Timely Thoughts

I've hesitated to post anything about the recent elections and their aftermath, but I suppose it's time to write at least a few things about it all. What follows are, of course, my personal views and I do not speak for the Catholic Church.

The Presidential Election. To say I am disappointed in the apparent results of the presidential election would be an understatement. I suppose the outcome is not yet confirmed, so things could change. After all, Al Gore made the nation dance to his tune for well over a month back in 2000. But from a Catholic and Christian perspective Joe Biden does not fill me with hope.

Like Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden is one of those “devout, practicing Catholics” who actually rejects much of what the Catholic Church teaches. He seems to support the suppression of religious freedom for which the left wing of his political party is becoming increasingly famous. I suspect this will continue and likely intensify under a Biden administration unless the Supreme Court steps in to protect Americans’ first amendment rights. 

Big government likes the idea of controlling all aspects of peoples’ lives, including their religious teachings and practices. Even in a pandemic, when it comes to the celebration of the liturgy, the bishops make the relevant decisions, not government officials. The UK is also experiencing similar intrusions by government as officials ban the celebration of Mass by Catholics. Speaking in the House of Commons, former UK prime minister, Theresa May, put it well when she said, “Making it illegal to conduct an act of worship for the best of intentions sets a precedent that could be misused for a government in the future with the worst of intentions.” 

The American left has also become increasingly anti-Semitic. AOC and her “squad” of Marxist know-nothings openly despise Israel (and Jews) and have infected many in the Democrat Party with their ideology of hate. They also seem to have the ear of Joe Biden.

More disturbing, however, is Joe Biden’s support of the wholesale slaughter of unborn children up until the moment of birth. As I’ve said before, anyone who will support abortion, the horrific, dismembering killing of the most innocent human lives, will support anything. Mr Biden also tosses Church teaching into the trash by supporting homosexual “marriage” and so-called “transgender” rights. In truth, science (a gift from our God) shows that transgenderism does not exist. Just check the DNA. It’s not changed by either surgery or hormonal additives. A male remains a male, a female a female, just as God made them. 

The Washington Post and the New York Times, two newspapers with a direct line to Joe Biden, just announced that, as President, one of Biden’s first moves will be to scrap all of President Trump’s pro-life policies. When the Supreme Court supported Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor, protecting them from invasive governmental mandates regarding contraception, Joe Biden clearly stated what he would do as president: “As disappointing as the Supreme Court’s ruling is, there is a clear path to fixing it: electing a new President who will end Donald Trump’s ceaseless attempts to gut every aspect of the Affordable Care Act.” 

The growing leftist movement within the Democrat Party, in its evolving “woke” state, has become increasingly totalitarian. This, of course, is the ultimate goal of all political correctness. PC thought and practice have definite Marxist origins (see discussion here) and are a key element of the left’s political agenda. It’s an agenda of control, one which employs such tactics as “cancel culture” to suppress those who do not toe the leftist ideological line. That’s right, folks, you will be punished for expressing contrary — i.e., conservative, religious, or other unacceptable — views or, perish the thought, actually doing things of which the reigning powers disapprove. 

The left looks to those who have traditionally supported the Democrat Party, but their political grip on these folks is beginning to slip. The party demands that African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, women — basically anyone other than white males — must not think for themselves or do what is best for them and for their families. They must remain on their respective plantations and do what their “masters” tell them. How did Nancy Pelosi put it not long ago when actually challenged by a liberal media type who questioned her response to the homeless? “We feed them!” she shouted. Yes, indeed, she feeds them and cares for them and keeps them dependent, hoping they don’t succeed. Nancy and her friends on the left need the needy to reman always in need.

Governors, Mayors, and Other Elites. Did you happen to catch California Governor Gavin Newsom’s apology? Of course, it was issued only after he was caught dining with a crowd of friends at Napa County’s toney French Laundry Restaurant  (By the way, meals there reportedly start at $350 a head, before wine.) Newsom and his large group of friends, including the head of the California Medical Association, sat together indoors, without masks, and certainly not separated by any social distancing. This elitist and grossly incompetent governor threatens citizens with arrest for breaking his rules, but willfully violates them whenever he pleases. Below is a  photo of the governor and his friends flaunting what they demand of regular Californians. Oh, yes, if you think the governor used his own money to pay for his meal, guess again. I’m pretty sure it was paid for by either of two possible sources: the taxpayers or one of the lobbyists who was present that evening.

In the former Soviet Union, the Communist Party elites were called the nomenklatura and enjoyed extensive privileges unavailable to the average citizen. In other words, they lived like royalty while the people lived in a socialist hell. This is the kind of society the American left would love to see. It’s another good reason for voter-imposed term limits. Send them all packing before they discover how easy it is to feather their own nests. As one wag stated the other day, “If you want to live well during a pandemic, just get yourself elected to something.”

U. S. Bishops. The U.S. Bishops were quick to congratulate Joe Biden after the election. Following the lead of the mainstream media, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, stated, “We recognize that Joseph R. Biden, Jr. has received enough votes to be elected the 46th President of the United States. We congratulate Mr. Biden and acknowledge that he joins the late President John F. Kennedy as the second United States president to profess the Catholic faith.” 

Of course, the USCCB said nothing about Mr. Biden’s rejection of Catholic teaching on a multitude of moral issues. But they did say a lot about “democracy.” This makes one wonder about their understanding of our almost 250-year-old political system which, as a constitutional republic, is in no way a democracy. Assuming Mr. Biden ultimately becomes president, it will be interesting to see how the bishops react when a President Biden implements his distorted moral vision through legislation, regulation, and executive order.

It seems the bishops of Italy responded very differently to the pandemic. The following observations were taken from an article by Sofia Abasolo published in late September in the Catholic Herald. (Click here to read the entire article.) I thought it worth including some of her comments here;

“One example of this occurred during the pandemic emergency. When the country went into lockdown, the bishops were slow to point out that religious worship was a constitutionally protected right, and as such could not be subject to state intervention. Mass was interrupted for several weeks, provoking much criticism from clergy and laypeople alike. And yet I couldn’t help but notice that at no point were churches shut. They remained open for solitary worship every day of lockdown, and worship was legally protected as an essential need, just like buying newspapers or groceries.

“There were two weeks when going out for a walk was prohibited, but going to kneel before the Eucharist was not. What’s more, the sacraments were always available – priests had to be approached to hear Confession and administer the Eucharist (complying with the new hygiene standards), but they were never legally prohibited from doing so, and they never rejected my requests when I asked.

“When it looked as if cinemas would open before Mass was reinstated, the bishops finally spoke up in resistance, and the government responded by amending their decree, announcing the return of Mass (with limits on numbers of attendees) as restaurants and cafes opened up their doors.”

“The bishops finally spoke up in resistance...” How many of our bishops have publicly resisted the government’s intrusion into the religious freedom protected by our Constitution?

Persecution of Christians. Pew Research Center, among the more reliable sources of information on what’s happening in the world from a religious perspective, has issued a study on religious persecution for 2018. This is the most recent year for which complete data is available. The results of their study are not encouraging. The persecution of Christians has increased worldwide to a level higher than any year since 2007, when Pew began these annual studies. The study claims that Christian persecution and harassment occurred in 145 of the world’s 198 countries. It also determined that 75% of all victims of religious persecution are Christians. Some other shocking findings: 

• 8 Christians are killed every day because of their faith;
• 23 Christians are raped or sexually harassed daily;
• 182 Christians churches or buildings are vandalized weekly
• 102 Christian homes or businesses are damaged or destroyed weekly

Every year these numbers have grown, something that should give us pause and prepare us for things to come. President Trump has aggressively pushed for greater emphasis on religious freedom at the United Nations. He has consistently called on the entire international community and business leaders to protect this most basic human freedom. He also established a new Conscience and Religious Freedom division within the Department of Health and Human Services. We can only hope that a Biden administration will continue this focus on religious freedom and not just resurrect the failed policies of the past. Some links to relevant Pew Research:

Increased Government Restrictions on Religion

Religious Restrictions Around the World

COVID-19 Deaths. Here’s an interesting fact you probably won’t encounter in the mainstream media because they seem to focus only on that which increases public fears. Do you know that 1% of U.S. counties account for 34% of U.S. deaths from COVID-19? Isn’t that interesting? Also, almost 15% of U.S. counties have experienced one or no COVID-19 deaths. 

I’ve included below a list of the 50 U.S. counties with the greatest number of COVID-19 deaths (as of November 14). I am fairly certain most, if not all, of these counties are run by Democrats. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s city is represented by 4 of the top 10 — Brooklyn (Kings Cty), Queens, Bronx, and Manhattan (New York Cty) — a fact he and Governor Cuomo inexplicably blame on President Trump. The rest of the “top 10” include Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Miami, Detroit, and Houston. 

50 Counties with the Most COVID-19 Deaths

RANK	COUNTY NAME	STATE	TOTAL DEATHS
1	Kings County	NY	7,450
2	Queens County	NY	7,321
3	Los Angeles County	CA	7,266
4	Cook County	IL	5,797
5	Bronx County	NY	5,019
6	Maricopa County	AZ	3,797
7	Miami-Dade County	FL	3,707
8	New York County	NY	3,204
9	Wayne County	MI	3,119
10	Harris County	TX	2,908
11	Middlesex County	MA	2,351
12	Nassau County	NY	2,229
13	Essex County	NJ	2,172
14	Bergen County	NJ	2,083
15	Suffolk County	NY	2,023
16	Philadelphia County	PA	1,934
17	Hidalgo County	TX	1,765
18	Palm Beach County	FL	1,622
19	Clark County	NV	1,617
20	Broward County	FL	1,585
21	Hudson County	NJ	1,542
22	Hartford County	CT	1,532
23	Orange County	CA	1,524
24	Westchester County	NY	1,486
25	Middlesex County	NJ	1,462
26	Fairfield County	CT	1,454
27	Bexar County	TX	1,449
28	Union County	NJ	1,391
29	Essex County	MA	1,390
30	Dallas County	TX	1,373
31	Riverside County	CA	1,367
32	Oakland County	MI	1,282
33	Passaic County	NJ	1,277
34	Worcester County	MA	1,212
35	Suffolk County	MA	1,205
36	Macomb County	MI	1,166
37	New Haven County	CT	1,157
38	Norfolk County	MA	1,147
39	Richmond County	NY	1,105
40	San Bernardino County	CA	1,097
41	Ocean County	NJ	1,087
42	Hennepin County	MN	1,044
43	Cameron County	TX	996
44	Providence County	RI	986
45	San Diego County	CA	926
46	Tarrant County	TX	924
47	Montgomery County	MD	905
48	Montgomery County	PA	904
49	St. Louis County	MO	901
50	Prince George's County	MD	883

It’s all very interesting. 

God Chooses Whomever He Wants

I suppose, because of a few of my earlier posts and comments I’ve made to others, some people assume they know for whom I intend to vote in the upcoming presidential election. (Hey, it’s still a secret ballot, so I can keep it to myself, can’t I?) Anyhow, this became apparent the other morning when a parishioner approached me in the parking lot after Mass and said, “I can’t believe you support Trump. Don’t you realize that God can’t possibly want this man to be our president?” His words surprised me, although I suppose for many folks their political party outweighs their faith.  

Trying to keep things light, I chuckled a bit and said, “Boy, it must be wonderful to know the mind of God,” and then I referred him to the prophet Isaiah:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" [Is 55:8-9].

I should have added that if he participated in our parish Bible Study, I wouldn't have to remind him of this, but that would have been rude.

I really didn’t want to get into the politics, but couldn’t help myself: “So you count God among the never-Thumpers and believe He wants Joe Biden to be president?”

He looked at me oddly -- because a mask covered half his face, I really couldn’t read his expression very well. He shook his head, snorted, and said something like, “Trump is an idiot. He’s certainly no Christian. So there’s no way God wants him to lead this country.”

I suppose I could have stayed there and argued for a while, but I really didn’t think I could say anything that would change his mind.  So I just smiled and said, “Next time God reveals His will to you, let me know.” 

Okay, that was a little snarky, but I’ve already overdosed on politics and really didn’t want to begin another argument that might turn into a quarrel. But you see what worldly politics does to us; it reveals all the nastiness we’d rather keep hidden. I probably should apologize the next time I see him...well, maybe.

But he got me thinking, thinking about God and how He calls on the most unlikely people to carry out His divine will. If we turn to the Old Testament, we can choose almost anyone. Just pick a Patriarch, any Patriarch from Abraham to Joseph, and you encounter weak men with a wide variety of faults and foibles who, through the gift of faith and the grace of God, managed to help God get this whole salvation project going. 

And, of course, Moses and his brother, Aaron, were really not the best of men. But they listened to God -- well, most of the time -- and did God's work of turning His Chosen People from an enslaved rabble into the fledgling nation, Israel. 

The prophets, too, were not the most impressive of men. Called by God, often enough they had to be dragged to their vocation kicking and screaming along the way. And there were many others.  How about David and Bathsheba, their little adulterous affair and subsequent marriage that led to Solomon?  As Matthew reminds us in his genealogy, all three were among the human ancestors of Jesus: “And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah...” [Mt 1:6] 

But there were others, pagans and other Gentiles, who managed to fulfill God’s plan by doing His will. Some, like the Pharaoh of Exodus, strongly resisted God’s Word, but by doing so, unintentionally did what was necessary to fulfill God’s plan. Yes, indeed, God’s ways are higher than our ways. 

Another man of worldly power chosen by God was Cyrus, the Persian King. Having conquered Babylon, Cyrus brought about the return of God’s People to Jerusalem after decades of exile. Listen to his words:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up’” [2 Chron 36:23].

These are the remarkable words of a pagan king who listened to “the Lord, the God of heaven” and did His will. Because of Cyrus, the exiled Jews returned to the Promised Land and, led by Ezra and Nehemiah, began to reform as God’s People in readiness to receive the promised Messiah. 

The New Testament, too, offers many similar examples. Much like Pharaoh, the Herods and Pilate each unwittingly fulfilled his role in God’s plan for the salvation of humanity. God moves the powerful to do His will before they crumble into dust. And yet He gathers twelve of the least of men to form His Church, a Church that will remain until the end of days. Our Blessed Mother, Mary, described it beautifully in her Magnificat:

“He has shown the strength of His arm, He has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly” [Lk 1:51-52].

If we step out of Sacred Scripture and turn to later human history we find many other examples of God working through some of the most unlikely folks. Among my favorites, though, is another king, a man named Canute. If you're not a student of European history, you probably haven't heard of this interesting fellow, so let me tell his story as briefly as possible.

The restored Christian kingdom in England had reached its peak under King Edgar (959-975). Sadly, for the English, the good times didn’t last long. Repeated invasions by the barbarous and pagan Vikings drove the country into ruin. For the next quarter-century England was pillaged from one end to the other by Vikings who slaughtered many and left very little of value behind. 

But in 1016, something odd happened. Canute, the Viking son of the chief pagan leader, became King of England and formed, in effect, an Anglo-Scandinavian empire. At the time, because of his military victories and their material rewards, Canute was probably one of the wealthiest men of his time. One would expect Canute’s victory to result also in a pagan victory, but inexplicably that didn’t happen. Instead, Canute sent the Viking army home and decided to rule England by following the traditions King Edgar’s earlier Christian kingdom. He supported the Church and built tombs for the saints, even building one for St. Alphange who was killed by Canute’s father. He sent English bishops, priests, and monks to Scandinavia and then made a pilgrimage to Rome where he participated in the coronation of the Emperor in 1027. We can, therefore, say that Scandinavia was brought into Western Christendom through the conquest of England by a pagan barbarian. Go figure! Canute, then, offers us one of those wonderful paradoxes that so often display God’s power working in ways so much higher than our ways. 

Today we’re confronted by President Donald Trump, a man who certainly doesn’t project the usual presidential image. His language is the kind heard around the kitchen tables of many, perhaps most, Americans. Although a man of great wealth, he quickly connected with Middle America and focused on what they consider their greatest needs. Unlike Wall Street and Silicon Valley, unlike the movers and shakers among the Fortune 500, unlike the academics in our top business schools, and unlike the “deep state” indwellers of both parties, most Americans are not globalists. They really aren’t concerned with the EU or China or Mexico. They’re concerned with family safety, with jobs, with a good education and a promising future for their children, with their own retirement. They are patriotic Americans who love their country. They believe in a loving God and attend church services regularly. They want political leaders who truly represent them, who share their beliefs, and understand their needs. They want leaders whose actions follow their words, who fulfill their promises. And this is why so many of them like and support Donald Trump.

Personally, Donald Trump has surprised me. Yes, I voted for him in 2016 because the alternative was beyond horrific. Four months before the election I predicted his victory simply because of the obvious strength of his support and the tremendous enthusiasm of his supporters. Clinton lacked both. But I never expected him to become the kind of president he is today. I think he surprised a lot of people, especially his enemies. In 2016 they portrayed him as a buffoon, and they’ve continued to do so even though the facts demonstrate how wrong they are. This cannot help them in November.

What does God think of Donald Trump? The only thing I can say with any certainty is that God loves him, but then God loves all whom He has created. Does God want him to be president? I haven’t a clue. But over the past three plus years, Donald Trump has demonstrated strong support for the pro-life movement. He has done much to strengthen our nation’s longstanding support for religious freedom, both at home and abroad. He has achieved remarkable success in easing tensions in the Middle East and helped establish peaceful relations between Israel and several of its former enemies. He has rebuilt a military that was largely ignored by the previous administration, while at the same time limiting our military involvement overseas. His federal judicial appointments are strong Constitutionalists who will likely support the freedoms spelled out in our Bill of Rights. Economically his efforts have led to remarkably low unemployment levels among all Americans, and significant increases in the wages of lower and middle income earners. All of these things are good. 

The U.S. Bishops are unhappy with his policy regarding illegal immigration, but in truth he simply follows the law. If we disagree with federal law, we should lobby Congress to change it. Believe me, though, Congress (even liberal Democrats) won't change it because they fear the reaction of the people. Instead, they use other means -- state and local laws to create sanctuary cities and states, or fund healthcare and education for illegals, etc. -- to achieve their ends. It's all very strange.

Here is an open letter to the U.S. Bishops by a coalition of pro-life leaders asking the Bishops to declare abortion to be the "preeminent priority" when voters decide for whom to vote. The link to the letter: Citizens for a Pro-Life Society

Is President Trump another Canute, or another Cyrus? Again, I haven’t a clue. But to rule it out would be a mistake. Donald Trump might well be another of those most unlikely men chosen by God to show not the power of man but the ineffable power of our God. You and I just have to wait and see. Fortunately, we have front-row seats.