a highly profitable military/industrial complex that provides weapons for virtually every major world conflict. **

Our domestic and foreign policy also encouraged the closing of 10,000 U.S. factories. We sent their jobs to China and made them rich. Now they taunt us and rattle the+ir armor in our face.

               What’s the Problem?

Has our American nation really done anything seriously wrong? Or were we simply thrust into world events that were beyond our control? That is a tricky question and some of what we have outlined above can be disputed. But much remains indisputable.

Our corporate news giants seldom tell the American people the full truth on many of these matters. Or they often only cover one side. 

               The Fruits of America’s ‘Labors’

So, here is part of the harvest of our labors:

+++ Russia is preparing to use ‘tactical’, low-grade atomic weapons in Ukraine.

+++ Iran has begun an active war with Israel. Both sides have the bomb. Iran has a strong theological reason to use it, even at risk of their own destruction.

+++ Muslim refugees are now overwhelming Europe.

+++ China is now actively preparing for a major war and has formally allied with Iran, Russia and North Korea.

+++ Hostile countries which we have made rich, now are cyber-attacking us. Cell services, banks, major businesses, government agencies and whole cities are being regularly cyber-disabled.

+++ Hollywood continues to export its evil media of filth and debauchery and our enemies use it to rally their people against us, calling America, “The Great Satan.”

               Moral Cowardice, or Distracted Holiness?

What hurts the most – our church leaders exhibit astonishing silence and ineffective leadership – they neither condemn the rampant evils – foreign or domestic – that are offending God, nor do they offer remediating Christian guidance. 

We expect this sort of non-action from politicians and those people who worry more about offending. But our church leaders? Some say this borders on the behavior of cowards.

The government is complicit; our fainthearted Church remains silent.

               God’s Judgement and Reward for Cowardice

Revelation 21:8 says the first people in line to go to Hell are the cowards. Cowards include those who see something wrong but don’t do anything to help or stop it. 

That can include you, me, priests, bishops, and government leaders – who have watched all this but have neither taken any rectifying action nor done a thing to alert the people. 

As one commentary on this scripture relates, “Their conviction is so weak that they deny Christ in time of trial and become traitors.”

“First in line for Hell.” Does that make us feel uncomfortable enough to reconsider and repent? One might hope so.

               Grace Provided – or – Grace Restrained?

Jesus calmed the raging winds and the sea. But Hurricane Helene just dropped 14 trillion gallons of water, destroyed whole cities and killed 120+ men, women and children. 

Maybe God is no longer going to save us from these natural calamities. 

Some of us believe this is just the beginning of a greater world-wide disaster. And it won’t be caused by cow farts, CO2, and global warming. But who knows?

               Repentance Time May be Nearing

Remember when the people of Nineveh repented and God withheld punishment? Perhaps it is time for a major national confession of our many sins against God and our fellow man and more than a bit of sackcloth and ashes.

God keeps his promises. Always. 

___________________________

* Halliburton, Inc received almost $40 billion of U.S. Government dollars to rebuild after Iraq and Afghanistan. These were no-bid contracts.

** Five weapons/defense manufacturers, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Technologies, Boeing and General Dynamics alone have a significant stock market capitalization currently amounting to more than $500 billion. Their combined size can affect stock market performance.

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