Four Years of Russian Aggression against Ukraine

Today is the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of the nation of Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, forces of the Russian dictatorship of Vladimir Putin commenced their massive attack on Ukrainian sovereignty, showing total disrespect for the integrity of Ukrainian borders as guaranteed not only by international law, but specifically by Russia itself in the Budapest Memorandum, which to which Russia committed to respect and guarantee the borders of Ukraine, along with the United States and Great Britain. Russia made this commitment in 1994 in exchange for the new nation of Ukraine turning over the vast nuclear arsenal that it possessed by virtue of having been a part of the former Soviet Union. There are abundant reasons why these borders between these two countries deserve the respect and recognition and restoration that the Ukrainian people are asking for.

What Russia has done is, and continues to do — "Russia," by which I mean the dictatorial regime of Vladimir Putin and his cronies — what they have done is more than blatantly illegal, it violates the trust upon which Ukraine became the only nation in the nuclear age to demilitarize — that is, to destroy its nuclear capacity, to actually divest itself of nuclear weapons.

No other nation has done that. No nation that has obtained possession of nuclear weapons has ever divested itself of nuclear weapons.

The United States has not done anything so radical with its nuclear arsenal.

Neither has Russia with all its weapons from the former Soviet Union.

The Ukrainians handed over their weapons to the Russians in exchange for these guarantees regarding their borders and territorial integrity. The newly independent nation of Ukraine disarmed itself of what was then the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world, and agreed to live peacefully next to neighboring Russia — a heavily armed nuclear power that had a long history of aggression (and even attempted genocide in the Stalinist era) against the Ukrainian people. Ukraine obviously regarded the Budapest Memorandum as a serious and permanent commitment by Russia, underscored by meaningful guarantees of protection by the United States and Great Britain.

Not surprisingly, in the time following Ukrainian independence, Russia attempted to control the Ukrainian political leadership and hold Ukraine back from any movement toward integration with the European community. And then 12 years ago, when Ukrainians rose up — in what they called so beautifully the "Revolution of Dignity" — against manipulative pro-Kremlin, pro-Moscow politicians in order to choose its own free government, Putin took this as a pretext to seize Crimea, even though Crimea was within Ukrainian borders that had been previously guaranteed. Then Putin and his cronies saw fit to "stir up" (or perhaps even fabricate) supposedly anti-Ukrainian "separatist groups" in the eastern regions of Ukraine: Donetsk and Luhansk. And, of course, the Russian military then went in to help "liberate" these areas.

Thus, the present war actually began 12 years ago in February 2014.

This situation was met in a totally inadequate fashion by the Budapest Memorandum's other "guarantors" of Ukraine's borders, the United States and Great Britain. Once again, I stress that "Budapest" was an agreement of such consequence in the nuclear age that it should have been regarded as inviolable. As it turns out, however, it has set a bad precedent for pursuing nuclear disarmament by diplomatic means, which may have dangerous ramifications for the future.

In any case, this agreement was fractured in February of 2014, and we watched this happen. Then-Senator Marco Rubio eloquently reminded his colleagues of the precise details of the issue in a speech from the U.S. Senate floor. (We have seen, however, that "political memory" is awfully vulnerable in the current circumstances of the U.S. regime.)

The effective effort of the Putinist Russians to steal Ukrainian territory contrary to modern international law and their own agreements began in February 2014 with the seizure of Crimia. And this continued as a "de-facto war" of Russian aggression from February 2014 until February 2022, when the Russians invaded Ukraine completely and sought to overthrow the Ukrainian government, replacing it with a Russian puppet, or else simply absorbing it into Moscow's re-emerging empire.

This new imperial aspiration was something Vladimir Putin had made clear in his vision of Novorussia, or "Greater Russia," which was, of course, a Muscovite vision, a vision from the perspective of Moscow. In an immediate sense, it is a desire to restore the coherence of the "great power" stature and "security" that had been practiced by the Soviet Union.

But the Soviet Union, in spite of its communist elements, never escaped the the deep desire of Muscovy that was born in the divisive circumstances of the 15th century and the emergence of Muscovite rulers who assumed the ancient title of "Caesar" (Czar) and declared Moscow to be "the Third Rome" (replacing Constantinople which fell to the Turks in 1453). This was to be the basis of a sacred "manifest destiny" that grew into a vast empire that for hundreds of years absorbed many nations that have since become independent.

Ukraine, the more ancient and foundational land of the "Rus" which flourished prior to the 13th century Mongol invasion, has always been coveted by its more recent northern Russian neighbors, and it was incorporated into the Muscovite Russian Empire for some 300 years leading up to the twentieth century. But Ukraine maintained its own identity, language, and culture through all this time and in the Soviet era that followed.

The neo-Soviet imperialism of Vladimir Putin rejects Ukraine's independent national identity, and refuses to be bound by previous agreements of Ukrainian independence by the Russian Federation (including, apparently, the unprecedented terms of the agreement spelled out in the Budapest Memorandum, and long ago fulfillment by the nuclear disarmament of Ukraine). Putin made all of this clear in a speech he gave in 2022 a few days before the full scale invasion began. Putin made it clear that his ideological goal was to eliminate the existence of Ukraine (and there is no evidence that this goal has changed).

He began his war to conquer the whole of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. It was supposed to be a quick and easy "special military operation" by overwhelmingly larger Russian forces. 

But Ukrainians bravely fought back in these days four years ago. They surprised everyone. They fought for their cities.

Kiev drove back the Soviet — I'm sorry, the Russian — invaders. (As an old man, I continually make the mistake of calling the Putinists "Soviets" — I remember too vividly the "flavor" of that old regime. It's a slip of the tongue and/or the typescript that takes me back to an all-too-familiar geopolitical behavior that I recognize from a time that does not need to return in any way.)

In spite of its initial failure, this invasion by the Putinists has continued, unabated, without apology, wreaking havoc, devouring the lives of human beings on a front line in Eastern Ukraine, and systematically bombing the civilian infrastructure — the support system of ordinary life in Ukrainian cities — as well as directly killing innocent civilians.

In some instances, when the Russian forces invaded, they committed horrible atrocities and war crimes, which are being documented and are quite clear in certain cases.

Four years later, here we are.

There is nothing complicated, really, about this. What Putinist Russia has done is wrong, and what they are still doing is wrong. The Ukrainian people are fighting in self-defense. War is horrible, and there is no way at this time to evaluate everything they have done in the course of their efforts to defend themselves, but I can only say that the need for self-defense remains the only cause in today's world that can (at least in principle) justify the enormous risk of using the means of physical force that we have at our disposal today through our immense technological power.

Insofar as the Ukrainians are defending themselves against a brutal invasion, they are involved in a war. But they are not the instigators or perpetuators of the violence of this war. They are its primary victims. That is why I can never accept, no matter how long this goes on, I will never be able to classify this as a war "between Russia and Ukraine," a conflict that "broke out" between two equally irresponsible participants, both of which have their desires, their wants, and their unwillingness to compromise.

That is not a realistic perception of what is happening. What is happening is that the Putinist regime is trying to impose its power upon an independent people, the Ukrainian people who have only further solidified their national  identity through the past four years.

And the nations of Eastern Europe and Northern Europe are deeply aware of the behavior of today's Putin-Russia, as following a pattern that they saw during Czarist times, that they saw with vengeance in the Stalinist era, and that constituted the Soviet Union and its dominance over Eastern Europe until 1989. Poland is concerned. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are concerned, and they are rightly concerned. The Scandinavian countries are concerned. Finland and Russia have had their share of conflict in the past. None of the nations that are near the present borders of Russia are sanguine or comfortable with that proximity.

They fear that they may be next in line for a Russian invasion. The result of the invasion of Ukraine was several nations joining the NATO alliance. The NATO alliance is something complicated in itself. Its aims in the post-Soviet era are sometimes difficult to parse out, but certainly it is an alliance of nations committed to defend one another against the threats of attack.

Yet now, the most powerful member of the NATO alliance - the United States - has abdicated its role entirely. The United States, under its current regime, has suddenly decided to become an agent of chaos within the context of an allegedly "diplomatic" approach to the "Russian-Ukrainian" conflict.

It is precisely the leadership of the United States which is attempting to cast this as a conflict between two nations equally at fault, which can be solved by some sort of compromise, some sort of deal, some sort of transaction, in which Russia will receive as a reward for Putin's invasion, a certain amount of the territory that they wanted.

I cannot see how this will result in a just and lasting peace.

Dialogue is important. The dialogues that are taking place certainly have potential, but there must not be games being played by the most powerful member of the NATO alliance, independently of the rest of NATO, and in direct engagements with Russia that until recently did not include Ukraine. 

The U.S. and the Russians have had all kinds of obscure "talks," — of course I am referring to the current regime in the United States which seems to have "complex intentions" in its relationship with Putin's regime. Often, the leader of our current regime seems friendly to Putin and antagonistic to the Ukrainians. And then "the switch" takes place in which he turns on Putin. There is no reasonable pattern to these changes; indeed, they often seem grounded on the whims of the chief executive, on tangential personal expectations or grudges he entertains, or on his sense that a "peace deal" is near at hand that he can use to embellish his own self-image.

This is, of course, chaotic. No one knows where the loyalty of the United States to the NATO alliance is going, nor whether the U.S. has the needs of Ukraine — as the victim of Putinist aggression — at heart. The idea of having a specific frame of reference with which to view this conflict is thrown up in the air. And we are left with real estate agents and multinational corporation leaders negotiating on the ground. One cannot help suspecting that they have a great interest in financial gain, that rather than a just peace, a financially lucrative situation for themselves is what they're seeking.

And unfortunately, the leader of the American regime is very much connected to these financial interests. He has given no evidence of being honest or dependable in such matters.

I'm being as "generous" as I can with these statements. It is still difficult to avoid the sarcastic tone that creeps in. Trying to take the current U.S. regime seriously as a constructive political force in any respect only ends up underscoring further what an unprecedented mess it is. Led by a former casino owner, the present U.S. regime has turned current events into a crap shoot. Does the world feel lucky?

But I digress...

The war in Ukraine is an abomination. It is a violence against a free people. We must pray for peace. We must pray for dialogue. Dialogue does not necessarily need to be limited to those who are in power right now. Are there other forces anywhere in the Russian Federation today? Are there others who think differently, who might think differently? Other "places" where certain constructive dialogues and certain proposals might be initiated? Any such dialogue would have to be extraordinarily discreet. Perhaps it is already going on, carefully, unbeknownst to us.

I only know that in Russia it is very difficult to have an opinion other than President Putin's.

I also know that there have been other visions of Russia's future.

A great man named Alexei Navalny dared to think differently and envisioned a democratic, personalistic society — what he called "the Beautiful Russia" of tomorrow. He was deeply patriotic, but at the same time, with an intelligence and fairness that recognized when the war in Ukraine broke out, that it was immoral and wrong for his own country.

By then, of course, Navalny was in the prison system from which he would never be released, ultimately to die mysteriously in February of 2024. There is some evidence that he was poisoned (again, after surviving a prior effort by the FSB).

Alexei Navalny is a light for the future of Russia, and this matters greatly because we also care about the future of Russia. Russia has a great historical mission. Muscovite Russia — in spite of its schismatic origins and its devolution into an atheist, materialistic totalitarian society for most of the 20th century — still has a great distinctive civilization that has expressed profound truths in its history. The nation has vast, as-yet-unimagined possibilities that may yet blossom and bear fruit in the "Beautiful Russia" of the future. It has vast regions of territory and opportunities to develop in ways that will be constructive for a more profoundly united Europe and a “sign” for all the world.

Has it not been promised that "Russia will be converted..."?

If it puts aside its passion to be a superpower; if it puts aside its sense of condescending hegemony; if it takes upon itself responsibility for the violence of the 20th century, which it inflicted, especially through the reign of Stalin, and if it formally apologizes and renounces forever the violence of Stalinist imperialism... Russia could grow into something new and great for the whole world.

Solzhenitsyn, while still a dissident within the Soviet Union, had called for the future of Russia to be one of penance, one of inwardness and the acceptance of limitation. He made this courageous declaration with great love for Russia, but also because he knew that Russia had to take a moment to come to grips with its past in order to grow more deeply in its own national identity. This recommendation from his 1973 open letter to the Soviet Politburo still seems to me to ring with a certain truth and express a certain prophetic vision that perhaps Solzhenitsyn in his later years lost sight of (which was understandable given the multitude of new problems that arose for Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union, problems that became the preoccupation of his final years).

The Russian Federation faced serious social and economic difficulties in the 1990s, but these difficulties do not absolve the Russians from adhering to the international agreements that they made in those years. And it is incontestable that in 1994, they agreed to respect the integrity of Ukraine's borders in exchange for Ukraine divesting itself of nuclear weapons. I cannot think in the modern world, in the world we live in today, I cannot think of an agreement that would be more absolutely binding than an agreement that involves divestment of nuclear weapons in the international sphere. Such an agreement creates obligations above and beyond the basic requirements of international law.

Needless to say, Ukraine’s rights as a nation would still stand firmly even without the Memorandum, but its violation by Putin’s Russia adds the note of “betrayal” to an already unjustifiable and ruthless invasion. It is an example of the many broken promises that Russia has made to Ukraine as pretenses for “peace agreements.”

So on the fourth anniversary of Russia's full scale invasion, many Ukrainians are suffering and dying for something very concrete.

We pray for them. We pray also for the conversion of the Russian invaders, and especially the miserable helpless conscripts, who are being the thrown mercilessy, in a dehumanizing fashion, into these brutal military situations, this desperate and reckless continuation of the war by the Putinist regime.

All Vladimir Putin needs to do is stop. All the Russians need to do to bring peace is to withdraw their troops. I realize we're probably not going to get that. And that is a shame to Russia. If a "negotiated settlement" brings them any gain at the expense of Ukraine, it will only be a temporary gain. And they will have to face the shame of having stolen land and territory from an independent people. They will not grow from this gain. They will not grow in a human realization of their national identity. Rather, they will continue to live the errors of their predecessors. They will continue to embody the Stalin approach, which they have not yet sufficiently renounced and condemned.

Russia needs to condemn the errors of Stalin, to repent of them, and to make some sort of historic reparation for them. This is as necessary for Russia as it was for Germany after the violence and death perpetrated by Adolf Hitler. The Germans succeeded in the tasks of repudiation, renunciation, and reparation during the years of the buildup of West Germany in a remarkable way. Not perfect, no doubt, but in a remarkable way.

Nothing even remotely comparable has been seen in post-Soviet Russia. Yet it is necessary, not for revenge but for healing. Healing will not come if there is not the giving and receiving of forgiveness. It is not sufficiently effective for forgiveness to be proffered if it is not also received. And the Muscovite Russian nation cannot be healed until it acknowledges its errors and takes responsibility for them.

It is especially important for the international community to hold accountable the criminals in the Russian regime; they should be tried and given some sort of punishment. Without these things, there will not be true peace. There will only be temporarily discontinued friction. Further resentment will brew and new wars of aggression will follow in a continued cycle of violence. Russia will learn nothing, and it will continue to expand its violent activity. The nations of Eastern Europe are duly afraid of this. And a country like Poland is not going to sit by and watch. Nor, it seems, are the other countries of NATO.

The United States, of course, has introduced a dizzying and dangerous ambivalence into the current problem due to the instability of its chief executive and the incompetence of its diplomatic group.

Let us pray for peace.

Let us pray for the people of Ukraine. From their sufferings, we pray something else might begin to emerge, something beautiful and exemplary for the whole world. May God bless and help Ukrainian people on this terrible fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion of their nation.

May God have mercy on Ukraine, and console the sorrows of its people. May God have mercy on Russia and free them from a suffocating autocracy and its systematically violent ways. May God have mercy on the perpetrators of violence and on those who sow confusion in places where the focus of other nations must be solidarity and the search for a genuine peace.

May God have mercy on me, an old fool who writes these inadequate words and searches for some light to lead us forward.

May God have mercy on us all.

Saint Peter Damian: The Joy that will Follow Sadness

Today the Church commemorates Saint Peter Damian, Benedictine monk, reformer, and eventually Cardinal, papal envoy, and diplomat during a particularly scandalous and corrupt period in ecclesiastical history: the middle of the 11th century.

So we're talking about a thousand years ago. It was an age of vast changes in the political landscape of Western Europe and extreme laxity among the clergy in the Western Church. Simony was rife, antipopes rose and fell alongside holy popes like Pope Saint Leo IX. It was also the age of the monastic renaissance that had begun the previous century with the Cluniac reform movement. At one point, Western Emperor (and Saint) Henry III was a lay Benedictine Oblate. His successor Henry IV, on the other hand, caused lots of trouble for the Church.

Saint Peter Damian loved the solitude of a hermitage, but he was often called upon to intervene in the ecclesiastical crises of the day, or to contribute from his great faith and intellectual acumen to theological controversies. He paved the way for the renewal of theology with his many writings, and is one of the saints who bears the title "Doctor of the Church." No doubt, active ministry in the midst of so many complex and conflicting circumstances was a source of much suffering for Peter, and he knew that of which he wrote in a letter — from which we cite an excerpt below — about the brevity of our afflictions in this life compared to the eternal glory that God promises us after this time of patience and endurance:

“This momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17). Carefully examine these words of the apostle and diligently meditate on them…and be confident that whatever is short-lived will quickly pass away.

“Nor should you fail to notice, moreover, how aptly and exactly God’s words agree with one another so that after speaking of afflictions that are temporary and light to bear, he at once adds that they will yield an eternal weight of glory. And so, you should think about and compare these correlatives with each other: suffering and glory, temporary and eternal, light and weighty. Rejoice, therefore, and be glad that the suffering you endure is short-lived, and the glory that awaits you is eternal. Everything that you bear is light, all that you look for is weighty. Rejoice, I say, since in exchange for affliction you will receive glory; for what is light, something weighty; and for the temporary, an eternity will be yours.

“Consequently, amid hardships and trouble always lift up your eyes to him who after your afflictions is prepared to cherish you within the sweetness of his embrace, who after storms and tribulations will set you among the delights of heavenly peace, and will wipe away the tears from your eyes with the cloth of everlasting consolation…. With these and other texts of Holy Scripture, my dear friend, reinforce your spirit with patience, and happily look forward to the joy that will follow sadness. May hope encourage you in joyful expectations, and an ardent love inflame you.”

Words Worth Remembering…

May we be counted, in Jesus Christ, among those who persevere in His ways.

Lent 2026: The Narrow Path that Leads to Joy

“We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor 5:21). 

Today we begin the season of Lent 2026. Jesus calls us to seek conversion, to turn away from our sins, to practice self-denial and charity, to pay attention to God. This “conversion” might seem impossible to us, especially when we begin to perceive how far our sins have taken us away from God, and how “settled” we have become with living lives of sin and selfishness, mediocrity of soul, boredom and distraction, smallness of love. We may feel like we are “stuck” in sin, or walled off by the limits of our own selfishness and pain.

In fact, we do not have any inherent self-initiating “power” to “convert ourselves,” but this is precisely why we must place our hope in God. He does not abandon us to the prisons of our own making. Rather, He offers us the grace of salvation. For God has so loved the world — each of us and all of us — that He has revealed Himself and sent His Only Son Jesus to save us from our sins and transform us into His children, so that we might share forever in His life.

Who is God? God is our Father who loves us with an infinite Love. He wants to forgive us, to change us, no matter how terrible our sins have been even to this very moment. He gives His inexhaustible love to us through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, who “bears our sins” — who draws close to us in the very “places” in our lives that seem furthest from His love. 

He is “already” with us, longing to forgive us and heal us. There is no sin that is so great that He will not forgive those who turn to Him. He has borne every sin in His Crucified Heart. The mystery of Jesus’s redemptive suffering accompanies us, surrounds us. Let us remember that He is here: and let us cry out to Him, beg that He will give us repentance for our sins (even if we can scarcely imagine what that means), implore Him to open our hearts, to let Him love us the way He so ardently wants to love us. 

Ask, seek, knock. Don’t be afraid… or even just give Him that fear and ask Him to overcome it. This is why Jesus came to dwell with us, to die on the cross and rise from the dead, to remain with us in His Church by the power of the Holy Spirit. He loves us: he loves me, and you, and you, and you, and you…

Lent is a beautiful time for new beginnings, renewals, and growth. We need the “school” of this season of penance and preparation — of “prayer, fasting, and almsgiving” — so that by His grace we might learn and grow in obedience to God. To listen, to open up, to follow God and to give Him space, to recognize our emptiness and offer it to Him so that He can fill us.

Obedience to God really is the easy yoke (even though it often doesn't seem that way). The reality of "God's will" is the love of our Father giving us our very existence in this present moment, stirring our hearts by the grace of His Spirit, guiding us toward Him and protecting us from harm.

What do we achieve by escaping from His hands? Where are we going to go? We spend so many of our days evading Him, or “negotiating” with Him, or trying to forget Him, or just running away from Him. But the Lord is merciful. He doesn't want us to run forever and get nowhere. He wants us to “return to Him,” to trust in Him, to remain on the narrow path that He is opening up for us with tender care.

It is a narrow path, because it is the particular love that He has for each one of us, that corresponds to the unique personality that each of us possesses.

Each one of us is a person. Unrepeatable. Unique. Loved.

We are so precious and so profound: we do not know how dear and how deep we are, because we do not really know ourselves.

God knows us. His “will” is His wisdom and love for each one of us. He knows what is good for us, what will bring us joy. And so, each of us prays: “Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense… Give me back the joy of of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me” (Psalm 51:3, 14).

"Spelunkers" for Mardi Gras

This is our idea of a "Carnevale" celebration: Bacon burgers, fries, and homemade ice cream from our local burger joint, Spelunkers.

I rarely eat like this, but once in a while, it's really good. Yummy yummy!

The Word of God is Always New

"The Word of God responds to our thirst for meaning, for the truth about our life. It is the only Word that is always new: revealing the mystery of God to us, it is inexhaustible, it never ceases to offer its riches" (Pope Leo XIV).

The Hungry and Thirsty will be Satisfied

Lent will begin on February 18th this year. Hunger and thirst are spread all over the world. Our fasting, in its various forms, is a small gesture of solidarity with the poor, and we can offer it as such, in union with Jesus.

We also have an opportunity to remember the "hunger and thirst" of our hearts as we travel through the journey of this life. None of us are free of this tremendous need, which we try to repress, but which inevitably rises up and penetrates our awareness. Sometimes it strikes us as a deep sorrow, a sense of powerlessness, desperation, and failure. But if we turn to the Lord, our hunger and thirst are transformed into prayer, in hope that He will fill us. Indeed, He will pour out His mercy on us in greater abundance.

And we will learn to be merciful to one another.

Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

It is no surprise that Jimmy Lai’s show trial in Hong Kong ended with his receiving the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

But this doesn't make it any less heartbreaking. 

At age 78, and with his health worn down severely by the past six years he has already spent in jail for a previous “crime” against the Chinese Communist Party/State, Jimmy Lai is not likely to live long enough to see freedom again in his own beloved city.

I have few words to add to what I have written before about Jimmy Lai (see HERE and HERE), and about the Hong Kong Democracy Movement’s long, brave, persistent, but finally smothered public protest campaign (2014-2020) against the tightening grip of the CCP. 

Instead, I worked for some time crafting this digital image (above) that attempts to visualize (and in some way evoke the “tangible” dimension of) the suffering of the Catholic convert and former-opposition-newspaper-publisher in his prison cell.

This is what happens to human persons under regimes that grasp power for its own sake, or seek to justify the abuse of power for the sake of its alleged “efficiency.”

I don’t believe that this is the “end” of Hong Kong’s (or for that matter China’s) struggle for freedom and human dignity. The events of the past decade — like those at Tiananmen Square in 1989 — may be "erased" from the CCP's official story of modern China. But the Chinese people have long memories. We can only hope that these events are seeds of the new directions that China will discover and take up in the future.

Remember Jimmy Lai and pray for him.

Lourdes, Illness, and Joy

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, and the "World Day of Prayer for the Sick." Thanks to everyone who has prayed for me in my struggles with illness and disability over the past twenty+ YEARS(!)... 

It is often hard and frustrating, but I have also been drawn closer to the mysterious yet apparently "ordinary" joy of daily life, and the hope for life's true and ultimate fulfillment that renews and humbles my heart again and again, far beyond anything I "deserve" or could generate from within my self or from my own ideas. It is the gift and promise of a fulfillment that, even now, begins and grows and proves itself greater than my afflictions and sorrows, my forgetfulness and my sins. I am deeply grateful. Please keep praying for me.

Today "is a beautiful day that reminds us of the closeness of Mary, our mother, who always accompanies us and teaches us so much: the meaning of suffering, love, and the surrender of our lives into the hands of the Lord" (Pope Leo XIV).

Christina Grimmie: Love is a Risk Worth Taking

Remembering Christina Grimmie: Nine years and eight months since she was taken from this world. Yet now — more than ever — we need to be inspired by her great life, her amazing music, and her openness, kindness, and respect for every human person she encountered. 

Christina generated an atmosphere of welcome and encouragement around herself that touched millions of people all over the world through her pioneering YouTube videos and her live performances, after which she greeted everyone who wanted to meet her with an open heart and open arms. 

Today, in a world dominated more and more by fear and danger, we remember how Christina lived "with love." She knew that love is a risk, that it inevitably renders us vulnerable in front of the "other," but she believed it was a risk worth taking because she lived within the embrace of a Love who had given everything for her. Within that embrace, she found the strength to love her family, her friends, her "frands," and those she was meeting for the first time. She welcomed strangers with open arms right up until the last moment of her life. 

We need to seek some measure of Christina's courage — her attention to the beauty and inherent dignity of every human person created in the image of God — as the deep clouds of obscurity, darkness, and violence grow more ominous all around us. When we remember Christina, hope is stirred within us that even the most terrible violence cannot be the "last word" in human existence. Love is stronger. Love will not be swallowed by forgetfulness. Love endures forever.

"Shelter the Oppressed and the Homeless..."

The first reading from the Liturgy for February 8th, the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time:

"Thus says the Lord:

Share your bread with the hungry,

shelter the oppressed and the homeless;

clothe the naked when you see them,

and do not turn your back on your own.

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your wound shall quickly be healed;

your vindication shall go before you,

and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer,

you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!

If you remove from your midst

oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;

if you bestow your bread on the hungry

and satisfy the afflicted;

then light shall rise for you in the darkness,

and the gloom shall become for you like midday."

~Isaiah 58:7-10

The Martyrs of Nagasaki

Today we honor the TWENTY SIX MARTYRS OF NAGASAKI, JAPAN. They too obeyed Christ rather than the rulers of this world. Young Paul Miki died praying for his persecutors.

"My religion teaches me to pardon my enemies and all who have offended me. I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have sought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves" (Saint Paul Miki, as he was crucified along with 25 others in Nagasaki, Japan, February 5, 1597).

Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

February 5 is observed on the liturgical calendars of Eastern and Western churches as the feast of Saint Agatha of Catania (who was tortured and martyred c. 250). She was another courageous young woman who gave her life for Jesus Christ.

Her heroic sacrifice and her total gift of herself to Jesus have been celebrated since ancient times. She is one of the patron saints of Sicily. Since Sicily was at that time a Greek island, Agatha is an important figure in the Eastern tradition. On this day, the Byzantine liturgy honors her with many beautiful prayers such as this one:

You were a fragrant flower of virginity and an undefiled bride of the Lifegiver; you desired the Source of all good and excelled in martyrdom. O glorious Agatha, intercede by your holy prayers for those who lovingly honor your contest.

Agatha and countless others who followed her example of courage down through the ages bring to mind the words of Saint Paul: "I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ,...to know him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death" (Philippians 3:8,10).

Even today, Catania celebrates Saint Agatha with a three day festival, including a procession of her remains through the city streets accompanied by crowds of hundreds of thousands of people. It is one of the largest "religious festivals" in the world.

What ancient personage has such a vital connection to real people today? This is not a celebration for Julius Caesar or some great philosopher or politician or king or movie star from the past. This is the celebration of a teenage girl who gave her life for Jesus Christ nearly 1,800 years ago!

Today, Saint Agatha is still remembered and honored with love by countless people, and she is a friend to their hearts. Real people have had real relationships with this person through the ages. They have looked to her example, confided in her, asked for her help. This is not superstition. This is the reality of the Church, the communion of saints. This communion of persons with God and with one another in Jesus Christ cannot be broken by the power and the violence of this world. They couldn't destroy it in the year 250. Long after the powers that raged against her have been forgotten, Agatha still lives! They can't destroy it in 2026. They will never destroy it.

Violence is only for a time. Love never ends.

“Winter Olympics in Virginia?” and Other Stories

The Winter Olympics begin this weekend. 

I was starting to think we could have the Olympics here in the neo-arctic region of Virginia. 

I can’t remember when I last saw so much frost and snow staying on the ground for so long — not melting at all, but just heaped on the roadsides by plows and just sitting around in lumps that get frozen solid from day after day of temperatures nowhere near the freezing point.

But… we are now enjoying “warmer” temperatures the past few days. A very slow thaw has begun. The snow rocks are receding and getting slushy during the day, which means they absorb more of oil-and-gas wastage left by passing cars. I remember this from my days growing up in Pittsburgh (which gets its winter weather off Lake Erie, and therefore has a lot more snow).

So we can’t have Winter Olympics here. The is one “sport” that (we hope) is starting up again: old-man-JJ’s-“three-legged”-walks around the neighborhood. It’s not really a spectator sport, however.

Anyway, it’s warmer here than Ukraine, where civilian infrastructure continues to get bombed by the Russians even as the Putin regime and the U.S. regime pretend to be working on a “peace deal.” Millions of Ukrainians have no heat, and it’s not getting warmer for them.

It’s also cold in Minnesota, and the snow has been mixed with blood. The regime and its undocumented-immigrant-hunting National Police fail to convince or inspire respect (to say the least). It’s sorrowful and deplorable. The United States and the whole world are changing. Instability is becoming a habit. Hearts are growing colder.

On the other hand, things may suddenly get very hot in the Persian Gulf, where U.S. warships are part of a “gunboat diplomacy” ploy that was supposed to be about the victims of recent Iranian protests but now seems to be about Iran’s nuclear program (the one that we were told was “liquidated” by last June’s bombing raids). Ever since we said “Happy New Year” the U.S. military has been active from Venezuela to Greenland (at least as leverage in verbal jostling, though we don’t know how close to execution any plans may have been) and now to Iran. So far it’s just incompetent and dangerous political actors with their threats, bluffs, and grandiose posturing. And, perhaps, lots of tech and construction contracts and money-making wheeling and dealing going on? Someone must be cashing in on the chaos. It’s all reckless and pathetic, which only makes it more dangerous.

I would prefer not to write about these things, but they weigh upon me, my compatriots, and people all the over the world. We have no idea what terrors, what madness might be unleashed by the war our foolish leaders are rushing toward, the war we are all calling down on our heads by our sins. 

Lord, have mercy on us, spare us from the horrors of war, convert our hearts to you. Have mercy on us!

The Presentation: Forty Days Already

HAPPY FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE. 

It has now been 40 days since Christmas, when we celebrated the birth of Jesus, the Word made flesh who has come to dwell with us, to reveal the glory of God and the immeasurable depths of His love for us. 

Today Jesus is brought to the Temple in Jerusalem by Mary and Joseph in accordance with the Mosaic Law. Here He is revealed to the faithful of the Old Covenant who have ardently awaited His coming. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, there are a few who recognize the baby Jesus as the Messiah in this joyful “epiphany,” as Simeon testifies: “My eyes have seen the salvation which You have prepared in the sight of all nations. A light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32).

Then “Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,

‘Behold, this child is destined

for the fall and rise of many in Israel,

and to be a sign that will be contradicted

—and you yourself a sword will pierce—

so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed’”

(Luke 2:34-35).

[Detail from Giotto, 14th. century.]

How Do We Stay Warm in this FREEZING COLD?!!

It’s cold, cold, cold, cold, COLD, COLD!!!!

Staying warm means staying indoors, and finding cozy places. The grandchildren know how to stay warm, so here are some of my most recent pictures. Catie is snuggled into her baby seat with blankets and a cap. Anna and Maria sneak into Papa’s chair with their books. And, at the bottom, Papa and Anna — she’s getting so big!

A Prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas

Here is a great prayer from Saint Thomas Aquinas, whose feast is today.

I'm Physically and Mentally Down, But NOT "Out"

My life is beautiful. I'm so grateful.

Therefore, I don't want to complain about anything.

I have shared things about my health over the course of the past fifteen years (fifteen years!) of this blog, as well as in the book that preceded it in 2010. The book —Never Give Up — is the source of the name of this blog, which is my peculiar "space" on the internet. There's no small irony in this name: I often feel like I "give up" all the time, as soon as things get difficult. It's only when I can't escape, when I'm stuck within constraining circumstances, that my determination to live and act in some way that has meaning and purpose "kicks in," driving me to adapt to the resources that are accessible to me. For the past decade-and-a-half, this blog has been one of those resources.

I write, record quotations, and do artistic projects here. But everything is rough and provisional. Perhaps this is all I can accomplish with my talents and efforts in this life. As I grow older, I still have "good days," but I can't deny that it's becoming more of a strain to write, or to express what I want to say. Even reading is getting harder. I've always been able to read. Now, it seems to tire me out very quickly.

Meanwhile, I feel bombarded with more and more of the noise of (mostly useless) pseudo-analysis and arguments about everything. It's hard to keep up with what matters, what falls within the range of my responsibility in the world around me. In civil society, as "things fall apart" more rapidly and extensively every day, I must share in the great concerns of the times, and feel the weight of the obscurity and sorrow that fill the atmosphere like dense clouds.

And now the frozen air of January has arrived with a rage, and here in Virginia we are frozen into our homes. My bones are no longer able to deal with the cold. I haven't been able to take my beloved walks lately. The cold cripples me. And the electric space heaters in our drafty house struggle in these temperatures.

Sorry. This is starting to sound like "complaining." We all have our burdens. Moreover, vast multitudes of people have to endure terrible conditions, the implacable brutality of violence, or personal sufferings beyond anything I can imagine. My heart cries out for a greater compassion when I hear so many stories of people devastated by so many kinds of horrific wounds.

If I complain about myself, it's just a sign of my own weakness and forgetfulness of the immense Gift that shapes the whole of my life. I pray that I can live truly the present moment that is given to me, remembering that I'm not alone, and trusting that each moment is a step on the path to the fulfillment for which I hope. But I am weak. And I have taken a “bit of a beating” over the years with physical and mental illnesses. I can't deny that I'm struggling a lot recently.

What concerns me most is that it sometimes seems like my mind is beginning to fail me (I should say, that part of my mind that didn't already break down years ago). Perhaps God wills to permit me to endure a further affliction that will introduce me to a whole new level of powerlessness. Thus I might experience more concretely the fact that my value as a person depends entirely on God's love.

It would be very hard to endure such a thing. But I'm not going to worry about that: as long as I'm able, I'll continue to write and study; seek to understand others and share their burdens in solidarity; pray from the heart for those who suffer all the inscrutable agonies that original sin, human brokenness, malice, weakness, and folly bring down upon the world; try to "teach" and mentor the younger generations as best I can; and — also — rest more and worry less: be grateful for my beloved wife who is so precious to me; love and appreciate and pray for the needs of our grown-up kids; watch the grandchildren play, read books to them, and gaze in wonder at their new faces.

I still have so many things that I think might be worthwhile to say — reasonable considerations and opinions (at least) that have been refined by many decades of education and personal experience. I have discovered new vistas too, in recent years, such as the vital importance of "Western persons" at least trying to understand more about Chinese and East Asian histories and cultures. This can give a greater wholeness to our own sense of humanity, and open us up to a dialogue that is essential in a globally interdependent and interactive world. Above all, it can awaken us to the awesome and mysterious ways of God's Providence and the will of Christ to open for us Christians — who have been sent out to all the world — "new ways" of encounter and evangelization by which we will all come to know Him with greater richness and intimacy. For they are also our brothers and sisters in the salvific love of His heart.

I want to share the expectations that have begun to stir within me of the grace which — right now, in humble and often hidden ways — is effecting this great expansion of fraternal charity among distant brothers and sisters. Much work needs to be done, work that will require the efforts of many from both sides over the course of many generations. I will probably only glimpse from a faraway distance the beauty of the genuine East-West encounter and communion that the Lord wants to bring about (as well as the meeting of so many other cultures and histories of peoples around the world for whom He has loved and suffered). At least I can point to what I see from afar, and rejoice in the dawn of the beautiful light on the path that is opening up before us.

I'm grateful for what I have glimpsed, and I want to share it with others. But just writing these words has exhausted me, and I have scarcely begun to articulate the basic details that I have begun to learn and that challenge me so deeply. I'm so often in pain and very tired. Please pray for me to be faithful to whatever the Lord asks of me, and to have peace in His will for me.

The "Snow-And-Freezing-Cold-Pocalypse" of January 2026

The big winter storm bore down on us on Saturday night.

The Northeastern States got most of the snow, while we got a lot of the ambiguous "wintry mix" that then freezes hard on the roads and everything else outside when nighttime temperatures go down to single digits. The result is very pretty. But it's dangerous to drive, or even to walk on it. And it's very windy and ridiculously COLD. We are getting warnings about possible power outages, even as we are stuck in the house for at least a few days.

And, they say, another storm may be coming...

Welcoming the Gift of Life

In the same address to international ambassadors (on January 9) in which Pope Leo warns against "the zeal for war" and many other forms of violence against the dignity of human persons, he also stresses the gift and vocation of every human life, the fundamental importance of marriage and the family, and the particular necessity "for enabling families to welcome and fully care for unborn life." He categorically rejects abortion and calls for protection of the lives of unborn children and support for their mothers.

Like all his predecessors, Pope Leo XIV proclaims the Gospel imperative of the inviolable dignity of the life and vocation of every human person without exception.

"Human beings are created in the image and likeness of God, who, 'by calling them into existence out of love, has at the same time called them to love.' This vocation is revealed in a privileged and unique way within the family. It is in this context that we learn to love and foster the capacity to serve life, thus contributing to the development of society and the Church’s mission....

"The vocation to love and to life, which manifests itself in an important way in the exclusive and indissoluble union between a woman and a man, implies a fundamental ethical imperative for enabling families to welcome and fully care for unborn life. This is increasingly a priority, especially in those countries that are experiencing a dramatic decline in birth rates. Life, in fact, is a priceless gift that develops within a committed relationship based on mutual self-giving and service.

"In light of this profound vision of life as a gift to be cherished, and of the family as its responsible guardian, we categorically reject any practice that denies or exploits the origin of life and its development. Among these is abortion, which cuts short a growing life and refuses to welcome the gift of life. In this regard, the Holy See expresses deep concern about projects aimed at financing cross-border mobility for the purpose of accessing the so-called 'right to safe abortion.' It also considers it deplorable that public resources are allocated to suppress life, rather than being invested to support mothers and families. 

"The primary objective must remain the protection of every unborn child and the effective and concrete support of every woman so that she is able to welcome life." 

~Pope Leo XIV

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"In all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 ... shall be observed as a particular day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion" (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops).

Saint Agnes: A Love Greater than the Violence of this World

⭐Happy Saint Agnes Day!⭐

"What I longed for, I now see; what I hoped for, I now possess; in heaven I am espoused to him whom on earth I loved with all my heart."

These words, placed on Agnes's lips in one of the ancient antiphons from today's Roman liturgy, express the 1700 year old memory of this singular young girl, consecrated virgin, bride of Christ, martyr. We too have this longing and this hope, and we are called each day to respond to His Love with all the love of our hearts.

And like Saint Agnes, we must long to see Him and offer ourselves in love for Him, whatever the circumstances we face, in all the ways in which we are called to witness to the sacredness of the life and vocation of every human person... even when we are threatened with violence by the powers of this world. 

Christ — for whom we long, hope for, and love — creates, redeems, and calls to Himself every human person. His Love for human persons is greater than all the violence of this world. His affirmation of the gift of human life is greater than all the worldly powers bent on destroying life.

Let us long to see Him, to see ourselves and one another through His eyes, and to love through His Heart.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Prayer

“O Thou Eternal God, out of whose absolute power and infinite intelligence the whole universe has come into being, we humbly confess that we have not loved thee with our hearts, souls and minds, and we have not loved our neighbors as Christ loved us. We have all too often lived by our own selfish impulses rather than by the life of sacrificial love as revealed by Christ. We often give in order to receive. We love our friends and hate our enemies. We go the first mile but dare not travel the second. We forgive but dare not forget. And so as we look within ourselves, we are confronted with the appalling fact that the history of our lives is the history of an eternal revolt against thee. But thou, O God, have mercy upon us. Forgive us for what we could have been but failed to be. Give us the intelligence to know thy will. Give us the courage to do thy will. Give us the devotion to love thy will. In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen.”

Source: Martin Luther King, Jr., “Thou, Dear God”: Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits (King Legacy, 2014).