I love that. Sadness over the death of someone regardless of being on different sides of whatever spectrum anyone might want to mention. Good on you, President Trump.
When someone informed me of RBG’s death this last Friday at 7:49 PM my first reaction was to say a Hail Mary for the repose of her soul. Ave Maria…
Precious few had the same reaction, including those on the far left of the political spectrum who were angry at RBG for having died before January 2021.
We gotta get hold of the fact of eternity before us…
Bulleted points (or in Italics on different platforms) in quotations marks are from Catholic League’s Bill Donohue (CL for short):
“Trey Trainor, the chairman of the Federal Election Commission, is accusing the bishops of refusing to partake in electoral politics because they are more interested in receiving federal funds than they are in mobilizing Catholics. He even goes so far as to say that priests should disobey their bishop.”
“Trainor says, “the bishops are using their non-profit status as a shield to hide behind from having to make a decision about who to support.” Why? Because they want federal dollars. “To look at the amount of money the Church receives for social services, I would say that they have a big fear of provoking the government into pulling money away from activities the Church is involved in.”
Up to this point, I agree with Trey Trainor. Great! But then CL has this:
“In actual fact, the bishops have always been reluctant—properly so—to tell Catholics who to vote for in an election. We don’t go to church to get lectured to by priests who are Republicans or Democrats.”
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Con paz! Con paz! Just. Wow. Trey Trainor did not command the bishops who to vote for in an election. Trey Trainor did not command us to go to church in order to get lectured to by priests who are Republicans or Democrats. Trey Trainor did not command priests to lecture their congregations from the pulpit, endorsing this or that candidate. No.
“To be sure, priests are entitled to discuss public policy issues that the Church supports, such as laws that restrict abortion or statutes that support school choice. But priests who go beyond this are crossing the line. None of this has anything to do with money—it has to do with prudence and respect for the conscience of parishioners.”
Just. Wow. As a priest, I’m allowed by CL to discuss public policy issues. Pfft! “Discuss.” No. I’m not going to discuss anything from the pulpit. I’m not going to throw up in the air for “discussion”, say, ripping unborn children apart in the wombs of their mothers and sucking them out with a vacuum cleaner, discussing this… No. These children are made in the image and likeness of God, and I’m going to declare with Jesus, who was in the womb of His Immaculate Mother for nine months that procured abortion is intrinsically evil always and in every circumstance. This is not up for “discussion.”
Does CL really equate procured abortion with school choice, the old lies of “Common Ground” and “Seamless Garment”. Unbelievable.
CL says that priests who go beyond this step over the line. Well, CL, I’m stepping over the line. Sue me. I’m going to say that procured is intrinsically evil and that this is not up for discussion at all.
CL says that this has nothing to do with money – it has to do with prudence and respect for the conscience of parishioners. I say, that’s bull crap. The bishops get tons of Federal Money for Catholic Relief Services, which is anti-Catholic, anti-Relief, and against true Services. The Bishops get tons of Federal Money for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development which is not Catholic, but is a campaign against that which is Catholic, and is entirely against Human Development. Let’s talk the Bishops’ support for groups supporting abortion. Yes. Let’s do that, CL. Let’s talk the prudence and respect of Jesus for the consciences of the money changers in the Temple, overturning their tables of money. Just. Wow. “Prudence.” “Respect.” I’ll tell you this, Jesus took us deadly seriously. He was tortured to death for it. Jesus doesn’t want us to go to hell. He instructs us without fear. What the hell are you doing, CL? Being men of consensus?
“Worse is Trainor’s comments on priests and bishops. ‘When a priest takes the vow of obedience to the bishop, it’s in the area of faith and morals, but they have a higher duty to Our Lord. If the bishop is putting out something that is not right, then the priest has an obligation to the faithful to correct it because he has the higher duty to Our Lord.'”
And what Trey Trainor said is absolutely correct. I’ve taken that promise of obedience, knowing that such a promise is made within the structure of Canon Law. No bishop can legitimately command any priest to commit sin, say, by way of a sin of omission or in any other way. No priest has ever made a “vow” or promise to any bishop to commit whatever sin any bishop might command him to do. This is absurd of CL. Totally absurd. I’ll tell you this, dear CL, I would go to my death disobeying any bishop commanding me to sin. If a bishop were to command a priest to sin, it would be the very height of arrogance. But then, CL says this:
“Arrogance is commonplace among Washington officials, but this one is a gem. Since when is it the job of the chairman of the FEC to offer theological instructions to Roman Catholic priests? What mantle of authority does this bureaucrat have to tell priests that they should disobey their bishops?”
Yes, well, Trey Trainor happens to be a Catholic who has the right in Canon Law to bring his concerns to the pastors of the Church. And if Trey is also a government official, does that mean that he has no right to the free exercise of religion in the public square, no right to freedom of speech, no right to express his conscience on the matter? Trey is not doing this from the offices of the FEC, but rather in a journalist’s studio. I thank Trey Trainor for the instructions he has provided. And, CL, just for your instruction, I do have a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, a Doctorate in Theology from the Angelicum again. I applaud the instruction of Trey Trainor. His “mantle of authority” is that… wait for it… he’s right.
“One would think that with all the hullaballoo about fraudulent ballots being cast, and all the chicanery about mail-in voting, that the head of the FEC would have better things to do than to tell the Catholic clergy what their responsibilities are. Trump needs to rein this guy in right away.”
I’ll tell you what, it’s fully my intention to cross the line set out by CL. I won’t discuss. I will instruct. I will defend the truth. I will defend children in the womb. I won’t command people how to vote, but I will say how candidates measure up to the absolute truth of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Divine Son of the Immaculate Conception, who will come to judge the living and the dead and world by fire. Amen.
And, by the way, I also have better things to do than have to write such commentaries as this. I had the best day ever yesterday – to give an example – locked up in jail, giving another bible study. It was on the prodigal son. Tears of conversion flowed. I saw Jesus at work in these guys’ souls. I would much rather be doing all that than this commentary. And now it’s off to Holy Hours, Masses, Communion calls until nightfall. I love being a priest. Just don’t have the hubris of telling me how to be a priest, CL, well, you know, unless you’re right on something, like Trey Trainor.
P.S. I love what you do otherwise, CL. You do a great work for the Church. But with this attack on Trey Trainor, you’ve stepped over the line.
Now, there’s an opinion. Am I still within the guidelines of the USCCB? If anyone thinks I’m being one-sided, not following the rules, and would like to see the other side of this, namely, that “Only real Catholics vote for Joe Biden”, then – Hey! – make another video of the same length and I’ll put it up here. No, really! But, here’s the deal, it has to be a Catholic priest or, say, deacon, whether diocesan or, say, a Jesuit. No, really! Be creative! Tell us how the most pro-abortion maniac, the most anti-free-exercise-of-religion candidate, Joe Biden, anti-Catholic on… really… everything… tell us how he is better than the most pro-life candidate this country has ever seen, Donald Trump, who is also the most pro-free-exercise-of-religion we have ever seen. So, this is a debate. I think that’s allowed by the first amendment without prejudice. Right? Right?
Apparently, some USCCB staffer made a remark that seemed to be pro-Trump, and so she was forthwith fired from her job.
Apparently, some USCCB staffer made a remark that was pro-Kamala Harris and nothing happened whatsoever.
The USCCB is just a bunch of pro-abortion fanatics, bullying others with their blatant partisan pro-death politics into making sure that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are elected.
That’s all to be expected. Jesus picked Judas also because He wanted to make sure that we knew that He understood. He suffered this kind of betrayal of Life.
Still, what surprises me is that there are apparently good Catholics who insist that the hypocritical policies of the USCCB are to be followed. Count me out. This priest is not going to be politically correct with those who promote the killing of the image of God in the womb. Ain’t gonna happen.
Some wimps say: “I was forced into compromise, betrayal, sin.” That is simply never true. What do any of us have to lose for continuing to do all that is righteous and just and merciful? Our lives? Pfft! We will gain our lives in heaven because of our witness to Jesus who is Life.
“Father Byers, you don’t understand! You’re supposed to hold your own life in this world as precious, to be protected at any cost! Don’t witness to Jesus! Bow down to the pro-aborts! We do!”
Yuck. I would rather be tortured to death.
“Father Byers, you don’t understand! We have power! We can have you shut down, silenced. We’ll call you an apostate, a schismatic, an excommunicate – splutter splutter – unless you promote our pro-abort candidates, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. We’ll make sure you are removed from you parish, thrown on the street, a wanderer, accursed. We’ll make sure to make your life HELL!”
Pfft! Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn said that he was not afraid of any torture to which he was subjected. Rather, he was afraid that, while looking into the eyes of his torturer he saw no conscience. But I say that we are not to fear even such as that – and I have seen that in the eyes of pro-abort politician-torturers of the unborn that zero-conscience thing. Instead, we are to look into the eyes of Christ Jesus and see that He has seen the zero-conscience thing in all, from Adam until the last man is conceived, and we are to see that Jesus was not afraid even of that. Better, when Jesus’ eyes close in death (like the Master, so the disciple), let’s look into the eyes of Jesus’ Immaculate Mother so as to see that she also was not afraid:
Despite POTUS Trump being the most pro-life, pro-free exercise of religion president in the history of these United States, it is in order to respect the integrity of POTUS Trump relative to both his present-time faith and reason, that I would not at this time administer Holy Communion to him should he – receiving bad advice – present himself for reception, desiring to help him fruitfully receive and enthusiastically rejoice in being heart to Heart with the Divine Son of God. I pray for the day that I would be able to administer Holy Communion to POTUS Trump.
BIDEN:
In order to respect the choice of Biden to be entirely anti-Catholic on basically every single doctrinal and moral aspect of the Catholic faith, in order to respect the choice of Biden to offend Natural Law regarding basically every aspect of how we are created by our good Creator, I would not at this time administer Holy Communion to him should he present himself for reception, with myself instead desiring to help him fruitfully receive and enthusiastically rejoice in being heart to Heart with the Divine Son of God.
Probably a certain Jesuit troll will complain in order to have this blog post taken down, what with the Jesuits being freakishly anti-Catholic and pro-Biden, and, I must say, clever in gathering henchmen around them to do their dirty work. I would to see this certain Jesuit call out Father James Martin. THAT ain’t gonna happen, is it?
If anyone has an opinion as to whether the two points made above regarding the present day non-administration of Holy Communion to POTUS Trump or Biden, drop that in the comments.
I’m a Catholic priest, but does that mean that on my private-opinion blog which I write on my own private internet connection, on my own private computer, on my own private time, in a totally off-church-campus dwelling, with unrelenting disclaimers that this is just little me representing just little me. But, if anyone thinks this should all have me thrown into prison, let me know what the law is. Thanks in advance!
[The above is the beginning of the original post. It then continued:]
Then there’s this:
UPDATE: At this point in the original post, the rest of the post was censured. It was only like five words of personal opinion that appraised my own intentions regarding Super-Tuesday, November 3, 2020, something like, “As for me: Trump 2020,” or words to that effect. And that was the whole of it. Those words of my personal opinion outraged a very censorious personage.
My patriotic instinct made me think that this smacking down of free speech was stepping over the line. Questions came to mind:
Upon ordination to the priesthood, do I have no personal voice in the public square?
Upon ordination to the priesthood, do I have zero Constitutional First Amendment rights?
Upon ordination to the priesthood, do I have zero rights in the Canon Law of this One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church?
So, what did I do?
I asked for some links to research and dear readers sent them in. Great! I’ve yet to go through all that, but I’m most encouraged by what I see at first glance.
I asked for some advice from some really smart people. I find out, of course, that no matter how good I think I am at analyzing stuff, there’s always someone much better at it than yours truly. The truth of the identity concerning the complainant against yours truly then finally hit me in the middle of the night. And then I laughed out loud. I didn’t see that snowflake’s communication to the one who smacked me down (but smacked down in such a friendly manner, which I appreciate!), but methinks that my conclusion about who the complainant happens to be is at a Zero Dark Thirty 100%:
Careful! There’s some bad language in that video. Maya (actress Jessica Chastain) is my hero. As she said in the script concerning the whereabouts of terrorist Usama bin Laden:
“It’s 100% he’s there. O.K. fine. 95% because I know certainty freaks you guys out. But it’s a 100.”
Hah. Yes. LOL. It’s the logistics of the communication made to me that convinces me, the when and the who of it. As pointed out by advisors, forcing that communication at that time by that person would be quite impossible even for really clever people heading up political campaigns. There’s only one person who, as the original complainant, could and would do this according to the time and manner of communication. Yes. I agree with that. 100%.
In the past, the complainant – in my Mayaesque opinion – a most tender entitled snowflake, has used the same method of having me smacked down, hiding in the background and having someone else smack me down, which is entirely unfair to the messenger. He’s a grown man. The messenger is a woman. He hides like a coward behind her. Now twice. That guy has got to stop this abuse of women. What a cruel guy. What a coward. All bullies are cowards. He should just put a comment in the post itself, or send me an email, as he has my email address. But no, he has to use a woman as human shield from the words which might come back at him, demonstrating how unreasonable he is.
The previous incident? He had written something about active shooters in churches, having it that people should just go ahead and die in all their hundreds, and that church-goers should never ever have competent and capacitated security at hand, having it that no one should ever micro-aggression terrorist mass-killers by supporting the God-given right to protect the innocent from unjust, mortal and being-delivered aggression that we’ve too often seen with the bully tender-snowflakes in this otherwise great country.
I challenge this coward to come out from behind his anonymity so we can discuss law of all kinds, natural, civil, federal, church, so we can discuss duties and rights, so we can discuss candidates for the coming election, comparing the most pro-death guy, the most anti-church guy, to the most pro-life guy, the one who has done the most to protect the free exercise of religion.
Let’s lay down some background:
What I wrote in five words about Trump in 2020 I wrote during my down-time, in zero official capacity as a cleric, not on any of our church campuses, but on my own private computer in all the privacy of my dwelling, with my own internet connection I myself pay for, disregarding what I can otherwise claim from the diocese. I didn’t do this from the pulpit, or on any parish campus, not Catholic radio nor in a Catholic newspaper. I didn’t use the church bulletin, which hasn’t been published this entire time of Covid-1984. I didn’t use any church function no matter where it might be.
The blog I write on is my own personal blog. I myself pay the fees. My blog has NOTHING to do with the parish. It has nothing to do with the Diocese. It has nothing to do, believe me, with the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. It has nothing to do with the Holy See. Nothing to do with Pope Francis. I say all this loudly: look at the ABOUT page of this blog. I pay for the blog domain as well. I designed it myself. No one edits it for me. No one is required to read this. Almost zero people in the parish do read it. Those who do so only read it once in a while, well, except for one or two people. But even they say that they pretty much just look at the “Flowers” posts, wishing these were on Instagram. Never!
But, let’s start in the next post, if he’s willing to chime in, on the very specific IRS policy. But even prior to that, let’s discuss the fact that the parish has it’s own 501c3. I don’t have one myself. And I don’t use the 501c3 of the church. No. I pay my own income tax to the Federal Government quite apart from the parish, quite apart from the Diocese, quite apart from the Bishops Conference, quite apart from the Holy See. But I get ahead of myself.
For now, I’m just baiting this guy to show himself. I’m baiting him to throw theology of identity at me so I can smack him down about courts not going anywhere near any theology. Courts are interested in taxes, numbers, not in defining theological concepts.
Right now, I’m just shadow-boxing, as it were, since the accusation was not read to me by the messenger. It’s quite impossible to defend yourself when you don’t even know what the accusation is that is leveled against you in such a cowardly manner. However, the accusation is serious, and the polite messenger of the accuser told me how any appeal would go, who I would have to bring that appeal to. That was a threat, however nicely delivered on behalf of the accuser.
So, here’s the challenge to the accuser: send me a copy of your communication to the one who smacked me down (ever so politely) on your behalf. No, really! Be brave! For once.
I laugh out loud again. I’ve added a “Humor” entry to both the categories and tags of this post. Truly. I laugh out loud. I have really a lot to say about the morality of positions of both candidates. I will speak of those. A lot. As I say, he has no idea what he has unleashed. It’s the last thing he wants. It’s the last thing the society of his ilk wants. I’m indebted to him, of course, for I might not have done this unless it was for his misuse of women (which irks me altogether), unless it was for his anonymity to me. Thanks, bud.
For now, it’s time for me to offer Holy Mass and set about what might be a 12 hour saga of priest stuff with another priest. Such drama! I love being a priest for Jesus. And that’s the point, right? All for Jesus.
That’s called the First Amendment, my friends. It’s not some sort of political foray other than to state appreciation for the most pro-police president the nation has ever had.
Here’s a detail of what was also seen:
By the way, that’s not some sort of Blue Lives Matter reaction to anything. Instead, it’s called a Thin Blue Line flag which stands in solidarity with those who have been ambushed, killed, assassinated in the Line of Duty. Our police are the thin blue line between civilization and marxist chaos. It stands in solidarity with the families and communities who have suffered such horrific loss of life.
I was gifted the picture, the bill, and the flag the other day, but I’m reintroducing them for the moment, anyway, as I believe they are morale boosters. All police need a boost in morale that these days. It’s essential.
Also, just to say, again, I must thank the town for having arranged for an increase in the police budget and an increase in training.
For the haters out there… Cool your jets… The $20.00 bill is not some crime, clearly stating, as it does, that it is not legal tender.
What we must do is stand in solidarity with those who risk their lives at every incident, every domestic, every traffic stop, as things can go from 0 to 100 in less than a second.
Pictured above is Memorial Park which sits high above Andrews, NC, the very heart of Appalachia. The tradition in these USA and here in town is to lower the American Flag to half mast at sunrise. Mind you, this is a rebellious tradition wrought not by any groups or the town of Andrews itself, but rather of individuals who rightly have a sense of patriotism and lively respect for those who gave their lives for us. These individuals have, on their own dime, supplied the large size American Flag. Since they were preoccupied on Memorial Day, yours truly went up to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and some prayers for the honorable fallen and their families.
Those who could and would carry on the tradition were not available this year, and the town, I suppose, has been forbidden to schedule official ceremonies by insurance companies and lawyers trying to bow to the ridiculous, humiliating, oppressive, anti-Constitutional policies of the powers that be in this State of North Carolina. Personally, I cannot abide cancelling honor. I can’t.
By the way, the POW-MIA flag is also put at Half-Mast, as so many of our veterans died as POWs and so very many of our MIAs have, by this time, died…
After this, it was up to the cemetery to pray for the dead there, mostly teenagers by the way. Check out the dates on this tombstone: just 16 years old…
I was born in 1960. In 1976, when I was sixteen years old, a Sophomore in High School, I signed up for whatever state of affairs the draft had fallen into. A super-interesting article on conscription, the draft, selective service, who and what and when, is found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_the_United_States. Keep in mind that the Paris Peace Accords had already been signed three years earlier in January of 1973, officially ending our involvement in Vietnam, though the fall of Saigon, actually ending everything, wasn’t until the Spring of 1975. The nice gentleman took my application but said that no one would be contacting me at this point. Too many politics were at play. I thank James above, and all those who gave their lives.
The flag had also been put at Half Mast at Holy Redeemer Church. The flags are meant to go Full Mast right at Noon. I left instructions at the church that our Noon Mass would be delayed by ten minutes, as I would be busy with the flags up in Memorial Park, but that they were to gather at the flag in front of the church for prayers for the dead and a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, after which the Flag was to be put up to Full Mast. This they were happy to do.
I couldn’t resist also getting the history of these two guys from Andrews…
Our POTUS has an amazing speech, very touching, at Fort McHenry. If you want to know something about our Flag, watch this:
If anyone is offended by the Flag, go and read this post I wrote, which has been visited by pretty much every grade school, middle school, high school, college, university and specialized institute, as well as by so many in our armed forces and all sorts of branches and bureaus and offices of government, right up to the top:
But in case anyone is too entitled not to learn something, or is afraid of Whitney Houston, I include this all below:
The Star Spangled Banner is misunderstood and is rejected by many as our National Anthem.
Fake news about it continues. Let’s do some analysis:
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: ‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion, A home and a country, should leave us no more? Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation. Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
=======
The lyrics were written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key about the Battle of Baltimore fought against the Brits’ Royal Navy in 1812. The Brits just wouldn’t let it go, and had to engage again, and so lost again, almost thirty years after the end of the Revolutionary War. The Royal Navy would enlist mercenaries, the “hirelings” mentioned in the third verse, and enslave Prisoners of War to fight for them as well, the “slaves” mentioned in the third verse.
Why do I insist on this having nothing whatsoever even remotely to do with black African slaves when Key himself was a slave owner who lived long before the American Civil War? Because of the purpose of the song and what it is describing, that is, a particular night of battle in the harbor of Baltimore against the Royal Navy in which hirelings and slaves were employed in the battle by the Royal Navy, surely other Brits or POW American military.
Even if a tiny percentage of these hirelings and slaves happened to be black Africans, possibly most recently from the United States, the mentions of those hirelings and slaves wouldn’t refer to any previous status of slavery, but only to the slavery imposed by the Royal Navy on any POWs. To win this battle in Baltimore, there would be no interest in going to, say, Mississippi, and killing hirelings and slaves. To hold that to be the meaning of the words is simply ridiculous.
Thank you very much and thank you, Jeanne. It is my profound honor to be the first president in history to attend the March for Life. [applause] We are here for a very simple reason: to defend the right of every child, born and unborn, to fulfill their God-given potential. [applause] For 47 years, Americans of all backgrounds have traveled from across the country to stand for life. And today as President of the United States, I am truly proud to stand with you. [applause] I want to welcome tens of thousands – this is a tremendous turnout – tens of thousands of high school and college students who took long bus rides to be here in our nation’s capital. And to make you feel even better, there are tens of thousands of people outside that we passed on the way in. If anybody would like to give up their spot, we can work it out. [laughter] We have a tremendous group of people outside. Thousands and thousands wanted to get in. This is some great success. [applause] Young people are the heart of the March for Life. And it’s your generation that is making America the pro-family, pro-life nation. [applause] The life movement is led by strong women, amazing faith leaders, and brave students who carry on the legacy of pioneers before us who fought to raise the conscience of our nation and uphold the rights of our citizens. You embrace mothers with care and compassion. You are empowered by prayer and motivated by your unselfish love. You are grateful and we are so grateful – these are incredible people – to be joined by Secretary Alex Azar and Kellyanne Conway. [applause] And thanks also to Senators Mike Lee and James Lankford who are here. Thank you, fellas. And Representatives Steve Scalise, Chris Smith, Ralph Abraham, Warren Davidson, Bob Latta, John Joyce, Lloyd Smucker, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Brad Wenstrup. Thank you all. I have to say – and I look at it, and I see it exactly – we have many more politicians in the audience. But if you don’t mind, I won’t introduce them all. All of us here understand an eternal truth: Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. [applause] Together, we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and the sanctity of every human life. [applause] When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation. [applause] When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family. When we watch a child grow, we see the splendor that radiates from each human soul. One life changes the world – from my family, and I can tell you, I send love, and I send great, great love – and from the first day in office, I have taken historic action to support America’s families and to protect the unborn. [applause] And during my first week in office, I reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy and we issued a landmark pro-life rule to govern the use of Title X taxpayer funding. I notified Congress that I would veto any legislation that weakens pro-life policy or that encourages the destruction of human life. [applause] At the United Nations, I made clear that global bureaucrats have no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that protect innocent life. [applause] Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House. [applause] As the Bible tells us, each person is wonderfully made. [applause] We have taken decisive action to protect the religious liberty – so important – religious liberty has been under attack all over the world and frankly, very strongly attacked in our nation. You see it better than anyone. But we are stopping it. And we’re taking care of doctors, nurses, teachers, and groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor. [applause] We are preserving faith-based adoption and to uphold our founding documents, we have appointed 187 federal judges, who apply the Constitution as written, including two phenomenal supreme court justices – Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. [applause] We are protecting pro-life students’ rights to free speech on college campuses. And if universities want federal taxpayer dollars, then they must uphold your First Amendment right to speak your mind. And if they don’t, they pay a very big financial penalty, which they will not be willing to pay. [applause] Sadly, the far left is working to erase our God-given rights, shut down faith-based charities, ban religious leaders from the public square, and silence Americans who believe in the sanctity of life. They are coming after me because I am fighting for you and we are fighting for those who have no voice. And we will win because we know how to win. [applause] We all know how to win. We all know how to win. You’ve been winning for a long time. You’ve been winning for a long time. Together, we are the voice for the voiceless. When it comes to abortion – and you know this, you’ve seen what’s happened – Democrats have embraced the most radical and extreme positions taken and seen in this country for years and decades, and you can even say, for centuries. Nearly every top Democrat in congress now supports taxpayer-funded abortion all the way up until the moment of birth. Last year, lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb right up until delivery. Then, we had the case of the Democrat governor in the state of Virginia, the commonwealth of Virginia. And we love the commonwealth of Virginia, but what is going on in Virginia? What is going on? The governor stated that he would execute a baby after birth. You remember that. Senate Democrats even blocked legislation that would give medical care to babies who survive attempted abortions. And that’s why I’ve called on Congress – two of our great senators here, so many of our congressmen here – I called upon them to defend the dignity of life and to pass legislation prohibiting late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in their mother’s womb. [applause] This year, the March for Life is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which forever enshrined women’s rights to vote in the United States and given by the United States constitution. Such a big event. Today, millions of extraordinary women across America are using the power of their votes to fight for the right and all of their rights as given in the Declaration of Independence – it’s the right to life. [applause] To all the women here today, your devotion and your leadership uplifts our entire nation and we thank you for that. The tens of thousands of Americans gathered today not only stand for life – it’s really here that they stand for it so proudly together. And I want to thank everybody for that. You stand for life each and every day. You provide housing, education, jobs, and medical care to the women that you serve. You find loving families for children in need of a forever home. You host baby showers for expecting moms. You make – you just make it your life’s mission to help spread God’s grace. And to all the moms here today, we celebrate you and we declare that mothers are heroes. [applause] Your strength, devotion, and drive is what powers our nation. Because of you, our country has been blessed with amazing souls who have changed the course of human history. We cannot know what our citizens yet unborn will achieve. The dreams they will imagine. The masterpieces they will create. The discoveries they will make. But we know this: every life brings love into this world. Every child brings joy to a family. Every person is worth protecting. And above all, we know that every human soul is divine and every human life, born and unborn, is made in the holy image of Almighty God. [applause] Together, we will defend this truth all across our magnificent land. We will set free the dreams of our people. And with determined hope, we look forward to all of the blessings that will come from the beauty, talent, purpose, nobility, and grace of every American child. I want to thank you. This is a very special moment. It’s so great to represent you. I love you all. [applause] And I say with a true passion, thank you, God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all. Thank you. [applause]
Yep. Sorry. I guess I’m uncharitable. I laughed out loud when I heard the pencil neck comment. It was the intonation. And then it got worse, or… better. Hahaha. Sorry. Having said all that:
Meanwhile, there are those who send me bits and pieces from SNL. I’ve never in my life ever found anything on SNL funny, just terribly sad. They all seem depressed, desperate, lost, expert in all that which is truly evil and bad and therefore deathly boring. That has always been my opinion, since it came on the air until now.
Meanwhile, anyone plying any sexual innuendo trying to be comical I also surmise to be depressed, desperate, lost, expert in all that which is truly evil and bad and therefore deathly boring.
It’s not that I’m virtuous, mind you. No. Not at all. But, as a priest, I do come across situations which are truly evil – straight out of hell – and those almost always involve abuse of the sex, and abuse of others, including minors by way of sex. I see the destruction of lives. Not good. Really evil.
More than that, personally, I’ve already written about how I was unwittingly made into the kiddie-porn star when I was a little kid. So, no, I don’t find that kind of thing humorous. Even if people are way the other way, so that they are so jaded by the horror of the aggression of the world in these matters that they make a joke so as to be sarcastic with the stupid ways of the world, still, even then, it is better to concentrate on the things that are above, not on those below.
It is better to hidden with Christ in God (see Colossians 3:3).
It is better to be built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (see Ephesians 2:22)
What is better than all mere levity is true humor, which necessitates a sense of irony before the Sacred Mysteries: God would use the likes of us specifically in our fallen human nature to evangelize His goodness and His truth, His kindness and His truth, His respect for others and His truth. Did I say truth? Did I mention how it’s ironic to us because of our fallen human nature that we find it odd that justice and mercy are but one in God? When we get a hold of this even just a little bit in our lives it is an occasion for great joy in the Holy Spirit. This joy is seen in this great smile of Hilaire Belloc:
“But this IS my smile.”
The humor that he’s smiling about so enthusiastically is this bit he wrote about irony, specifically Christian Irony. When you read this – as some of you have done many times – remember to keep Jesus and Him crucified front and center, or else you won’t understand in the least what Hilaire is saying.
“To the young, the pure, and the ingenuous, irony must always appear to have a quality of something evil, and so it has, for […] it is a sword to wound. It is so directly the product or reflex of evil that, though it can never be used – nay, can hardly exist – save in the chastisement of evil, yet irony always carries with it some reflections of the bad spirit against which it was directed. […] It suggests most powerfully the evil against which it is directed, and those innocent of evil shun so terrible an instrument. […] The mere truth is vivid with ironical power […] when the mere utterance of a plain truth labouriously concealed by hypocrisy, denied by contemporary falsehood, and forgotten in the moral lethargy of the populace, takes upon itself an ironical quality more powerful than any elaboration of special ironies could have taken in the past. […] No man possessed of irony and using it has lived happily; nor has any man possessing it and using it died without having done great good to his fellows and secured a singular advantage to his own soul.” [Hilaire Belloc, “On Irony” (pages 124-127; Penguin books 1325. Selected Essays (2/6), edited by J.B. Morton; Harmondsworth – Baltimore – Mitcham 1958).]
[Deadpan statement:] So, you might say, Hilaire Belloc is hilarious.
Gazillionaire Bernie wanting everyone waiting in line for a crumb of bread – a good thing in his own words – getting burned by USA. Sorry, but I laughed out loud. A lot.
Mueller: “After that investigation, if we had confidence that the president did NOT commit a crime, then we would have said so.”
How peachy is that? A hardly veiled referral to Congress for impeachment. Mueller turns on its head the principle that one is innocent until proven guilty and assumes that insufficient evidence screams guilt. Since pretty much anyone who is alive is able to commit any crime, that evidence, that one was alive, however insufficient, means that pretty much everyone is guilty of whatever crime. Everyone is dead.
If the victim is accused of being a witch in such a witch hunt, he is thrown into a river. If he drowns, he’s innocent. If he survives, he is guilty and then killed another way. Dead both ways.
That’s the American way! Peachy! Impeachy! But no. That’s not the American way.
Social engineering that clockwork-encourages Congress to undo the Constitution without the Constitution undergoing duly legislated amendment is…
If any POTUS did all the things Trump did on just this one day – the things Trump mentioned during his speech during the ceremonies for the National Day of Prayer on May 2, 2019 – that POTUS would do more for the Church than all others put together. But Trump does this kind of thing frequently.
It’s all spectacular, but for the conscience rights items, start at minute 16:55″ and go to minute 21:25″. Absolutely stunning.
Some things:
No hate!
Conscience rights for the free exercise of religion: religious liberty
Payed time off for religious holy days for Federal employees
Conscience [particularly Pro-Life conscience] rights for:
Physicians
Pharmacists
Nurses
Students
Faith based charities
“Every child born and unborn is a sacred gift from God”
Preserve central role of faith based adoption and foster care agencies to care for vulnerable children while following their deeply held beliefs. !!!
Give former inmates a second chance on life [This is the famed STEP program]
Faith based carers for Federal prisoners.
Faith based addiction recovery programs. [working also for non-addictive pain killers]
On and on…
These have been fights we have been having for decades and Trump has won them all for us in one day.
The great Catherine Herridge reports that Strzok-Page texts suggest using post-election briefing to gather information on Trump team.
To be specific, as she reports, this is nine days after the presidential election, FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page exchanged texts about “using briefings to the Trump team after the 2016 election to identify people they could “develop for potential relationships,” track lines of questioning and “assess” changes in “demeanor” – language one GOP lawmaker called ‘more evidence’ of irregular conduct in the original Russia probe.”
“Irregular conduct”? This is not just about spying on the new Trump administration. These briefings were informational national security sessions which either lay foundations for the incoming administration to prepare responses entrusted to them by the voting public or are routine but just as important as informational sessions on national security matters. If that very information is skewed by way of counterintelligence trickery of exaggeration or lack or with fishing by way of adding names or places or circumstances or pressures, as is the impossibly inescapable modus operandi of someone like Peter Strzok who spent his entire life doing this kind of thing, well, in that case, our national security has been compromised since the very beginning. Those informational briefings necessarily must be entirely trustworthy. But clearly they are not. This is playing not just with these USA, but with geopolitical viability. This is not just giving aid and comfort to the enemy, it actually points to Strzok being — what?
The Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its final rule changing funding regulations under the Title X family planning program, a long-awaited action expected to reduce Planned Parenthood’s federal tax subsidies by almost $60 million.
That Canadian reader included the hilarious YouTube video above. I’ll take it as Trump conquering hearts and minds by respecting the natural law respecting life. I love it.
Pelosi saying that the State of the Union address should be put off because there is no security (that’s a lie, by the way), speaks to her desire, I guess, for a wall around D.C., or is it a fence, or slats, or a barrier, or a force-field, or more drones, or entitlement to nice thoughts?
I’ll loan Laudie-dog to the Secret Service for the evening. She’s a decent attack dog should any ne’er-do-wells show up to take over the District. Sorry to wake you up, Laudie-dog…
President Trump to the widow of one of the Veterans of our parish.
This brought her to tears. She says that she’s lacking in Patriotism, not because she is lacking, but because she is so patriotic that she feels the magnificence of it dwarfs her. She’s the one who has all verses of Taps memorized.
Alec Baldwin, who ever so ironically played Tom Clancy’s character Jack Ryan in Hunt for Red October, is a seditionist, calling for the overthrow of the duly elected POTUS of these United States, thus insulting half the voting population and, whether he likes it or not as he sides with Maxine Waters, is setting up violent situations against law enforcement, against politicians, against citizens in good standing. Alec says such things amidst ricin attacks on politicians and military leaders, amidst politicians getting physically attacked and sent to the hospital, amidst attacks on civilians. Just to say, “overthrow” is not ever consonant with “peaceful” and “lawful.” No.
