God, Donald Trump, and the I Phone

Do not love the world or the things of the world. 
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
For all that is in the world,
sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life,
is not from the Father but is from the world. 
Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. 
But whoever does the will of God remains forever.

We live in a world that has very different values than we have. Just really watch some of the commercials on television.  Light years away from earth I wonder what the little green men think of the people from earth as they intercept our television signals.  I know that they must think that all of us have failing digestive systems because you cannot go five minutes without learning about some new laxative or antacid product. It is kind of funny actually, did you know that there was quite a controversy in the early days of TV when a company wanted to advertise their deodorant?  The censors thought it was too personal to mention in polite company.  Today, there is no limit, they even allow ads for condoms, personal lubricants, and whiskey to run at times when children may still be watching.  But, this entry is not about TV or advertising, the ads that run are just a symptom of the malady that afflicts us in the twenty-first century.

The world has become a more complicated and deadly place. News from countries far away breaks mere minutes after the incident occurs.  As a whole, we think more of ourselves and our own comfort than we do about others.  We tend to get entangled in the world and lose sight of what should be the most important thing in life, our eternal destiny.  What good will our thousand-dollar Apple phone do us when we stand before God?  What about that beautiful car or our 401K plan? Will God ask what kind of retirement you had or if you liked driving that Lexus?  We spoil our health grasping for the things of this world and when we have what we want, we realize that we want more.  Forgive me for saying this, I think that God gave the United States Donald Trump and the chaos he brings to the job as our leader to be a wake-up call.  But even if He didn't, it is time to arise from our slumber and take stock of where we are and where we are going. In our reading, John is reminding us that the things of this world are passing away.  Holding on to them is like tying yourself to a large rock when the ship you are on begins to sink.  Technically you are prepared for the sinking but you made the wrong preparations and you will sink faster than the ship. 

Look, we all need things to live. We need food and shelter, work to do for example. But we must try to be prudent and try to give more than we take.  This is what love is all about, giving as opposed to taking.  Imagine a world where we fell all over ourselves in looking after our brothers and sisters.  It would be a world without want, a utopia.  Set yourself realistic Christian based goals and remember everything on this planet stays here when you leave. 

In this season of joy, can we take a few minutes to pray for the poor souls in purgatory?  Try this experiment.  Open your newspaper obituary page or go to a funeral home's web page.  Select at random one of the poor souls listed there and just for today, pray for that person's soul. What should you pray? An Our Father, A Hail Mary and a Glory Be is all that is needed to start your ministry to our brothers and sister in Purgatory. It does not matter if the person is Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, or Muslim.  God loves all of His children.  Or you could do this.  Pray for a deceased relative.  Yes, I know they were a good person and maybe they really did go straight to heaven, but what if they didn't?  A prayer for them today won't be wasted.  If they do not need it, it will be applied to someone who does.  Please always remember:  As they are, you may someday be. 

Nineveh Chamber of Commerce Welcomes You

Jonah began his journey through the city and had gone but a single day's walk announcing, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed," when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;  he did not carry it out.

Nineveh was a strong country with a strong king and army.  They flourished and unfortunately for them, they forgot the ways of God and trampled on His Law every chance the got.  God decided that He had enough of the people of Nineveh and He slated them for destruction.  He wanted to give them a chance so He sent Jonah, you know the fellah that spent three days in the belly of a whale.  The city was huge and it was a three-day walk to get through it.  Jonah, who was not happy that Nineveh was getting a chance to repent nevertheless did as God commanded him and proclaimed that in forty days Nineveh would be destroyed.  He had gotten only part way through the city when his words sunk into the souls of the citizens.  The king even heard of the impending disaster and he took it so seriously that he proclaimed a fast and people were to wear sackcloth and ashes and to repent of their evil ways.  God saw that the people of Nineveh were repenting and God decided that the destruction he had planned would not be carried out. 

We can draw parallels between Ninevah and our country,  We have a strong and very rich country that values freedom above all. But our successes and our riches have turned us away from the One who made all of these things possible, God.  Prayer is not allowed in our schools, basic expressions of belief are forbidden on public property and the pagans and atheists seem to gain more power to push their sinful agenda.  We call the murder of a child in the womb "women's health" while in most cases the only thing that is in jeopardy is the woman's convenience as she does not want to have a baby at this time.  We have turned our back on God and yet we still sing "God Bless America."  Why should He continue to bless us when we through the actions of the pagans and atheists or the silent acceptance of the believer have chosen to leave His protection. 

America is a very strong country, that is true.  But the strength of a building does not begin with the upper floors but with the foundation,  Our foundation, the one built with skill and daring by our forefathers is being allowed to rot and crumble into dust.  For our forefathers the motto, "In God We Trust" would have meant something to them. Does it mean anything to us? The founding fathers saw the hand of God being moved as this nation was created.  Today, no one is brave enough to say that they are on God's side but everyone says that God is on theirs.  Really? How do you know?  

To each of us, I pose this challenge.  Today think of yourself as a citizen of Nineveh.  What would you have done if you heard the voice of Johah?  The signs of impending tragedy are there for all to see.  America the Beautiful, land of the free and home of the brave, is being called back into union with God and the time is now, not a year from now or even a minute from now.  What God has given us He can take away.  

Our brothers and sisters in Purgatory would appreciate a shout out to God on their behalf.  An Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be said for their intention would be most helpful to them.    

HATE

Finally, my research has revealed something that the world has in such abundance that every man, woman, and child can have and share as much as he or she wants without any fear of running out of it.  That commodity is hate. 

From Barcelona to the United States there are examples of the various flavors that are available to us.  Muslims and Christians can indulge in mutual hate of one another. Here in America whites can hate blacks and blacks can hate whites. And our president can't come out and say that hating a person because of their color is wrong. 

My blog today is short.  Please, pray for one another, pray that this world becomes more tolerant and loving to one another. Life is too short to allow hate to rule us. 

North Korean Threats - Jesus Says "Be Not Afraid"

An evil report he shall not fear;
his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear
till he looks down upon his foes.

It is Thursday, 8/10 and it is 5:30 AM and I am sitting at my desk while outside my window in the slowly dawning light I hear the sound of a bird singing and greeting the new day. A cool gentle breeze is coming in the window and I am quite content to let the pastoral quiet to enter my mind which just moments ago was reprogramming itself in sleep.  When the folly of the cold war ended I thought that now our world had a chance for a generation to grow up without war, that our swords could be beaten into plowshares.  My hopes were dashed because of a little, fat, despot in a country where there is no money for butter but plenty for guns.  

Over the years, I have questioned the wisdom of sanctions against the hermit kingdom of North Korea not from a political view but rather from a Christian point of view.  The millions who starved during their famine did so not so much because of the sanctions, but because their government cared so little for them.  It is sad that we as Christians could not step in to fill the breach.  But then, the relief we would have sent would not have gotten to the ordinary people, Kim would have seen to that.  If he continues to live his life as he currently does he will earn a very special place in hell.  He can spend eternity speaking about politics with Stalin and Hitler.

The sabers are rattling loudly and without pause.  If Kim or Trump elect to push the button, the world will change in a flash. Heaven only knows where it would end.  I do not say that as a cliche, I really mean that Heaven does know what will happen. Jesus right at this very moment is there telling His followers to not be afraid.  Remember, there will be wars and rumors of wars, that has been told to us.  We have the security of knowing that God will win the final victory and in the end, all evil will be swept away. 

So, my dear friend, be at peace this day for no matter what may happen, God knows the whole of it already and He will not forget or forsake you.  The terrors of the moment will pale with the joy you feel as He invites you to join Him with the angels and saints in a place where joy has no end. 

America The Beautiful

As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep.They came and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"

He said to them, "Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

The men were amazed and said, "What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?"

I am an American.  I was born a free person in a land where freedom was won by those that came before me. Throughout my life, I have enjoyed the benefits of being an American and I am thankful to God for all of the blessings he has bestowed on the United States of America. I love this country and all of the good things it stands for.  The United States of America is an example of what people can do when they put their mind to it. 

It is easy to be a patriot on the Fourth of July just as it is easy to be a Christian on Christmas. But the feelings engendered by the celebration of these days rapidly fade as the sun sets and the darkness of the night takes over.  A true patriot is true to his country even when things seem to go bad.

Am I saying that I do not like where we are as Americans today? Well, I have to admit, I think things could be better. But I am going to refrain from political commentary and simply ask everyone of every creed to pray for the America that our forefathers dreamed about, a land where freedom for all, not just a few, was the ideal.  Let us look to the common good and not just what is good for the holy three, that is "me, myself and I."

The Gospel reading for today is Jesus calming the sea. His friends were busy bailing the boat as they believed that it was going to swamp.  What was Jesus doing?  Why he was asleep, of course. Remembering that for the most part, these were fishermen from Galilee, the conversation must have been on the coarse side with expletives being hurled in the manner in which a frightened fisherman would find expression for the terror he felt. Finally, they woke Jesus and he shook his head and chided them for their lack of faith and immediately calmed the wind and the waves.  What's a person have to do to get some shut eye? 

Today, there is much confusion in our land.  We are paying a price for hiring a man for president who has to get all of his training "on the job" style.  We like the Apostles can work with fury to bail the boat out hurling expletives left and right to express the terror we may feel.  Finally, when we have exhausted ourselves, we will turn to Jesus and He will either calm the storm or calm us.  We must have faith. 

Lent - The Big Bang Theory

"If God were your Father, you would love me,

for I came from God and am here;

I did not come on my own, but he sent me."

I have to tell you that I am very concerned about the situation we find the world in on this nasty, cold, rainy, windy day.   It is not the lack of bright sunshine that bothers me because I know that above the clouds the sun is shining brightly.  I am concerned because of a little rotund man in North Korea, who is going through life with only seven of his eight cylinders firing in his brain box.  I am also concerned of a despot in Syria who has decided the time to come to murder his people with sarin gas.  I am concerned because of a godless ex-KGB man who sits in Moscow pulling strings here and there simply to increase world tension.  I am concerned because I have a singular lack of trust in our president and his government. It is a scary time.  Events could even as I am writing this, could come to a head and missiles capped with nuclear warheads could start something that no man could stop.   It would be the Big Bang all over again except with us in the middle. 

If it were not for my faith in God I think I would be in a state of depression right now because I know how inhumane man can be to other humans.  But I know that above these dark and scary clouds we have a God that loves us.  We have a home where we will be happy forever.  No matter what, we will live in the bright sunlight.  Praise you, Jesus.  Your Sacred Heart beats a song of love for us.  With you, at our side, we will stand firm.  With you, we will live forever. 

A New Day In America (?) Let's Wait and See

I was at the doctor's office when Donald John Trump placed his hand on the Bible and took the oath of office making him the forty-fifth president of the United States.  In my sixty plus years on this earth, I have seen presidents come and go.  The first president I remember caring anything about was John F. Kennedy.  Everyone was excited when he was elected president.  Of course, I lived on the Southwest side of Chicago so the fact that he was a Catholic AND a democrat made him the perfect man to be president of the United States.  In Chicago you were democrat and if you lived on the Southwest side of Chicago, you were most likely Catholic.  I remember the day he was killed.  The nuns ushered us into the church where we prayed for him, to no avail, as he died anyway.  Next came LBJ who I think was really glad to take over. LBJ did not work out so well and Nixon next infested the White House.  He did get us out of Viet Nam, the place that Kennedy and Johnson got us into but beyond that, he was a bully and as the tapes revealed he suffered from a potty mouth.  He resigned and Ford stumbled into office, did not do a whole lot and was followed by Jimmy Carter.  In my opinion, Jimmy Carter was the most honest president that served during my lifetime. He was a bit of a bungler and was in the White House during the Iran Hostage Crisis.  He lasted just four years when an actor turned politician Ronald Regan entered the White House.  Many have good thoughts about him but I am still waiting for some of the trickle-down to trickle-down to me. Then came Bush the Elder, followed by Bill Clinton a sex maniac who almost achieved fame at becoming the first president to be impeached. Billy did win reelection and turned his office over to George Bush the Younger who got us embroiled in the Middle East. George moved out of the White House and Barack Obama moved in and for the next eight years presided over a legislative branch that blocked him at every turn.  He did get his health care initiate passed and spent the rest of his time chipping away at religious freedom.  Mandating that religious groups would have to go against the conscience and supply contraception through their insurance plan.  While he was in office it almost became against the law to be a Christian or to support Christian values.  Those that did were accused of promoting hate speech. The democratic policy during the eight years of Obama deserted the working people of the land.  Instead, it pulled its support from those whose agenda contained traditional American values and gave their support whose beliefs included abortion on demand, gay rights, gay marriage, and mandated every sort of thing the Christian working man was against.  Obama was a good orator.  I admired his ability to turn a phrase.  Unfortunately, I believe that that is all he was good at, speaking. I do not think that he had a clue what the working class Americans were thinking.  It was his blindness to the needs of the common person that cast the democrats into the cold at the mid-term elections and finally gave the GOP power in both houses. That brings us up to today.

Today we have a president in office that is different than any other president that we have had in modern times.  He is a president who does not necessarily follow the beliefs of the GOP in full.  He is a man that is used to winning, a businessman who likes the thrill of the deal.  He is not so much of the diplomat but is rather more of a man filled with thunder and bombast.  I have not made up my mind about Donald John Trump yet.  In his first days, he and his vice president have done things to promote Life.  The president himself mentioned the Walk for Life and challenged the press to cover it and the vice president actually gave a speech at the event, the first time that has happened, ever.!  He also has recognized that the Syrian Christians are being slaughtered for their faith and has said that they will receive preference in immigration matters.   In this respect, DJT is a breath of fresh air for those of us concerned with the sanctity of life from conception to natural death and for those of us concerned about the Christians being martyred in the Middle East. For eight years under Obama, we had to watch while abortion was touted under the name "women's health care" and the family and the law of God was trampled upon under the guise of "equality.  Marriage in America will never be the same, it has been changed forever with the legalization of same-sex "marriages."  We saw under Obamacare the mandate that even the Little Sisters of the Poor would have to provide contraception to their employees in spite of their religious views opposing it.  DJT will disable this clause and help build up the right of a Christian to be a Christian.

Donald also has some things on his agenda that are downright silly.  The so-called wall between Mexico and the United States is dumb.  I believe that we should keep illegal aliens out of our nation. My grandparents, on both sides of my family, immigrated to the United States and were admitted legally.  They were honest, hard-working people who obeyed the law.  There was one minor incident when my grandmother was told to stop making bathtub gin, she was turned in by her best friend.  Other than that, they all learned the language and became naturalized American citizens.  For those who are here and are undocumented, DJT proposes to round up the ones who are criminals, are in gangs, who are violent, and to send these illegals back to where they came from.  I support this idea but I do not support deporting families that are here that are working to make something of themselves, who are obeying the law.  These are the types of people we need to have in America.

DJT also wants to make sure that the Muslim immigrants granted entrance to America are vetted to make sure that they pose no threat.  These immigrants are coming from lands that have been traditionally hostile to America.  I see nothing wrong with this. America gathers its strength and power from its diversity. Every one of us here (except Native Americans) are the result of people who left their homes and came to America to embrace life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We do not need people who are radically opposed to our ideals and who would resort to violence to attempt to bring their radical form of Islam to the forefront.

I am not going to tell you whom I voted for in the past election. It is my business and I will allow you to conjecture on your own.  For now, I have to say that I am going to take a wait and see approach to our new president.  I am going to pray for him and our country.  I am going to wish him good health and a clear mind.  To do otherwise would be like wishing the pilot of the airplane you are riding in to crash the plane.  There are interesting times ahead for Americans.  By the way that is an old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times."

A Baby Boomers Nightmare - Again?

Not a Game Console 

  The device you see above is something that was never used for the reason it was manufactured for. This control panel is the launch control panel for a Titan missile that had on top of it a reentry vehicle that held three independently targeted nine-megaton nuclear bombs.  To call this a control panel is somewhat misleading.  In reality, there were only two things that were controlled by the officer who sat before this console.  First, in the upper left -hand corner there are three lights. Directly above the button that is glowing (target 2) is a key hole.  He could if ordered, change the target of his missile from target two to either target one or target three. To the commander, it was of little import because he did not know the destinations programmed for his missile.  The second thing he could do is to insert his key into the keyhole to the right next to that innocuous row of lights, hold it for five seconds, and launch his missile. Of course seven feet or so to his left was the deputy commander who had to insert and turn his key and hold it for five seconds as well.  Once started there was no turning back. There was no way to stop the missile from launching and there was no way to abort or destroy it.  Thirty to thirty-five minutes after the key was turned, target two, some six thousand miles away would be no more.  

I lived the majority of my life protected by missiles being manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, by dedicated professionals.  Today we are protected with the Minute Man III and Minute Man Peacekeeper missile system by men no less dedicated than the ones that tended the Titans and Atlas missiles before.   The payload, a euphemism for the bombs being carried on just one Minuteman surpasses the tonnage of bombs dropped in world war two including the two atomic bombs that were deployed.  

Why is this loon, I hear you asking, bringing up this nonsense on a blog that normally deals with religious thought?  Well, to be honest, I am afraid we are being played very skillfully by Vladimir Putin.  He is biding his time, playing Vlad the Magnanimous as opposed to Obama the Destroyer.  In the meantime, Vlad is pouring billions into refurbishing his nuclear arsenal, including a nineteen-eighties rail car silo system that constantly runs back and forth over the country.  This former head of the KGB is just waiting for the Donald to take office because then it is off to the races.  Vlad will use smoke and mirrors to distract Donald Trump while he builds unanswerable weapons systems and catches the United States with our pants down!  

The Cold War Mark II is on the way.  Unfortunately, we will have a man with a big ego in the highest office in the land.  Trump has already said that he is not interested in the daily intelligence briefing which indicates that he is going to rely on his gut feelings.  We've elected a man who will attempt to govern this country using the same methods that he used to govern his corporations.  The difference this time is that if he makes a mistake, the bankruptcy court cannot save him (or us.)  If Vladimir Putin can get the drop on us you can bet your life that the smiling, forgiving, uncle Vlad will turn into his namesake Vlad the Impaler, also known as Dracula. 

The Russians are in the stronger position right now because of the personalities involved.  The iron curtain may be rusty and falling into ruins but if it can be rebuilt, Vladimir Putin is the man that can do it.  

Pray for the United States of America.  Pray that we come together as a people, strong and united.  Pray that God spares us from the worst of the worst mistakes that Donald Trump will make and for heaven's sake, see if you can find those plans for a backyard fallout shelter.  You may need them.   

Some Random Musings

These are just some random thoughts that are going through my mind on this 17th day of June in the year oi the Lord Two Thousand and Sixteen. 

ORLANDO
I was puzzled by the reaction of the LGBT community at what a certain Catholic bishop said about the killings.  He condemned the killing of innocent people. I read comments by the LGBT community that scorned the bishop because he failed to mention that they were gay.  I am confused. Are people their sexuality or are they people first.  The LGBT community seems to think that their sexual status should somehow make them a higher status.  I am sorry but we are human beings first and our sexual orientation is a secondary characteristic.

ORLANDO 2
My sympathies go out to the family that lost their little boy to the alligator.  They are not to blame for this tragedy.  I pray that the lord touches their family in a very special way and that in spite of the event that they keep their marriage together.  Often times the death of a child tears a family apart.

DONALD TRUMP
So, Donald Trump is going to sit down with the dictator of North Korea, provided that Kim Jung Un comes to The Donald for The Donald with not go to the Dear Leader.  Trump says that it would not hurt to talk to the man.  Well, maybe not.  It certainly could not be a debacle like the one grown by our dear leader Barrack Hussein Obama between us and Iran.  That deal reminds me of Chamberlain coming back from Munich in 1938 saying that he had secured "Peace in our Time."  I have to say as inept and ineffective is, the Donald (if elected...please God no) will make Obama look lie a genius. The only thing that works on Donald is the mouth.  Obama was right when he said that Trump's yapping did more harm then good.

HILLARY CLINTON
So, if I can't vote for Donald, is Hillary a better choice?  I don't think so. She DOES have experience in higher government and that certainly is in her favor. But, the Benghazi affair and her stupidity of using a private mail server for official and often secret communications shows that her brain is not firing on all cylinders.  Besides, did you see what she looked like while being under the pressure of being the Secretary of State?  She let herself go, she forgot how to look good in front of a camera.
Now if she was affected that badly by the Sec State job, how in the world do you think she will fare under the pressures of the presidency?  Even Obama's hair is turning white because of the intense pressure that he is under day after day.

CHICAGO
My heart weeps for my ancestral home town. My family landed in the city in the early 1900's and enjoyed being part of a vibrant, living, city.  Today not a day goes by when we do not hear of another child caught in crossfire, or a gang of thugs marching down the Magnificent Mile robbing citizens. Just recently a bunch of rowdy men and women tried to rob a couple of tourists. The tourists ran out in the street to get away from the thugs and the lady was fatally hit by a car.  My old neighborhood which used to be a wonderful place to live called Brighton Park now requires you to wear a flack jacket to keep yourself safe.  I would not visit, nor would I recommend anyone that I loved to visit Chicago.  Like I said my heart weeps.

That;s it for now.  Leave a comment if you want to - even if you want to curse me out.
God bless, my usual blog entries will resume tomorrow. Thank you for reading my rants.

Decision 2016 - so far

I usually try to stay away politics in my blog. But this upcoming election has been on my mind and I just want to say something about it.  It looks line we are going to have to choose between Clinton and Trump. This is the first time in my sixty plus years of living on the planet and participating in elections that I would not mind having a choice of "none of the above."  Each of the people we seem to be nominating to run are outstanding in many ways, but that is not good.  Both of them are liars. Hillary lied about using a private server for email when she was secretary of state.  On the other hand Trump will say whatever he can to get himself votes. I read an article on line about The Donald and it pointed out, for example, that despite his rhetoric against Muslims, whom he said that 1 our of four is a terrorist, he does business with them and has made a lot of money off of them. So he says one thing that will tickle the ears of some and thus he will earn their vote. To listen to Trump is to listen to a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.  If it takes a little white lie here or there, well so be it.  

We Americans have put up with eight years with a president that has been ruling by decree and a legislative branch that does not want to do anything. So we are at a stalemate and that is why Obama has had to rule by decree like some twentieth century despot.  All we need to make it really like the 1930's is for Obama to annex the English speaking parts of Canada and welcome them back to the homeland.

As a Christian we have to be thoughtful as to whom we are going to vote for when it the elections comes to pass in November.  We deserve better than the choices we are going to be given, We will Hillary promising women the right to women's health - which means abortion will become more of a problem than it was before.  When I was young I followed the Democratic party and like my parents before me voted the straight party ticket.  I have not done this since the 1980's as I have to pick the candidate that most represents what my values are. 

The GOP supports life and right to life causes and this draws me towards them. That Donald Trump will be their boy come the November election rappels me.  Trump has no experience in politics, and actually he came by his money honestly, he inherited it.  Hillary and her hubby Bill "I didn't have sex with that girl" Clinton  have their money too, from speaking fees that range in the six figures. 

I am going to have to pray about this election except I know that there is no way that I can see where I can vote for Trump so maybe my mind is already made up.   Share some thoughts.