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When a man is at the mercy of his own feelings, he misinterprets the most innocent actions, always ready to believe the worst; whereas your peaceable man sees good everywhere; at peace in himself, he isn't suspicious of others. - Thomas à Kempis

Unlike most Catholics on X, I am not a formally trained theologian, but I think this might be a bigger moral issue than the US enforcing immigration law.

You’re gonna throw your phone after you see this story. For 125 years, a group of Catholic nuns in New York have run a FREE hospice called Rosary Hill Home. They take care of poor people dying from cancer no charge, ever. Just pure Christian charity. Then Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a law a few years ago that forces EVERY nursing home to use preferred pronouns, house patients by gender identity (not biological sex), and let people into opposite-sex bathrooms and spaces. The nuns said: “We treat everyone with dignity… but we can’t do that. It goes against our Catholic faith.” So New York is now threatening them with $5,000–$10,000 fines per violation, loss of their license, and jail time. These sisters who’ve spent their whole lives caring for the dying are being told: obey the gender rules or shut down. Unbelievable.

If you need a list because your heart is so cold… (which I pray it isn’t) The saved: For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat… If you don’t do these works: Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Even the goats doom to eternal fire believed in our Lord but they had dead faith.

@dlongenecker1 What works please list them. All works, some of them. Is there a checklist of works that makes you saved? How often must you perform these works? If I don’t perform the exact works required does that mean I lose my salvation?

Protestant: "I'm saved by faith not by works." Catholic: "How do you do that?"

Introducing the Refugee Resettlement Data Platform Find out exactly how many refugees of each nationality have been resettled in your state. And how much it cost you. morseresearch.org/refugees

The dumbest person you know is being told 'you are absolutely right' by some LLM right now.

@TheCatholicEngr Irrefutable logic. I bow to your wisdom and insights.

The Earth's surface is 71% water Water which is non-carbonated So technically it is flat

Watching a liberal slowly wake up.

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イースターおめでとう御座います。 幼稚園併設でもなく、住宅街にひっそりと立つ教会ですが、たくさんの小さな子どもたちの声が礼拝堂に響いていました。

“Why have people fallen in love with a system that exploits them?” All systems and societies are created by the decisions, efforts, and contributions of the members. Some may benefit without contributing. Some who contribute may not receive the hoped-for benefits. But if the society is more or less stable, then everybody benefits from its existence, since the alternative — having no system or order in society — harms almost everyone. Even oppressive systems may be better than anarchy or chaos. Seeking to alter, modify, or improve society may sometimes result in change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Simply fighting against the existing order with no replacement plan only rarely results in improvement for anyone. The American Revolution was designed to remove England as overlord, but the rebels wanted a stable replacement system to maintain order without interruption. Hence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, and the continuation of state governments with elected leaders. People with property held on to their property. But the French Revolution was spontaneous and undeclared; radicals of a certain stripe proclaimed themselves the bosses and got enough soldiers to agree that they could be called a government. But they were murderous and vengeful and demolished the institutions — the system — that had maintained order, however unfairly. The new system collapsed as a heroic strongman emerged to become dictator --i.e., a replacement king. Napoleon defeated invading enemies and then invaded them back, ostensibly for the revolutionary ideals. But he led a generation of young Frenchmen to be slaughtered or starved and frozen in a pointless Russian campaign and those who replaced him tried to restore the previous order. But the instability in France lasted through the first and second republics and on into the third, and one might argue that it was Nazi occupation and the Gaullist government that restored a more or less stable system to France. Chaos is less satisfying and less prosperous than order. So a system, call it good or bad, is built by its participants and generally is better than no system at all. It can be said that all systems exploit the contributors, and benefit many noncontributing parasites. I can think of no example from history that benefits all contributors and excludes all parasites. The continuation of good order requires the compliance or cooperation of almost all, even those who feel under-served by the system, because if the system falls without a sturdy replacent ready, the resulting chaos is worse for everyone, and worst for those already vulnerable and weak. So to call the contributors exploited and call all defense of the status quo “propaganda” is to advocate for destruction and anarchy, which hurts worst those least benefitted by the system as it was. The destroyers, however, don't care — they are poised to take control locally, mafia style, or, in other words, feudally, or else make accommodation with whatever strong man emerges on top. Every utopia I've ever heard of that promises to benefit rather than exploit the contributors turns out to be gamed by power-seekers, who develop, usually through an eventual monopoly of violence, a new system which is only rarely an improvement. So to those who berate and seek to bring down the current system really ought to present their plan for a new system clearly, or, if they have no plan, shut up until they do.

@BishopBarron @TheFP Hello Bishop, Why is the article locked behind a paywall / free trial with required registration? I would hope your guidance would be offered to your flock without price? Maybe I am missing something???? Thank you and God bless!

Friends, “Sinners” has been nominated for more Oscars than any film in the history of the awards.  To be sure, the film has much to recommend it, but its underlying argument is troubling.  Read why in my review for @TheFP: thefp.com/p/bishop-barro…

Agreed. And at the councils they had a criteria for acceptance. While some were well understood they did go through up to 100 or so documents discerning those divinely inspired and those which were not and some that were frauds. This was about 300 years later that they were doing this work. It was by their authority the books were included in the Bible we have still today.

Kind of. I mean, apostles grocery lists aren’t canon because they weren’t meant for the whole church. And if something didn’t match what we know about the gospel generally it wouldn’t be accepted because, as Paul points out, there is no authority bigger than the gospel generally itself, even him.

The story of the Protestant bible

@jb_61820 @Rblv73 Ok, thank you for the clarification. Was that the only criteria used by the Catholic Church in the two councils when they decided on the cannon of the New Testament?

@0xTony @Rblv73 Written under their authority, guidance, and with the chance for them to counter if something were mistaken.

@jb_61820 @Rblv73 Can you please clarify what you mean by "belonging to the apostles"?

@0xTony @Rblv73 "Protestants must acknowledge this authority, as they use the same established canon." The authority is that of the apostles. We merely agree that the books identified as belonging to the apostles was correctly identified.

AI is frying people’s brains. Uber drivers have always been my barometer. In finance, in life, in politics, and in moments of global tension. Two rides to the airport recently showed me just how bad it’s getting. First driver was a Muslim guy. Very nice. We start talking about Iran. Then Israeli politics. I told him straight up I disagree with a lot of Israeli politics. He immediately relaxed and the conversation opened up. Then we get to the Epstein files. I tell him what I know. He nods along and says of course he knows everything about it. Then he asks me if I know why the Iran war is happening. I ask why…. He says because of the Epstein files. I say alright, I understand the theory. People want attention diverted from it. Then he goes further. He says he is shocked I have not seen the real reason. Trump slept with his daughter. Yes. That is what he told me. He knows Trump slept with his daughter and is bombing Iran to hide it because it was in the Epstein files. I leaned forward and told him that is not real. He said brother it is there. You just have not seen it. I asked again to make sure he was serious. He was dead serious. His whole circle believes it. Messed up right? Second ride. Turkish driver. You all know I am Greek so that is always interesting. I ask his name. We start laughing immediately. Good energy. He says Istanbul. I say Constantinople. We go back and forth joking. He says I look like Turkish actors. I tell him they look like me. I tell him he is probably Greek and should check his DNA. We even talked about how Western Turkey and Greece would probably be extremely similar societies if politics disappeared. Great conversation. Then politics comes up. Again I say I disagree with a lot of Israeli politics. He gets comfortable. Then Iran comes up. He looks at me and says something that backs what I see on X. He says Israel is leveled. I say no it is not. He says yes. Completely destroyed. Like Gaza. The media is hiding it. I asked him multiple times because I thought maybe he meant heavy damage. No. He believes Israel is completely destroyed and the media is covering it up. The videos he saw online convinced him. Wild huh? Two separate drivers. Two different backgrounds. Two completely different lives. Both absolutely certain about things that simply are not real. AI images. Edited videos. Influencer propaganda. It is creating parallel realities. How do you question wars, governments, or geopolitics when millions of people are operating on fabricated information? That is a serious problem.

@tlhrcatholic @kmtran95 Because they are human and are not always in clerical garb for the many things they need to do: working out, painting, mowing, on vacation, etc... the important thing is they listen for the call and they drop what ever it is they are doing and go. God bless our priests!

@kmtran95 Why not just be ready and wear priestly attire when you are dressed around the rectory or even running errands?

Sometimes as a priest you decide to make a quick Costco run before your parish penance service, and as soon as you peel out of the driveway, you get a Last Rites call, so then you pull up in a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals. Please pray for M in her final hours.

Why do Democrats now universally condemn what achieves a top, longstanding Democratic priority?

In a ​new paper​, researchers argue that: “a primary cause of the rise in mental disorders [in youth] is a decline over decades in opportunities for children and teens to play, roam, and engage in other activities independent of direct oversight and control by adults.”

Friends, something that is becoming increasingly a concern of mine is the prevalence of explicit Marxism in the rhetoric and practice of certain leaders on the Left in America.  I invite you to consider my thoughts on the subject here: fxn.ws/46fyxCA