A Treasure To Be Shared

It used to be that people on the left of the political spectrum gave emphasis to social support systems but not to the detriment of assisting personal responsibility and positive business practices that empower people. Similarly, people to the right of the political spectrum, while giving emphasis to business and resilience did not turn away from the need to provide support for the less fortunate by enabling resources that funded social programs and responsible stewardship. The intellectuals and the young, booted and spurred, feel themselves born to ride us. —Eric Hoffer People on the left once demonstrated intellectual aptitude by being aware of diversity and dependencies while people on the right could see the need for unity in essentials and pragmatism. Right-sided people, while encouraging independence and resilience, did not marginalize interdependence to facilitate ideas that benefitted the common good. Left-sided people encouraged fairness and temperance to curb greed and exploi...

Religion, Society, and Culture Media. Stephen Colbert leaves his late night throne. Having had his feet held to the fire he helped to create, and subject to a loss of market share (declining viewership) indicative of a lack of actual comedy, Colbert leaves late night entertainment after more than 20 years in the spotlight. Some claim, he among them, that he is the victim of political interference . No doubt, he provided some untimely and unseemly pokes that got him the wrong kind of attention, at least to his way of thinking. If ya can't take the heat... . Perhaps he will use the off-air time to work on becoming less cafeteria and more Catholic. Religion. As the SSPX vs Holy See battle continues, those of us on the sidelines can and should pray, and avoid pouring gasoline on an already heated exchange. The Society has many beautiful and truly excellent attributes - love for the sacred liturgy, a robust devotional life, and authentic disciplined spirituality. However, obedience to...

Exploded Head , 1982 | Salvador Dali The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty -- it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God. Saint Teresa of Calcutta Without honest and compassionate support, a vulnerable person could be trapped in a terrifying oxymoron, a maze of contradictions and deceptions that, in today's world, can and often does metastasize into a perpetual nightmare. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. St. Peter Chrysologus History's Child Young people are routinely conscripte...

St. Matthew 9:27-31 | And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly charged them, “See that no one knows it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. The Dialogues of (Pope) St. Gregory the Great Peter (a deacon of the Church). Because fit occasion is now offered, desirous I am to know what the reason was, that when our Saviour restored sight unto two blind men, and commanded them to tell nobody; yet they, after their departure, made him known throughout all that country. For had the only-begotten Son of God, who is co-eternal to his Father and the Holy Ghost, a desire herein to do that which he could not perform : to wit...

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?   Feral is an apt term to describe the maniacal and calculating behavior of individuals who often arm themselves with willing though often unsuspecting accomplices to terrorize others. Feral - physically aggressive and psychologically manipulative. The feral (person) habitually engage(s) in: physical intimidation cancellation; people deemed a threat are ostracized, boycotted or shunned deplatforming, which is a threat to free speech gaslighting - "People who engage in gaslighting may do so for a variety of reasons. They may be trying to gain control over the victim or trying to avoid accountability for their own actions, mistakes, insecurities, and feelings. An underlying mental health condition, like narcissistic personality disorder, may also play a part." - E. Feldman What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? -   Romans 8:31 In many western societies, grade school and college teachers are espe...

Cancel Culture, Cancerous Culture The various national and regional responses to the Coronavirus scourge have exposed a latent insanity. If panic buying and the many incidents of violent confrontations between customers is any indication, such as that observed in the wake of recent flooding in British Columbia (...which left grocery store shelves bare, gas stations empty of fuel, and led to fuel rationing...), people are behaving like animals, existing primarily on instinct. Because they lack virtue and psychological resilience that provides balance and understanding, they readily commit to panic, character assassination, etc. They have been robbed, by willful disobedience or capitulation or ignorance, of the former wisdom that has guided the world for centuries. That is, Judeo-Christian wisdom. Societal institutions are rife with an abuse of process, entitlement, and the weaponization of baseless grievances. On the last count, the weaponization of grievances, young people have become ...

Fence-All Repeating The Obvious I was out with a friend a couple of weeks ago at a popular local bar and grill. We arrived late, after a long work day, to have dinner around 930pm. Staff members were wearing masks. We were seated at a small table approximately three metres from two other tables of five patrons at each table, near the entrance to the restrooms. They, all, were very drunk, pawing each other, roving between tables, sharing appetizers and glasses. Not a lot of physical distancing being observed there. Washroom rules - one person in the washroom at a time - posted on the doors, were ignored. Two and three patrons often entered restrooms at the same time. There were several other groups present in a twenty-five by ten foot space, drinking heavily and shouting. Even in the dim light, it was easy to see the showers of spit spraying from people's mouths. Meanwhile, Mass-goers keep neatly distanced and abide by health and hygiene practices. Churches are limited to a small pe...

FDA "Masks are not only tools, they are also talismans". So saith a group of authors in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. Read on. (Blogger comments in red.) H/T Prager Universal Masking in Hospitals in the Covid-19 Era The New England Journal of Medicine Michael Klompas, M.D., M.P.H., Charles A. Morris, M.D., M.P.H., Julia Sinclair, M.B.A., Madelyn Pearson, D.N.P., R.N., and Erica S. Shenoy, M.D., Ph.D. Articles cited:  https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372#article_citing_articles References:  https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372#article_references Letters:  https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372#article_letters As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues to explode, hospital systems are scrambling to intensify their measures for protecting patients and health care workers from the virus. An increasing number of frontline providers are wondering whether this effort should include universal use of masks by all health care wor...

Edward Feser https://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-lockdown-is-no-longer-morally.html As I have said before, I think that the lockdown that was put in place in the United States two months ago was morally justifiable given the circumstances at the time. In my opinion, under current circumstances, it is no longer morally justifiable. To be sure, I am not denying that some social (physical) distancing measures are still justifiable and even necessary. I am also not denying that a more modest lockdown may still be defensible in some localities. But the draconian total lockdown that was put in place across most of the country is at this point no longer defensible, and state and local authorities who are relaxing it are right to do so. [...] The original rationale for the lockdown was to “flatten the curve” so that hospitals would not be overwhelmed and crucial medical equipment such as ventilators would not become scarce. Ordinary work like running a clothin...

John 15:18-19 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. The world hates Christians; the world hates Catholics most of all. There is little threat to the progressive (socialist? liberal?) agenda from nice Episcopalians/Anglicans or from the congenial United Church of Canada (the NDP at prayer) and its Lutheran bedfellows. Sadly, those groups have drunk the Kool-Aid of religion-lite, the same bitter cocktail being served up in too many Catholic parishes. gut·ter  /ˈɡədər/ verb past tense: guttered ; past participle: guttered (of a candle or flame) flicker and burn unsteadily. "the candles had almost guttered out" Dom Cingoranelli at Catholic Stand has written “Nonessential” Churches – What’s Next? , a concise analysis of the status quo and a rejection of complacency ...

CMHA Image Amy Banks, MD, at Psychology Today , has written a concise and balanced article entitled Social vs. Physical Distancing: Why It Matters . She writes: Social distancing, as it has been presented, can feel like that. In fact, in my work with trauma survivors during this time, I have heard people describe feeling trapped and threatened again. That is not sustainable. Becoming socially isolated may keep the majority of us alive, but not well. By naming the national strategy as physical distancing rather than social distancing and emphasizing the need for human connection, we can stay safe from the virus but also hold onto the heightened need we all have for one another right now. Dr. Banks acknowledges what this blogger and many others have shared: The few times I have ventured out to a grocery store or for a walk around my neighborhood, I've seen people not only keeping distant from one another but also seeming afraid. They pass each other on the stree...