Homily: Monday after Epiphany (and St. Raymond)

I've included my homily below, but I thought I'd first say a few words about the saint we honor today. Today is the memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort. He was a very smart man from Catalonia who died in his 100th year in 1275. He's always been one of my favorite saints. 

As I said, St. Raymond was very bright, a bit of a prodigy who was teaching philosophy by the time he was 20 and then went on to earn a doctorate in law. Raymond was made an archdeacon by the Bishop of Barcelona but a few years later answered God's call to join the Dominicans. A gifted preacher, he ministered to the Muslim Moors and to those Christians who had returned from Moorish slavery. 

As the confessor to Pope Gregory IX he spent years in Rome codifying canon law, work that actually defined much of the Church's law well into the 20th Century. Ultimately he was elected as the third master general of the Dominicans. 

To include his other accomplishments would require many pages, so I'll just say that the mere reading of his life makes me tired. Whenever I think I'm overworking,  I simply think of St. Raymond and he charges my batteries. 

By the way, St. Raymond resigned from his position as the Dominican master general when he turned 65, citing age as a factor. He then went on for another 35 years, working along the way. I consider him the perfect candidate for patron saint of The Villages, our massive retirement community here in Florida. 

A few years ago, Diane and I spent almost a week in Barcelona. During our stay we spent a day or two exploring the city's beautiful old Cathedral. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when we came upon his sepulcher in a small side chapel. I said a brief prayer to this tireless man, asking him to intercede for me, to help me carry out my ministry with the same kind of enthusiasm and energy for which he was known.

Here's a photo I took of his sepulcher:

St. Raymond, pray for us.

And now...today's homily
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Readings: 1 Jn 3:22-4:6; Ps 2; Mt 4:12-17;23-25
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Matthew, writing to a largely Jewish audience, didn't hesitate to present Jesus as the "new Moses," as the promised One Moses himself described in Deuteronomy [Dt 18:18]. Jesus, the lawgiver, through the New Covenant, fulfills the Mosaic law of the Old Covenant, deepening its meaning. As Jeremiah prophesied:

"I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts..." [Jer 31:33]

But the Gospel doesn't restrict Jesus' mission, for He came not only to Abraham's descendants, but to the entire world. We heard this in Luke's Gospel when the aging Simeon, at the Presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple, exclaimed:

"...my eyes have seen your salvation. which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel" [Lk 2:30-32].

It's a message aimed not just at a handful of Bethlehem shepherds and wise men from the East, but one that reverberates throughout the world and through all time. Matthew first proclaimed this Gospel message of universal Good News in the genealogy that opens his Gospel. There we encounter a family of saints and sinners, of Jews and Gentiles.

Also in that family was John the Baptist who paved the way for Jesus, His forerunner in every respect. John would soon be martyred, but for Jesus the Cross comes later. First He must preach and heal. He must form His disciples so the Church they lead can preach the Good News and "make disciples of all nations" [Mt 28:20].

And so with John's arrest, Jesus began his ministry in earnest. He stepped into the world beyond His Jewish roots, and carried the Good News to "the Galilee of the Gentiles," as Matthew and Isaiah described it. [See Is 9]

He got right to work, didn't He? He taught in the synagogues, preached the Kingdom, and healed all who come to Him. It must have been an exhausting pace, such that word of His work spread beyond Galilee and Judea to the Gentiles of the Decapolis, of Syria, and beyond the Jordan. They came to Him with their sick and He cured them all: the physically ill, the mentally ill, the spiritually ill.

At this point Matthew tells us nothing of the content of Jesus' preaching, only that He echoed John's call to repentance in readiness for the coming Kingdom. But, you see, it wasn't His preaching that first brought those in need to this One they had never heard. How did Matthew put it?

"His fame spread to all of Syria" [Mt 4:24].

Truly remarkable! He was famous in a country He'd never even visited - and all without Facebook, or Twitter, or TV. No, it was simply His Presence in the world. Jesus, the Word of God Incarnate, need only be present and act, doing God's work in the world. It's work that only God can do, showing the world that God's creative power, His truth, and His very nature are bound up in the Presence of His merciful love.

In deep humility, a divine humility beyond our understanding, Jesus tells all that the saving, victorious Presence of God is at hand, that nothing will ever be the same. It's the same Presence He will ultimately entrust to His Church for all time through the gift of the Eucharist. This bread and wine offered by us become God Himself, His Real Presence, which He uses to heal our weakness and lead us to eternal life.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus must fill the world with His healing, saving Presence, for it is this Divine Presence that draws the world to Him. His call is a call to repentance, to conversion:

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" [Mt 4:17].

This repentance, this metanoia, as the Greeks call it, means more than being sorry for our sinfulness...much, much more. It calls us to something new, a radical change of being, really a change of everything, because we now recognize God's Presence in our midst. 

It generates a hunger within us, a hunger for God's Kingdom, a hunger for the living Bread that God gives "for the life of the world" [Jn 6:51]. Living in God's Presence and with God's Presence living in us, we can then say with Paul:

"...yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me" [Gal 2:20].

Like Matthew's world of the Gentiles, our world, too, is "in darkness...a land overshadowed by death" [Mt 4:16]. Only Christ's Presence can bring God's saving light into this world, and that's where you and I come in.

We must be the God-bearers, those who, like Jesus, must act always in love. We must carry Him and His healing Presence to those who know Him not. Let that be our prayer today: that God will lead us to those who need His glorious Presence to enlighten their darkened lives.

Another Archaeology Update

If you're among the select few who actually read this blog, you'll know I've long had an interest in things archaeological. I'm certainly no expert, not even a knowledgeable amateur, but I do try to stay abreast of what's happening in this fascinating field of study. Science and technology have provided today's archaeologist with tools undreamed of just a few years ago. The result has been a remarkable expansion of our knowledge of ancient civilizations and the societies that formed them.

I'm especially interested in what is often labeled "Biblical Archaeology", that branch of the science that relates to the events described in Sacred Scripture. Of course, any good archaeologist doesn't set out to "prove" the accuracy of Sacred Scripture; rather, he tries to uncover the truth in the form of objective facts, and then based on these hard facts share with us how our ancient ancestors lived, worked, prayed, and died. Interestingly, recent findings uncovered by archaeology, palaeography, and textual philology seem increasingly to support the truth of Sacred Scripture.

I'm also intrigued by those discoveries that bring the ancient world to light and often demonstrate that the ancients were far less primitive than previously thought. I'm always pleased when the temporal bigotry that colors the thinking of today's progressives is exposed for what it is, a blind prejudice that assumes we are smarter and wiser than those who preceded us. Indeed, looking at the chaos, brutality and global destruction that typifies much of our recent history, one can make a pretty good case that we have devolved and are far less wise than many of our ancient ancestors. In itself, this is a good reason to study the ancients, how they lived and what they believed. Maybe we'll actually learn from them.

Although we moderns certainly view the world very differently from the ancients, when it comes to our interpersonal relationships we are remarkably unchanged. As a student of Sacred Scripture I find the manifestations of human nature to be one of the constants that spans the centuries between the ancients and us. One need only read Genesis, Exodus, and the Gospels to realize that Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and the Apostles are very much like us as we struggle to live our faith in a world hostile to God's Word. In the loosely translated words of the French writer, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

All that being said, what's been happening lately in archaeology?

Sarah Parcak, Space Archaeologist. Dr. Sarah Parcak, a Yale- and Cambridge-educated archaeologist and Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has led what can only be described as a revolution in her field of study. For the past decade or so she has pioneered the use of satellite imagery to identify likely archaeological sites. Her work has led to the identification of hundreds of sites in Egypt, Sinai, Rome and elsewhere throughout the world. Many, perhaps most of these sites would never have been located by means of surface-based techniques. Dr. Parcak's work will keep her and many of her colleagues busy for decades to come.

There are, of course, some archaeologists who dispute her conclusions, but I expect most would resist any new techniques, especially those that might force them to reevaluate their own work.

Here's a brief video of Dr. Parcak discussing her work.

Babylonian Trigonometry? This story really interested me since trigonometry was among my favorite subjects back in high school. Back then (I think it was in my junior year), I'm pretty sure we were told that modern trigonometry and all its sines and cosines and tangents was something developed by the Greeks. The Egyptians might have used a primitive form to help them as they built pyramids and other edifices, but the Greeks were the ones who perfected this branch of mathematics. 

Mathematician David Mansfield holding ancient tablet

Now, it seems a couple of Australian mathematicians -- David Mansfield and Norman Wildberger -- have concluded that an ancient (3,700 year-old) Babylonian tablet found over 100 years ago contains a trigonometric table with "exact values for the sides of a range right triangles." In other words, instead of using angles, the Babylonians, with their base 60 math, expressed trigonometry in terms of these exact ratios of the sides of triangles. If the Aussies are correct -- and there's no shortage of folks who dispute their claims -- it's an amazing discovery. I expect we'll hear more about this in the future. You can read more about it here.

Destruction of Ancient and Religious Sites by Islamists. This is becoming a standard headline as followers of ISIS, al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Hamas and other Islamist terrorist entities seem determined to destroy anything that doesn't support their warped sense of history and religion.

In the Philippines, particularly in the south, where ISIS influence has increased greatly in recent years, ISIS followers regularly destroy Christian churches. A recent example is destruction of the Catholic cathedral in the southern Philippine city of Marawi by Islamists who made a video of their rampage:

Read the story here.

In Iraq, ISIS, during the two years they controlled the city of Nimrud, carried out a plan of total destruction of this ancient city. When ISIS forces were finally driven out, the Iraqi soldiers found near total devastation. ISIS used bulldozers, explosives, sledgehammers, anything that could destroy, as they went through the ancient city smashing everything in their path.

At one time Nimrud was the capital of the ancient Assyrian Empire. It was an archaeological marvel, the site of temples, ziggurats and other ruins thousands of years old. The Iraqi troops also found mass graves filled with the bodies of the local people murdered by ISIS. Seemingly proud of what they had done, ISIS also made several videos showing how they destroyed much of this ancient city. Here's a video  made after ISIS had been driven from the city, showing the level of destruction:

The Islamists' war of devastation continued in Syria with the destruction of much of the ancient city of Palmyra. They also bulldozed the Christian monastery of Mar Elian. They removed ancient mosaics, presumably to sell on the black market, from the Roman trading city of Apamea. In the city of Dura-Europos, located on the Euphrates and perhaps the easternmost of Roman outposts, they destroyed one of Christianity's oldest churches, a beautiful synagogue, and many Roman temples. And they looted the bronze-age city of Mari. And all of this destruction was just in Syria. The Islamists were guilty of even more looting and damage in the Iraqi cities of Hatra, Nineveh, Mosul, and Khorsabad, to name only a few.

The Sea People. Here's a fascinating story that shows it's important to take notes and keep them.

A few years ago I read a book entitled 1177 B.C., The Year Civilization Collapsed. Written by Eric Cline, an American archaeologist who focused on the causes of the sudden and near simultaneous collapse of many of the societies that ringed the Mediterranean Sea and even beyond. Many historians and archaeologists have placed the blame on the so-called "Sea People" who embarked on a series of invasions and raids that destroyed the key cities of these societies. Even Egypt was attacked, and although the Egyptians repelled the attackers, their society never fully recovered.

Egyptian wall frieze depicting Egypt repelling the Sea People

But Egypt wasn't the only victim. Hittites, Minoans, Trojans, and others all seemed simply to disappear. Cline isn't so sure this was all the result of the Sea People and adds natural calamities and economic factors to the mix of causes. But no one was ever absolutely sure where these Sea People came from. We might now have an answer, and it comes from an unexpected source.

Back in 1878 a French archaeologist, George Perrot, came across a limestone slab in the Turkish village of Beykoy. The slab, about a foot high and almost 100 feet long, was covered with ancient inscriptions. Because the locals intended to use the stone as part of the foundation of their mosque, Perrot decided to make an accurate copy of the inscriptions before the slab was destroyed.

Copy of Luwian Inscriptions

The copy, long forgotten, surfaced in 2012 in the estate of an English historian. Its inscriptions were then identified as Luwian, an ancient language that only a handful of experts can decipher. The translation of the inscriptions describes how kingdoms in Western Asia formed a confederation -- the Sea People -- and with a united fleet conducted raids of the eastern Mediterranean. Here's the story.

That's enough. More archaeology later...

Ancient News

If you're among the handful of regular readers of this blog -- my loyal and holy remnant -- you will know that I often write about certain archaeological discoveries that give us a glimpse into the distant past. It's really a life-long fascination with the work of archaeologists, one that began when, at the age of ten, I found a flint arrowhead amidst the gravel in our driveway in suburban New York. I still have that point, and I count it among my treasured possessions. But this early fascination with things archaeological was no more than an interest and I never considered becoming an archaeologist. I have absolutely no desire to dig in the dirt to uncover the lives of our ancient ancestors. Over the years, though, I've become acquainted with several professional archaeologists who enjoy doing just that. They have not only taught me many wonderful things but also whetted my appetite to learn more. This growing interest paralleled my interest in Sacred Scripture, especially since so much of what we know about the ancient world of the Bible has come to us through the work of archaeologists. More importantly, though, their work continues to confirm much of what the Bible tells us.

I haven't posted anything archaeological in quite some time, but in recent weeks the field has made the front pages on several occasions. And so I suppose it's time to share my thoughts on these and other news stories. Here are a few for your enjoyment, enlightenment or surprise:

UNESCO's Bias. Just in case you're not yet convinced that the United Nations is the most useless of all international organizations, here's some news that should change your mind. UNESCO -- the UN's so-called "Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization" -- has condemned Israel because it has conducted archaeological investigations at the Temple Mount and other locations in Jerusalem. UNESCO apparently believes Jerusalem is sacred only to Islam, something they insist all those pesky, imperialist Jews must also recognize. This, of course, ignores the fact that Jerusalem is the far more ancient center of the Jewish people. UNESCO also refers to Israel as the "occupying power" and condemns it for conducting any excavations in the old city of Jerusalem. UNESCO, it would seem, is staffed by Jew-haters who parrot the Islamist line that Israel is a rogue state that must be eliminated. Nothing more need be said.

Jerusalem Exists! As long as we're talking about Jerusalem, it has risen up once again and embarrassed some who consider themselves Scriptural scholars. Yes, believe it or not, many of these experts have long downplayed the biblical record that focuses on the importance of Jerusalem. Some have actually assumed that Jerusalem and Israel were never all that important because there is no contemporary record that mentions Jerusalem. No longer! Sci-News, a site that covers the latest scientific discoveries, describes the discovery of a papyrus fragment in which Jerusalem is mentioned prominently. This extra-Biblical reference to Jerusalem dates to the 7th century B.C., the time of the first temple.

The Jerusalem Papyrus

Discoveries that confirm the Biblical record have been going on for decades. Prior to the 20th century, the only place one encountered the Hittites was in the Bible. Naturally, most scholars, therefore, rejected the very idea that a Hittite empire had ever existed. Their general rule was: If it's in the Bible, it must be wrong.

Then, in 1906, the Hittite capital of Hattusha was discovered in modern-day Turkey. The discovery included a library containing over 10,000 tablets that confirmed the Biblical record and led to further discoveries. Yes, the Hittites were a powerful people with an extensive empire.

Toilet Desecration of Ba'al Temple. Once again, thanks to the work of  archaeologists, the Biblical text is proven correct. In 2 Kings 10 we find the following verses, describing Jehu's destruction of Ba'al temples in the northern Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century B.C.:

"Afterward they went into the inner shrine of the temple of Baal, and took out the pillars of the temple of Baal. They burned the shrine, tore down the pillar of Baal, tore down the temple of Baal, and turned it into a latrine, as it remains today" [2 Kgs 10:25-27].

Well, guess what? Archaeologists, digging at Lachish, in ancient Israel second in size only to Jerusalem, found a destroyed temple of Ba'al and right there in the middle of the inner temple they found a toilet where no toilet should be. Jehu had "turned it [the temple] into a latrine" because doing so was the ultimate desecration and made the temple unusable forever. Interestingly, the archaeologists, after conducting laboratory tests on the toilet, determined it had never been used. In other words, its placement was strictly symbolic, but would still desecrate the temple forever.

Temple Toilet - the "Jehu's Latrine"

ISIS Destruction of Antiquities. Driven by their fundamentalist Islamic faith, ISIS believes that all symbols of polytheism (and even those of non-Muslim monotheism) must be destroyed. After all, you never know when a bunch of Ba'al worshipers might rise up out of the sands of the Middle East and threaten Islam. They see idolatry as the greatest of sins, and any of its manifestations must be obliterated. History means absolutely nothing to these folks who consider only their version of Islam worth preserving. And so wherever these maniacal fanatics go, they leave infidel corpses and piles of rubble behind them. In the words of ISIS leadership, "These monuments should not be excavated and restored, but viewed with disgust and hatred...The sites were destroyed for disbelieving in Allah and His messengers.”

The Iraqi Army recently managed to push ISIS forces from the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, and what they found was devastating. The city's history goes back over 3,000 years and has long been considered one of the treasures of the ancient world. No longer. Ali al-Bayati, a militia commander who visited the newly liberated site stated that “One hundred per cent has been destroyed.” This, of course, was expected since ISIS conveniently made videos of their destruction of Nimrud. I've included one below:

ISIS has repeated this destruction throughout the Middle east. In the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra ISIS troops went on a rampage of destruction. One temple of the Assyrian god Ba'al was completely flattened. The below photos show the temple pre-ISIS and its destruction.

When they entered Palmyra, the ISIS forces promised to leave the site untouched, but soon after staged a public execution of Khaled al-Assad, the archaeologist who for years had managed the excavations. They then began their systematic destruction of the ancient city.

ISIS continued their destruction wherever their forces went. They destroyed the Mar Elian Monastery in the Syrian town of al-Qayatain. They did the same in the museum in Mosul (see video below), and looted the ancient Roman city of Apamea, selling looted artifacts to fund ISIS military operations. The city of Dura-Europas with its ancient Christian church and synagogue was also systematically looted as was the Bronze-Age city of Mari. 

But the greatest atrocity committed by ISIS has been the equally systematic slaughter of thousands of Christians and others, including Muslims who don't share their demonic vision.

Christians About to be Killed by ISIS

We have been blessed by these martyrs who have kept the Faith in the face of certain death.

ISIS, al-Qaida, the Taliban, and their millions of followers represent Islam at its very worst and call to mind the early days of the 7th and 8th centuries when Muslim armies spread Islam by the sword. Unlike the early spread of Christianity, the spread of Islam was not a peaceful process.

There is much more, but it will have to wait. I am called to other work. 

A Few Thoughts

Some of these thoughts might not sound very charitable, but sometimes we must speak the truth.

Patriots and Cowards. Colin Kaepernick, Brandon Marshall and the rest of the NFL's spoiled brats who have chosen to sit or kneel or to display clenched fists during the National Anthem are simply cowards. They have all reaped the benefits of life in this remarkable country, and done so to the extreme, all for playing a children's game. Most were coddled from the time they entered high school because of their athletic ability. Little was expected of them off the field, and a few might actually have fulfilled those minimal expectations. And now, because they have fame and fortune and a near-global public forum, but little or no sense, we are supposed to pay attention to them. They receive millions for playing their games while those who actually matter, those who defend this country and willingly sacrifice their lives for the rest of us, are paid very modestly, receive little thanks, and must try to survive health care from the VA. I wonder how many military funerals Kaepernick and Marshall have attended. I wonder how many wounded warriors they've visited at Walter Reed or Bethesda. Brandon Marshall says he's a patriot. Uh, Brandon, just an FYI: patriots stand for the National Anthem, at least those who haven't lost their legs in Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, Korea, Normandy, Iwo Jima...

Kaepernick Sits During National Anthem

I haven't attended or watched a major league baseball game since the strike in 1994. Remember when those millionaires had the chutzpah to declare, "We're doing this for the working people of America." Yes, all those thousands of low-paid working people who lost their jobs because the entire season was cancelled. Now I have to decide if I've  watched my last NFL game as well.

Brandon Marshall Kneels During National Anthem

Syrian Christians: persona no grata. Before the civil war in Syria, Christians made up approximately 10% of the country's population and were able to live in relative peace and practice their religion freely. Because of the war they have suffered more than any other religious group, largely at the hands of ISIS and other Islamic extremists. The war has not only led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrians, but it has also created a much larger number of refugees. Our president decided to aid these displaced Syrians by allowing thousands to immigrate to the United States.

Syrian Refugees: Christians Need Not Apply

According to the government's latest figures, the United States has admitted a total of 13,364 Syrian refugees since the civil war began. Of these, 13,019 (97.4%) are Sunni Muslims, while only 102 (less than 1%) are Christians. In other words, the religious group that has suffered the most and been persecuted the most has been virtually excluded. It's also important to note that ISIS is led by Sunni Muslims who follow the fundamentalist Wahhabi doctrines. These same ISIS leaders have stated that they intend to infiltrate terrorists among the Syrian refugees admitted to both Europe and the United States. Pray for the Christians of Syria; indeed, pray for all the people of that troubled country.

Dismemberment AbortionBan. Abortion is so horrific that I sometimes find it difficult to write about it. But for this very reason it's important to ensure the truth is told. For example, many people quite simply don't know exactly how abortions are performed, particularly late-term abortions. If they knew, support for abortion would likely drop considerably. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) has decided to introduce legislation in the Senate that he hopes will not only educate the public about the horrors of late-term abortions, but also ban these procedures nationwide. 

The legislation, called the Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act defines a dismemberment abortion as one that uses “clamps, grasping forceps, tongs, scissors or similar instruments” to “slice, crush or grasp a portion of the unborn child’s body in order to cut or rip it off or crush it,” with the purpose of causing death to the unborn child. Senator Lankford reminds us, “We know now that children who are in the womb in late-term can feel pain, At least we should agree that in the womb when a child can feel pain, we shouldn’t pull them apart limb by limb.” Identical legislation was introduced earlier in the House by Reprsentative Chris Smith (R-NJ).

A man of faith, the senator stated, “I do pray, not only for those that are yet to be born, but I pray a lot for moms that have had an abortion and the grief that they experience based on that after the fact. I pray for those that actually perform abortions that they will at some point awaken to what’s happening right in front of them.” We should all join the senator in his prayer.

Monday Morning Thoughts

Putin and his foes. The ongoing drama playing out among the world's political leaders has enrolled even the least astute of observers in a graduate course in non-leadership. On one side we have President Obama, alleged leader of the world's most powerful and successful nation. He is loosely joined by a feckless collection of Western European politicians whom we are assured the President is leading from behind. Opposed to this worthy coalition is one Vladimir Vladimirovitch Putin, the President of Russia.

Putin has branded himself as a kind of superman, the Russian he-man, a blended reincarnation of Stalin and Ivan the Terrible with a feminine side inherited from Catherine the Great. He projects the image of the savior intent on returning the expansive nation to its former greatness. In this, however, he has given his countrymen a false hope, since the nation they envision had never really been able to achieve true greatness, but for centuries always teetered on the edge of collapse. And collapse it did, several times during just the last century.

But this doesn't mean Putin and the new Russia are no threat. While our nation adopts foolish policies that undermine our relationships with our most reliable allies and appease those who would destroy us, Putin courts emerging superpower Communist China and strengthens Russian ties with Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terror. While the West stumbles along in its hapless efforts to convince Iran to stop its ongoing development of nuclear weapons, who do you think is providing them with nuclear reactors? (Hint: his middle name is Vladimirovitch.) As the United States disengages itself from the Middle East, guess who will fill the resulting vacuum? (Hint: Who pulled the rug out from under President Obama and took charge of the "Syrian problem"?) And which maritime nation is today decimating its naval forces (Hint: it's initials are USA), while Russia and China undertake huge expansions of their blue-water navies? Guess which leader seems to have a better grasp of the intricacies of the global chessboard? (No hint necessary.)

Russian warship in the Bosporus en route to Syria

He might be an astute manipulator of power politics, but in reality Putin is little more than a clever thug, a former KGB apparatchik, who like those he once served believes power is best applied through the barrel of a gun. Economically today's Russia is a corruption-riddled basket case, and it's military, while certainly not insignificant in numbers, is also not especially well-equipped. Despite this, Putin realizes he has little to fear from our president and our erstwhile NATO allies. Like Hitler occupying the Rhineland or Austria, Putin sent his troops virtually unopposed into Crimea and then formally annexed the region. We may scold him on the world stage, wagging our finger and wringing our hands, but the fact is Crimea is once again a part of the Russian homeland. This morning I read that the Russians even set the Crimean clocks to Moscow time. For Russia the consequences of this illegal aggression have been horrendous: several of Putin's closest friends can no longer spend long weekends in Vegas or use their Visa cards, and the USA has sent vast amounts of military aid to the threatened Ukranians in the form of MREs; i.e., Meals Ready to Eat.

Russian Troops in Crimea

Will President Obama and his sometime allies actually respond in any effective way? Unlikely. Sadly this global drama is quite unlike those Tolkien-like or Reaganesque battles between good and evil that so inflame the hearts of free men. It's really more of a schoolyard confrontation in which a collection of nerds appeases the school bully by turning over their lunch money. By doing so they incorrectly assume he's been bought off and will forever leave them alone. Of course he won't. He'll be back...and next time he might bring some friends.

Nancy Pelosi Receives Award Named for a Racist. U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is a remarkable woman. The former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, she was the driving force in the enactment of Obamacare (the so-called Affordable Care Act). To this end she masterfully convinced her Democrat colleagues in the House to vote for this huge, and hugely flawed, piece of legislation even though few of them knew what was in it. How can we ever forget her forceful, convincing argument which concluded with the statement: "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it..."?

Pelosi with Dr. Ruth, HHS Secretary Sebelius, and Planned Parenthood President Richards

Ms. Pelosi also claims to be a faithful Catholic although she openly rejects many of her Church's teachings. Indeed, one gets the impression that she wishes she were pope so she could bring the Church into alignment with the prevailing zeitgeist. Alas, that dream of hers will remain unfulfilled, and so she must be content with instructing the bishops to join her in virtual apostasy. Sadly for her, that effort too is doomed to failure.

Margaret Sanger

She remains, however, undeterred. Indeed, her latest claim to fame is an award she has received from Planned Parenthood, the nation's number one baby killer. And this isn't just any award. It's the Margaret Sanger Award. Now, for those who might not know it, Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) founded Planned Parenthood in 1921. She was also a racist who believed in the elimination of undesirable racial minorities, or "human weeds", as she called them. It's no accident that the vast majority of Planned Parenthood clinics are located in inner city, minority neighborhoods. This is exactly what Margaret Sanger planned. As a result, the greatest cause of death among African Americans today is abortion.

Sanger was an especially clever racist, though, and even planned to co-opt leaders of the black community to join her in her genocidal efforts. In a 1922 article she wrote:

"We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities.  The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."

Sanger's efforts weren't restricted to contraception and abortion. As she once said, "The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." Nice. And trust me, she wasn't talking about a family of white Episcopalians from Connecticut.

Lloyd Marcus, author of the fascinating book, Confessions of a Black Conservative, wrote the following in an American Thinker essay: 

"Colored people are like human weeds and are to be exterminated." So said Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. Seventy-eight percent of Planned Parenthood clinics are in black neighborhoods. Blacks make up only 12% of the population, but 35% of America’s aborted babies are black. Half of black pregnancies end in abortion. Is this an intentional genocide?

'The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb," according to Pastor Clenard Childress, Jr. Blacks are the only minority in America experiencing a declining population.

So why would Obama, the NAACP, Rev. Sharpton, and other black leftists be passionate supporters of Planned Parenthood? Why did Al Sharpton threaten to protest a pro-life billboard which exposed the devastatingly high number of black abortions?

Good questions. Why do the Democrats consistently support abortion, and even infanticide, which have led to the deaths of so many minority babies?

And I'll add a few questions of my own. Isn't it interesting that Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader of the House Democrats, should receive an award that honors such a woman as Sanger? Why has no one in the mainstream media asked the former speaker if her beliefs mirror those of Sanger's? For that matter, why does the Democrat Party oppose charter schools and school choice which have done so much to improve the quality of the education received by minority children? Do you think there might be a connection? Interesting questions that deserve answers.

Syria, Prayer and Fasting

On Saturday Pope Francis joined 100,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square for a four-hour prayer vigil. The vigil was in response to the pope's call for a day of prayer and fasting for peace. The focus of this call for peace is, of course, on the civil war in Syria and the planned strike now being debated here in the U.S. Throughout the world the Church's bishops joined Pope Francis in proclaiming the fast and holding similar prayer vigils. The response, however, extended well beyond the Church. Even in St. Peter's Square the crowd was swelled by many non-Christians who expressed solidarity with the pope. One man, a Hindu, said, "This is already a success, the fact that all of us here, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, atheists made an effort to fast, not to do many things, and come here from all over Italy and Europe. This is already a success." Muslims, too, were present. Indeed, several hundred members of Italy's Arab community joined in the prayers. And in Damascus, in the very heart of Syria, the grand mufti wrote a letter thanking Pope Fancis for all he had done and invited Muslims to fast as well. In his remarks to the crowd the pope said,

"This evening I ask the Lord that we Christians, and our brothers and sisters of other religions and every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully: Viloence and war are never the way to peace." 

Earlier in the week the pope issued a plea for peace in the plain and clear language to which we have become accustomed:

"There are so many conflicts in this world which cause me great suffering and worry, but in these days my heart is deeply wounded in particular by what is happening in Syria and anguished by the dramatic developments which are looming. I appeal strongly for peace, an appeal which arises from deep within me. How much suffering, how much devastation, how much pain has the use of arms carried in its wake in that martyred country, especially among civilians and the unarmed! I think of many children who will not see the light of the future! With utmost firmness I condemn the use of chemical weapons: I tell you that those terrible images from recent days are burned into my mind and heart. There is a judgment of God and of history upon our actions which are inescapable."

The pope offers the world a strong moral argument favoring restraint. But there are also geopolitical arguments that should be raised. At this point we must ask ourselves whether a strike on Syria will achieve anything positive. Will it lessen the fighting? Will it stop the civil war? Will it stop the use of chemical weapons by either the Assad regime or the rebels or both? Will it bring about a significant shift in the balance of power in the country and the region? If an air strike leads to the eventual end of the Assad regime, what will replace it? Who exactly are the rebels and what are their motivations and goals? Are any of the armed rebels truly moderates? If we attack Syria, what might be the short- and long-term ramifications on our key ally in the region, Israel? How will Assad's ally, Iran, react? And then there's the wild card, Russia, a nation ruled today by a former KGB apparatchik. Can anyone predict the full range of unintended consequences of an American attack on Syria?

The fact that the answers to these questions do not come easily only reinforces Pope Francis's argument for restraint. That few if any of these questions have been answered publicly by the Obama administration is additional cause for concern. Indeed, one gets the idea that strategic issues are decidedly secondary, that the president's primary motivation is to save face, to salvage his personal credibility regardless of the consequences.

The above comments were written last Sunday morning before the real weirdness set in, before Secretary of State Kerry's gaff, before Putin's diplomatic coup, before the president's odd speech to the nation, before Putin's New York Times op-ed...before this strange concatenation of events. It all leads me to believe that prayer and fasting have had a positive result. Keep it up. And while you're praying, take a moment to read this story about Fatima and world peace.

Syria and Ducks and Tebow and Democrats and Abortion and God

The Kerrys and Assads Enjoy Dinner at a Happier Time

The news today overflows with strange stories. Most of the world seems focused on Syria and the current location of the "red line" President Obama continues to draw in the shifting sands of the Mideast. I can see no good outcome from the situation the president has created for our nation. Whether Barack Obama initiates a limited, short-term, focused attack on the regime of Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, or ultimately decides to walk away from the whole thing, the result will be pretty much the same: the United States will appear weak and ineffective. This will not turn out well and could lead to something much worse.

In a recent post I confessed a fondness for the family starring in the A&E reality show, "Duck Dynasty." And if the ratings are any measure, it would seem much of the country likes them as well. This is to be expected since, despite their obvious oddness, the members of this extended family love each other and love the Lord. They break bread together; they laugh and criticize and argue and joke and work together; they hunt and fish and play togther; and they pray together. There are still a lot of Americans who appreciate all this and the positive family values depicted in this show. And because such values are a rarity on television today, I expect the show will continue to be successful.

The Duck Dynasty Family at Prayer

Yesterday Tim Tebow was released by the New England Patriots. I had hoped he'd make the team as its third quarterback, but this was apparently not to be. And inexplicably neither Bill Belichick nor Robert Kraft called me yesterday to ask for my advice and consent. Go figure!

Tebow, of course, has generated all kinds of commentary since his NFL debut with the Denver Broncos two years ago. Much of that commentary has been highly negative. If the pundits are to be believed, the criticism of this young man is centered on what they perceive to be his lack of pro quarterback skills. But this is a red herring. He may not be a top-tier pro quarterback, but the media's real objection to Tebow is something else entirely. This is obvious because most of the public criticism centers on his supposed "polarization." And why do they believe he's so polarizing? That's simple. Tim Tebow is a believing Christian who lives his faith and lets others know it. This is not something public figures are supposed to do. Christians can be tolerated but only if they never proselytize.

The truth is, many in the media hate Tebow simply because they depise Christianity. They despise Christianity because it collides with their atheistic/agnostic worldview. Indeed, I suspect many of these haters of Christianity also hate the very idea of God, especially a God who calls on them to "Repent and believe in the Gospel." Pray for them. And pray, too, for all those nominal Christians who are just as uneasy about the Tim Tebows of the world who refuse to hide their faith under a bushel basket.

Tim Tebow may never again play professional football, but I am confident in believing he will go on to do great things.

Now a word to all those pro-life Democrats out there. Yes, there are some. I know this because I've met them and they proudly proclaim both their allegiance to the Democrat party and their pro-life beliefs. The fact that they've never voted for a pro-life candidate at any level of government does not seem to bother them. One would think that many of these Democrats are pro-life because of their religious belief in the sanctity of human life created by a loving God. Some believing Democrats, however, disagree. At a party function in Iowa, one of the faithful, an activist named Midge Slater, spent some time in public prayer thanking God for his gift of abortion. In Ms. Slater's words:

"We give thanks, Oh Lord, for the doctors, both current and future, who provide quality abortion care...We pray for increased financial support for low-income women to access contraception, abortion and childcare."  [Why they would need childcare is not explained.]...we pray for women in developing nations, that they may know the power of self-determination. May they have access to employment, education, birth control and abortion....we pray for the families who have chosen. May they know the blessing of choice..."

And then she added: "We pray for women who have been made afraid by their paternalistic religion." Yes, can't you just see all those Catholic women quaking in fear because popes, bishops, priests (and deacons?) refuse to stop calling abortion a sin. I've included a video of this prayer service below.



This is the state of your party today, pro-life Democrats. It's leadership has enthusiastically overseen the killing of over 50 million unborn infants since 1973. I'm not suggesting you register as Republicans tomorrow. Heaven knows how ineffective Republican leadership has been. But I do ask you to send your party a pro-life message and, at the very least, register as an independent. In truth, I can't see the party changing its stance on any life issues because its activist leadership truly believes that abortion trumps everything else.

Pax et bonum...

Heroines Today

After posting the story earlier today about the French Trappist monks who sacrificed their lives in Algeria in 1996, I thought it might be uplifting to hear about another group of Trappists, in this instance a small group of Italian nuns, who live in a monastery in the western Syrian village of Azeir.

Cistercian Nuns in front of their monastery in Azeir, Syria

Like Algeria in the 1990s, Syria today is suffering from the effects of a gruesome civil war, a war in which both sides have been guilty of horrible atrocities. Although the majority of these atrocities have been committed by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the rebel forces have become increasingly brutal as more and more Islamist extremists join their ranks. In the midst of all this violence and chaos, five Cistercian nuns carry on at their small Monastery of Valserena, determined to remain as a sign of Christ's presence. As their superior, Sister Monica, stated, "...we are part of this community and cannot leave at a time of trial. Its fate is our fate...Christians are called to bear witness to it [Christian hope] in the world. Since we have been called to Syria, why leave?"

The nuns ask us all to pray for the people of Syria who have experienced so much tragedy in their lives since the civil war began early last year.  Pray too for these courageous women.

Read more here and here.