Darkness and Light

Posted on by charliej373

By Charlie Johnston

The first thing to understand is that God wins. There is no doubt whatsoever about that.

That being the case, there is only one question that is relevant in each of our lives. It is not whether or not the Church will survive and what we must do to save it. Nor is it whether society will completely collapse and what heroic efforts we can mount to save it. Rather, the only question that matters is what we are called to do to participate in God’s victory.

A woman asked me last week if I thought the Covid shots could be the mark of the beast. I asked, somewhat crabbily, that if it is, what was she going to do about it? I then softened it to say that no, I don’t think so, but that it is a good foreshadowing of what the mark might look like. I then added that it has been a good drill for all of us. So many people, when everything is calm and peaceful, boldly declare how incredibly brave they would be in a crisis – and then run like scalded dogs when the crisis comes. It is perfectly fine to take the shot if that is what you think you should do, but if you have a moral or practical objection and you take it because of coercion, you see how brave you actually are – and are being inoculated to know that you DO need Jesus, every moment of every day to actually do the most right thing you can think of.

Now is a test of faith and trust. I see far too many people shaken by their fears or their grief into worrying whether the things of God can survive this withering assault. Some of the better Christian thinkers I know are swinging wildly, positing absurd theories and palliatives, engaging in the sort of breathless speculation that, even a decade ago, was confined to the fever swamps. That is understandable, I suppose, as people’s judgment does not usually get more steady and sober in the midst of great turmoil, especially if they give in to panic. It is not helpful, though.

In other circles, detailed prophecy about the future is spinning like the flywheel of a runaway semi. Many competing circles are in contradiction of each other. They can’t all be right, but they might all be wrong. I don’t argue with most of them, largely because I don’t care. I have said repeatedly that long ago I was instructed that when the storm sets in, the time for prophecy is suspended until the storm is finished. It is a time for doing, not for speculating. Unfortunately, as things get worse, many think the heart of Christianity is knowing, figuring out what will happen. Alas, all too often that is a false piety: people governed by self-will think if they just have the inside scoop from God, they can formulate their own plan. That is a formula for trust in yourself, not in God.

Oh, heaven knows, I have done my own share of prophesying. Interpretation is tough, tougher than you know, and so I stumbled badly on two occasions. At the heart of it, though, I wanted in real time to convey three things: 1) that a great storm was coming; 2) that this was not the end and; 3) that God has work for each of us if we will only take it up. I did not do it for the thrill of sharing “secret” knowledge, but simply so that when the big sweep of it came to pass, I would have credibility when I assured people that this really is NOT the end and that there is serious work for each of us if we will accept it. We are there. Now, I am most enamored by people ready to humbly put their shoulder to the plow and devote themselves to the tasks before us, remembering that, “sufficient to the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34).

I am not a Pollyanna. But there are things I cannot know and things I can. I know that there is a great war within the Church as to whether we will stay faithful to Scripture and the Magisterium or whether we will create a new religion, completely unmoored to Scripture and the Magisterium. We have a choice between the City of God or the city of man – and it is raging within the very heart of the Church. In the Protestant world, I never thought I would see Evangelicals take the route of the Mainline denominations and try to rewrite the Scriptures to accommodate themselves to the world. But in the last decade, big chunks of the Evangelical community have done just that. No one, of any faith, can take much pride in how their faith tradition has lived fidelity well.  I know, from long experience, that when the grapeshot starts flying, some who demanded fidelity and courage the loudest slink away in abject terror. Others, who seemed timid – or even enemies – find their courage and heart and become champions of the cause quite unexpectedly. I don’t know who is who just yet, so I give all a lot of latitude.

Politically, the very concept of liberty and self-government are under sustained and heavy assault by a large faction which denies God and insists it has the right to rule over all, even as it blunders about like a sinister Mr. Magoo, leaving a trail of incompetence and destruction in its wake. The credibility of all our public institutions has collapsed with amazing speed and comprehensiveness. So, I focus on the basics: Acknowledge God, take the next right step, and be a sign of hope to those around you – while waiting patiently for the initial fog of confusion to clear.

For all the disorder sweeping the world, I do see some profound signs of hope that hearten me as the battle deepens. I am not sure the US Conference of Catholic Bishops serves any worthwhile purpose. Almost all of their pronouncements are written in a scholastic style, hearkening back to St. Thomas Aquinas – but lack the precision, clarity, comprehensiveness and insight of the masters. They have the style without the substance. It is hideous and comical at the same time, kind of like a child smearing her mother’s makeup all over her face. Yet there are heroes among our Bishops and among our Priests – and more of them are quietly rising.

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and my own Archbishop, Denver’s Samuel Aquila, have become the indispensable axle of orthodoxy in the Church in America. Many have joined them and are following their lead to preserve and restore the glory and fidelity of the faith.

In a profound pastoral letter to begin Advent, Archbishop Aquila articulated a profound reality that we all face: we no longer operate in a Christendom culture, but find ourselves abruptly in a missionary context. I often quote Abraham Lincoln on how important it is to understand where we are to determine how we must proceed – and how in unprecedented times we must “think anew and act anew.” This letter, in plain terms, lays out clearly where we are and the context in which we must work to find our way forward effectively. I think it one of the most insightful and useful documents I have seen from a Bishop in my lifetime – and a blueprint for action.

Last month, a group of students walked out of a pro-life all-school assembly at a Catholic High School in the San Francisco area. Archbishop Cordileone sent an open letter to all the students at the school in preparation for meeting with student leaders. It is a breathtaking model of firmness, charity, and fidelity to the faith. It is a great exercise in the teaching office of a Bishop, neither trying to accommodate itself to the current zeitgeist nor driving its readers further away by emotionally condemning them. I don’t know how many will sip from the cool, refreshing water the Archbishop offers, but he has surely led them gently to the source of living water.

There are many problems with the hierarchy in America (and the world), but these two Bishops are laying out a clear path forward, grounded in the fundamentals of the faith – and many are joining them in this great quest – far more than you will know if you only pay attention to the problems. I do not say ignore the problems and the assaults, only that that is not the only thing you should pay attention to.

Archbishop Carlo Vigano, the former papal nuncio, after a sometimes volatile start has become a clarion voice for the faithful. His Christmas Letter to the American People is a heartening sign of hope and call to action against the anti-God effort of globalization.

These just scratch the surface of the voices rising within the hierarchy for a renewed commitment to the faith of Jesus Christ – rather than some alien theology designed to supplant it – a theology that would preserve the bathwater while jettisoning the baby.

Again, I am no Pollyanna. I respect the work of Michael Voris and Church Militant – who are doing work that no one else in the Church is doing. But I tell you reflexive cynicism thinks itself smart just as reflexive credulity thinks itself faithful. Both are just mindless excuses not to engage in the hard work of actual discernment. I prefer to find the thread of virtue in others and nurture it as well as I can, without ignoring the disorder that besets us. As the disorder is coming to a head, so I see many threads of virtue rising to form a great, living prayer cloth.

And so, in the darkness that has descended this Advent, I see, in the distance, a great light that is rising and growing stronger. The Lord is calling those who will hear – and more are answering each day. Pray that you will become a clear vessel through which the light of Christ may shine, that your soul may magnify the Lord to all you encounter.

*********

Next week, we will embark upon a two-week fundraising effort for CORAC that will come to a close on the Feast of the Epiphany. Just after we started our last effort, I was knocked out by my two-month bout with Covid. Frankly, it was worse than I let on, particularly in that first week and a half. Poor Beckita saw me at my worst – when getting out of bed to go to the washroom would set off several minutes of hyperventilating, when my oxygen was dangerously low and my heartbeat dangerously high. Yet throughout, I was never panicked. I trusted in God, knowing that if this was my time, He had decided I would be more useful advocating from the next world and that, if it was not, He would use this great infirmity to instruct me and strengthen both my faith and resolve. Either way, all would be well.

I have been delighted since emerging from that long tunnel of infirmity to see how well CORAC is doing what I envisioned it doing from the start, bringing people together all across the country to help each other and all those of good will right where they are. Since getting to where I can handle more than two or three calls per day, I have heard from people in Los Angeles, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Georgia and more about how they were struggling with illness or other problems and members of CORAC in their area helped them get through it when no one else would.

Our operating nut remains low, at only about $11,000 per month. Come the first of the year, I will start writing a weekly column exclusive to the CORAC site which will focus on the things we all can – and should – do to weather the storm around us together with out neighbors. I have a lot to catch up on after two months out of commission. I will devote myself to the work before us – and I pray that you will join in generously helping us and each other to keep this candle of hope burning. I also hope you will check out the latest Podcast (#3) I did with Dr. Joe Brickner. It focuses on the Incarnation.

 

Find me on Gab at Charliej373 or at the CORAC group.

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The Corps of Renewal and Charity (CORAC)

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91 thoughts on “Darkness and Light”

  1. Thanks for directing our thinking to areas of fruitfulness, Charlie, especially the aim to listen to God’s nudges particular to what He is calling us to, as we ever acknowledge Him.

    Love this: “Pray that you will become a clear vessel through which the light of Christ may shine, that your soul may magnify the Lord to all you encounter.” May it be so for all in the ASOH and CORAC communities.

    Poor Beckita is true when it came to initially caring for you, Charlie. I’d wager that most readers and commenters have walked their dear ones through some doozy of an illness times. And oh misery! What a whacking that second phase of Covid brought! In my own faith and trust, aware that God has prepared you for a lifetime, even as deathly sick as you were, it didn’t make sense that God would call you home just yet… even so, others have succumbed to such as what you were contending. But, actually, I was mostly Blessed Beckita for the privilege of being able to tend to you while facilitating and working for those things which utilized both God’s ordinary and supernatural means to set you on the path to healing. I’m still amazed that you were here for 23 days. I still laugh when something triggers a memory of your unstoppable humor expressed in many, varied ways. Even when you looked nearly dead, stuck in the quicksand of Covid’s grisly grasp, you evoked a giggle. I think it was Day 4 when I brought that piece of paper out and asked if I could read a prayer which a dear friend had written. “Sure,” you said. After I finished the prayer you had written and first shared in Deliver Us from Evil ( https://asignofhope379.com/2021/10/13/deliver-us-from-evil/ ), you mumbled from your sickbed: “Well, I’m not so far gone that I don’t know who wrote that prayer.” (Laughing again as I write now.) Oh but having those days of visiting were delightful. To talk about where we have come from, where we are and where we’re headed – with faith, hope and love saturating the discussions and sharing – was heartening. I cannot lie… it was work… AND it was pure joy. A sign of what the days ahead surely hold for us all. A lot of work and a lot of joy will continue to fill our days.

    After reading and reflecting on this piece, I’m convinced anew that we need to seek, remain focused and stay attached to Jesus at all costs. Even if we must endure being locked out of church, Jesus will NOT leave us. We’re the knuckleheads who put up barriers and/or leave Him. I pray that God will teach us – and grant us mighty graces – to obliterate the barriers we place between ourselves and Him, the better to love Him and be true to Him.

    Liked by 14 people

  2. What an uplifting piece!
    Thank you for the mantra, acknowledge God, take the next right step, and be a sign of hope. I often repeat that to myself when I don’t know what to do next. Most of the time the next right step is to just cling to Jesus.
    You know how saints are named so-and-so of the holy _____ of Jesus? I consider it a privilege to be saint in the making of the holy heal of Jesus and we are slogging through the mud during this time.
    Everything is ok, even in the mud if we continue to cling to Jesus.

    Liked by 12 people

    1. Uplifting indeed, HandtothePlow. For me, this struck home: “…that God has work for each of us if we will only take it up” – with the emphasis on the final 7 words!

      A very blessed and happy Christmastide to all at ASOH, from Ireland. J.

      The Wexford Carol – trad. Irish.

      Good people all, this Christmas time
      Consider well and bear in mind
      What our good God for us hath done
      In sending his beloved son
      With Mary holy we should pray
      To God with love this Christmas Day
      In Bethlehem upon that morn
      There was a blessed Messiah born.

      The night before that holy tide
      The noble Virgin and her Guide
      Were longtime seeking up and down
      To find a lodging in the town
      But mark how all things came to pass
      From ev’ry door repelled, alas,
      As long foretold, their refuge all
      Was but an humble oxen stall.

      Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
      Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep
      To whom God’s angels did appear
      Which put the shepherds in great fear
      ‘Prepare and go, ‘ the angels said
      ‘To Bethlehem, be not afraid
      For there you’ll find, this happy morn
      A princely babe, sweet Jesu born.

      With thankful heart and joyful mind
      The shepherds went, this babe to find
      And as God’s angel had foretold
      They did our Saviour Christ behold
      Within a manger he was laid
      And by his side the Virgin maid
      Attending on the Lord of life
      Who came on earth to end all strife.

      Good people all, this Christmas time
      Consider well and bear in mind
      What our good God for us has done
      In sending his beloved Son
      With Mary holy we should pray
      To God with love this Christmas day
      In Bethlehem upon that morn
      There was a blessed Messiah born.

      Liked by 7 people

  4. MERRY CHRISTMAS CHARLIE! Love the Squirrel but sorry I DO NOT believe in magic…. Wonder, Joy & Peace Yes🙋🏻‍♀️

    For His Greater Glory! Carmen

    >

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Ah, Carmen, the typical modern definition, I understand. The traditional definition of “magic” is broader and, in context, means the wonder and excitement of Christmas. This is still well understood in British terms of the language, but the definition in American English has been largely impoverished to mean merely occult things. I will not be confined to an impoverished definition simply because most are. Then again, decades ago, a girlfriend laughingly told me I was an “anachronism in my own time.” I continue to relish that description.

      Liked by 7 people

  5. Bishop Aquila’s plan is amazing and sounds wonderful! I can just see the priests (if they are brave enough) having something like an “altar call” (as Protestants and Charismatics would say). Maybe the bishop has a vision of what can happen, if people allow the Holy Spirit to fill them fully. My nun friend (and mentor) and I prayed over one of my daughters before Confirmation for this to happen. She felt the Holy Spirit; is the only one of our 4 to be practicing her faith!! Tell the kids to expect something to happen and it will! God bless these bishops you write about and Archbishop V. also; what heroes!

    When you say, Charlie, that you will write for the CORAC site, how will we know? For these posts, we get an email. Keep feeling stronger and healthier, God bless!!!

    Liked by 7 people

  6. Very timely post Charlie–as always. So good to have you back at the helm.

    I am emerging from a 4 month recovery of my broken Tibia Plateau/fibula and I am in awe at all I have learned about myself, others and especially the Divine Will. I sarcastically laughed in the beginning, but internally prayed that God would wait until I had my mobility back before someone yelled fire or if a natural disaster would strike. Eventually, I was able to surrender all my limitations and put it in God’s hands–after that I experienced profound peace and tranquility. My prayer life was already very good, I thought, but I was able to delve deeper into the mysteries of the Rosary, the Bible and the Season of Advent while incapacitated. God always has a plan for us, and I pray that I haven’t missed out on any of the wonderful lessons He offered me during this time. This has been the best Advent Season ever and I look forward with great anticipation, the unfolding of the rest of my life before I am called home.

    My family and neighbors are all now “boosted” and drinking the Kool Aid. I move among them in peace and pray for the illumination of their hearts and minds. I’m so often “amazed” by the very real “trance” that they are all in. I wish I could shake them loose, into the light, but they are all under the spell. I await the time when I am called into action–until then–I pray, hope and don’t worry.

    God bless all and Merry Christmas!

    Liked by 13 people

    1. So happy for you in your recovery, San San. Sounds like you used your recovery time well! I’m with you on looking forward to the return of family members to the Lord. 🙏🕊🔥⚜️♥️

      Liked by 6 people

  7. I much appreciated Charlie’s wise commentary, and the two letters cited as valuable summaries of the ongoing immoral manipulation of society.

    As events unfold, we are truly lost in where our position lies within the great arc of time on Earth. For the millions brutally thrown into the Concentration camps of Nazi Germany and prisoner of war camps of the Imperial Japanese Army, at that time in the prisoners’ lives the world had no future to be prophesized–life was tortured to its ending. That Israel would arise from the grotesque crimes of the Nazis was not any prophesy imagined. And now, Israel faces annihilation once again as Iran races to build the bomb and their missiles– where will this go?

    Here in America, we are actively threatened with a Socialist/Communist Fascist dictatorship by the Democrat Party nominally led by Biden/Harris; where will this lead? Only God knows, because only God can manage what will happen. Individually, we can only act morally under the guidance Christ gave us conveyed by the New Testament–all else is effectively passing chatter by comparison.

    Liked by 9 people

  8. Thank you Charlie for the update…and thank YOU Jesus for his recovery!I will light a candle to the Blessed Mama in thanksgiving…and thanking St. Joseph too! Keep these articles coming.  It helps refocus on the important things of doing what we can for His coming Kingdom, whether we are here on earth, or in eternity.God bless you Charlies…and all here filling in the capacity of HIS plan! Have a VERY BLESSED MARY CHRIST MASS

    Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad

    Liked by 8 people

  9. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! … 😉

    https://www.lifenews.com/2021/12/23/2021-was-a-record-pro-life-year-19-states-passed-106-laws-saving-babies-from-abortion/

    Roman-era ‘Good Shepherd’ ring found off Israel in ancient shipwreck
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-59754153

    https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/christmas-roundtable-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa-which-carol-is-the-best-and-more

    https://denvercatholic.org/the-sacred-earthiness-of-christmas/

    https://aleteia.org/2021/12/22/looking-for-the-star-of-bethlehem-from-the-vatican-observatory/#

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/satanic-display-illinois-statehouse-christmas-protest

    I’ll Say Again! The same Lavender Marxists who now control the Democrat Party and Hi-Jacked The Constitution are the very same ilk that controls most of The Church and Hi-Jacked Vatican II. ….. & Infiltrated “Mainstream Christian Denominations!
    https://www.markmallett.com/blog/on-the-mass-going-forward/

    I’d bet a C-Note that the below is more true than not and could be part of the puzzle of WHY THEY are so frantic to Get Everyone Jabbed …. but WHY? …. did a manifestly corrupt DOJ/FBI make this public!? …..Strange & Evil Forces are afoot!!
    https://www.newstarget.com/2021-12-22-harvard-nanoscientist-connected-wuhan-convicted-crimes-china.html

    https://thefederalist.com/2021/12/22/the-corporate-media-freakout-over-the-omicron-variant-isnt-normal-its-psychotic/

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/12/22/w-h-o-says-cancel-christmas-now-or-grieve-later/

    https://patriotpost.us/articles/85116-the-war-on-family-at-christmastime-2021-12-22

    https://pjmedia.com/columns/stephen-kruiser/2021/12/21/democrats-want-jan-6-to-be-a-holy-day-for-their-dark-church-n1543471
    https://patriotpost.us/articles/85128-buckle-up-for-the-j6-anniversary-2021-12-22

    Drifting Toward a Catastrophic American Defeat–NEWT GINGRICH
    https://reader.epoch.cloud/?publink=07b531efa_134603a

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 6 people

    1. CD, yes the post by Mallett on “the Mass going forward” is enlightening because he was never one previously attached to the “Mass of the Ages”. Therefore it’s an objective analysis it seems to me. He covers things that are usually ignored about the changes.

      Liked by 3 people

  11. Charlie, so grateful you received a renewed lease on life so to speak; just curious how you would’ve handled the walkout if you were the pro-life speaker, just let them exit without comment, or invited them to stay, even though they had planned it.

    Always enjoy Enya’s ethereal version of this song

    Liked by 9 people

    1. I couldn’t say, offhand, Maggie. Once they decide to walk out, you can’t stop them. When people are walking out in a political statement, inviting them to stay is futile. Abp. Cordileone handled it marvelously, refusing to let this be the end of it, but not allowing it to degenerate into bitter recrimination – despite the offense they had caused.

      Liked by 3 people

  14. Very good advice to look for and focus on, the good that is happening around us instead of trying to keep up with every piece of bad news that is out there. Not that we ignore everything, but I believe our time is better spent preparing to fight the spiritual battle by seeking help from God, beefing up our personal spiritual condition, and helping those around us, creating allies, and securing current and future resources. We already know our enemy’s goals, his strategies and revealed plans. Our Commander has never lost a battle and never will. Our victory is assured. Yet victory requires us to do our part personally, and in the larger scheme of things, in which God has called us participate in during this historic point in all of history.

    May you all have a blessed and joyful Christmas

    Liked by 9 people

  15. I don’t have much to say these days, so I’ve been quiet…

    I was wondering about Arch-Bishop Vigano, the information he presented over the past year was no surprise in the current situation.

    This seems to describe our current crisis:
    Pope John Paul II (1980 Fulda Germany)
    “Many wish to know simply from curiosity and a taste for the sensational, but they forget that knowledge also implies responsibility. They only seek the satisfaction of their curiosity, and that is dangerous if at the same time they are not disposed to do something, and if they are convinced that it is impossible to do anything against evil.”

    At this point the Pope grasped a Rosary and said: “Here is the remedy against this evil. Pray, pray, and ask for nothing more. Leave everything else to the Mother of God.”

    The Holy Father was then asked: “What is going to happen to the Church?”

    He answered: “We must prepare ourselves to suffer great trials before long, such as will demand of us a disposition to give up even life, and a total dedication to Christ and for Christ… With your and my prayer it is possible to mitigate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it, because only thus can the Church be effectively renewed. How many times has the renewal of the Church sprung from blood! This time, too, it will not be otherwise. We must be strong and prepared, and trust in Christ and His Mother, and be very, very assiduous in praying the Rosary.”

    Merry Christmas

    Liked by 9 people

      1. Merry Christmas Beckita.

        It would seem JPII’s speeches in 1976 Philadelphia, 1980 Fulda, and Fatima are all connected somehow, with a grave warning about a apostasy & anti-church. These messages were too horrifying to accept in the 70’s & 80’s, but should be of no surprise nor shock to all of us living in the present.

        Liked by 5 people

        1. I’m just grateful that it’s all coming down, Al. Evil cannot sustain itself and exhausts itself it shall. Thanks be to God. It’s horrific to see the evil and live with it all around us, but oh so refreshing to know we don’t have to dwell on it. I’ve been meditating on Isaiah 11 in these last days of Advent and pulled up an old favorite from 30 years ago with lyrics based on this chapter of Isaiah.

          Liked by 6 people

  16. A crisis in management

    Communism is here in the New York Tri-County (Saratoga, Warren, Washington) upstate community. A man was diagnosed with Covid by a Washington County Covid test taker. He was sent home without a medical referral as he did not qualify for treatment. He died two days later. He was in his mid forties.

    I was diagnosed with Covid this past Tuesday. I felt ill Monday and thankfully, providentially, telephoned a Doctor friend who went out of his way to obtain a covid test kit from a local pharmacy. It is provident as the shelf was bare a few moments before. They were restocking as he arrived. He was able to purchase a test kit for me.

    I was reluctant to participate in this mass pandemic hysteria, but allowed my friends good reasoning to prevail. I tested positive vis the kit and proceeded to contact my primary medical doctor for treatment. To obtain medical treatment, I went to a local Urgent care, obtained a fast track test kit (had to ask for it) rather than the normal, 2-4 day results kit.

    My diagnose arrived fifteen minutes later (positive). Interviewed by the doctor I was placed to receive medical treatment STAT at the local hospital, just down the road. I was sent home to wait for their phone call. This was 5 PM Tuesday. It is noteworthy I arrived for the covid test at 3 PM. The test takes five minutes to conduct with about 15 minutes or so to obtain the results. I waited over two hours due to a shortage of staff. It should be noted; Glens Falls Hospital terminated nurses recently.

    The big push here in the Tri-County is not medicinal but vaccine. The County administrators push everyone to get a vaccine, push boosters for the vaccine BUT do little to offer medical treatment for those who are infected with covid. One may propose they are actually hindering efforts to obtain medical treatment since the medication such as regeneron has to be ‘requested’ and is not immediately available. Also, the medical treatment are given out in a priority level basis.

    Back to my story. Tuesday evening went by and into Wednesday waiting for my STAT medical order. The Glens Falls Hospital did not call so I made a few calls of my own. I discovered a Hospital 50 miles to my south providing regeneron treatment & had my referring physician change hospitals. I found myself driving 50 miles south to get treatment. Again, I was reluctant to travel but since it was a known entity for treatment… I did not pass up the chance.

    I arrived at noon, intake about 15 minutes. Set up another 15 minutes and was told I had to wait for the pharmacy to send the medication. No sooner than the nurse Timothy departed did he return with the treatment in hand. 30 minutes treatment and a 60 minutes post treatment evaluation, I was out the door at 3PM. Thank you Samaritan Hospital, Troy, NY.

    I won’t discuss the few painful nights I had battling this disease but offer one insight, this past evening (Thursday) was smooth sailing. A wonderful, symptom free night of sleep. As of now, I still feel the residual affects of covid but feel almost ‘new’. As my medical doctor said, Regeneron is a medical miracle. I attest to that.

    NOTE: “normal” covid tests take 2-4 days for the results. Today, Friday, I would still be waiting for my official result and then how long for a medical referral then another wait time for availability to receive treatment.

    The time period for Regeneron treatment is 10 days post first awareness of illness, not test. This reminds me of the old customs and shipping fresh produce fight on the maritime docks. Shippers provide fresh product. It stays on the dock awaiting ‘Inspection’. It rots on the dock only to be rejected by the Inspectors for lack of vitality.

    This is the same, though through ‘innocent’ bureaucratic administrative maneuvers. At what point is it just incompetence or criminal. Surely, the family of the 40 year old hopes the former. How far we have progressed in one year post Trump.

    I pray the Tri-County Administrators have the same passion of pushing medicinal remedies as they do with vaccines. Their heads are firmly stuck up their political, bureaucratic ‘minds’.

    Liked by 8 people

    1. I have found out that the hospitals in this area of Penna. used to regularly prescribe ivermec. with vitamin c, d and zinc before the government forbade the use of it. Patients who had previously been quite ill had been recovering quickly with it. What is going on is really sinful. This stuff should cost pennies! I have recently had discussions with people who got the virus early and they were successfully treated with it. The people who took this off the shelves should be prosecuted for malfeasance. I am sure they knew it was effective and they forced it off the market.

      Liked by 5 people

    2. Regeneron is based on monoclonal antibodies. I believe that these are ‘humanized’ mouse antibodies. I know that I am allergic to these antibodies. But I am glad it worked for you.

      Liked by 5 people

  17. MERRY CHRISTMAS! AND PEACE TO THE PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL!

    In the end Jesus was born and saved us. Who cares about pandemics, stock market crashes and other insignificant events.

    Liked by 9 people

    1. Yes, Susan! I think it’s a sign of great trust in God when we can smile and laugh in the midst of trials and suffering.

      Thank God for your writing which continues to bless and hearten people. Blessed Merry Christmas to you and your family!

      Liked by 9 people

  19. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! … 😉 … MERRY CHRISTmas!!!

    https://thefederalist.com/2021/12/24/how-advent-teaches-us-amid-sorrow-to-rejoice/

    Front Page with some interesting videos for Christmas:
    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/12/glazov-gang-christmas-special-incarnation-jesus-frontpagemagcom/

    https://www.newsmax.com/dralvedacking/corinthians-thanksgiving/2021/12/22/id/1049618/

    https://onepeterfive.com/forgotten-customs-of-christmas-time/

    https://townhall.com/columnists/kathrynlopez/2021/12/24/the-true-gift-of-christmas-n2601015

    Christmas with the Presidents
    http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/newcombe/211222

    https://justthenews.com/nation/states/op-ed-christmas-eve-1776-changed-world-forever

    https://www.newsmax.com/jeffgrenell/youth-depression-christmas/2021/12/22/id/1049612/

    https://www.noradsanta.org/en/map

    https://www.newoxfordreview.org/documents/charles-dickenss-a-happy-holidays-song/

    https://victorygirlsblog.com/christmas-battles-truces-and-bob-hope/

    https://www.faithwire.com/2021/12/23/god-showed-up-the-wwii-christmas-miracle-that-unfolded-when-gen-george-patton-rallied-250000-troops-to-pray/

    https://www.crisismagazine.com/
    https://stream.org/category/us/
    https://stream.org/category/us/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 5 people

  20. I know I let that elf on the shelf in my house to make my kid happy before Christmas. So on the last day of Advent we made that elf kneel before the manger. And that’s this elf’s and everyone’s place.

    Liked by 9 people

  21. Merry Christmas! Love, hugs and prayers to all. Glad to know you are better, Charlie, that Mick’s family and SanSan have recovered. My wife and I are recovering. We were deathly ill, and special thanks to the prayers of my sisters Beckita, Mick, Susan Skinner, and Mary O’Reagan. I am still weak, but getting better. The hardest thing has not to receive our Lord.
    It was so bad I could not pray coherently. All I could do was whimper momma Mary’s name, Philomena. Padre Pio, Raphael and Jesus. By the grace of our good God, and the help of a special curse lifting prayer from Susan Skinner, I can pray again.

    Love you all!

    Liked by 10 people

  22. Something definitely went wrong after Vatican II. We got swindled; Vatican II was hijacked. Removing kneelers, statues, pious devotions seemingly in an attempt to remove holiness – perhaps they succeeded, especially for their own part. But now experience the subtle breath of fresh air in between the words and lines of Mark Mallett’s reflection below as he contemplates the Mass rubric dilemma et al through the lens of Vatican II. Hopeful.

    Buon Natale, con amore!

    https://www.markmallett.com/blog/category/daily-journal/

    P.S. Thank you, CREWDOG. I would have missed this fine piece and so much more without your diligent work.

    Liked by 6 people

  25. A Blessed Christmas full of his Joy and Peace to all here.

    It has been a very crazy year here in this liltte corner of the world, but God’s grace and counsel has protected us and kept us moving. The difficulty of things has actually been bringing us closer together as a family and with our friends and neighbors.

    It has been difficult to contribute but I do follow what is happening in this wonderful community and I pray for you all always.

    Looking forward with Hope and Expectation for God’s moving in the new year.

    JT

    Liked by 5 people

  26. Thanks, as always, Charlie for your encouraging words spoken with wisdom and clarity. ‘Not sure if anyone has posted Christine Beadsworth’s “DIVINE IMAGE DESTROYED,” which provides a scriptural /spiritual perspective to the vax. As an “on ramp” to mark-o-the-beast concerns, here’s a banquet for thought: https://www.bitchute.com/video/9TAcXfP94aF2/

    Rich blessings to all in the shelter of our incomparable Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus!

    Liked by 2 people

  27. Ha!!! Mike and I JUST watched this on 📺 tv!!! Couldn’t help but share it with y’all!!! Looking forward to a time and a place where Mayberry reigns in everyone’s heart and home!!!

    Merry Christmas everyone!!!🎁🎄

    Liked by 5 people

  28. Wishes at my work from the Executive Director, a Catholic nun,of this Catholic agency:
    “Have a safe Holidays” , and a card with snow and a snowman… and that’s it and no Christmas bonus per usual.

    Wishes at my wife’s work from the Muslim family she works for:
    “Merry Christmas!” with the same “Merry Christmas!” on the Christmas bonus paycheck…

    Hmmm….

    Liked by 3 people

    1. That is a shame Pawel.

      I can relate. I have not seen a Christmas bonus for God know how long. I remember when Christmas parties took the place of an afternoon at work and was at a grand banquet facility and that changed quickly to a two hour lunch and a pot luck in the break room! ;-P

      Merry Christmas – we have baby Jesus and the Holy family. Nothing and no one can change that!!! ❤

      Liked by 4 people

  29. The vaccine itself is unlikely to be The Mark of the Beast, but it’s easy to imagine that the mandating apparatus that many governments wish to implement around them would be some kind of precursor to it.

    Here where I live, in Montreal, Quebec, the government has had a vaccine mandate and a “passport” in place for about six months now. Those of us who are unvaxed are not permitted to enter many types of establishments. Last week our government laid down an edict that one must have a valid vaccine passport in order to enter places of worship. That’s right: a secular government, here in North America, is actually attempting (and succeeding, in many cases) to force our parishes to break canon law. Many are cancelling masses altogether rather than segregating, others are acquiescing and barring the unvaccinated from mass. The Quebec bishops have folded like lawn chairs, issuing a statement about sticking together, protecting the vulnerable, etc. They did lament that they weren’t “consulted” by the government. Perhaps it will finally dawn on our bishops that our secular rulers not only don’t respect them, they despise them

    It is critical that these passports not succeed. They must be resisted at all costs. Those with eyes to see can predict where this is going. Once these passes are well-established, it will be the most natural thing in the world to add other civic “virtues” to it. How long would it take before someone in government gets the bright idea that people should have their passes invalidated if they haven’t filed their taxes on time? How long before they start adding every “good” thing they can think of and penalizing everything they find undesirable? How long before they start adding declarations of fealty and renouncing of wrongthink? The end game of this evil could well be that, eventually, one may not buy or sell unless they apostatize in some way.

    Liked by 8 people

    1. Indeed, lots to consider, GU. Many are we who observe the struggles so widespread in Canada and Australia. You are exactly right about holding ground to prevent encroachment of restricting freedoms. It will be interesting, to say the least, to see how far the powers that be can force their freedom restricting agenda in this country before the pervasive cold anger here does a 180 to become volatile, rage-filled push back. Praying and next right stepping, day by day.

      Liked by 6 people

  32. I may have sent this before, but thought it was worth sending again.
    From a family friend.
    Christmastide blessings to all of you, my dear sign-of-hope friends!

    Chris Lyford
    =============
    Priest Enters Church At 5:45am On Christmas Morning to Find 50 People (Souls) Wandering Around.

    I want to share with you, once again, a true story that Fr. Francis P. Filice shared with his friends and family before he died. Fr. Filice gave permission to share this story with our friends, so pass it on. Be sure to read all the way through his letter. Father’s thoughts that perhaps some of the poor that we meet might not be living gives you a whole new perspective in helping the poor. If you want to know more about this amazing priest you can read his obituary at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?pid=175317130

    Dear Descendants and Families,

    November, being the month of the Poor Souls, is a good time to reflect on the fact that although we seem to be involved in a physical, three-dimensional time-warp world,- in reality this world is only the beginning and a shadow of something very different, very spiritual and much more real because this world is passing away all the time, whereas that world is the spiritual world by which we are formed and is forever.

    I want to tell you a true story about what happened to me about forty years ago when I was a deacon, serving at St. Anne’s Church in San Francisco. I was preparing to be ordained the following May. This was my deacon year.

    What happened to me is something that is given to people who are usually weak in faith and need to have their faith strengthened. It has nothing to do with any spiritual value that I have, but is something the Lord allowed so I could teach you this story.

    It was Christmas Eve of 1978. I had served as deacon at the midnight Mass with Msgr. Foudy. After Mass, around 1 or 2 in the morning we all went to bed. I had to get up early to prepare for the 6:30 A.M. Mass for Christmas Day. Around 5:45 a.m. I went into the sacristy in St. Anne’s, turned on the lights, and went to open the doors of the Church. I stepped out into the sanctuary and to my surprise the Church was full of people – about fifty or so. I presumed immediately that they were a group of party-goers who had wandered in through an open door during the night. They were people not well dressed – something like reformed hippies, thin and kind of wan. They were in different spots – some were walking around, some were going to the creche at St. Joseph’s altar. None had gone through the communion rail into the sanctuary. I walked to one of the men sitting there and I started to berate him – ” don’t you realize this is a church. You can’t just walk into a Church in the dark and just sit down like that; you have to be more respectful”. He just looked at the tabernacle and looked kind of embarrassed. I started in again, and a woman sitting in the back – who seemed to be in charge of the group – a woman I recognized but couldn’t remember where I had seen her before – she said to me “do you realize that on this night some wonderful things happen? ” That kind of stopped me so I went to open the doors of the church, and all the doors were locked. There was no way they could’ve walked in. When I turned around and went back into the Church I saw there was no one there. They had all disappeared. When I related this to my spiritual director, Father Llorente – a Jesuit – he said that it is well known that the poor souls in Purgatory are often in Catholic Churches. Reflecting on this experience, I realized I had never felt alone in a Catholic Church – I had always felt there was someone there with me. There is also a remarkable connection with how the Poor Souls are treated.

    The ancient Penitentiaries – the books that said how to say Mass and hear the Sacrament of Confession – shows that the original way of hearing Confession is like the Orthodox Catholics do now – rather than the method that we use where we have a confessional and we tell our sins anonymously – this is something that started around the 4th century with the Irish monks. The Peniteniary of St. Basil the Great – a Cappadocian Father from Syria – describes the method which they used to use.

    When someone committed a serious sin, he went to the Bishop where he lived, confessed his sin and asked for forgiveness – it was face-to-face. The Bishop would give him a penance, but the penance was very remarkable. A mortal sin was held in great horror. For example, suppose a person committed the sin of adultery. He would have to stand at the door of the Church for several years asking the pardon of everyone who entered. After that he might have be allowed into the Church but had to lay down and leave after the Creed He’d do this for several years. After that, he might be able to stand up to the Creed for another two years. After that, maybe he could stand for the entire Mass but not receive Communion – that was maybe for two years (unless he was dying). So that is a mirror of what happens to the Poor Souls. The Poor Souls – when the person first dies and is going to go to Heaven – he has to be purified. To be in Heaven one has to love the way God loves – something impossible for human beings
    to do. He has to go through a purification. The first stage is a very difficult time – talked about like the pains of hell. After a while, depending upon the graces gained by the people in the world praying for the Poor Souls, he is now allowed to be in the world. He has to be purified by different kinds of things he has to do in the world – maybe beg, act as a docent, in a church, etc. So when you see a poor person in the world, it might be a Poor Soul working off his sentence. What purifies us is God’s love, and so we can help him by the charity we show them, either by prayers, Masses, taking care of the poor in the world. It is important to realize that the poor are not always living people. After that, when the person has been purified, he’s allowed to be in church – that’s how he spends his time, adoring the Blessed Sacrament. The length of this purification process depends upon what he’s done, the amount of graces we provide by our prayers and sacrifice. It is only God’s love that will finally allow him to enter the kingdom of Heaven. So when you go into a Church, never forget to pray for the souls that are there.

    At some point a particular soul will be ready and he will enter into the Tabernacle and so be with God forever. So the Church has always known this – you can offer you acts of love for the Poor Souls – prayer and sacrifice.

    (from Fr. Frank Filice)

    Liked by 8 people

    1. Thank you, Chris, and a beautiful, holy Christmas to all of you. The story gave me goose bumps and reminded me of how I loved to go into an empty church as a child. I had a couple of powerful experiences in empty churches, one was when I was lost. It was a peaceful experience to go into a church and pray, then my mother came rolling up in a police car!

      Liked by 4 people

  33. I haven’t read all the links yet, but I am brought to mind that we are made for such a time as this. We each have gifts individually and collectively that radiate the love of God. Easy peasey? Nope! But I pray for courage and confidence that I, we, can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. May the radiance of that gaze between the Virgin Mother and her newborn Child penetrate our hearts with the most perfect, purest and profound Love, that perhaps we may levitate with joy in the union of Love!

    Liked by 7 people

  37. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! …. 🙂 😉 … MERRY CHRISTmas!!!


    Hark! Laughter like a lion wakes to roar to the resounding plain.
    And the whole heaven shouts and shakes, for God Himself is born again,
    And we are little children walking through the snow and rain.
    From “The Wise Men” – G.K. Chesterton

    https://stream.org/a-weary-world-rejoices/

    https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/god-loves-you

    Christmas & Our Patriot Founders
    https://patriotpost.us/references/75926

    https://onepeterfive.com/hundreds-flock-to-bishops-latin-mass/

    Let US Pray that those walking in Darkness see a Great Light … & SOON!!
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/12/25/the-people-who-walked-in-darkness-have-seen-a-great-light-8/
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/12/24/its-christmas-let-us-rejoice-and-reject-this-human-created-foreboding/

    https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/dont_let_cancel_culture_grinches_strip_your_joy_from_christmas

    AF Band @ Air & Space Museum ( Click outta Ads)

    European Christmas—Rick Steeves

    GOD BLESS US … EVERYONE! … & OUR REPUBLIC!!

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Benedicta13:

      Here is Day 8 of the Surrender Novena by Servant of God, Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo (today, Christmas Day, happens to be the 8th day of my novena – this is my favorite meditation for this novena):

      DAY 8: Close your eyes and let yourself be carried away on the flowing current of my grace; close your eyes and do not think of the present, turning your thoughts away from the future just as you would from temptation. Repose in me, believing in my goodness, and I promise you by my love that if you say “You take care of it” I will take care of it all; I will console you, liberate you and guide you.

      O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!
      (Say 10 times)

      https://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/surrender-novena.html

      Jesus, I trust in you, Let Your Will Be Done. Graces and trust flow from reciting this ejaculation.

      Liked by 5 people

    2. Dear Benedicta, it is possible to choose hope without feeling hope… but you can’t do it alone… so you must reach for a lifeline – or a few lifelines – opting for the one(s) that help you.

      Each person who feels as you do CAN ask the Mediatrix of All Graces to procure the grace needed to CHOOSE hope, even when you don’t feel it. She promised us this help when she appeared to St. Catherine Labouré as Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Remember the graces that were shown to Catherine, represented as shimmering jewels mounted on the rings Our Lady was wearing? Remember when Catherine asked why some jewels were not streaking with gorgeous light, but were dull and Our Lady said those were the graces for which no one asked? When you do ask, I can guarantee She will stand with you at the Cross and you will be saturated in grace, flowing from Her Son’s side.

      Mother Teresa, too, can be a great intercessor in this act of choosing hope, for she walked in spiritual darkness and continued to CHOOSE faith, hope and love, even when she didn’t feel any of these.

      Another inspiration to hope is the Servant of God, François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận. He was imprisoned in his country, Vietnam, for thirteen years and nine of those years were spent in solitary confinement. He was initially overwhelmed, but CHOSE to lean into the Lord. One of my favorite resources for building up hope when not feeling it is his book: Testimony of Hope: The Spiritual Exercises of Pope John Paul II. Incredible inspiration and support flows from this great man.

      Praying a PMT for you, Benedicta, ( https://asignofhope379.com/prayer-of-miraculous-trust/ ) and sending these three heroes of faith to guide you to written resources and to people around you who will listen and are wise, not in pitying, but in building strength because another guarantee I have is that we will ALL feel this temptation to lose hope as we live the roughest days yet to come.

      Now, for a current day mentor who can offer you great counsel in rejecting the enemy’s game of tempting us to lose hope, you can turn to a woman steeped in the Scriptures who uses the Word of God to direct us away from the enemy’s ploy to engage us in overwhelming emotions – and any one of us losing hope is exactly the goal of our Mother’s adversary – into the wisdom of exerting one’s will to embrace God’s Will and Ways is Sonja Corbitt and her latest series, Freedom from Anxiety (which is easily translated into Freedom from Loss of Hope). Engage fully in the material and you’ll be built up in great strength. https://www.biblestudyevangelista.com/?s=Freedom+from+ANxiety

      Liked by 6 people

  42. Merry Christmas to all the faithful here…After taking care of my wife who got covid around the 7th, but now seems to be recovering nicely, I ended up getting it on the 15th. I am still struggling with it today so I must ask the prayer warriors to please say a little prayer for me. Thank you and God Bless us all. Jim C.

    Liked by 9 people

  46. How do you reconcile these two articles with opposing views. The clarity of this opposition can be summed up in their expressed attitudes of the Pope. Which is it Charlie, Pope Francis propagating a hope and confidence in Jesus Christ or Bergoglio the deep church propagandist.

    Archbishop Aquila: Pope Francis, in his important exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, summarized well the confidence and hope in Jesus Christ this biblical worldview can bring:

    Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò: The Democratic Party, part of the deep state, is carrying out its task as an accomplice of the system, just as the deep church finds in Bergoglio its own propagandist.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. First, the one quote posits an opinion on something Pope Francis wrote; the second posits an opinion on the person of Pope Francis. They are two entirely different categories, so there is no need to reconcile them. Wonderful people sometimes write something silly while bad people sometimes write something marvelous. Recognizing that fact does not require any sort of reconciliation.

      Second, even if they were talking about the same fundamental thing, there is no need for me to reconcile them. I don’t think I have ever seen you comment here before, but if you followed the site, you would find that there are a variety of opinions here, including many that directly contradict mine. I am not so insecure as to only allow my own opinions and those that mirror them.

      Liked by 2 people

  47. What this reporter says around minute 11 is exactly what Charlie has been saying all along. Make connections in your own community.
    I wonder how this will affect our community member Patrickfgh? Well for that matter anyone completely dependent on a trucker bringing in their food.
    Its around 12 minute long video.

    Like

    2. Indeed. One of the voices of reason that I appreciate, Peggy Hall at The Healthy American, insists that collaborating locally is key. We all know this and it is a pillar for our CORAC mission likewise. She has coined a catchy phrase, “unity in community.” I like it and the young man in the video that you shared as well! ❤

      Like

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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.