Get Your Hands Dirty – or Perish

Posted on by charliej373
St. Boniface and the Sacred Oak

By Charlie Johnston

What fellowship can light have with darkness? – 2 Corinthians 6:14

As recently as 50 years ago, one could honorably be either Democrat or Republican. Both parties were basically pro-life, pro-nuclear family, pro-individual liberty, pro-free speech, and at least gave lip service to the Judeo-Christian ethic and took pains not to offend these sensibilities. This was a time when it was right and proper for clerics to be non-political, for the parties agreed on fundamental goals that were compatible with the faith, only disagreeing on how best to get there. For a cleric to pushily get political was to risk intruding on what was a primary temporal duty of the laity.

Times have changed. Now, various political entities (almost all left wing) have denounced fundamentals of the Christian faith, have outlawed some and continue to try to outlaw more, and have declared any opposition to be “political.” Far too many clerics have gone timid – or outright refused to defend the faith in order not to seem political. Pathetic!

In 1938, Nazi Germany took over Austria without firing a shot. Mere threats were enough. It was called the Anschluss. The Austrian leadership had neither the wit nor courage to take their own side in a fight. When a hostile power seeks to take over your legitimate territory, it is not “political” for you to defend it. Far too many clerics are playing the role of Austria during the Anschluss, hoping forlornly, as Winston Churchill once said, that if they “feed the crocodile, it will eat them last.”

Just in the last century, the Church was far more vigorous in defending her territory. She had no problem looking at how the Soviet Communist Party and later the Nazi Party were committed enemies of the fundamentals of the faith – and formally condemned them and excommunicated any Catholic who voluntarily joined either. But now many clerics are more concerned with being nice to the crocodile than to living up to their solemn oath to defend Christ and His people. Some, hideously, have even joined forces with the demonic left in repudiating Christian doctrine and persecuting the very faithful they promised to give their lives to defend.

I have had more than a few Priests criticize me for being too political and being a supporter of Donald Trump. They think they have the moral high ground. You want to criticize me for having supported Trump after initially being close to being a never-Trumper? That is entirely fair game – just as in 1960 you could criticize someone for being either pro-Nixon or pro-Kennedy, without doing violence to the faith. But if your criticism is not accompanied by condemnation of those who wage war against the faith, you are not being non-political, you are just a useful idiot for the anti-God left – a coward and a chump who does not have the wit to take your own side in a fight, hoping the crocodile will eat you last.

A couple of years ago I set up a small savings account. I was a bit disoriented because I had had no bank account at all for almost a decade – having lived poverty from about a year before I left on my pilgrimage. The branch manager, seeing my struggle, helped me personally in her office. Naturally, she was curious about why I was confused when I seemed to be an otherwise fairly astute fellow. I explained to her about the pilgrimage and voluntarily living poverty. She was charmed – and we had a delightful chat. She told me she leaned left, but had become a little embarrassed by it because her side had become so vicious and intolerant. She then asked me (with no hostility; we were just good-naturedly candid with each other by this point) how a man who obviously took his faith so seriously could justify supporting a man like Trump. I told her I thought Trump was undergoing a genuine conversion experience, but to set that aside for now. In 2016, I was confronted by what I believed to be two reprobates: Hillary Clinton, a reprobate who promised to destroy me and every aspect of religious liberty she could and Donald Trump, a reprobate who, even if he wasn’t one of us, promised to protect and defend our rights and religious liberty. I told her my faith did NOT obligate me to vote for the candidate who promised to destroy me. Her eyes went wide and she said, “You’re right. I never thought of it that way.” Would that some hostile clerics were as quick to pick up on what is at the heart of the matter.

It is the legitimate prerogative of any cleric to support a different candidate than I do, but only insofar as that candidate is NOT hostile to religious liberty or to fundamentals of the faith. It is also the legitimate prerogative of any cleric to stay out of political matters altogether – but NOT to attack me or anyone else who supports a candidate who defends religious liberty – but that the cleric doesn’t like. When your legitimate territory and prerogatives are under attack and you refuse to defend them, you are not being non-political: you are, at best, a moral coward and, at worst, a traitor to the living Christ to whom you solemnly swore fidelity.

This is nothing new in the hierarchy, though. The much-maligned Crusades, contrary to conventional but errant wisdom, was NOT Christianity’s attack on innocent Islam. Islam was waging a war of extinction on Christianity. By the time Christians decided to finally fight back, Islam already had taken over the entire Iberian Peninsula and substantial chunks of Italy and France. One could legitimately criticize the Church for being so slow to defend itself and the faithful – and even for some excesses, but you cannot legitimately criticize it for defending itself. The Crusades were not a Christian assault on innocent Islam; rather, it was the Christian counterattack against sustained Islamic aggression.

If you are a cleric, you can remain completely non-political (but that means refraining from deriding someone who supports Trump or any other candidate you don’t like who, nonetheless, supports religious liberty – while simultaneously maintaining “prudent” silence towards those who support candidates who actually assault the faith – whether by advocating for the execution of infants or any other fundamental of the faith. You don’t get to pretend to be non-political while trying to curry favor with the “cool kids.”) If you choose to be completely non-political, you had better truly devote yourself to corporal acts of mercy, lest the Lord spew you out of His mouth for being lukewarm instead of hot or cold. This can be done. I have long been friendly with a Bishop who is orthodox but has no taste for the culture wars or the broader theological battles. He does, however, devote himself to helping the addicted, the wounded, and the broken. And he knows them by name. I deeply admire the man. You can certainly tend to the wounded, but woe to you if, when the faith was under sustained assault, all you did was try to keep out of the line of fire. If you further afflict the afflicted in an effort to ingratiate yourself with the aggressors, you deny Christ – who will deny you unless you repent and do real penance.

It is NOT political to defend the legitimate prerogatives of the faith and of liberty (free will). Great saints have been formed by boldly going into hostile territory, effectively opposing the zeitgeist, and bringing new souls to Christ.  These great saints suffered great persecution, often for decades, because of their deep love for Christ and commitment to win souls for Him. Zero saints have been formed by trying to accommodate the faith to a debauched and fallen world. St. Patrick did not go into Ireland and assure the pagans that they were fine as they are, while adopting pagan attitudes, himself. St. Boniface did not adopt the superstitions of the semi-pagan Germanic and Nordic peoples when he was sent among them: he chopped down the sacred oak and called the people he was responsible for to full communion with Christ.

In times of great strife, when the faith and the faithful are assaulted from within and without, if you will not get your hands dirty, either completely devoted to cardinal acts of mercy or passionately defending the faith, the faithful, and the sovereignty of Christ, you will perish. You cannot be the timid and cowardly Gideon of Judges, Chapter 6. Rather, you must be the fully trusting, passionate Gideon of Judges, Chapter 7. If you protest that the forces of secularism and rot are too great, that is not an argument at all – just a confession that you don’t trust God at all. The initially timid Gideon conquered an invading army of 135,000 warriors with a mere 300 men God sent him out with. Trust or don’t, but don’t whine about how hard things are. Christianity is not for wimps. For crying out loud, gird your loins and stand your ground under the banner of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. How much nobler to give your life for the faith than to preserve it for the rot around you!

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205 thoughts on “Get Your Hands Dirty – or Perish”

  1. Love the message here, Charlie, rousing us to action rather than despair and paralysis.

    Great piece by Michael Hichborn. And, whoa, this is frightening for the souls of all Christian pastors: “Some, hideously, have even joined forces with the demonic left in repudiating Christian doctrine and persecuting the very faithful they promised to give their lives to defend.” The story of the Methodist minister who blessed an abortion “clinic” comes to mind, as does a priest in this diocese who had been assigned to prison ministry. He actually procured Satanist reading material for an inmate and the priest justified it by saying he was respecting the inmate’s religious beliefs. Mercy!

    Oh the story of how you engaged the bank official, who helped you, is a rich example of the hope there is for those on the left who are disheartened – and becoming more horrified – by the Democratic Party’s embrace of a platform, devoid of God’s Laws and Ways concerning Life and Living, and thus, riddled with satanic positions. These ones, such as the bank official, are like Saul become Paul, who – with open minds and spirits – can hear reason and begin their walk out of the culture of death into the culture of life, if we but speak – with courage and calm – the words Holy Spirit will place on our hearts when we ask for them.

    Lord, inspire us, each one, in planting the seedlings of hope and new life, in hearts all around us, in our corner of the world.

    Liked by 11 people

  3. Charlie,

    Your writing, “Christianity is not for wimps”, made me think of this quote I keep on my computer screen:

    “Push back against the age as hard as it pushes against you. What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross.”

    Flannery O’Connor

    God Bless and thank you,

    Becky-TN

    Liked by 12 people

    2. And then there’s this, which I used recently in a different context:

      “Robert Giroux, editor and friend of writer Flannery O’Connor recalled, ‘Mrs. O’Connor said to me, “Mister Giroux, can you…why can’t you get Flannery to write about NICE people?”‘

      🙂

      Liked by 4 people

  4. Stirring words, Charlie! Thank-you!
    And thank-you, Beckita, for your grasp on the salient points.
    Too long I have not moved, trying to make my move perfect. Now is the time to make a move, however imperfect, and allow God to make it perfect. 🙏🏽😌
    Prayerfully, katey in OR

    Liked by 11 people

  5. My Mother went to mass this morning and afterwards when Jesus was being brought out for Adoration a woman approached a friend of hers (who is elderly and incredibly faith filled) to “pull up your mask over your nose”. This woman attends daily mass with my mother and no one bothers her about the mask usually. I suppose someone felt they needed to just be extra disgusting today. This is the level of fear here in Canada by people of no faith. Anyways this elderly woman was so overwhelmed she left crying. My mom helped her outside and she couldn’t stop crying and kept saying “I can’t breath, why don’t these people have faith…I can’t sit in there with my nose covered. I just want to be with Jesus” and so on. It is SO SO sad. My Mother was trying to think of what to say to this other rude lady while still having love but being firm and serious. I guess the lady was trying to speak to my Mom afterwards. It’s hard to figure this out, what to say, Especially when you know they will not listen. All I said to her was “Mom, you should put you hand up and firmly say, SHAME SHAME ON YOU.” Pray for us here in the land with no concept of reality.

    Liked by 14 people

        1. Timothy, I’m in NYS and did not hear about that. I know there is a slew of proposed legislation for January when the legislature resumes. Which law just passed?

          Liked by 1 person

          1. CM – I don’t think anything passed *yet* – as you note, it is coming down the pike and could be voted upon in the NYS Assembly in January. It is unclear to me whether it would also pass in the NYS Senate. If it did, I suspect our current Governor would sign it into law.

            For more information: https://thenationalpulse.com/news/new-york-legislation-provides-for-indefinite-detention-of-unvaccinated-at-governors-whim/

            Jesus I trust in you!!

            Liked by 2 people

            1. Thank you, BfloCatholic! That was the bill that we’ve been watching and, for a second, I thought I missed something. This is one of a couple of awful bills that will come up in January. It is getting to the point where my husband and I have decided to move out of state should that bill pass. I need to trust more, fear not and see where He leads us. Northeast Ohio is attractive as we have family there but I’m not sure if that’s going to be better long-term.

              Are you near Buffalo, NY? I’m in Williamsville and it would be lovely to know there’s another TNRS person in the area. Peace and blessings, Cathy

              Liked by 2 people

    2. “Satanists hide their faces in Black Masses–I will not hide my image and likeness from the God who created me–especially in His church! It is an offense against Him! Be not afraid! He holds us in the palm of His hand.”

      Or one of my other favorites: “How about you pretend I’m wearing a mask and I’ll pretend yours prevents you from catching anything!” 😁

      Praying for you and all the world. 🙏🙏🙏

      Liked by 8 people

  7. This is so true Charlie!

    To those Democrat voters who say they believe in Jesus, yet keep voting for the party that legitimizes killing the most vulnerable, innocent little babies:

    “And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
    41
    * j Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
    42
    k For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
    43
    a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
    44
    * Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’
    45
    He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’”.

    How the Catholic faithful and especially those of the clergy, can vote for the Democrat party, automatically legitimizing abortion? How can they expect not to be condemned when their time on Earth expires? Out of cowardice I would at least not vote at all, though the Lord knows the intentions of heart and that might not work either…

    This Auschwitz 2.0 must end asap and so help us St. Michael the Archangel.

    Liked by 11 people

  8. A couple of weeks ago after grocery shopping I noticed an unusual nice-looking vehicle parked beside mine. I began placing the grocery bags in my car as that driver exiting his. A minute later he returned: “forgot my mask – as I always do.” “Oh, I don’t wear one anymore,” I responded. He asked if I’d been vaxxed. “No,” I said. He retorted because of his age, XX, health issues …. I responded with my age (3 years older than he…). He said, “well, you don’t look it” (ha! I looked away). Then, he asked quite sheepishly “Would you mind telling me why you’re not vaxxed? I’m just curious, you know…” “Two reasons,” I said, “first and foremost is that the experiment was initiated using aborted babies.” “Oh, I’m not for abortion but if someone else ….”, he responded “Do you have any idea what happens with an abortion?”, I asked. “The baby is removed piece by piece. It’s barbaric!…” His gentle half smile through the entire conversation remained the same – but how he momentarily just starred at me after that. Now, how do I continue? “I love your car. The color quite unusual and so well kept”, I said. “Well, thank you!” as he proudly continued off to shop.

    Driving home in my heart I thought, “How can anybody think abortion is okay knowing what it involves?” The response came immediately, “He didn’t know.” I offered a prayer for him.

    I don’t know his religious affiliation but I do know one thing, the pulpit is a mass media outlet backed by grace and the Holy Spirit that is grossly under utilized, or worse, resorting to falsehood. I have been annoyed in recent times at how priests attempt to back up questionable hierarchical opinions based on “charity”, “love of neighbor” or “for the sake of unity”, be it acceptance of civil unions, pro-abortion politicians or “vaccinations”. At the same time down-talking the unvaccinated, the traditional Mass goers, etc. In fact even on a well-known worldwide Catholic news network a New York canon lawyer indicated he had no problem with anyone “protesting” the vax. Thank you, father, for that politically correct statement – but there’s a mile of difference between a pro-life protest and a conscientious objection which not only risks family security, livelihood and personal comforts but also endures significant embarrassing church rebuttal.

    Charlie, thank you for this straightforward call to courage and righteousness in our Catholic Church leaders. Priests need our prayers now more than ever to seek and proclaim the Truth, sometimes in direct opposition to weak or false opinions from hierarchy, government or the lying media. Pray God enlighten and strengthen our priesthood to face the errors of our day to lead the Church on the right path, and may we stand strong with them.

    Liked by 13 people

  9. Great piece, Charlie!!! It is all so maddening and yet everyone seems paralyzed by Covid to do much of anything these days except admonish the unvaxxxxxed blaming us for the spread of Covid especially here in Ohio these days!

    I just asked a friend this morning who is vaxxed…one question…if y’all got vaxxed to NOT get Covid…how in the world can any of the vaxxxed get Covid from the unvaxxxed?!??

    Just doesn’t make any sense🤪

    I’m not sure what to do these days except to keep acknowledging God, taking the next right step and trying to be a sign of hope!

    I’m sure most days I fall completely short but somehow I know God has a great plan and will get us all through this mess one way or another!🥰

    My hands have been very dirty changing lots n lots of grandies diapers lately😂😂😂. I really have to wonder…what the heck did people do 100 years ago before diapers and baby wipes?!?? I really want to know!!! Mike thinks maybe they had a water barrel to clean up the child?!??

    God bless you Charlie and everyone here!!!

    Ave Maria Stella Maris

    Liked by 9 people

    1. As the firstborn of five, I have diaper memories (we were born before disposables and baby wipes). The main concern, of course, is number 2. Mom would drop THOSE cloth diapers into the toilet bowl for round 1 (if you get my drift). Then, after bulk matter was flushed away, she would put them into a diaper pail that held water and bleach ~ for a prescribed length of time. Then she would wash them in the washing machine, etc. In our first home ~ a forest cabin, actually ~ we didn’t have a dryer, so she’d hang them on the line outside or dry them on a rack near the fireplace. We all survived our diaper years. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 14 people

        1. Linda, we used wash cloths. I diapered my babies with cloth diapers and did what Sr. Bear described. I understand there are a lot of young women choosing cloth over disposables now. xo

          Liked by 6 people

            1. Linda, although I diapered my babies with cloth, I did end up switching to the disposables for the youngest when I had to get a job. I also began to use paper towels at that time. Thought I’d better make that clear, that I didn’t remain a “purist”. 😉 xo

              Liked by 3 people

              1. I remember trying it for a short time with my own simply because they were soooo expensive 😩. I had Irish ☘️ twins so I unfortunately fell short of my purist goals😂😂😂 I do like the convenience of disposable and baby wipes. Maybe someday someone will come up with a biodegradable disposable made of vegetables that you could even use in a compost pile!!! Ha!!! Win win!!! My mom used to always tell me, “necessity is the mother of invention!”🥰😘😇 xo

                Liked by 2 people

                    3. Thank you so much for linking the website, Jen! I don’t think I will ever grow luffas, but the amusement value of the description for growing them was so worth reading! 😂😂 I sure needed that laughter!

                      Like

      4. Many tribes never diaper their young. Mom’s anticipated when babies would have to go and just held them over the ground and scraped off excess with a stick. 😉

        Sr. Bear, my mother did the same as you posted. 54yrs ago, I used cloth and then this new idea that came out — it was like a huge disposable pad which you would insert in a plastic cover that would snap on and off. I liked it. Shaped to fit under babies belly nicely. Haven’t seen one like that since.

        Liked by 2 people

      5. Yes, Sister Bear,
        I was first of four and recall changing the diaper of my sister who is 5 years younger than I – makes me 6 or maybe 7? at the time. With two in diapers, my mom sent me to change the one most likely to cooperate. And, yes, only cloth diapers. We survived! 😄
        God bless, katey🙏🏽🎄💟

        Liked by 3 people

    2. Linda, 100 years ago, and even 500 years ago they had diapers, just not disposable ones. Interesting note: poor babies, they reused dried wet-upon diapers. They just washed the dirty ones.

      Liked by 6 people

        1. I don’t think that God begrudges us good and useful things (some modern advances included), but clearly most of the world has lost sight of what constitutes a good and useful thing.

          I was upriver on Yavapai lands yesterday, treating a bro and my nephews to some fresh air and scenery, but the mention of disposable diapers reminded me of a ‘monument’ to unnecessary things about 10 clicks downriver. At capacity it’s about 350 acres, and from the main road looks like an ancient burial mound, more or less neatly covered by dirt, and standing about 5 stories tall. Drive south through there at night and you’ll also see the occasional stack belching forth flame and whatnot, which kinda reminds me of the land around Mordor. A diseased ‘scape that it is anything but scenic… apparently lifeless and dead, except maybe for the occasional lizard, pack of scruffy coyotes and truck. Oh,, I imagine it’s lucrative for the Fort McDoweel Yavapai Nation, but… mercy, the irony.

          Of course that’s just looking at the final resting place of the castoff stuff, not even taking into account the complex stories attached to each thing in the pile. It’s mind boggling.

          I think one of the upsides to this transitory time for humanity… this storm… this turning, or however you want to look at it, will be the dawning light of the 7th day. It’s my fondest hope that we will be able to distinguish in that Light what is absolutely necessary above all things.

          Liked by 9 people

          1. That was nice.

            Please delete this if it is inappropriate, but I often wonder what Mary used to wipe our Lord’s butt when he was an infant. They did not have disposable diapers back then and I do not know if they had soap and the Sears Catalogue had not been invented and its pages unavailable.

            I am reading my patron Saint’s “Exercises” and I disagree with him on some of his meditations, particularly the “cleanliness” of the manger and the activities about that time. Loyala suggests we meditate on a pristine environment, but God , Jesus, has a history of getting down-n-dirty with His creation. See Jacob and the Angel duking it out.

            I will happily concede the point that our Lord’s childhood involved no burps, poops or barfs when presented with a solid case, but to my meager mind, He created burps , poops and barfs and happily participated!

            Also, today’s Mass had four gleeful babies contributing to the Mass. It was especially poignant because today’s reading was The Visitation with Mary and Elizabeth, Jesus and St. John , with the attendant leaps of Joy and the little ones were right on cue contributing to the Gospel reading (:

            In Christ.

            Liked by 6 people

            2. Imagine countless people meditating on this very scene, some mystics even ‘seeing’ such things from various perspectives, through their own unique lens. Makes it easier to accept such apparent discrepancies as simply different folks focusing on different aspects of the same thing.

              Bethlehem was full, so not hard to imagine some small place on the outskirts (God provides) primarily used as a stable… on a cold, probably damp Winter’s night in this case. That would necessarily include the smell of livestock (at least an ox and the little donkey that carried Our Mother), some dirt and straw on the floor of the structure… probably manure. What would make such a setting pristine?

              Oh, Joseph tidying it up, starting a little fire, warming the straw over the fire by hand, sweeping the floor, arranging whatever was on hand just so. Of course Our Mother with Child, so humble she may have rested near that ox, even warming her hands from the body heat of that gentle animal. No fear there, just Love.

              Seems pristine to me, but then I’ve always liked being around the stables. The smell of horse hide, hay and manure is even like aromatherapy to me. Peaceful. And pristine I would say, from a certain point of view.

              Liked by 4 people

          2. My dear departed Aunt/godmother JoAnn, God rest her soul, used cloth diapers and wash clothes. If my memory serves me correctly they used a diaper service that picked up and cleaned the diaper hamper routinely when they were city folk. After they bought the farm in Wisconsin, near Sheboygan and Green Bay, she laundered them herself. ❤

            Liked by 2 people

            1. Jen, we used cloth diapers for all of the kids except for Little Miss If-It’s-Not-Pink-Then-I’m-Not-Interested. We rinsed off the soiled ones and soaked all of them in a 5-gallon pail with baking soda in the water. We washed diapers every couple of days and hung them on the line to dry spring through fall. In the winter we usually used the dryer, but sometimes we would dry them on a wooden clothing rack near the woodstove in our family room. Over the years, those cloth diapers saved us thousands of dollars over the cost of disposables. 🙂

              Liked by 9 people

          4. MP I could read your thoughts all day!!! The way you put things is so cool!!! Funny the conversations that have come up on Charlie’s piece in regards to my diaper/baby wipe inquiry! 😂😂😂 I was actually wondering what humanity did without such modern conveniences and in seeing all the responses have shifted my thinking to; what in the world are we using disposable diapers for except polluting our beautiful earth 😂😂😂. I tell ya true MP I learn something new each day in this wonderful group!!!

            Can you put your pony pic up for us here btw?!?! That was so beautiful! God bless you MP!!! You rock our world here!🥰😇🙏🐿🐶 🐎

            Liked by 1 person

          5. This is just beautiful btw and I hope it concludes swiftly 😫:

            “I think one of the upsides to this transitory time for humanity… this storm… this turning, or however you want to look at it, will be the dawning light of the 7th day. It’s my fondest hope that we will be able to distinguish in that Light what is absolutely necessary above all things.”

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Actually, the bums seem better with the disposables – except when Dad is in charge: “What do you mean it needs a change? That pack said 9-14 lbs! ” My stash includes cloth diapers as one never knows who will come next, but it also includes Desitin Diaper rash ointment, which through 7 children and 9 grands and many fosters, I have determined to be the best.
              In my childhood, Mom (6kids) used thin cloth diapers she hung on the line. The fresh air and sunshine sanitized them, she said. BUT, my neighbor (10 kids) used thicker prefolded cloth diapers that she dried in the dryer, insisting the heat from the dryer killed all germs! All kids survived to adulthood, no matter how the diapers were dried!

              Liked by 4 people

              1. I remember cloth diapers. I also remember the very bad rashes that babies used to have often from their urine. I think the disposables are better for baby’s bum, though they absolutely are very expensive and contribute to filling up landfills……I doubt that Day Care centers would put up with cloth diapers. There are so many working Moms today. I do not think the change from modern disposables to cloth will be likely unless the disposables are not available. In addition, adult disposable diapers will still be widely used at hospitals,… As far as garbage goes, I would like to see someone come up with a healthy replacement for plastic. I have tried to stop using plastic. It is virtually impossible. Plastic is everywhere and is horrible for the environment. I would say that this is among the biggest and most voluminous polluters of the modern day. Our oceans are suffering greatly…..In any case, this was a very interesting discussion about how things used to be done. 🙂

                Liked by 2 people

                1. Sure, cloth diapers and disposables in our little slice of history, but we barely even scratched the surface of how this has been handled in the many cultures throughout millennia. Disposables came around in the 50’s from no less than Proctor and Gamble, when world population was in that rocketing, nearly vertical climb counted in the billions. I suppose there was a certain inventiveness, need for convenience, etc., with the underlying profit motive in play. Short term boon to parents, long term downside to environment as we often charge ahead without thinking through all the potential consequences, such as plastics as waste products.

                  The most interesting method I came across was something called “elimination communication,” where ma’s would look for signals that their child needed to go, then they would hold them over a bucket or take them outside somewhere. Not sure how practical that would be today, but it certainly conjures images of more attentive and engaged, less distracted parents.

                  Disposables are a costly line item in a household budget, where cloth is mostly ‘do-it-yourself.’ Either way it’s going to entail work, we just need to start working smarter I think.

                  Liked by 3 people

                  1. I think that Seattle’s diaper service sounds very good….Frankly, I never saw any signals from my baby/child that he had “to go”. I do not think this would work…Yes, I imagine an individual could go back to cloth and plastic pants. However, as I noted, no daycare center would allow that. Hospitals would not go for it either.

                    Liked by 2 people

                2. Most environmentally friendly way with disposables? SEATTLE has a diaper service. They pick up USED disposables and carry them to a recyling plant where they are truned into non-flammable coatings for houses in the woods. Anyone trying to burn the things know they don’t. But Seattle is the only place I know of that does that. Apparently, this was environmental sound, but not economicaly. https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19910125&slug=1262576

                  Here is a solution IF you live in Italy:https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/20760/20190427/recycling-disposable-diapers-made-possible.htm

                  When the last grandaughter was here, I personally saved the wet-only-on diapers and emptied the contents into a trench in the garden, where I later planted carrots. (The stuff held the water nicely.) Since then I’ve heard this is not organic, but in truth, they were the best carrots, and I have never seen any of that stuff again in the garden. (And I have used that row ever since for two crops a year, so it gets turned regularly.) The plastic/paper parts of the diapers do burn.

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                  2. We can’t burn anything ’round these parts except firewood, and even then it’s generally silly since it rarely gets that cold. I guess folks mostly do it for ambience, pining for the colder climes they migrated from.

                    Diapers are just a wee part of the cast-off mix, when one considers stuff like product packaging (the first thing that gets tossed) and the products they contain (which follow sooner or later). Too much consuming, not enough conserving, preserving, maintaining, sustaining, etc. How ’bout the old days when folks scooped raw, unpackaged nuts and vegetables out of a simple bin…

                    I could exhaust myself thinking about it but had a couple other random thoughts. (1) the human body – greatest packaging every conceived of, and (2) by all accounts everything is made up of energy (plastic, paper, dirt, leaves… whatever). Makes me wonder what a soul really looks like. And what does the material world look like in terms of energy?! That might be interesting.

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                    1. I’ve pondered what the human soul looks like too, MP. Looking at all of the variety of plants, birds, insects, etc. makes me think the human soul is all sorts of shapes and dazzling colors. I think the outside physical part is kind of boring(the few limited colors/shapes now) but we probably would not have been able to handle such diversity.

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                    2. And how about how much the soul *weighs*?

                      A couple times years ago, I came across a report of a research project carried out by a man in Europe, I believe. He obtained an agreement to hang a container physically long enough to allow a dying person to lie down in it, and he weighed the person constantly until the person died. The container was completely sealed (not sure how he got oxygen to the dying person, but I can think of ways to make it possible without affecting the weighing process).

                      What he found is that when the persons died, there was always a drop in weight that was the same. Of course, you can dispute his methods or whatever or disbelieve in the quality of the experiment, but he did come up with a result that was consistent across all of his subjects.

                      His testing showed that souls weigh 1/4 of a pound.

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                    5. http, I think if you’re only noticing a few limited human colors and shapes now you’re missing out. Artists, poets, and other keen observers the world over see differently. I’m not talking about vain or idle observation. I’m talking about seeing the many unique people, the basic compositions, and noticing the simple and complex layers as they reveal in countless settings and scenarios. As a means to ‘see’ some of that transcendent beauty. The keener the observer, the greater awe.

                      There are numerous and varied creatures such as exotic fish, but one Flowerhorn Cichlid pretty much looks like the next. Only God can distinguish one from the next at a glance.

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                    6. “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

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              2. Hahahahaha Nance Shaw your comments made me laugh out loud!!! Sooooo funny!!!😂😂😂 All your moms out there who had a bunch of kids in my opinion are LIVING SAINTS!!! I do agree with you about destin diaper rash ointment!!! That stuff is like magic!!!😂🥰😘🐶🐿🛀 👶🏼

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                1. I imagine, HANDTOTHEPLOW, we looked unbelievably beautiful before the Fall of Adam and Eve and that we were ment to maintain that beauty being made “a little lower than the angels” is a very high mark for a creature of matter (angels are Spirits).
                  When Jesus transfigured on the mount His face “shone like the Sun” and His clothes appeared dazzling white. One mystic said Adam and Eve were clothed in “light” which left them after the Fall and thus left them “naked”. I suppose that loss of light effected their ramience too and some of their great beauty diminished along with that of Creation.
                  With the advent of lust, the “sons of God” desired the “daughters of men” and took many of them as wives. (Scott Hahn claims the Sons of God are Seth’s clan and the daughters of men Cains clan).This “shift” in what man considers “attractive” is unknown. Why weren’t the “daughters of God” as attractive to the Sons of God as the daughters of men? It is very possible that they were more sexy and less virtuous and wholesome than the daughters of Seth therefore allowing themselves to be used this way and their children became renound for their flesh (strength, virility, prowess) and not for their spirituality (piousness, virtue, meekness, etc) the former which we still see as “attractiveness” today.

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                  1. Is this true Phillip frank that there were 4 people immaculately conceived? Holy Mary, Mother of God (and our Mother🥰), John the Baptist, Adam & Eve? This is what I’ve heard??? Seems you might know

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                    1. Adam and Eve were not conceived, Linda; they were created and, of course, since they were our parents from whom we inherited original sin, original sin did not even exist before their fall. It is not defined teaching, but many theologians throughout the ages have believed that John the Baptist was freed from original sin – and therefore leapt for joy – as his mother greeted the Lord’s Mother when both Elizabeth and Mary were with child.

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                    2. Yes!!! Oh my goodness it’s true what you say!!! This is bizarre I came in my front door today at 11:30 and Patrick Madrid was talking about just this!!! He clarified as you did that Adam Eve and John the Baptist were born free of original sin (not conceived as you say…dah on my part) but also the prophet Jeremiah!!! Jeremiah chpt 1 vs 5. Who knew?!?! Hahahahaha But Patrick’s discussion on it is today December 21, 3rd hour at 30 minutes (give or take) into the hour. God is sooo good to give us these Holy souls🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🐿

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                    3. Let us be clear: Adam. Eve, and Mary were created without the stain of original sin. That is dogmatic. Adding on all these others are pious speculations but are NOT either dogmatic or Scriptural. I do not mind people engaging in pious speculation as long as they keep it to a dull roar. I frankly do not like all the attempted add-ons, because they simply beget more add-ons…and after a while create despair, because people think they could not possibly do anything good without having some mystical bonus from the start. A big part of real triumph for each of us is that despite our many infirmities, we can still follow God and do His will and help others when we devote ourselves to it. So people can speculate all they want – but bottom line, the only three created beings in history, according to formal Church dogma, who were formally created immaculately, were Mary, Adam and Eve. Please do not say, as a matter of fact, that John the Baptist or anyone else was immaculately conceived. That may be your pious wish, but it is not a fact, either Scripturally or dogmatically – and we stay grounded here.

                      I have always hated the sort of pious gilding that make saints, who were real people, into plastic models of improbable virtue. I think it robs them of their real virtue – the triumph over their own selfish nature AND that it crushes hope by telling people that if they are not gifted with these improbable virtues there is no hope for them to do anything notably good.

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                    5. With lots of bubbling activity here, it wasn’t until after dropping my granddaughters at their home that I have quietly pondered Adam, Eve and Mary in relation to original sin. Our first parents really were not conceived at all – not carried in the womb of their mothers – but they were God’s direct creation and, unique as they were, being who they were in their created form, they fell. Our Lady, on the other hand, was conceived and carried in the womb of her mother, Anne, and Mary was the ONE and ONLY person conceived without original sin. In the writings of the Church, fitting as it is, Mary is described in superlative terms. So, too, in the liturgical prayers of the Church on feasts, solemnities and memorials of Our Lady. It seems, perhaps, one of the most grievous dangers of extending the idea of being conceived without original sin to others in salvation history is that we start detracting from the singular role, ordained by God, which Our Lady fulfilled in God’s Plan for our salvation. Who, in all of God’s creation, can say she is the Mother of God and the Mother of the Redeemer? Oh so much to ponder about our Mother!

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                    6. Oh sorry Charlie actually it never occurred to me that other people being created without stain of sin would cause despair and loss of hope in other people and not even in myself. I think God can do what He likes with His creation and it doesn’t bother me one bit. I am what I am and you are all what you are. I just thought it was interesting. That’s all. Didn’t mean to offend anyone.

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                    7. Charlie you may find this interesting at the 27:45 marker a caller calls in to Patrick Madrid about John the Baptist being made free of stain of sin. I have a hard time believing that folksies would lose hope or despair because God chose to free certain people of original sin for their mission. It would honestly never occur to me what you said about losing hope because God makes some people more sanctified than us. We all just have different missions. Most of ours is to Get over ourselves as you say, and glorify God in His Mercy. This is not dogma but it’s all very interesting. I thought you would like this because I know you and Patrick are amigos!!! 🥰🥰

                      Audio from Relevant Radio: The Patrick Madrid Show: December 21, 2021 – Hour 3 https://relevantradio.com/2021/12/the-patrick-madrid-show-december-21-2021-hour-3/

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                    8. “I have always hated the sort of pious gilding that make saints, who were real people, into plastic models of improbable virtue. I think it robs them of their real virtue – the triumph over their own selfish nature AND that it crushes hope by telling people that if they are not gifted with these improbable virtues there is no hope for them to do anything notably good.”

                      Linda, I noticed that Charlie aimed his comment about people losing hope. not just at the idea of speculating that more saints were freed from original sin than what the Church actually teaches, but to include ALL the times when those who recount the lives of saints fail to give the whole picture of how that saint developed by responding to God’s Grace. Think of St. Augustine and his autobiography as a prime example of a beautiful honesty about his own victory, his “triumph over” his “own selfish nature.” Mother Angelica bemoaned many a saint’s biography for this very reason. I have actually heard people make comments, such as, “I’ll never be St. _____.” (Fill in the blank.) And it is said in a vein of feeling frustrated with the spiritual life. It’s easy to forget that God doesn’t just make us who we are; we have a fiat to give and a decided role to play in the making of who we become with God’s grace.

                      I listened to the recording and Patrick responds to the question about John the Baptist by saying John was sanctified in the womb… and then Patrick assumes but one meaning of “sanctify.” Sure it means to purify or cleanse, but sanctify also means “consecrate, bless, hallow, set apart.” My goodness, we’re all set apart for the particular mission entrusted to each one. Patrick erred (and we all make mistakes) by definitely declaring that this encounter meant John the Baptist was set free from original sin. You can find no official Church declaration that this is so.

                      I just wrote to Patrick, thanking him for his work. (He deserves the affirmation.) I also suggested that he correct how he speaks about this aspect of John the Baptist’s life by including that he is actually speculating and, further, he needs to acknowledge that there is no formal Church teaching. God bless him.

                      Here’s my personal gripe, though 🙂 … The Scriptures surely do say: “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” (Matthew 11:11) But why oh why do people drop the rest of verse 11? “Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Now THAT gets my attention because it is ripe with possibilities and it’s a call to TNRS! God bless us all as we carry on.

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                    9. It all really doesn’t matter. Like I said I was curious about it and made a huge error to bring it up here. Holy Smokes!!!😂😂😂 I think I’ll go back to talking about diapers. 😂😂😂🥰🥰🥰😘😘😘👶🏼👶🏼👶🏼🌹🌹🌹

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                    10. Linda, you know you are a sweetheart and I think the world of you and Mike. But I stick with what the Church formally teaches in the Magisterium. I am adamant about that. Occasionally I misspeak, but if I do, I embrace correction from the Church. The thing is, if we do not accept this, we are just making it up as we go along. I know I can be hard about that – but I have good company: I was delighted years ago to discover St. Thomas Aquinas griping about silly Catholic superstitions – when we need to stick with Scripture and the Magisterium. He held himself and those around him to that standard and it made me feel better about my rigor in endeavoring to stick to the same standards. A few years back, a woman told me I needed to be “more gentle – like Padre Pio.” It was so absurd that I just told her that I had never actually physically slapped anyone. I figured I would let her figure it out if she was so inclined. St. Jerome, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Padre Pio (among others) were occasionally volatile and grumpy. It was their authentic personality – and to sanitize them for our protection robs us of part of the lesson God intends us to learn from them. God uses our authentic personality for His purposes if we embrace Him. Shoot, one of the single most inspiring moments of my life was discovering St. Augustine – and then discovering that he started out with a taste for the ladies and made his living as the equivalent of a strategic political/media consultant in his time. It changed my life – and brought me into the Church. Let me say this: if I manage to do well enough to hearten many folks and am known for it after I am gone, I will be furious if anyone tries to pretend I was free of either original or personal sin: it will rob me of the great victory of having conquered myself to be devoted to God and His people.

                      In another sense, I think the Immaculate Conception was not primarily for Mary, but to fit her to carry the Lord – to be the new Ark of the Covenant. The great gift God gave her was to form her full of grace. After all, Adam and Eve were created without original sin – and fat lot of good it did them. They were not naturally inclined to sin, but they could be seduced. Mary, though, sought guidance from God in each step. Ah, that we all could have a double measure of the grace she lived every moment of her life!

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                    11. Well Charlie thank you for this continued dialogue on this subject. You know how much Mike and I sincerely love you and all I do is talk about you and your teachings to everyone I know!!!

                      I certainly agree with you about what you’re saying -that got your dander up-it’s just that I didn’t see it that way at first. I’m not really that educated in the dogmas of the church. I’m a simple folk.

                      But I do listen to relavant Radio almost all day long and I’ve heard them mention stuff like what we’re talking about here -a bazillion times-so I was just very curious about it and thought it very interesting. That’s all.

                      Well I guess now I know!!! Ha!!! Point well made!!!😂

                      Yes…you did come off a bit like Padre Pio, but that’s ok!!! I still think the world of you!!! My dad was very much like you and yet we were extremely close so I’m quite used to debating a gruff personality!!! Are you sure you’re not a sailor?!?!😂😂😂

                      Anyhow…you have my solemn promise NOT to mention on this site anymore about anyone other than Adam & Eve who were created without the stain of sin, or Mary who was conceived without sin!!! 👍

                      It’s all good, Charlie!!! You’ve heartened me and many folks for many years now!

                      Thank you for saying “yes,” to God for our sakes….Jesus needs people and prophets like you just for these times!🥰🐶🐿

                      Ave Maria Stella Maris

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                    12. “In another sense, I think the Immaculate Conception was not primarily for Mary, but to fit her to carry the Lord – to be the new Ark of the Covenant. The great gift God gave her was to form her full of grace. After all, Adam and Eve were created without original sin – and fat lot of good it did them. They were not naturally inclined to sin, but they could be seduced. Mary, though, sought guidance from God in each step. Ah, that we all could have a double measure of the grace she lived every moment of her life!”

                      I’ve been contemplating this since you wrote this!!! Very interesting!!! So much to learn in our amazing faith🤗

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                    13. This union of the Mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to His death…This union is manifest also at the birth of Our Lord, who did not diminish His mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it. (Lumen Gentium, n. 57)

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                    15. The Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (virginitas in partu).

                      ” St Thomas would later speak of Mary’s pains in childbirth in the following manner:

                      “The pains of childbirth are caused by the infant opening the passage from the womb. Now it has been said above (28, 2, Replies to objections), that Christ came forth from the closed womb of His Mother, and, consequently, without opening the passage. Consequently there was no pain in that birth, as neither was there any corruption; on the contrary, there was much joy therein for that God-Man “was born into the world,” according to Isaiah 35:1-2: “Like the lily, it shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise.” (Summa Theologica, III, q. 35, a. 6)

                      “In fact, Christ’s birth “did not diminish his mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it.” And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the “Ever-virgin”. (CCC, n. 499)

                      “This union of the Mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to His death…This union is manifest also at the birth of Our Lord, “who did not diminish His mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it.” (Lumen Gentium, n. 57)

                      https://spiritualdirection.com/2021/12/20/on-the-perpetual-virginity-of-mary-and-the-limits-of-the-chosen

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                    17. Everyone, I console myself on this score that one of the apostles betrayed Jesus, all the remaining 11 apostles ran away when Jesus was arrested, the guy who was the first Pope denied Jesus three times despite boasting he would not, and only one apostle showed up at the foot of the cross as Jesus died. None of them showed up on Sunday morning when He had said He would raise this temple up. Yet all but one became saints later and the betrayer became a famous historical celebrity better known than most of the original apostles.

                      There’s hope for all of us. 🙂

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                    18. Gosh That’s beautiful Stevebc!!! Funny thing…I never ever even think of myself becoming a saint not even with a small “s.” I love Jesus Mary Joseph all the holy angels and Saints and all my brothers and sisters on earth and that’s all. I know what I am, what I’ve done wrong and what I’ve done right and so at this point I just try my hardest to acknowledge God, take the next right step and try to be a sign of hope which I’m sure I fail miserably most days!😂I leave the rest to Our Jesus.🥰🙏🐿🐶
                      God bless you Stevebc!!! You’re awesome

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                    20. Linda, in saying how you live each day, in answer to my “console” comment, you pretty much defined sainthood, so whether you like it or not, you’re a saint. Maybe a little saint, maybe a big saint in the making, I don’t know. However, given how I’ve seen Charlie define a saint, you are one, whether you recognize it or not.

                      Now don’t get a swelled head! Just keep doing what you’re doing and get better at it each day. Right?

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                    21. Stevebc….Awwwwww I just luvs ya!!! You heartened me today🥰 Thank you for your kindness shown to me this day. You put a big smile on my face and an ease in my step. And by the way….I’ve ALWAYS thought the same of you 🥰🙏😇🐿🌹GOD BLESS YOU STEVEBC. 😇

                      I promise not to swell 🙏. I promise to try my hardest to be a better person each day too!🤗 Have a beautiful Christmas Eve Eve!!! 🌲

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                  2. How interesting PF. I can hardly wait to get to the other side.
                    Yes, every human has the intricate beauty, but my new granddaughter is the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.🤗😁😇
                    When I look at a sunset/sunrise each is so unique and beautiful it takes my breath away. I grew up on the plains. Some would think that was boring but I saw such majesty in its depth and scope. Now we are living near mountains and I think the same thing. Funny how we are.

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                    1. All creation is a reflection of the Creator.
                      Sin may have dimmed our perception of it, but it’s essence and beauty is still His reflection there.
                      Being created in His likeness and image and possessing an immortal soul, we are unique and stand apart from all creation so when we see a human baby’s beauty closely reflecting God back to us it is our perceiving the face of God in the closest thing on earth this side of heaven.
                      Scientist may say some evolutionary ploy is at work that babies are attractive to us as a survival tactic and this attraction is to cause us to be more attentive but I think this is just them giving a “name” to what God has instilled in us. His beauty and attractiveness is illustrated in the summit of His physical creation in a baby with its obvious purity, innocence and perfect beauty!

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                    2. How beautiful Timothy! I get to see my grandchild tomorrow I can barely wait!!! Just 6 months old and their teaching him sign language!!! So darn cute! When I’m with Jax I feel as close to God because of him because he is soooo close to God. It’s one of those few joys in life🥰

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                    4. Linda,
                      Feeling inadequate in your spiritual walk is an acknowledgement of our need of God’s grace to make it through this valley of tears.
                      Your in good company by feeling this way.
                      The closer to God you get, the further from Him you realise you are! The greatest saints attested to this and lamented, like you, of their unworthiness. Scripture makes it plain that we are all, great and small, relegated a portion of God’s grace to the task at hand and dependant on it to accomplish His will in our lives: “So you also, when you shall have done all these things that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which we ought to do.” (Luke 17:10).
                      But living a “mondane” life is what the majority of people on earth do and it is not without benefit from this grace:

                      “The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.” (Chesterton)

                      “It would also seem that veneration for concrete reality is kindled by the contemplative impulse which seeks the divine meaning underlying all beings. G.K. Chesterton, considering his life in retrospect, said that he had always had the almost mystical conviction of the miracle in all that exists, and of the rapture dwelling essentially within all experience.” (Josef Pieper).
                      “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.” (James 1:5)

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                  3. “Here’s my personal gripe, though 🙂 … The Scriptures surely do say: “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” (Matthew 11:11) But why oh why do people drop the rest of verse 11? “Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Now THAT gets my attention because it is ripe with possibilities and it’s a call to TNRS! God bless us all as we carry on.”

                    Oh, this is just what the Divine Doctor ordered for me to ponder today. I humbly TY. Struggling, so heavy right now. Not sure why. Pretty certain Ima doin’ ALL I humanly can not to add to that heaviness. It is such a mystery. Anyways this is a breath of renewed strength. +TYG+

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                    2. Your prayers are powerful, TY and +TYG+

                      Yesterday turned out to be a Wonderful day, filled with renewed joy and hope, +TYG+ Anyways, I was shopping at a local warehouse club. People around here are masking, but I don’t. It seems there is no heart to force compliance (again TYG). I was so happy, and smiling. I talked to a woman who was getting treats for her family for Christmas, and I told her: “Great job, Mom!” and we both laughed. After that a man stopped me and at first I thought my cart was blocking his. He said “No, not the cart. You have the most beautiful smile! It’s as if Someone is making you continually happy.” I immediately pointed upwards to God, and he said: “Good answer!”

                      Hah. I knew it. I knew it was Prayer Power. I am so grateful for the respite. +TYG+ Thank you, Dear Beckita!

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                    3. Oh Praise God, Dear Littlelight! I love what you describe about those human interactions among the family of humankind shopping in your world yesterday. Brings to mind Charlie’s latest podcast theme… you were living it in the warehouse: the connection of people which brings them to notice each other and speak in ways that uplift. St. Therese’s Little Way for sure.

                      I do love Sonja’s strategy for responding to times like yesterday, when we turn to Holy Spirit and ask: “Are you trying to get my attention? What do you wish to teach me? Or perhaps heal more deeply?” I know you know this business about pop quizzes and then getting to the strategies that transform our thoughts and emotions. It’s just easy to forget when the emotions are so intense. AND, even then, some of what we experience is the frailty of our humanity which finds us experiencing heavy days without actually knowing why. I’m really looking forward to the Book Study next month while praying continued peace for you as you enter Christmastide…

                      And may we ALL be imbued anew in Christ’s Peace as we revel in His Light as surely as those shepherds did so long ago… My God, My God, we may not SEE His Light as did the shepherds, yet we take in His Light with His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity into our bodies, minds, hearts and souls when we receive Him in His Eucharistic Presence. Wow! I understand that the early Christians b.e.l.i.e.v.e.d. they would receive miracles via the Eucharist. Praying, now, for those of us who have given our best to co-create with God a renewed sacred interior by working for healthy detachments from things below while assenting to Abba’s Will in all our circumstances, and embracing His ongoing communication – of myriad sorts – for He is ever directing us and our lives. As we surrender to His Will by exerting our own will to live His Ways, may we each receive an interior Christmas miracle of greater freedom from those things that trouble us or weigh us down. Ah! To be filled with greater faith and trust is a treasure beyond compare. In the spirit of Blessed Solanus Casey, we thank You Lord, for the ways you are answering this prayer in each one who desires it.

                      All glory to the Prince of Peace!

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                    4. <B <B <B (A hearty nod to our Dear JLynn)

                      Wow, but this needs to be added to the printed volume of wisdom that must come from this beautiful ASOH forum.

                      Amen! Alleluliah!!! Praise you Lord, now and forever!

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          1. Oh my gosh Timothy that is amazing!!! We have to much “stuff” these days!!! I’d be getting rid of all the “stuff” In my closets if I weren’t so afraid we’ll need the “cloth” for some other reason a little bit down the road. Boy oh boy do we need a reboot!!! Yikes!!! 😳

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            1. So, I googled. Other than an anecdotal story, the consensus seems to be that closet tax is a myth. However, in places you WERE taxed on number of rooms., hence no separate rooms for just clothes. I think, per my docent-ing days in old Plantation Homes, that there were no closets, because no one, even the Missus, had so many clothes. People used wardrobes, or pegs on the wall. Dressers and chests were common.

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  10. Church leaders prioritizing being nice and not standing up to the evil of our time, remind me of the mighty French army stationed at the eastern border with Germany when Hitler invaded Poland. Hitler threw basically all the forces in the Blitzkrieg operation on Poland, Poland resisted for about two weeks until Stalin invaded with his mighty from the eastern border of Poland. France and UK declared war right away, but all they did during that first phase of the war was sitting back and dropping some flyers from planes encouraging Poles to keep up the good fight. Had the powerful French army attacked Hitler right away as promised before the invasion of Poland, Hitler probably would have been crushed within weeks and Stalin would not have been emboldened to invade Poland 17 days after Hitler did. We wouldn’t have had Auschwitz and other extermination camps. So many millions of lives would have been saved. There would have been no Communism in Poland and other East European countries . Ultimately, Hitler conquering Poland over the time amassed more forces and redirected some of the army from Poland and conquered France… It took 6 years of Nazi mass murder and then many more years of Communist murder and oppression. It doesn’t pay to be cowards,and we need brave hierarchy in the church, especially the pope.

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  11. “Christianity is not for wimps. For crying out loud, gird your loins and stand your ground under the banner of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. How much nobler to give your life for the faith than to preserve it for the rot around you!”

    reminded me of my favorite scene in this movie:

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  12. My husband and I watched this movie again a few weeks ago. I pray daily to St. Thomas for wisdom to know when to speak and when to stay silent. There are so many lies flying around right now and so many ignorant but well meaning people being duped into thinking they are being charitable by supporting sinful and harmful behaviors.
    May God help us to become like Gideon and trust that even though we are few, His is the victory when we are faithful to His commands.

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  13. If you have not joined CORAC and connected with people in your region of the country, then you should! This week the CORAC members were wonderfully helpful to me. I recommend that you be sure to join. Many thanks to all of you members in the N.E. region of the country!

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  15. I love this paragraph!!! Ha!!! Charlie must be starting to feel better!!! This is the Charlie I who has heartened me for many years now!!! Ha!!! Girding !!! Thank you Charlie!!!😇🐿🐶🎅

    “In times of great strife, when the faith and the faithful are assaulted from within and without, if you will not get your hands dirty, either completely devoted to cardinal acts of mercy or passionately defending the faith, the faithful, and the sovereignty of Christ, you will perish. You cannot be the timid and cowardly Gideon of Judges, Chapter 6. Rather, you must be the fully trusting, passionate Gideon of Judges, Chapter 7. If you protest that the forces of secularism and rot are too great, that is not an argument at all – just a confession that you don’t trust God at all. The initially timid Gideon conquered an invading army of 135,000 warriors with a mere 300 men God sent him out with. Trust or don’t, but don’t whine about how hard things are. Christianity is not for wimps. For crying out loud, gird your loins and stand your ground under the banner of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. How much nobler to give your life for the faith than to preserve it for the rot around you!”

    Doesn’t it give you goosebumps?!?!

    Liked by 3 people

  16. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! …. 🙂

    https://excorde.org/2021/this-sunday-honor-mary-by-sharing-in-her-greatness

    https://mappingprojector.com/portfolio_page/video-mapping-of-the-giottos-frescoes/

    WHY!! …… except to create MORE Division, Anger & Confusion!
    Oh!!! …. and right before Christmas in hopes that it will go unnoticed ….. Right outta Democrat’s Playbook!
    https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249928/traditionis-custodes-vatican-further-tightens-restrictions-on-traditional-latin-mass
    https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2021/12/18/pope-francis-guidance-restricting-latin-mass/1241639863504/

    https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/wreaths-across-america-fallen-military-holiday-appreciation

    The War on Christamas is real and just part of the Total War declared upon God, Constitution and Bill of Rights Clingers despised by the likes of “Politico” and that awful FOX News did not start it!
    https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/12/18/war-on-christmas-525273

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/12/covid_and_the_catholic_church.html

    https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/christmas-rappahannock

    https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/trump-evangelicals-love-israel-more-than-jews-in-the-us-689075

    Wag de Dog False Flag Dept. of Just-Us Op
    https://www.revolver.news/2021/12/damning-new-details-massive-web-unindicted-operators-january-6/

    https://reclaimthenet.org/british-medical-journal-criticizes-facebook-over-fact-check-censorship/

    https://townhall.com/columnists/michaelreagan/2021/12/18/declaring-war-on-the-unvaxxed-n2600740

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/12/18/murkowski-challenger-kelly-tshibaka-bidens-radical-agenda-would-be-on-life-support-without-mcconnell-murkowski/

    Yep! … The New Reality – Master Class with Ken Hackathorn

    COME!, Lord Jesus!!
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-air-force-memo-authorizes-gender-pronouns-signature-blocks

    I gotta get a Wok Pan for Christmas 😉
    http://blog.newadvent.org/2021/12/this-cook-wants-to-show-you-risotto.html

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 4 people

  17. “…but there’s a mile of difference between a pro-life protest and a conscientious objection which not only risks family security, livelihood and personal comforts but also endures significant embarrassing church rebuttal.” (ST.GIUSEPPEMOSCATIPRAY4DOCS).

    While raising a large family in just the last 20-30 years, we had moments of persecution from a pro-abortion/birth control society- including church goers and even our own pastor. We were even looked down upon by family members who considered us a bit backwards. Seeing many of these same people now older (though financially comfortable) in shambles on every other aspect of their lives brings to mind the “trick” of the serpent to Eve;
    “No, you won’t die (loose your joy of life) but become like God ( take your purpose away from why you were made) and know the difference between good and evil ( suffer the consequences).
    Life is hard, even when we do the right thing. But interiorly their is no shame to be who we are by living righteously. There is but joy. Those who choose to be “comfortable” trade their inner peace for an exterior act of it what one person told me “living the dream”.
    Dream indeed.
    But eventually they wake up, and find themselves naked and at a loss to what purpose life is all about as they see their world crumbling all around them.
    Persecution or not I follow God’s Will for me mandated through Scripture and our Lord who’s “Kingdom is not of this world”.
    Good thing.
    Gives us faithful ones something better to look forward too!
    Jesus, I Trust In You.

    Liked by 8 people

    2. “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:10 No one wants to be treated poorly, but as Jesus points out in this final beatitudes attitude, those who are persecuted because of righteousness are blessed. It’s no small favor, then, when heaven’s blessings are recognized in the here and now, as witnessed by Philip Frank.

      Not to get side-tracked from the point being made, though, there was a skilled evasion to discuss a Church canon law viewpoint concerning pro-life families who are following their conscience with grave consequences to refuse the vax mandate because of it’s affiliation with abortion. That canon lawyer exhibited a deliberate omission to affirm or deny legitimacy of Church refusal of religious exemption based on the Pope’s *opinion* that taking the vax is an “act of love”.

      Set that aside and contemplate another Church omission of accountability to recognize the well-documented dangers to life and health from this experimental injection. Can the Church justify promoting an experimental jab with thousands of directly related deaths and hundreds of thousands of adverse reactions, many irreversible, in the face of a covid recovery rate that exceeds 99%, or 100% in children? Hundreds and hundreds of deaths resulted from deliberate denial of early treatment combined with the Dr. Foxy killer protocol, and this tragedy continues. It’s unthinkable that the Catholic Church continues to push this experiment with all the information available. So why isn’t this worldwide Catholic network and it’s canon law representatives shouting from the rooftops “primum non nocere”; First, Do No Harm in revolt against this medical profession negligence.

      Scientists have discovered that fully vaccinated individuals carry 251 times the viral load of Covid in their nostrils compared to the unvaccinated. The vaccinated are shedding pathogenic spike proteins to those in their contact. And with every booster, the vaccinated have the potential to create new mutations (in fact the new mutations come directly from the vaccinated). Eventually these bombardments of spike protein injections will ruin the body’s natural immunity. There are medicines that work and natural immunity is the solution. This vax promotion within the Church must cease.

      Liked by 8 people

    3. Several years ago I spent Christmas Eve with the extended Family of a large pro-life clan. One of the women, who was a dear friend of mine, had seven children. She took me aside and, absolutely glowing, told me she was pregnant with her eighth. She told me she wanted me to be the first to know. I was delighted and effusive in congratulating her – but noted wryly that saying she wanted me to be the first to know didn’t sound quite right.

      She turned very earnest and told me that she wanted the first person she told to be someone who she knew would be unambiguously enthused about the news. Somewhat sadly, she said that even in such a big, brawling pro-life extended family, some of its members would occasionally treat her like she didn’t know what caused kids. Big families get a lot of disapprobation from the world. How tragic that they must suffer the quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) disapproval of their own pro-life relatives. How far we are from what we should be!

      Liked by 9 people

      1. I have 9 children. My wife and I are always shocked by how much more love pours out of us and our children with each new arrival. The house that seemed packed with love gets a whole new layer of delight, kindness, tenderness, and thoughtfulness every time we have a new baby. We also marvel at how much a new baby calls us out of ourselves.

        Yet, we get the same reaction from some relatives. They will sit there and literally gush over the new baby and how the whole family is so great. Then, as they are leaving, they will roll their eyes – or tell us they know a way we can prevent it from happening again. It’s a sort of self-delusion or something.

        Some have even had the temerity to call us selfish – for having children when I’m near 60 and my wife near 50. As if I won’t be a good father when I’m in my 60s, even though I have been a good one for almost 30 years. They act as if, somehow, that will all disappear at some point. I just keep thinking – if you think having another baby is selfish, you don’t know what you’re talking about.

        Liked by 12 people

        2. Joe,
          It depends on ones world view.
          A college education is considered the quintessential American dream and those that follow this consider us who have “too many ” kids cannot possibly afford to send our children to the better institutes of higher learning.
          Now there is nothing wrong with getting an education but the REASON we want one and the things we sacrifice in order to give them to our children, for some, is to sacrifice their potential brothers and sisters! Also, some believe it to be “selfish” to not give their children EVERYTHING they possibly can and that to do so properly is to have only enough children that your financial state can afford to do so. Therefore, they consider us “selfish” to want more children than we can “afford”.
          Your point of finding your bigger and bigger family feeling “more” of the precious things in life is only a reality check for those of us that understand God’s will for us to; “multiply and fill the earth” with souls that are the only “treasure” we create that will be in heaven with us! You are feeling this treasure as the abundant life that is soon to be our eternal life.
          I see my legacy growing almost every moment.
          My second son just had his 7th child, Jane Marie, this Sunday.
          She is my 27th grandchild. As I see those around me with more “things” than I can even imagine owning in such despair of loosing these things during this “storm”, I recognise more and more the wonder and gift of being the patriarch of such a large group of eternal souls that can never be lost like the “things” of this world.
          True, they have a free will, but my legacy of faithfulness is a gift of grace for a multitude of generations that I pray will bless my “abundant life” God has adorned me with.

          Liked by 6 people

          3. Phillip, what you say is so true. Folks have this idea that they HAVE to give their offspring things. But my sons saw me work my way through nursing school and then they worked their ways through college, also. I offered to help, but they said no. I am so proud of them. ❤️
            God bless your clan, katey in OR

            Liked by 3 people

        3. With either my fifth or sixth I never even told my own mother. I told none of them. (We lived in another town) until one of my brothers came to visit and noticed. (must have been about 6-7 months by then.) But at least I just had only a few months of grief. Praise God, no one seemed to remember their disapproval after the children were born. And this was from a “good Catholic family.”

          And now, we are discovering that rather than over-population, we are indeed over the tipping point of dangerous shrinking population.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Shows you how the enemy’s lies are exactly that. He cannot but lie, it is his nature and he is always wrong (deceptively). God will always make a way for those who love him and the “overpopulation” that has been complained about for over 100 years (Scrooge in Dickins and even longer ago if you think about Pharo and the male Israelite babies) has never materialised even though it was claimed to be “very soon” about every decade since it was first uttered.

            Like

  21. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! … 😉 PM

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/12/19/fourth-sunday-of-advent-4/

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/12/italian-archbishop-vigano-sends-message-american-people-2/

    https://wdtprs.com/2021/12/additional-notes-from-fatherz-on-the-dubious-dubia-concerning-traditionis-custodes/

    https://catholicvote.org/attacks-on-our-faith/

    Heading for that Remnant Church …..It’s all been foretold ….Come, Jesus!!
    https://spectator.org/the-rise-of-the-religiously-unaffiliated/

    What could Go-Wrong!?
    https://www.wnd.com/2021/12/will-get-skin-subcutaneous-vaccine-passports/

    https://www.theburningplatform.com/2021/12/16/they-needed-the-omicron-variant/

    Yep!! …. We knew, even before ChinaBioWeapon Hysteria, that “Camps” would be part of Phase Four (Ghettos & Extermination). It always is with Tyranny!
    Camp “Guards” will, no doubt, be hired with Diversity Guidelines in mind ……. from the ranks of /ANTIFA/BLM.
    But …. Wait!! It’s for Public Safety …. For The Children …..Right!!???
    https://covid-crime.org/bill-a416-detention/

    https://www.americanthinker.com/
    https://amgreatness.com/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Horrifying news that NY is considering a law for gathering up people to be detained…

      Worse news to me was that my 5yr old great-granddaughter has been inoculated. It was considered a “gift” to her grandmother for her birthday.
      My son and his family have totally rejected faith in any supernatural form. There are none so blind as they who refuse to see. 😢
      Jesus, I trust in you! 🙏🏽😔

      When the Son of Man returns to earth, do you think he will find faith in men’s hearts?

      Katey in OR 🙏🏽

      Liked by 10 people

  22. It is distressing to see the plans the Church has for rebuilding of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Actually ‘distressing’ is a word of very light weight for what I felt as I read the news. It would be best that the building be renamed because these plans have little to do with Our Beloved Lord and Lady.

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/pope-francis-founds-fratelli-tutti-foundation-to-promote-his-ideas/?utm_source=home_opinion&utm_campaign=usa

    Liked by 4 people

    2. Francis continues to diminish Christ in all he does and with all the people he appoints to do things. I think that he is paving the way for one world religion. I see no other reason for any of this.

      Liked by 6 people

  23. Beckita do you remember what piece Charlie put the prayer in for people to repent and be healed? I may have printed it out but I can’t seem to find it. I dunno 🤷🏻‍♀️

    Also, I JUST noticed this morning there are a few CoRaC merchandises that mention Mayberry!!! That is awesome!!! We’ll be purchasing a few of those! I think I’ve already mentioned Mike’s favorite show is the Andy Griffith show! He has all the dvds and also a big framed pic of Mayberry in our front family room!!!

    Liked by 4 people

  24. TNRS and SOH Family,

    Please pray for my oldest. He has CVD. He’s been vaxxxed and may have also had the booster (I’m not sure). His wife (pregnant with our first grandchild) tested negative.

    We had lots of conversations about protocols, vaxxxx, etc. Being a medical resident, he goes along with the standard of care. I’ve passed on the info, protocols, etc. he has always been patient in listening. I have been praying Charlie’s prayer for my family.

    I’m asking for prayers for him and his wife. Prayers of healing. And prayers for this mama to trust that “God knows what He’s about” as Blessed John Henry Neumann once wrote.

    Thank you, praying for all of you…always!

    Becky-TN

    Liked by 11 people

    4. Becky, I am keeping your son/wife and unborn grandchild and all our jabbed beloved in my prayers.
      Our family gathered around the table at my baby brothers home this weekend. He is physically unwell and has major memory loss of unknown origin. He had the booster with his wife the day before our Christmas dinner party and was 100% certain that doing this together was in their best interest and they are on the cutting edge to combat this deadly virus. He trusts his doc fully and they are actually pals and business neighbors.
      It has literally been decades since we shared a meal together at his home and may very well be the last one due to his declining health. I prayed a shield of protection around me and my hubby from any ill effects of being so close together. I made a pumpkin cream cheese pie and brought with me the pumpkins seeds that I also baked as a possible remedial measure since I read that they have similar qualities of Ivermectin. I, on the other hand, trust God. ❤

      Liked by 7 people

    1. Amen, Archbishop Vigano! God speed this renewal.

      Lead, kindly Light, amid th’ encircling gloom,
      Lead Thou me on;
      The night is dark, and I am far from home,
      Lead Thou me on;
      Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
      The distant scene; one step enough for me.

      Saint Cardinal John Henry Newman

      Liked by 7 people

    2. Why this man has not become a pope?

      ‘The pandemic emergency, the farce of global warming and the green economy, and the economic crisis deliberately induced by the Great Reset with the complicity of the deep state, are all only the consequence of a much more serious problem, and it is essential to understand it in depth if we want to defeat it. This problem is essentially moral; indeed, it is religious. We must put God back in the first place not only in our personal lives, but also in the life of our society. We must restore to Our Lord Jesus Christ the Crown that the Revolution has torn from Him, and in order for this to happen a true and profound conversion of individuals and of society is necessary. For it is absolutely impossible to hope for the end of this global tyranny if we continue to remove from the Kingdom of Christ the nations that belong to Him and must belong to Him. For this reason, the movement to overturn Roe v. Wade also acquires a very important meaning, since respect for the sacredness of unborn life must be sanctioned by positive law if it is to be a mirror of the Eternal Law.”

      Liked by 3 people

  26. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! …. 🙂

    https://thefederalist.com/2021/12/20/a-2021-wearied-world-can-still-rejoice-over-the-same-old-thrill-of-hope/

    http://time.com/3643889/christmas-truce-1914/

    PF & Vatican Gang did NOT Help~!
    https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/12/19/troops-find-religious-exemption-vaccines-unattainable.html

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/12/satans-work-pentagon-orders-company-stop-making-faith-based-dog-tags-video/

    It’s all unfolding as foretold:
    https://www.dailysignal.com/2021/11/26/losing-confidence-in-the-pillars-of-our-civilization/

    I’m guessing that are a few Purple State, up for election 22, that are privately very happy that Manchin sez No. I doubt that there will be a Senate Vote on this in 22.
    Biden Ventriloquist’s Gang and THEIR Agenda is crumbling….. 😉
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/our-entire-democracy-line-squad-fires-manchin-killing-build-back-better
    …… so THEY must keep ChinaBioWeapon Hysteria in Energizer Bunny Mode!
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/12/20/white-house-planning-major-omicron-fear-push-for-tuesday-december-21st/
    …….. & Rig the System …….. THEY know THEIR Power/Time is dwindling.
    https://stream.org/schumer-vows-to-bring-voting-bills-rules-changes-to-senate-floor/

    This ignorant ex-Barmaid never learned that Our Founders never intended Congress, especially Senate, to be “Democratic”! It was meant to be a body peopled by the Learned & Principled. Our Founders knew History but knew a Bad Day would come and thus insisted on amending The Constitution with the (10) Bill of Rights! …. which The Barmaid & her ilk are desperately trying to dismantle! ;-(
    https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/12/20/ocasio-cortez-slams-fundamentally-undemocratic-senate-operates-like-an-old-boys-club/

    Really!!?? I’m thinking that Moderna appears o be a Major Player in the Biggest Criminal Conspiracy of ALL Time!
    https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/moderna-says-booster-dose-its-covid-19-vaccine-appears-protective-vs-omicron-2021-12-20/

    https://www.crisismagazine.com/
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/
    https://newsbusters.org/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 4 people

  27. In response to the discussion above about disposables being better for baby’s skin, and cloth
    diapers causing diaper rash, I wanted to share what worked for us when we used cloth almost 100% of the time through 3 babies: Diaper Liners. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kashmir-Baby-Bamboo-Cloth-Diaper-Liners-Biodegradable-Fragrance-Free-2-Rolls-200-Count/473430806?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=18842&adid=22222222222389734814&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=s&wl2=c&wl3=74354608389578&wl4=pla-4577954142662752&wl5=&wl6=&wl7=&wl10=Walmart&wl11=Online&wl12=473430806_10000019968&wl14=diaper%20liners&veh=sem&msclkid=d1ceb732c84f1b16572ad6f2765a80df&gclid=d1ceb732c84f1b16572ad6f2765a80df&gclsrc=3p.ds

    When placed on top of the cloth diaper against baby’s skin, they provide the same stay-dry layer of disposables and protect baby from rashes. This biodegradable brand was not around 25+ years ago, so I only have experience with the brands headed for the landfill…LOL But at least there was less to dispose of, we saved lots of money, and we were able to be more self-sufficient if ever there were a diaper shortage.
    I wonder if there is a way to treat thin layers of cloth to perform like these liners for a DIY version? Today’s parents may find themselves needing to use cloth due to shortages….

    Liked by 5 people

  28. Someone posted a Nick Cave, Red Hand File article on the Alliance of Hope forum awhile ago, and it was healing for me to read. Since then I have read his blog. I thought this was beautiful and well written and worthy of consideration. God bless us, Everyone!

    https://www.theredhandfiles.com/do-you-have-hope/

    Issue #178 / December 2021
    Do you have hope?
    ANNA, HAMBURG, GERMANY
    Are you an optimist?
    RAYMOND, DALLAS, USA

    What does Christmas mean to you?
    GREG, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

    Dear Anna, Raymond and Greg,

    Hope and optimism can be different, almost opposing, forces. Hope rises out of known suffering and is the defiant and dissenting spark that refuses to be extinguished. Optimism, on the other hand, can be the denial of that suffering, a fear of facing the darkness, a lack of awareness, a kind of blindness to the actual. Hope is wised-up and disobedient. Optimism can be fearful and false. However, there exists another form of optimism, a kind of radical optimism. This optimism has experienced the suffering of the world, believes in the insubordinate nature of hope and is forever at war with banal pessimism, cynicism and nihilism.

    As we move into Christmas, the image of Jesus in the manger — what Yeats calls the ‘uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor’ — is that hope and that radical optimism incarnate.

    Liked by 3 people

  29. Here is another great read from Kathryn, DFOT:

    https://thebackpack.life/blogs/news/its-christmas-like-it-or-not

    It’s Christmas… Like it Or Not
    Everyone loves Christmas. Or do they?

    Typically, Christmas holds memories from the past that remind us of something wonderful. We come to expect that Christmas should be happy and magical because it was happy and magical in our memories. Perhaps we remember the presence of loved ones now gone. Or the beauty of lovely lights softened by a snowfall. Maybe it is just that family spent time together. People came home. There was laughter, surprise, and feasting.

    For others, Christmas is not as enchanting. They remember drunk parents, family fights, heavy loneliness, or poverty during a time when absolutely everyone else seemed to be experiencing abundance.

    Rightly or wrongly, we do possess expectations of Christmas. There is an unspoken belief, perhaps deeply hidden, that Christmas owes us something. When it fails to produce, we feel hurt by Christmas, as if somehow Christmas has done us wrong. This may contribute to a general bitterness and cynicism around the whole season. There are also those among us who gaze at the excess with apprehension. Wherever you have excess, there is bound to be disappointment or even confusion. Right? Are things so bad in our everyday life that we have to throw this much at NOT being in our everyday life? That can’t be good.

    Can we isolate the joy of Christmas into two simple elements? Wonder and awe?

    The experience of wonder and awe presupposes a few pieces. If Christmas is characterised in our memories as a time when we lose our everyday armour and open up to mysticism, it is no surprise that we both crave and fear it. We crave the magical nature of our memories and we fear not experiencing them again.

    Let’s get to the point. Wonder and awe can happen when we are open to admitting there is something bigger than us that loves us. Boom. This invisible force wraps gently around some normal-ish experience and infuses it with grace, sparkles, and happiness. Let’s pin that down. You cannot buy wonder and awe. It’s not available on Amazon, as annoyingly and suspiciously convenient as Amazon has made itself. (Prime anyone?) You cannot manufacture wonder and awe, bake it, or charge it on your trembling credit card.

    The big secret about wonder and awe is that it has to be a gift. It has to be given. The bigger secret about wonder and awe is that you only get it by giving it away, by stretching to show love to others. When you stretch you become open.

    How can we quantify the randomness of this potential experience? We take a breath and dive again. What is the best gift of Christmas? This is different for every family and every individual. It could be the gift of not being alone. But maybe being alone IS a gift for you. It could be the gift of affording a new washer, oven, or extractor fan. It could be that thing that went well in November, or a hard thing you finished, that you feel continual gratitude about. It could be anything.

    One year, amidst abundance, an elegantly wrapped gift sat under the family tree. At the end of the morning melee, the gift finally got noticed. It was for the father, who had recently been diagnosed with celiac disease which meant no more of foods he had eaten since childhood. This was a “today’s bread today” man. It was never going to be pretty. He was handed the gift and noted its elaborate presentation and most careful decoration. He opened with an audience of silent watchers. This dad is typically not the man anyone wants in a Secret Santa. He does not seem to “want” anything, which could be challenging for his family. What could it be in the box? The Dad’s matter of fact efforts exposed a plastic Tupperware-like tub, bought at the local shop, about the size of a toaster. “Oh,” he said, a little surprised. Tupperware is generally not a Dad gift. In it he found individually wrapped, home-made, gluten free lemon squares, his favourite dessert; something he had not had since the day before wheat was cruelly ripped from his life.

    His youngest daughter watched him closely and said, “I don’t know if they’re any good.”

    Everyone felt the grace, the wonder, the love. The father was visibly moved. Because of dessert? No. Because his youngest daughter, aware of his suffering, sought to alleviate it, even in the smallest way. He was visibly moved because he had been so carefully and compassionately seen in his disappointment. He had been contemplated.

    The grace of Christmas, like a children’s bubble full of love, filled the room. Reverence and connection landed quietly as he stumbled over words of thanks. This was a man’s man, a farmer, hearty and hale. He was not used to being met in his emotional life by his smallest daughter. Arguably, only she could have produced this amount of sweetness for him. This is a good example of the secret of Christmas.

    Christmas wonder and awe cannot be achieved unless it is given. When you serve Christmas, like an elf, or a soldier, you benefit, too. Parents work hard to offer their children a lovely experience. They should, within balanced reason.

    The foundation of Christmas is a gift; a small baby, protected by a man and a woman living in poverty. In that baby’s presence rested the hopes of God, who wanted people to see that religion badly expressed and lived did damage and failed to represent him. In that baby existed all the love and hope God could pour into the world. Well over 2000 years later we celebrate God’s love at Christmas, by loving each other, a little more, with a bit more hope, and at least a stab at sweet contemplation.

    Everyone, arguably, should spend at least one Christmas alone, abandoned, or neglected. Why? Because hope is bigger than anything we can wrap or decorate. Hope is for every person, in every circumstance. Hope seeks out the lonely and finds the abandoned. It floats through time targeting sadness and despair. Hope often uses us to do so, we note with humility. Hope needs us all and invites us, like elves and soldiers, to serve Christmas so that the subtle “pop” of love can happen, both for us and for anyone around us. There can be no excess in sweet love, eye contact, or smiles. When we have nothing else to give, eye contact and a smile finds its value and gains power. Yes, kind eye contact and a small, genuine smile can cause the “pop” of Christmas for another, be they stranger, friend, or family.

    It’s the mystery of Christmas that we never know where or when this lovely, mystical “pop” of wonder and awe will land. It happens in the most extraordinary ways. What we do know is that we can serve it through kindness.

    Merry Christmas, soldiers and elves. Let’s keep our hearts open.

    Liked by 7 people

    1. How can anyone dismiss the thoughts of a guy who invented the vax? I saw this, too, and it made me feel ill that children of compliant parents could face such terrible consequences. I hope that parents listen and hear him well. These children are at such a low risk. There is so much risk to the inj. and very, very little reward to accepting it.

      Liked by 4 people

    2. Listen to this alarming shout out from the mRNA inventor, Dr. Malone, addressed to parents stating emphatically the irreversible damage caused by this experimental injection. How can we propagate this message to the powers that be, e.g. churches, EWTN, Catholic Action League, Catholic Archdioceses? Time to get our hands dirty indeed.

      Liked by 5 people

  33. ‘Bethlehem Declaration’ that opposes ‘morally illicit’ COVID shots

    “Highlighting the harmful side effects, the missive continues citing government reports of vaccine deaths currently being “48 times higher in 2021 than 2020,” and growing, which could actually amount to “hundreds of thousands for the USA” alone.

    “Hyperlinking several studies, the petition asserts the superiority of natural immunity to short-lived vaccine-induced immunity, the “high levels of ‘breakthrough cases’” of the virus, and the fact that the shots do not even prevent infection and transmission, ‘vitiating the broadly advanced motive for the healthy to be injected out of ‘love of neighbor’ in order to ‘protect others.’ ”

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bishops-priests-and-lay-people-endorse-declaration-calling-covid-shots-morally-illicit/

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Come Holy Spirit, give sight to the blind and wake up all who are hypnotized and asleep! There are so many voices speaking truth; they must be heard: some you may not have heard of, Dr. Jane Ruby, Karen Kingston, and many more who have been interviewed by Stew Peters, a Christian, on his show. Peters has new guests every day and they show statistics, slides of what is in the jab, etc.

      Liked by 4 people

  34. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! …. 🙂

    https://rosaryarmy.com/fiat-a-nativity-story-audio-drama/

    https://spiritdailyblog.com/news/why-we-cant-get-back-to-christmas

    Acts 2:17. “And it shall come to pass, in the last days, (saith the Lord,) I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”
    https://veilofveronica.blog/2021/12/19/dreams-of-christmas-yet-to-come/

    https://www.catholicexorcism.org/post/exorcist-diary-156-satan-s-six-messages

    https://www.catholicleague.org/costco-offends-christians/

    Indian Christians fear attacks or jail over conversions
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-59724425

    I’ve thought, for years, that Cdl O’Malley is NOT in the ranks of Good-Guys ;-(
    https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2021/12/20/boston-cardinal-omalley-slams-ewtn-for-criticizing-pope-francis/

    NO question about it!
    https://generaldispatch.whatfinger.com/wolf-this-is-a-time-of-demons/

    Prayers needed for Joe Manchin …. The Demons are after him!
    https://www.lifenews.com/2021/12/20/joe-manchin-helps-republicans-kill-joe-bidens-build-back-better-bill-that-forces-americans-to-fund-abortions/
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/12/20/peter-schweizer-joe-manchin-resisted-offers-cronyism-corruption-self-enrichment/

    https://patriotpost.us/articles/85031-faucis-politicized-forever-pandemic-2021-12-20

    https://generaldispatch.whatfinger.com/dr-tess-lawrie-phd-people-are-not-being-told-about-vaccine-risks-and-early-treatments/

    https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/12/20/recall_remove__replace_every_last_soros_prosecutor_146914.html
    https://allnewspipeline.com/Murder_And_Mayhem_Being_Encouraged.php

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/12/judging_fauci.html

    https://amgreatness.com/
    https://spectator.org/
    https://www.americanthinker.com/
    https://www.zerohedge.com/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 4 people

  36. RE: Povidone Iodine (PVP-I) Oro-Nasal Spray: An Effective Shield for xxxVID Protection for Health Care Worker (HCW), for all

    Someone here posted a link to Joe Rogan’s interview with Dr. Peter McCullough. During the interview, at about the 1 hour 10 minute mark, there was discussion about Bangladesh and how that country is successfully using an iodine nasal wash prophylactic to successfully mitigate the ‘vid.

    As a RN, I say this is brilliant. During my time in nsg school at a level 1 trauma center and later at a community hospital, I can testify that betadine is used effectively and is the gold standard for disinfecting skin prior to surgery.

    I might have missed mention of this before, but here is a link that further discusses it. Iirc Dr. McCullough said the dilution was 2 tsp of iodine (not certain the concentration—-more research needed) into 6 ounces of (sterile saline would be best, again more research, but it DOES need to be sterile!) .

    This is yet another tool in the arsenal that anyone can use. My continued love and prayers for this wonderful family and us, everyone. +God Bless us, Everyone!+

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8026810/

    Liked by 7 people

    1. Browsing Steve’s Front Porch I found the suggestion to add Lugol’s Iodine to the H202 nebulizer treatment and ordered a couple of bottles last week from Amazon. At first sign of symptoms this treatment is highly recommended by many doctors as well, especially for covid. Steve also recommended to keep iodine on hand for potential water purification needs.

      Use search engine “iodine”:
      https://stevesfrontporch.com/healing/healing-protocols/covid19-prev-n-prep/

      More references to the H202 nebulizer treatment:
      https://truthinplainsight.com/dr-mercola-explains-nebulized-hydrogen-peroxide-to-treat-covid-19/
      https://www.spiritofchange.org/nebulized-peroxide-a-simple-remedy-for-covid-19/

      Liked by 6 people

      1. Forgot to mention that in Dr. Mercola’s video, he stopped short of recommending the hydrogen peroxide nebulizer treatment daily. In fact he said he would not recommend it as prophylactic. Wonder if it might have something to do with removing our good bacteria or somehow affecting our overall immune system eventually. He may have been concerned specifically with the nebulizer treatment since he never mentioned the nasal spray, but it’s something to think about.

        In any event the nebulizer treatment is perfectly safe and successful for covid especially when initiated during the early stage of symptoms, and surprisingly heals many other (non-covid) problems as well.

        Liked by 4 people

      2. Oh, TY for pointing this out!

        Don’t laugh, but I have all those things, too. It was on CORAC, and I knew SteveBC must have it somewhere, too.

        Anyways, the small carry along bottles and this method, although not as powerful as the nebulizer one, still has advantages and it’s place. Options are good!

        Liked by 3 people

    2. Recall the movie presented here a couple of days ago. St. Thomas More’s unshakeable defense of our Lord’s teaching on marriage/divorce, even unto death. St. Thomas More was not looking to his peers for approval or to checkout their reactions to see if they understood what he was saying.

      If the Annulment procedure is riddled with inconsistencies or ineptitude, the Church needs to clean it up, and perhaps would benefit from a little laity push. Maybe even come up with an Appeals procedure to possibly review past refusals(?). But are we suggesting to ignore Annulment disapprovals to allow all couples who appear happy and at peace in their new marriage to receive Holy Communion? And what about politicians who appear to be at peace with their decision to promote abortion? Should we affirm their stand on the murder of innocence and continue to give them Holy Communion? As long as a person continues to rob banks to feed the poor, they need not confess, amend their lives either. Where does this end? There are consequences to our actions and our choices. We can face that consequence in the here and now, or we will face it later. It is the Church’s responsibility to reconcile sinners to God with a firm purpose of amendment. I am not a theologian but have always believed there is severe consequence to breaking a vow.

      A DFOT message from the Lord that spoke loudly was that we are living in an age of disobedience. Our Blessed Mother was spot on when She spoke of confusion in the Church and that even the elite will be deceived.

      Liked by 4 people

  38. Steve c talked about an experiment done to see what the soul weighed (1/4 pound) and it reminded me of a lovely “children’s” book called The Weight of the Mass by Josephine Nobisso. The premise is that a beggar woman asks the town baker for a piece of bread and that she will offer a Mass for him in return. He mocks her and says that THAT is of little worth and to make his point he writes on a piece of paper, “One Mass” and sets it on his scale. Then he proceeds to put a slice of bread on the other balance, but when the note side remains heavier, he puts even more items on the opposite side. No matter how many bakery goods he puts on the scale, the weight of the Mass is always more.

    The story is wonderfully told and illustrated (if you are looking for a gift 😉), but the postscript speaks of the origins of the story as being based on a true story passed down by the father of a priest.

    Never underestimate the power of a Mass!

    Liked by 8 people

  40. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! …. 🙂

    https://blog.adw.org/2021/12/a-late-advent-message-from-the-lord-3/

    https://life-craft.org/3-keys-to-intense-rest-this-christmas/

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/12/21/annual-christmas-recipe-post/

    https://religionclause.blogspot.com/2021/12/christian-organizations-ask-supreme.html

    Prayer need for Phillipines.
    https://nwcatholic.org/news/catholic-news-service-c0d707ec-a664-47ba-8f59-2c063ded0999/philippine-bishops-declare-national-days-of-prayer-mourning-for-typhoon-victims

    Small Victory! THEY are getting weaker & THEY know it! That makes THEM dangerous! THEY are very afraid of a large Pure Blood “Control Group” ….WHY!? Be On Guard!!
    https://catholicvote.org/ny-briefly-floats-bill-to-detain-citizens-in-health-emergency/
    https://newstarget.com/2021-12-21-lancet-paper-destroys-false-narrative-covid-vaccines.html

    https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-689444

    https://www.afa.net/the-stand/faith/2021/12/so-this-is-christmas/

    https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/exorcizing-covid-for-christmas

    https://stream.org/us-throws-nigerian-christians-to-the-wolves/

    https://www.ncregister.com/cna/catholic-university-president-apologizes-for-needless-controversy-of-twice-stolen-icon

    Come, Lord Jesus!
    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/dec/21/satanic-temple-installs-holiday-display-featuring-/

    Yep Typical FringeLeft Response. THEY can’t speak to the Facts or Sell THEIR Agenda so THEY must demonize & scapegoat! Historically, food stores are a very low profit margin Op. THEY have already Demonized/Scapegoated oil, meat packing and retail companies to Cover-Up THEIR Economy Destroying Fiscal & Social Policies!
    https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/586710-warren-accuses-supermarket-chains-executives-of-profiting-from-inflation

    https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/how-to-read-rfk-jrs-book-in-5-minutes

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 2 people

  41. Thanks for your regular reading lists, CrewDog.

    The last item, by Steve Kirsch, includes a link to an Unz article reviewing RFK Jr.’s book. The segment titled “The HIV/AIDS Crisis as a Medical Media Hoax?” is particularly interesting, especially because Unz wasn’t especially prone to buy in on the overall claims of RFK Jr.’s book. Unz states:

    “I found the medical history presented by Kennedy absolutely extraordinary, representing as it did a near-total inversion of the scientific reality that I had always accepted until just a couple of weeks ago.”

    Dark to light.

    God bless and keep you, friends ~
    Sister Bear

    Liked by 8 people

      1. RFK jr’s book is compelling. A must read simply because F. and G do not want you to read it….besides the fact that it is well documented and deserves your attentin.

        Liked by 2 people

          1. There’s no denying the absolute ugliness of this display. After viewing it (images evoke deep feelings that stay with me), I pulled up the video of the young people singing “Coventry Carol” in the Illinois Capitol building. I cannot even fully fathom how we could make this journey through the Storm had Christ not carried every sin to the Cross for us. Maranatha! Mercy!

            Liked by 4 people

            1. I hate it because I can easily visualize where it is as I spent a lot of time in the Illinois Capitol. I remember fondly one Christmas when they had different groups of choirs come in and carol at that spot. Every day, you would have new carolers from around the state.

              The ugliest part of it is that the satan never took on our humanity, nor does he have the power to do so, so this is doubly blasphemous. All he can do is a pale imitation of what Christ actually creates – and he loves to mock Christ and afflict humanity, which he hates. Mission accomplished here – because the Illinois legislature and courts lack the wit to take their own side in a fight.

              Liked by 1 person

    2. Yes, Sister Bear – Dark to Light for sure!
      Might we see a return of 17;
      in the new year of 2022!? Hmm, now that doesn’t rhyme. 🤔
      Ha! All that aside, I wanted to comment to you on this thread, yet it shows comments closed for this post:
      https://asignofhope379.com/2021/12/07/eager-to-return-to-the-land-of-the-living/comment-page-1/#comment-146083
      So I will do it here. We have a TNRS New Year Eve Miracle. I found what could be the last known remaining TNRS shield sticker, that must be about 7 years old, in a health supply box this evening.
      It is on it’s way to you via USPS.
      Wishing you all a blessed new year! ❤

      Like

  42. Einstein was not involved in the bomb’s creation. He was not allowed to work on the Manhattan Project — he was deemed too big a security risk, as he was both German and had been known as a left-leaning political activist. But when he heard that the bomb had been used in Japan, he said, “Woe is me.”

    Here’s another “Woe is me” inventor warning parents of the perilous covid “vaccine” bomb strike upon Holy Innocents. (Although this video was posted the other day, emphasis here is on action urgently needed to get the word out to inform parents).
    https://3speak.tv/watch?v=pandemichealth/lsdpodis&jwsource=cl

    Suggestions to forward Dr. Robert Malone’s chilling video message:
    (your local) politicians
    (your local) parishes (email contacts available – online parish bulletins)
    (your local) Archdiocesan Child Advocacy
    (your local) newspapers, especially Catholic
    EWTN: Raymond@raymondarroyo.com;
    EWTN Nightly News: viewer@ewtn.com
    National Catholic Register: editor@ewtn.com

    “Get Your Hands Dirty – Or Perish”
    Warning – have plenty of hand sanitizer handy – I was not prepared to receive such hostility, insults and censorship (within 20 minutes, twice) from local “Nextdoor” email groups.

    Liked by 3 people

      1. Annie W, It is my hope that a few who caught the video before censorship. In the midst of the hecklers screaming for censorship there were thank you’s from others indicating that this message was important and needed to stay up. Be assured, I have not given up. Our children and grand-children are too important and I dread to think of the consequences and remorse that parents will endure without being given the opportunity to make an informed decision. Thank you for your kind affirmation.

        Liked by 2 people

  43. Wishing you all a Happy Christmas filled with a peace that goes beyond all human understanding. May it be our Christmas gift!

    Liked by 1 person

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Published by charliej373

Charlie Johnston is a former newspaper editor, radio talk show host and political consultant. From Feb. 11, 2011 to Aug. 21, 2012, he walked 3,200 miles across the country, sleeping in the woods, meeting people and praying as he went. He writes on cultural, global and political issues from an orthodox Catholic perspective. He emphasizes that we find God most surely through the ordinary, doing the little things we should with faith and fidelity. His constant refrain is that, to live real joy, we must acknowledge God, take the next right step, and be a sign of hope to those around us. He lives in the Archdiocese of Denver in the United States.