A reading from the gospel of Mark: And a leper came to him begging him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And he sternly charged him, and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.” But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

By the President of the United States A Proclamation The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and even soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

Go to paypal.me/MercyForLifeCorp and type in the amount. Since it’s PayPal, it's easy and secure. Don’t have a PayPal account? No worries.

People have this fantasy that punishment for sin is something other than separation from God and that separation from God is done to us by God and not inflicted on us by ourselves. Here's how it really works: I particularly enjoy the whiny language of "disenfranchisement", as though freely choosing to spit on the gospel and walk away from Christ is not entirely on them but is actually something Leo forces these rebellious thugs and lovers of cruelty to do.

Gloria is one of my heroes, a committed Catholic convert who tirelessly bears witness to the actual teaching of the actual Church and contradicts the lies of the MAGA Catholic cult and it scandalous witness. Here is a taste of her answer to the question, "What are Black Catholics hearing when church leaders praise Charlie Kirk?" When Catholic Church leaders, clergy and lay alike, publicly praise Charlie Kirk, many Black Catholics hear them sanctifying a figure who championed rhetoric that served to maintain white supremacy.

...it seems to me useful to learn about the way another dictator destroyed a Republic in the hope we might be smarter than the Romans were:

Sometime back I discussed in this space why I think the Epstein thing landed differently with (some, not all) of Cult. The key to understanding it, I think, is that in a Cult where empathy extends solely to the Self and those perceived as extensions of the Self, who those extensions are becomes all-important. MAGA propaganda has relentlessly taught the Cult to keep the Circle of Empathy as small as possible.

The more I see of Phil Vischer, the gladder I am that he was making VEGGIE TALES for our children 30 years ago. He's a good man, a good disciple of Jesus, and his HOLY POST ministry is good too. I think I may try to get a copy of THE CHURCH'S BEST-KEPT SECRET into his hands. We might be able to cross-pollinate on some fruitful work:

I mean, I get it. I do. There is certainly a case to be made that being Christian and conservative are not synonymous. Indeed, in this hour, there is a strong case to be made that they are opposites. But I deeply resist the idea that the purpose of Christianity is to provide a justification for being Progressive--and for the same reason I oppose it as the justification for being Conservative.

In Flanders Fields By John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,    That mark our place; and in the sky    The larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

The Cult, only capable of learning--if at all--from excruciating self-inflicted pain, is starting to feel the pinch. Stupid as ever, most of them will parrot whatever lie they are fed about how "the media" is cooking the books to make the Fuehrer look bad. Then they will lie more and more desperately that it's Biden's fault, or the Dems fault, or the gays, trans, illegals or some other scapegoat.

The Christian tradition teaches us that every attempt at virtue, including half-assed and dumb ones, is to be encouraged. So the child on her best behavior, trying to say the kindest thing she can think of, who tells the guest, "Gosh, mister! For a fat guy, you sure don't sweat much!" is to be commended for the attempt, not measured by the success or failure, of her charity.

A reader asks: Help me out buddy with some theology. Can a non believer's suffering be redemptive???? I'm struggling to know what to do with the sheer level of real horrific suffering in some family members' lives, who will not or cannot open their mind to spirituality. The best I can come up with - they are Simon, forced to carry a cross they understand not.

Here the reality about living in a democracy: If you did not vote for Harris, you voted for... all this. Don't give me any bellyaching about God not magically rescuing a free people from the consequences of our choices. America, as a people, asked for this asshole, asked for the Party that enables this asshole to run both houses of Congress, …

So Calvinist Puritanism in New England, obsessed with the Glory of God, mutated into a Unitarianism that is indifferent to his very existence. Breakaway conservative sects in the 19th Century who thought Vatican I was too far out and liberal are now groups at the far left end of the theological spectrum. And the "pro-life" movement now backs whackjob Eugenics:

Simcha Fisher on the self-absorbed self-pity of the Cult capable of empathy only for the Self and those rare people who are extensions of the Self. The cosplay martyrdom of the Cult and its ruthless contempt for all others is a nauseating testimony to the utter failure of MAGA Christianity and of its vile war on the Kingdom of God.