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).

War and Trees

Europe and the USA are staring each other down over Greenland. The United States is threatening to use military force (“if necessary”) to seize Greenland, claiming that the island is crucial for national security.

I can see plausible reasons for the security idea, with the warming Arctic Ocean. There is also talk of building a massive “missile defense shield” that will supposedly require incorporating the Denmark-ruled territory. Really? And this gives us the “right of conquest” and subjugation of another nation’s territory? It does no such thing!

Why can’t these plans be accomplished in cooperation with the NATO alliance? What about mutual defense? What about basic trust between long-allied nations? Instead, my country is breaking away from NATO. The break may already be irreparable. But there is to be posturing and aggression and arrogance rather than cooperation and understanding.

The current U.S. regime is an agent of chaos. I have never been so troubled by what feels like the imminence of global war on a catastrophic scale as I am right now. More now than during the Cold War. More now than after 9-11. The danger is palpable.

Everyone pray and beg God for mercy.

Meanwhile, I have drawn some more trees. Aside from the evergreens, the trees are bare. They are like fragile sticks exposed to the frozen cold, the pitiless wind, the strange winter light. Their life is hidden deep down inside them. 

I hope to see them bloom again.

Two Leaders from the United States, Two Different Visions

I understand that the first person quoted here is not a politician, and places himself at the service of all nations. Nevertheless he has a right and duty to address the truth that underlies how nations ought to be governed in the so-called "real world." 

This person doesn’t brag about his past accomplishments, but he is not naive. 

He has decades of global experience, particularly in Latin America. He lived through the 1980s and 1990s in Peru, during the days of the most brutal communist insurgency in the history of that continent — the dreaded, cult-like, murderous Sindero Luminoso (the "Shining Path"). He also lived through the almost-equally brutal State repression that followed under the government of Alberto Fujimori. He has seen — up close — the many sides of human power imposed without wisdom and justice. He has sacrificed himself immensely in order to care for many of its victims.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The second person I quote below is a brash young man with no international experience and no sign of any familiarity with the wisdom that undergirds "the rule of law" and "peaceful civil coexistence." He places his trust in power. Unfortunately, he is currently one of the architects of United States domestic and foreign policy:

"We live in a world in which you can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else, but we live in a world, in the real world that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power" (Stephen Miller, cabinet official and ideologue of the present USA government).

I stand with Pope Leo. And I weep for my own country with its "zeal for war." I pray for my poor country, for its benighted and undisciplined leaders, and for the world that they risk setting on fire with their presumptuous ambition and recklessness.

God, save us and grant us wisdom, love, mutual respect, intelligence, justice, and peace.

Theophany: God Reveals and Gives Himself

Happy Feast of the "Baptism of the Lord," or — as it is known in the Eastern Church — the "Theophany," which is the culmination of our annual joyful observance of Christmas. 

From Bethlehem to the Jordan, we have celebrated in these days God's "opening up of himself," his giving of himself to us. He who is the Mystery that every human person seeks; he who is on "the other side" of the MORE that every person pleads for in front of reality: he has done something beyond all of our dreams and our myths and our philosophy and our striving. He himself — the Infinite Mystery — has come into our reality, into actual human flesh and blood. God is with us. He has made his dwelling among us and remains with us. He has intervened directly and totally in the story of the human race. God himself dwells in the midst of our cruelty, barbarism, blindness, idolatry, and willful ignorance of his compassion and love.

God has given everything; he has poured himself out in love, and in so doing he manifests his ineffable glory, for God is Love. The fullness of the revelation of God is in this love that overcomes sin, that embraces us and heals us. The Infinite Mystery is Infinite Mercy.

And Divine mercy has a human face and a name: Jesus.

Jesus is the reason for the joy and wonder that fill our hearts in the Christmas season, and at any other time when we recognize in life some sign of him for whom we hope. We celebrate his coming with the awareness that in the risen and glorified Jesus (and in Mary) the New Creation has already begun in its fullness. Meanwhile, we remain in this present age so that we might grow into the fullness of perfect adherence to his mercy, and so that we might announce the gift of God’s love in our world of fear and illusion, frustration and weakness, violence and malice, searching and incomprehensible suffering.

In front of the suffering of our brothers and sisters we must witness that Jesus Christ is the only answer to the search for meaning and the yearning for love that God has fashioned in the depths of every human heart. Only Jesus really knows me; only he can answer for me the question, “Who am I?”

Christians must become more profoundly aware of this fact. They must not rest content and comfortable (or afraid) behind closed doors. They must beg the Lord to deepen the conviction and the ardor of their faith and love, so that they will perceive more concretely that the glory of Christ is the real, superabundant, unimaginable answer to every human misery, every human cry of anguish, every authentic human desire for something more than the limits of this world can give.

We Christians: we need this capacity to see life as it really is. Then we will be able to give love, to bring healing, to meet human needs with God's mercy, to be witnesses.

The fundamental Christian missionary vocation that we all share calls upon us, first of all, to become more deeply aware of the fact that Jesus himself corresponds to the mystery of the human heart — my own heart, and the heart of every person I meet. We must beg God to give us the grace to see our world, our circumstances — vividly — in light of this truth.

We must beg God to teach us how to pray, to open our eyes and our hearts to recognize his presence, to be changed by his "humble glory." We must seek him in the life of the Church, drawing strength from the Eucharist and the sacraments, and from one another in the companionship that is born from this new unity we share in his mercy and love.

We are called to have a faith that lives on the concrete, day to day level with conviction and deep, abiding joy. Jesus is Lord. He has all things. He is the meaning of the universe, the meaning of history, the meaning of today, this day, this moment, now.

He enters into our "now" and transforms it into an invitation to respond in love to the mystery of his love. His presence empowers our hearts and draws us to respond more and more in love to his love, to abandon ourselves to his love.

He is here: he who is the Source who sustains all things and "saves them from nothingness." Human beings live in fear of the Ultimate Mystery; they flee from it because it appears to them to be a gaping abyss of darkness. A true Christian does not deny this mysterious abyss, or seek to replace it with some ideology or cheap sentiment. A true Christian lives the mystery of being human all the way to the abyss and suffers it's darkness. Christian faith knows that Jesus is here too, and above all.

Jesus has fathomed the abyss of our own mystery, and calls upon us to trust in him because the abyss is Eternal Love. The abyss is Mercy that will finally take us beyond yearning and longing, beyond ourselves and our limits and into the fulfillment for which we have been made. He is here and we will be saved if we adhere to him and hold onto him and never let go.

To seek, to live, to bear witness to the enduring presence of Jesus in the world, the presence of Jesus who embraces the whole of life: this is the most essential thing we can do to carry the mystery of Christmas beyond these days of celebration, for it is through us that Jesus continues to appear to the world and make himself known.

The “Eternal Light For All Nations”

May the light of Christmas continue to grow in our hearts in this new year. (Giotto, Nativity.)

"Everything is Reborn from the Silent Power of Life Welcomed"

Before the Christmas Season concludes, I want to present some of the powerful words of Pope Leo's Christmas homily (courtesy of Vatican website). The Pope turns our minds and hearts toward the solidarity of Christ's presence with us, and the way Christ calls us to share his merciful love in a world threatened by great sufferings, escalating violence, the ravages of war that grow greater by the day - all the pain and fragility of human persons who need to experience God's mercy and find therein the ways to listen to one another, to love one another, to forgive one another, to be reconciled. This is the way of peace.

"Here is the surprise that the Christmas liturgy presents to us: the Word of God appears but cannot speak. He comes to us as a newborn baby who can only cry and babble. 'The Word became flesh' (John 1:14). Though he will grow and one day learn the language of his people, for now he speaks only through his simple, fragile presence. 'Flesh' is the radical nakedness that, in Bethlehem as on Calvary, remains even without words – just as so many brothers and sisters, stripped of their dignity and reduced to silence, have no words today. Human flesh asks for care; it pleads for welcome and recognition; it seeks hands capable of tenderness and minds willing to listen; it longs for words of kindness...

“This is the paradoxical way in which peace is already among us: God’s gift invites us in; it seeks to be welcomed and, in turn, inspires our own self-giving. God surprises us because he leaves himself open to rejection. He also captivates us because he draws us away from indifference.  Becoming children of God is a true power – one that remains buried so long as we keep our distance from the cry of children and the frailty of the elderly, from the helpless silence of victims and the resigned melancholy of those who do the evil they do not want...

Dear brothers and sisters, since the Word was made flesh, humanity now speaks, crying out with God’s own desire to encounter us. The Word has pitched his fragile tent among us. How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold; and of those of so many other refugees and displaced persons on every continent; or of the makeshift shelters of thousands of homeless people in our own cities? Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds. Fragile are the minds and lives of young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths.

"When the fragility of others penetrates our hearts, when their pain shatters our rigid certainties, then peace has already begun. The peace of God is born from a newborn’s cry that is welcomed, from weeping that is heard. It is born amidst ruins that call out for new forms of solidarity. It is born from dreams and visions that, like prophecies, reverse the course of history. Yes, all this exists, because Jesus is the Logos, the Meaning, from which everything has taken shape. 'All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made' (John 1:3). This mystery speaks to us from the nativity scenes we have built; it opens our eyes to a world in which the Word still resonates, 'many times and in many ways' (cf. Hebrews 1:1), and still calls us to conversion...

"This is the way of mission: a path toward others. In God, every word is an addressed word; it is an invitation to conversation, a word never closed in on itself. This is the renewal that the Second Vatican Council promoted, which will bear fruit only if we walk together with the whole of humanity, never separating ourselves from it. The opposite is worldliness: to have oneself at the center. The movement of the Incarnation is a dynamics of conversation.  There will be peace when our monologues are interrupted and, enriched by listening, we fall to our knees before the humanity of the other. In this, the Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church, the Star of Evangelization, the Queen of Peace. In her, we understand that nothing is born from the display of force, and everything is reborn from the silent power of life welcomed."

The Short Days of January

We've had some beautiful afternoons, even if they are brief. The days are getting longer, but the arc of the sun remains low two weeks after the Winter Solstice.

Still, winter afternoon light lingers as the sun goes down. It covers everything in a gentle golden glow.

Venezuela: A "Splendid Little War"? Or Something Else..?

"I desire to see America fashioned into the greatest nation in the world, greatest not so much by virtue of her area and wealth as by her freedom and glory."

There's a quotation for you. It might seem fitting as a cheer for the latest expansionist foray of the current MAGA regime (until recently the "no-more-foreign-wars" people). But this statement wasn't made by any of the present rulers of the United States, even though it wants to associate "America" with "greatness," and aspires to "America" becoming "the greatest nation in the world."

Every red-blooded patriotic American wants that. Right?

Nevertheless, these words were not written by MAGA or by any previous political party or movement or any citizen in the history of the United States.

In fact, these words are a translation. From Spanish.

And they were written by a man named Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco, a native of Venezuela and champion of Venezuelan independence and of Latin America as a whole (which is what he meant by "America").

Behind the "iconic" figure of Simon Bolivar as The Liberator, or "the George Washington" of Hispanic America, there stands a complex political and personal figure — a reformer, a democrat, an idealist, and (when he deemed it necessary) a dictator: a man of the Enlightenment, a Freemason and a "bad Catholic" who received the last sacraments before his death and who — more often than not — favored the presence of the Catholic faith in the lives of the Hispanic people.

Simon Bolivar lived a brief stormy life, full of military and political activity, founding states in South America, fleeing failed states and refounding others, fighting wars, writing constitutions, dreaming of a future federated republic encompassing all of (Hispanic) America, and searching for practical government policies to bring it about.

The Latin American political landscape remains tumultuous and complicated to this day, so that it's not surprising that Bolivar is claimed as the inspiration of everyone from Hugo Chavez and the criminally corrupt Chavista regime (that was not overthrown in last weekend's "military operation" in Caracas) to once-again slighted opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez — her candidate who won the 2024 presidential election only to have it shamelessly stolen by Maduro and the Chavista gang.

Truly, Venezuela has suffered tremendously in recent years. But now the USA has invaded the capitol city and captured its president by a unilateral military intervention. It has carried out an aggressive act of war against a foreign nation without regard for the requirements of international law. The U.S. regime appears to be expanding the scope of its reckless and confusing actions over the past year regarding both domestic and international affairs. On the other hand, Nicholas Maduro really is a "bad guy" who was destroying his own country and much else besides. His departure is welcome news to millions of Venezuelans. But what happens now? What does the United States intend to do for the people of Venezuela? What can it do?

Right now, Maduro’s Vice-President has taken his place, and the whole Chavista organization remains in control of the government. Yet we have been told that the United States regime is going to "run" Venezuela, with the cooperation of the Chavistas, who presumably will keep the natives under the heels of their boots while we "drill-baby-drill" in the world's largest oil reserves. But (we are told) this is not just about ruthless exploitation of the raw materials of a vulnerable Latin American country. Broad assurances have been given that Venezuela will be rebuilt, reorganized, reformed, and restored as a thriving democracy... after an "undetermined period" of Yankee tutelage.

Forgive my cynicism, but it would appear that the United States is back in the business of "nation-building" — once again without a coherent plan, in a place it knows nothing about, with no idea of the needs of the people who live there, or the complex terrain of their land, or these people's own proud national history.

Simon Bolivar must be turning over in his grave.

How will it all unfold? Who knows? One thing is sure: Anglo-America has plunged into a full-on, long term engagement with Hispanic America. So much for building walls. Might something good come out of this? Perhaps — after more violence and painful lessons learned and humble conversion of many hearts — it will be changed into a genuine collaboration, the beginning of a new experience of solidarity that this hemisphere so desperately needs.