Planned Parenthood

What follows is not a long post, but just long enough to give you something to meditate on and pray about. 

Planned Parenthood, the premier abortion provider in the United States, proudly stated in their 2021-2022 Annual Report that they performed 374,155 abortions, or more accurately, they had slaughtered 374,155 innocent baby girls and boys. 

Planned Parenthood has about a 40% share of the abortion "market" which makes them the definite leader in this gruesome business. Interestingly, despite the lockdowns resulting from COVID, they were able to achieve the second highest annual total in their history.

Yes, indeed, for Planned Parenthood abortion is obviously a very profitable business. Their revenue for the year was over $1.9 billion, and 35% of that income (over $670 million) came from you and me, the taxpayers of the United States, all cleverly described as "Government Health Services Reimbursements and Grants."

Their 40-page annual report is entitled Relentless, to sum up their attitude in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision that the Constitution includes no right to abortion. The report is quite slick, with lots of graphics, charts, and photographs. Surprisingly, though, despite the organization's supposed focus on parenthood, I found no photos of children, none whatsoever. I suppose that, in itself, tells us a lot about Planned Parenthood.

Like Planned Parenthood, the political left is always talking about how much they care for the children; but when it comes right down to it, all their policies focus on belittling the importance of children or lead to their utter destruction. 

Pray for the conversion of our nation, for the conversion of our national and state leadership in all three branches of government, for the conversion of those who work at and support Planned Parenthood. And pray especially for all those confused and misled moms and dads who believe abortion is the answer to their problems. It's never the answer to problems. In fact, it's always just the beginning of their problems.

St. Margaret of Castello, pray for us.

Newsy Odds and Ends

We’ve been exposed to a lot of conspiracy theories in recent years, but amazingly many have turned out to be true. In an effort to generate a few more, here’s my take on a several recent stories I stumbled cross. 

Do Masks Stop the Spread of COVID? You might not have heard of Cochrane, a UK-based network that produces sound information used by organizations throughout the world for healthcare decision-making. Cochrane has an exceptionally strong international reputation and prides itself on the quality of the evidence supporting its studies. Among its latest offerings is a fascinating study on the efficacy of masks, hand-washing, and other means to stop or slow the spread of respiratory viruses such as influenza, SARS, and COVID-19. 

Cochrane investigated the results of dozens of randomized controlled studies conducted worldwide that examined various physical measures to stop respiratory virus infections. I’m guessing most people would find the results unexpected. Cochrane found that medical, surgical, or N95 masks “make little or no difference in how many people caught a flu-like illness/COVID-like illness.” That’s right, it seems all those masks we’ve bought and worn didn’t really offer very much protection. If this is really true, just consider the ramifications. One thing’s for certain: a lot of folks sure made a lot of money thanks to this “error”. To read a synopsis of the study, here’s the link: Cochrane Study 

Medicare and Social Security need Work. Most seniors don’t like to hear that politicians are even considering making changes to either Medicare or Social Security. I suppose many of us think we’ll probably be long gone before these two programs run out of money and are either completely refurbished or simply disappear. But the truth is really quite different and relates not only to the costs involved but also to demographics. Both the Government Accounting Office and the Social Security Administration agree that these programs are “unsustainable” and will run out of funds by 2037. For the mathematically challenged, that’s only 14 years from now. If you’re my age, 78, or older you may not be around in 2037, but your children and grandchildren will probably still be here and will have paid into these programs for their entire working lives…just in time to watch them go broke. I can’t speak for anyone else, but that’s not a legacy I want to leave behind. 

Politicians are not a courageous lot, and almost all consider reelection far more important than the long-term needs of their constituents or the good of the country. Few politicians engage in strategic thinking since most tend be be tacticians who worry more about the short-term effects of their votes or their latest TV live shot. Perhaps even more disheartening, few of today’s politicians ever consider the lessons of the past, so they continue to make the mistakes that generated those ignored lessons. We see this, too, among the bureaucrats who run the day-to-day operations of our government. They have become a cadre of careerists, too often lacking in moral courage, and dedicated to extending the life and increasing the size of any government programs they manage.

To all you seniors who think Social Security and Medicare will outlive you: don’t count on it. These two programs account for 45% of the federal budget, a percentage that’s increasing every year. Long before these programs run out of the cash needed to keep them going, changes of some type will have to be made. Whether this involves limiting eligibility, extending recipients’ eligibility age, increasing the amount withheld from those who pay into the system, or simply cutting the benefits, something will have to be done, and fairly soon. 

Wind Turbines and Dead Eagles. It seems the widespread expansion of wind turbines has led to a huge increase in dead birds. We’ve heard about this for years, but the data seems to be either classified (the Interior Department refuses to release the actual number) or just downright embarrassing. So…the folks who wrap themselves in the green blanket of alternative renewable energy find themselves at odds with another set of environmentalists who desire to protect God’s creatures. 

I’ve never been accused of being an environmentalist of the radical green or any other variety, but I’ll admit up front that I really like birds. To me they’re among the most fascinating of living creatures. They’re also worth keeping around since God obviously thought they were good enough to create on day five:

So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth” [Gen 1:21-22].

We should, therefore, be careful about how we, as the earth’s stewards [Gen 1:28], care for God’s good creatures. Climate-change radicals, predicting our immanent destruction, consider dead birds (and, it seems, dead humans) nothing more than acceptable collateral damage. Nothing is more important, they tell us, than saving the earth from the ravages caused by man. These are the same folks who have canonized John Kerry and Greta Thunberg, the former a serial liar since his Vietnam days and the latter…well, nobody really knows what she really is or how she got there. The trouble is, people who jump on bandwagons might enjoy the ride, but they rarely anticipate the unintended consequences that bring everything to a screeching halt. But that’s another subject…

Anyway, back to our birds…

It seems wind turbines are particularly threatening to soaring birds of prey; i.e., eagles, falcons, hawks, osprey, even condors. These birds spend most of their time just soaring above the earth, scanning the ground or water for prey; thus, they are far more likely to collide with the blades of wind turbines. Talking about this with an acquaintance the other day, he wondered how this could happen since those huge blades seem to move so slowly. He didn’t understand why birds couldn’t avoid them. What he really didn’t understand was the speed of the tips of those blades. As an old helicopter pilot, I’m very familiar with blade-tip speed. A large wind turbine can have blades well over 200 feet long, which can generate blade tip speeds in excess of 150 miles per hour. A blade, weighing several tons, and moving at that speed, can certainly catch a soaring bird by surprise. Another contributing factor: the location of turbines in areas where such birds are especially plentiful. For example, wind turbines located offshore can adversely affect seabirds and migratory birds who fish or pass through areas where offshore turbines are usually located.

When it comes to birds killed by wind turbines, what kind of numbers are we talking about? Nobody knows for sure, but it seems the numbers are growing. 10 years ago (2013) it was estimated that over 500,000 birds had been killed by turbines. But most estimates came from the wind turbine industry, probably not the most objective source. Current estimates by the federal government, another questionable source, vary but range upwards to 400,000 per year. These numbers are expected to increase considerably as the number and size of turbines increase. 

Golden Eagle and Wind Farm

Many bird lovers are most concerned about the long-term effect on eagles. Eagles, of course, are a protected species, and individuals who kill a bald eagle can be fined $5,000 and spend up to a year in jail. I found it surprising that wind farms are allowed a certain number of eagle “takes” — a polite euphemism for the number of eagles the spinning blades are allowed to kill every year. When the wind farm exceeds its takes, the company gets fined. At the Two Rivers Wind Project in Wyoming, the total number of bald eagles legally killed annually by wind farms would be almost 30% of the eagle population in the area. It would be very hard for any species to withstand such losses.

Now we’re hearing rumbling along the east coast about the unexplained deaths of unprecedented numbers of whales and other sea mammals, allegedly related to the construction and operation of offshore wind turbines. The powers in charge all deny any connection, while the locals, including the professional fisherman who claim they know the area best, disagree. I just find it interesting that these wind turbines seem to be at war with both of the species God created on that fifth day: “the great sea monsters…and every winged bird.”

I’m not smart enough to know what to do about all this, but it seems we have jumped into technologies without really studying their possible, usually unintended, effects on the rest of our interconnected world. The fact that we don't understand these connections should lead us to move with extreme caution as we introduce new technologies. We see this as well when it comes to electric vehicles and the potential environmental effects of battery production and rare earth mining.

Politicians just love to do seemingly important things by making grand gestures and forcing their will on those who elect them. Sadly, far too often they make these decisions in favor of those entities that provide them with the most money. Perhaps they would be far more successful and certainly more worthy of our votes if they simply let the market — i.e., the people — make those decisions within a framework that balances both good and not-so-good consequences. 

Just Some Stuff…

Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated. President Biden, and his sidekick, Dr. Anthony Fauci, have spoken frequently and loudly about the “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Their purpose was always to shame those who haven’t gotten the mRNA COVID shots or, almost as bad, neglected to be boosted. In the spirit of full disclosure, Dear Diane and I both got the two Moderna shots and the 1st booster…but that’s it. We’ve decided to get no more COVID shots until we know more about the effects of these still experimental drugs. 

I actually believe I contracted COVID back in early 2020, before I had been vaccinated. I felt so bad I went to the doctor on a weekend and was treated by a very nice and seemingly competent PA. I had all the symptoms of COVID, but since no test was yet available, she assumed I had a bad case of some random virus. She gave me meds and told me to rest, drink liquids, and come back if it got worse. After a week or so, I recovered and forgot about it. But many months later I spoke to several others who had suffered from COVID and our symptoms, although they varied in intensity, were identical. Despite my age, I am in good health, so I think I just slid through my case more easily than many. 

Anyway, yesterday the CDC released its latest data on COVID deaths and — surprise, surprise! — “a majority of Americans dying from the coronavirus received at least the primary series of the vaccine.” This, of course, alters the narrative that it is only the unvaccinated who will die from COVID. My unscientific guess is that those who are dying today are folks with serious comorbidity issues and compromised immune systems. Perhaps the president should change his mantra since it apparently doesn’t reflect the “science,” which is always a moving target.

Dumbing Down the Legal Profession. The American Bar Association has decided that those hoping to enter law school should no longer be required to take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), and apparently Harvard and Yale have decided to go along with this. Interestingly, the LSAT is designed to measure prospective law students’ ability to reason, solve problems, comprehend what they read, along with other intellectual traits that lawyers believe they should possess. I certainly won’t argue with the need for these traits. If I ever need a lawyer, I want him to be rational and smart. But one can only assume that by failing to test for these traits and abilities, some aspiring lawyers will lack them. I suppose, then, we can conclude that, on average, the lawyer of tomorrow will be less rational, less capable, and not nearly as smart as today’s lawyer, assuming such an outcome is even possible.

Okay, okay…my apologies to all my lawyer friends for that last remark. Perhaps I was thinking only of those lawyers who gravitate to government and subsequently do everything they can to siphon political power from the people, who are sovereign.

Abortion, Religion, and Politics. Shortly before the recent mid-term elections, during one of those “after Mass” conversations with a parishioner, I was told that “the Church really shouldn’t get involved in politics. After all,” he added, “our country was founded on the concept of separation of church and state.” I assumed he was telling me this because of his tacit acceptance, and the Church’s adamant condemnation, of abortion. As it turned out, my assumption was correct. Of course, his supporting statement was false. Our nation was not “founded on the concept of separation of church and state.” In fact, that specific concept was voiced by only one man, Thomas Jefferson, in a rather obscure letter written to a Baptist Association in Danbury, Connecticut in 1802. The Constitution does not demand separation. Here’s the actual text of the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Note that the first freedom, that which the founders believed to be most important, is the freedom of religion. The Constitution prohibited Congress from establishing a state religion of the sort found at the time in many European countries, especially England where the ruling monarch was, and remains today, the head of the established church. But it said nothing about banning religious faith from influencing political thought or action. Indeed, for true believers of any faith, religious values have a major influence on every aspect of their lives. This understanding no doubt drove the founders to add the second clause in which the government may not prohibit citizens from freely exercising their religious faith. Both religious freedom clauses are further supported by the subsequent clause that guarantees the freedom of speech. 

Because our bishops — and, yes, even priests, deacons, religious, and the faithful — are citizens, they may scream to high heaven about the gross injustice of the government’s support for the willful slaughter of the unborn. Abortion is by no means solely a religious issue. It is also moral and political, as we all saw in the last election. Politics, religion, and morality cannot and should not be separated. Religious values have always had an impact on politics. We need only consider the Ten Commandments and their place in many of the world’s legal systems. 

When I said all this to our parishioner, he just shrugged and mumbled something about disagreeing. But he apparently decided not to argue the issues with me and walked away. At first, I was pleased because his silence told me I had “won” the argument. But then I realized I had done little to change his opinion. In truth I had focused more on myself and my ability to argue effectively than on his need for conversion. We must learn to listen to Jesus and let the Holy Spirit speak through us:

“…do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say" [Lk 12:11-12].

I’ll have to talk with this parishioner again.

Breaking with the Left. I often must remind myself of the reality of the passage of time. For example, anyone younger than 35 really has little memory of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European puppet states. After all, by the early 1990s much of the world had been transformed. For decades all of these nations had been ruled by the iron fist of communism, an ideology that maintained power only through the application of terrorism against its own people.

The exploited and the poor, those who suffered under earlier tyrannies, had liked the sound of socialism. It seemed to provide a solution to their problems, to offer a better life, to promise a leveling that would eliminate the vast disparity among the classes. Yes, indeed, socialism, and even its more violent and oppressive manifestation in communism, sounded so very good to the uninformed. Often enough, war and revolution created the catalytic environment needed to bring about radical societal change and a total shift in the balance of power. The Soviet Union was born out of the chaos of World War One and its subsequent discord, while Communist China arose in the aftermath of World War Two. 

But once the left assumes power and the people actually experience the reality of totalitarianism, they realize their lives are controlled by a corps of elites who wield absolute power. Even after they come to understand the truth about socialism, it becomes very difficult to turn back the clock. Only when an oppressed people decide that their freedom and that of their children is more important than life itself do they rise up, cast off their chains, and overthrow the tyrants. Perhaps the people of China, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and too many other nations will someday make that decision.

Now for something a bit lighter, a wonderful fish story. 

A Goldfish Story. When I was growing up, like a lot of kids, I had a few goldfish. I managed to keep them alive, at least for a while, and I suppose the biggest ones might have grown to four or five inches long. The size of the tank seemed to be the limiting factor, so they never got much bigger. I just assumed that goldfish were by nature small fish. But the other day I was hooked by a story about a man who caught a rather large goldfish in a French lake. How large was it? A whopping 67 pounds. Here’s a photo of the UK fisherman, Andy Hackett, with his catch, a goldfish appropriately named “Carrot” by the locals. And don’t worry, after photographing his record catch, Hackett released Carrot so the remarkable fish could gain a few more pounds and continue to set new world records.

 

Homily: Saturday, 34th Week in Ordinary Time (Year 1)

Readings: Dn 7:15-27; Dn 3; Luke 21:34-36

Here I am, only a couple of years from 80, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a time when anxiety and fear have filled the hearts of so many.

COVID has had its effect on a lot of folks, and yes, many in my age group have succumbed to the virus, but in truth most have survived. And yet, so many are overcome by fear. And now the world is panicking over a new variant out of Africa.

To add to our anxieties, we have obvious inflation and a rising cost of living. Then, as we look at our nation and the world, we see far too much division and hatred and threats. Yes, it seems to be a time of very fragile peace, a time of real uncertainty. And yet Jesus tells us, again and again, not to be afraid, but so many seem to ignore Him.

About 35 years ago, back when I was a business consultant, I used to travel a lot. One Sunday afternoon, driving my rental car through the hills of Arkansas, I heard a radio preacher tell his audience that we were only a few years, perhaps just months, from the tribulations and the Second Coming. As I recall, he was the minister of a Free Will Baptist Church. Let me paraphrase what he said that day:

“Jesus is coming, brothers and sisters. But first He’s gonna let the earth be scoured by Satan and his minions. Don’t you be afraid of them. Put away all those fears and get ready for Jesus. He’s coming soon, real soon, and you’d better stop all that sinning. If you don’t call on the Lord and repent, you just won’t be strong enough.”

I have to admit, I loved it. Of course, Jesus hasn’t returned yet, so his timing was off, by how much nobody but God Himself knows. But the preacher’s message was actually pretty good and mirrors the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel passage from Luke. How did Jesus put it?

"Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life...Be vigilant... Pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations" [Lk 21:34,36].

I’ll admit, many years ago, the first time I thought about those words, I had a hard time picturing those first-century Jews out carousing. In truth, though, I suppose they weren’t much different from us. Even The Villages has its share of carousing and drunkenness, and certainly its share of anxiety.

But we’re all disciples of our Lord, Jesus Christ, so we must allow Him to take away our fears. After all, the Gospel is the Good News, the promise of an eternal life beyond anything we can imagine.

If the gospel message is good news, then why do so many oppose it with hostility and even violence? Jesus warns us that we’ll be confronted with persecution, evil, false teaching, and temptation. But how does He tell us to respond to all this? With love, with truth, with forgiveness.

Only His Way, His Way of peace, His way of love, can defeat bigotry, hatred, and envy, and all that would divide and tear us apart.

Only God’s truth, His revealed Word, can overcome the lies and confusion in the world.

And only God’s gift of life, eternal life, can carry us to the salvation He promises.

Only Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life can dissolve all those fears that plague so many today.

I don’t know if you and I will see those tribulations… probably not. But we are still called to proclaim the Gospel wherever God has placed us – called to be to be witnesses.

Did you know the Greek root of the word martyr means witness? The Book of Revelations calls Jesus “the faithful witness ...who freed us from our sins by his blood" [Rev 1:5]. 

St. Augustine spoke of this too: "The martyrs were bound, jailed, scourged, racked, burned, rent, butchered – and they multiplied!" Christians multiplied because the martyrs witnessed to the truth, to the joy and freedom of the Gospel; and they did so through the testimony of their lives.

So maybe, instead of fearing the world and its evils, we should just be joyful that we have heard the Good News, received the gift of faith, and are called to share it all with others. What brings others to Jesus Christ and His Church is seeing Christians loving their enemies; seeing us joyful in suffering, patient in adversity, forgiving of injuries, and showing comfort and compassion to the hopeless and the helpless.

This, brothers and sisters, is our calling.

Protecting Whom?

Our president is seemingly focused on getting everybody in the United States vaccinated against the COVID virus, an impossible and actually needless goal. It’s needless because so many Americans are now protected by a natural immunity which offers stronger protection than the vaccine. But if universal vaccination is really his administration’s aim, why on earth would he say what he said on September 10:

“We are going to protect the vaccinated workers from unvaccinated coworkers.”

What? This wasn’t just another of our president’s weird gaffes, another slip of the tongue, because he also tweeted these same words.

President Biden

@POTUS

United States government official

We are going to protect the vaccinated workers from unvaccinated coworkers.

9:40 AM · Sep 10, 2021

34.1K

See the latest COVID-19 information on Twitter

Uh, Mr. President, vaccinated workers are already protected; that’s why they got the shots. How does this comment possibly encourage the unvaccinated to do the same? It would seem to do exactly the opposite by telling the nation that vaccination offers no protection. But if we actually “follow the science,” we know the vaccines work. In other words, it’s the vaccine the vaccinated have already received that protects them from the unvaccinated. 

Those who resists vaccination, with the exception of those whose doctors advise against it for solid medical reasons and those who have natural immunity because they’ve already survived COVID, should get vaccinated. But their failure to do so does not threaten me and others who have been vaccinated. If the unvaccinated get the shots, that’s great for them, but it has absolutely no effect on me. When it comes to my health, I don’t worry about the unvaccinated. The only health about which I am concerned is theirs.

CDC Advice on Hurricanes.

Understand up front that I am all for getting vaccinated against COVID. Diane and I received our two Moderna shots back in February and March, and survived the process. Unless people have serious health issues that argue against receiving the vaccine, I’m sure their doctors would encourage them to go ahead and get the shots. For most adults getting vaccinated is far safer than getting COVID. I do not, however, agree with vaccine mandates or any similar coercive measures by government agencies, whether local, state, or federal. Such health decisions should not be made by politicians and government bureaucrats, but rather by individuals in consultation with their doctors. 

The bureaucrats at the CDC would, of course, like the federal government to require all to be vaccinated. Presumably those who refuse should be punished in some significant way. Driven by this mindset, and lacking a universal mandate, they apparently grasp at the irrational, anything they believe will motivate the unvaccinated. Their latest pronouncement is timed to the current hurricane season and includes the CDC’s advice on preparing for a hurricane. The first and presumably most important item on their list:

• Get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can. COVID-19 vaccines help protect you from getting sick or severely ill with COVID-19 and may also help protect people around you.

The pronouncement continues by listing the standard advice on hurricane preparation of the sort published by emergency agencies and widely available elsewhere. (You can read the entire CDC announcement here.) I suppose the CDC really isn’t telling us the COVID vaccine will protect us from hurricanes. They probably just hoped to find another way to demand the unvaccinated comply. Of course, the other question: How many people would actually turn to the Center for Disease Control for advice on hurricane preparations? One person who apparently did check with the CDC in advance of the current storm is the President. On Sunday evening he issued a warning to those in Henri’s path. Rather than telling them to make the usual storm preparations, he focused on COVID: 

“To those in Henri’s path: Don’t forget that you may need to seek shelter while we’re still battling COVID-19 and the Delta variant…So wear a mask and try to observe social distancing…And to everyone across the country, don’t get caught by the next storm. Get vaccinated now.”

So comforting to find the President and the CDC of one mind. At least someone in his administration agrees with him.

Mark: So Much To Tell Us

As I mentioned in a recent post, I've been preparing for the re-opening of our parish Bible Study, which had essentially been shut down since the COVID pandemic hit us last March. 

Among the first and most difficult decisions...Where exactly to begin? As a result of COVID I had time to prepare many Scripture-based reflections that were really unconnected, each focusing on a unique passage or book of Scripture. I also prepared some new study guides (as I call them) for a number of books, and for some reason decided to address many of the minor prophets, a group of Old Testament books that tend to receive little attention. I had hoped to spend some of our first sessions discussing these books...but then I asked the Holy Spirit for some inspiration and direction, and surprisingly found myself being called to Mark's Gospel. Surprised because the idea of starting with Mark hasn't even crossed my mind. But trusting in the Spirit, we will, therefore, turn to Mark when we once again meet together next Monday and Wednesday.

The more I thought about it, though, the better it seemed. Mark is actually a wonderful place to restart our studies, for many reasons. We are currently in the midst of liturgical Year B, the year in which our Sunday Gospel readings are drawn largely from Mark. What we read during our sessions will then be reinforced at Sunday Mass...and vice versa. 

Mark also presents the Good News in an almost breathtaking fashion, moving quickly through Jesus' ministry and the formation of the disciples, but always pointing to and leading us directly to Our Lord's redemptive act: His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. 

As we accompany Mark on this journey we also come to a better understanding of mission. We see the mission of the Son, sent by the Father -- a mission of remarkable love. We see the mission of John the Baptist, foretold and planned from all eternity. And we come to realize that each one of us has also been assigned a mission by the Father. It's not something you and I choose, but something God has chosen for each one of us and to which He calls us. Have you prayed for the Spirit's guidance, asked for His light to shine on the mission that God has chosen for you? Studying Mark helps us recognize this need.

Mark will teach us this and so much more, if only we listen to the Word.

Coronavirus and other stuff

Do you realize the chance of spreading or contracting COVID-19 while outdoors enjoying God’s gift of fresh air and sunshine is, according to the CDC, just about zero (less than one-hundredth of one percent). And interestingly, the self-described smart people who enjoy telling us how to live the details of our lives have known this for many, many months, probably since April 2020. This is why I have never worn a face mask when outdoors, and why I never will. Since I have been vaccinated, and received my second Moderna shot over a month ago, I don a mask indoors only when a business or organization demands I do so. After all, it’s their property and if it makes them happy, okay, I’ll comply, even though it’s idiocy. As a form of mild protest, I have started to seek out businesses that actually follow the science and realize vaccinated people are not a threat to others. As our enlightened Governor Ron DeSantis stated: “If you been vaccinated, act like it!”  I am so happy I live in Florida. Our president, though, lives in the nation’s most corrupt city, Washington, D.C. Because he is old, almost two years older than me, he too has been vaccinated. And yet he apparently wears his mask wherever and whenever there’s a camera to capture his image, even when he’s on a video call with other world leaders. “It sets an example,” someone in the administration remarked. But what kind of example? Does he hope to convince the leaders of other nations that Americans are fools, or at best led by one? It would seem so. 

Hot news flash! Actually two flashes! The first, President Biden told us today that if you’re vaccinated, being outside without a mask is okay with him...unless you’re in a group, then you’d better ignore your common sense and wear a mask. Too late and too little, Mr. President. You and the CDC are still waaay behind the science. Oh, how the power hungry just love to keep control of people. It’s time to revert to normality and live our lives as we’d like. Interestingly, as the President walked across the lawn to the podium to deliver his message that masks were no longer needed outdoors, he was wearing a mask. Ah, well, maybe he should join the rest of us here in The Villages. He’s certainly old enough. The other flash: I just read that our esteemed Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, will permit President Biden to speak to a semi-virtual joint meeting of Congress this week without wearing his mask. The fact that our congressional leaders still require their members to wear masks, despite the fact they’ve all been vaccinated, is more than ludicrous. But I suppose it helps advance the “we’re got the power, peasants, and don’t ever forget it” syndrome. Whatever happened to the founders’ belief that the people are sovereign, not the government formed to do the people’s will?

By the way, speaking of Nancy Pelosi — the “I’m a devout Catholic” politician who rejects Church teaching — did you happen to catch a rather interesting statistic? In San Francisco, the city she represents in the U.S. Congress, a total of 257 San Franciscans died as a result of coronavirus. But during the same period 713 of the city’s citizens died of drug overdoses. And also during this same period we have spent trillions on coronavirus and relatively little on fighting these killing drugs. As I write these words, these same drugs are pouring over our borders thanks to the incompetence of the Biden administration. As border patrol and ICE agents are distracted and overwhelmed by thousands of unaccompanied children, invited to come here by the president, other illegals are crossing the border carrying drugs like the deadly fentanyl and spreading them throughout our country. The cartels are running the show, running drugs and trafficking children, while our federal government supports them in this evil.

Did you watch the Oscars? Didn’t think so. Judging by the ratings it seems the only folks who actually wasted a Sunday evening watching these woke, out-of-touch, narcissistic imbeciles were other Hollywood types and their immediate relatives. Don’t you just love people who condemn the country that made them rich and famous? They also condemn its citizens as a collection of ignorant racists.  These citizens are the same people that actually pay for the mediocre films Hollywood’s produces. The entertainment industry, of course, has no monopoly on imbeciles. They also fill the ranks of NFL, NBA, and MLB teams, along with the boardrooms of many Fortune 500 companies. Based on the organizations these luminaries support with gobs of money, one can only conclude that they’re hoping for the ultimate triumph of socialism. Another irony, since they’d be the first to lose their incomes, and perhaps their heads, when the proletariat revolution hits the streets. 

Speaking of revolutions, the left would love one, but they hesitate because of one overriding truth: the citizenry of the United States is better armed than the leftist rabble. (Yes, even some deacons have a few firearms tucked away.) One can understand, then, why the left spends so much effort on “gun control.” Of course, it has nothing to do with controlling guns, but everything to do with confiscating guns, for the latter is their goal. This, sadly for them, will be an impossible task because every gun owner I know has no intention of turning over his or her rifles, handguns, or shotguns. And the people of the USA own over 400 million firearms. The leftist revolutionary wannabes face other obstacles, Perhaps the most obvious is the Supreme Court and its recent support for Second Amendment rights; hence the attempt to redefine the court’s makeup. The goal: a friendly, rubber-stamp court that ignores the Constitution. Finally, they hope to restructure the leadership of our military by packing the upper ranks with careerist officers who will go along and get along with the politicians. Once they have the military leadership in their pockets, they can bring in the big guns to control the country as needed. If they succeed in all these efforts the banana republics of Central America will look to us with envy.

Oh, there is so much more...particularly our new, defeatist policy relating to Iran and the resurrecting of Obama’s anti-Israel approach to the Middle East, but I’ll save it for another day.

Pray for our nation, brothers and sisters.

Emptiness

Today, Holy Saturday, is the Church's day of emptiness. In Sacred Scripture, the events of the first Holy Saturday are described by Matthew:

The next day, the one following the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember that this imposter while still alive said, 'After three days I will be raised up.' Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, 'He has been raised from the dead.' This last imposture would be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "The guard is yours; go secure it as best you can." So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard [Mt 27:62-66].

Of course, by the next morning, on the third day, the tomb was empty. Jesus Christ had risen, just as He had told all who would hear. It's that emptiness we experience today, an emptiness encountered in our churches as well.

When I was a boy, my mom would usually stop by our parish church during the day on Holy Saturday. Sometimes she'd take me along. I suppose she wanted me to experience how different the Church was compared to other days. We'd enter the church and kneel in one of the back pews and pray for a few moments. Then we'd leave.

St. Augustine Church in Larchmont, NY was a beautiful neo-Gothic church. I've included below two photos taken a few years ago when Diane and I attended a reunion -- really just a luncheon -- with a few members of my 1958 eighth-grade class from St. Augustine School. I suppose I wanted Diane to see my childhood church where I served as an altar boy, along with the adjacent school which I attended for four years. Sadly, the parochial school is no longer open, but the church still thrives. The photos, particularly the interior photo, give you an idea of the kind of emptiness we experienced on Holy Saturday.

If you visit a Catholic Church today the emptiness is apparent. The holy water fonts are empty, awaiting the evening blessing of baptismal water. In many churches statues are also covered only to be uncovered before or during the Easter Vigil. More telling, though, the sanctuary lamp is extinguished because the tabernacle is open and empty in anticipation of the Easter Vigil Mass. Without the Eucharistic Presence of our Lord, the emptiness becomes very real indeed.

Today, unfortunately, in light of the COVID pandemic many Catholic Churches are unlocked only for the celebration of Mass (with very limited attendance) or on a few other special occasions; otherwise the doors are locked up tight. I find that odd and disturbing, especially during a pandemic when people experience a greater need to visit their parish church, to take time to pray in a sacred place. It's not as if hordes of parishioners will suddenly descend on the church and willingly violate the "social distancing" protocols. Even more disturbing, as a Eucharistic Church, we have denied the Eucharist to thousands of Catholics who, because of age, illness, or injury, are unable to attend Mass or suffer from conditions that might result in serious health issues if they contract the virus. Hospitals and healthcare facilities have developed the means to safely treat those in their care. It would seem the Church could apply some of these same protocols to address the spiritual health of its people. All that's needed is a little creativity. But I suppose it's much easier just to listen to the politicians and attorneys and shut things down.

Some months ago, a parishioner, an elderly, home-bound woman, phoned me just to chat. During our conversation she challenged me with, "My Methodist neighbor visits and prays with me several times each week. I get the feeling my own Church simply doesn't care about me at all. They used to bring me the Eucharist. Now, nothing. When I call them, I'm told to go online, something I can't do." She, too, is experiencing a kind of emptiness, but not just on Holy Saturday. How many others sit at home, forced into spiritual loneliness, while struggling to keep the faith?

I don't know the answer. I'm not that smart. But I'm sure there are those in our Church, creative and faithful people, who can come up with better ways to care for God's people than by locking the doors. Otherwise, we run the risk of coming across like the chief priests and Pharisees described by Matthew. Are we trying to hide our Lord by securing the churches, fixing a seal, and setting the guard?