The King's Corner

What follows is a Boston Globe article published on September 8: “Why are you so angry? Maybe it’s because politicians (and social media companies) want you that way” by Rob Henderson [contributing writer for Globe Opinion, has a PhD in psychology from the University of Cambridge and is the author of “Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class”].  We Catholics – and everybody else and in-between – should heed his opinion about anger.  I certainly should. (begin) It seems as if people are angrier than ever. According to a poll by CBS News, 84 percent of Americans believe we are angrier than previous generations. Another survey recently found that nine in 10 Americans can name either a recent news event or something about American politics that made them angry, while only half could identify such a thing that made them proud. What explains this rage? One noteworthy reason is that social media platforms have figured out how to monetize anger, using algorithms that reward

What follows is a great article: "Heaven and hell in post-Vatican II Catholicism: How to move from fear to love" by M. Cathleen Kaveny, September 03, 2024, America Magazine (Professor of Law and Theology at Boston College) (begin) Taken as a whole, the online Catholic world can look more like an abstract pointillist painting than a coherent landscape. To borrow the imagery of Isaiah Berlin, the internet environment encourages us to think like foxes rather than hedgehogs. Virtual discussions roam over many small things (e.g., the kerfuffle last spring over Harrison Butker’s graduation address at Benedictine College), rather than one or two big things. And there is no bigger question for Catholics today than this: Why should anyone become or remain Catholic  (my emphasis)? Before the Second Vatican Council, the answers commonly given to this question focused on individual well-being in the afterlife. As many Catholic characters in movies and novels attested, a basic reason t

I sometimes meet with engaged couples before their marriage.  We discuss where they disagree and agree on important matters, and the objective is for them to reveal to each other aspects of their upcoming marital lives they may not have addressed.  What follows is an article I may now give them to help them prepare for their journey together.  We can all benefit from the author's research and insights. (begin) "Science says lasting relationships come down to—you guessed it—kindness and generosity" by Emily Esfahani Smith June 12, 2014.   Every day in June, the most popular wedding month of the year, about 13,000 American couples will say “I do,” committing to a lifelong relationship that will be full of friendship, joy, and love that will carry them forward to their final days on this earth.

I've never liked beauty pageants.  I'd prefer pageants based on intellect and integrity.  How foolish am I?  Not so easy to judge.  It should be during elections that, in a way, resemble pageants with questions to be answered and talents and qualifications to govern being weighed and judged. Some political figures compete to win their pageant by wearing a crown dependent on miss-information and/or miss-informed voters. That is how they intend to win: by gaslighting, threats, lies, and mis- or disinformation.   It's up to us voters to be informed and to be guided by the Catholic Church's "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" [see USCCB website].   Let's not make mistakes this election by not paying attention to the truth and facts and by misplacing our responsibilities for faithful citizenship. Deacon David Pierce 

Today is the Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs.  I follow my blog on St. Chrysostom with St. Cyprian and his “Three Books Of Testimonies Against The Jews.”   (begin) Treatise XII Three Books Of Testimonies Against The Jews is a religious text written by Cyprian, a bishop of Carthage in the 3rd century AD. The book is divided into three parts, each containing a collection of biblical passages and other writings that Cyprian uses to argue against the Jewish faith. The first book focuses on the Old Testament prophecies that Cyprian believes were fulfilled in the coming of Christ, while the second book examines the Jewish rejection of Christ and the consequences of that rejection. The third book contains various other arguments against the Jewish faith, including accusations of idolatry and blasphemy. Throughout the text, Cyprian emphasizes the superiority of Christianity over Judaism and the importance of converting Jews to the Christian faith. The book is a

A Fox, running before the hounds, came across a Woodcutter felling an oak tree, and begged him to show him a safe hiding-place. The Woodcutter advised him to take shelter in his own hut. The Fox crept in and hid himself in a corner. In a few minutes a Huntsman came up with his hounds and inquired of the Woodcutter if he had seen the Fox. He declared that he had not seen him, and yet pointed, all the time he was speaking, to the hut where the Fox lay hid. The huntsman took no notice of the signs and quickly continued his chase.  As soon as they were well away, the Fox left the hut and began to leave; whereupon the Woodcutter angrily called to him and reproached him, saying, “You ungrateful fellow, you owe your life to me, and yet you are leaving me without a word of thanks.” 

Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died.  Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.” Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent  looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:4-9) “Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us,” so said the people.  The serpent is another way to name Satan, the Devil.  Satan

What follows is from www.laits.utexas.edu (Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services).  I provide this “instruction” because today is the Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. It is entitled: “John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) – Eight Homilies against the Jews.”  I provide parts of his first two homilies because our “Doctor” was guilty of spreading disease [hatred of the Jews], and we need to know his and other Doctors’ backgrounds and teachings if we are to understand our Church’s history and the basis for many of our dogmas and doctrines. Chrysostom provided some very nasty, damaging, and outlandish slander against the Jewish people. (begin) John Chrysostom is considered one of the Church Fathers. He was bishop of Antioch at the time of these sermons; later, in 398, he became archbishop of Constantinople. He was admired for his eloquence and gifts in preaching. In eight sermons which he delivered in 387, Chrysostom presented a version of Jewish history t

J esus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.  Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners and get back the same amount.  But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the u

We must never forget this horrific act of terrorism that led to tragic and wasteful wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  War is hell, and that is where our nation and so many families went.  Twenty-three years ago seems like just yesterday.  It does for many people and nations. Deacon David Pierce

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all. (Luke 6:12-19) Jesus went to the mountain to pray.  What follows are other places to pray and for comfort.

What follows is an article by Ronald Rolheiser: On Not Bracketing the Essentials during our Moral Battles, August 14, 2011.  Note the year.  Also read Father Healey's very relevant Pastor's Pen from September 1. (begin) Today, both within society and the churches, we are finding it ever more difficult to resolve our differences because our conversations are shot-through with non-civility, name-calling, character-assassination, and disrespect. What’s particularly worrying is that we are doing this in the name of truth, cause, the gospel, and Jesus. We are giving ourselves permission to hate, demonize, and disrespect each other in God’s name. Our cause seems so important to us that, consciously or unconsciously, we give ourselves permission to bracket some of the essentials of Christian charity, namely, respect, graciousness, love, and forgiveness.

Again, Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” — And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished, and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (Mark 7:31-37) Where do we see injustice, vulgarity, and insults?  Who is guilty of crudeness, crassness, and flaunting the law. Are we not paying attention to deceivers and those who speak not the truth but lie?  What is our res

While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.” (Luke 6:1-5) Who or what do we obey: the Lord or Church teachings?  There are times when both seem to say something different.  On the sabbath the Pharisees saw something “unlawful,” so they were critical.  David countered with his eating the priests’ bread of offering and correctly responding: “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.” Are we Pharisees or David?  At times, it can be hard to decide. When do we know what is right and just and

The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink.” Jesus answered them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” And he also told them a parable. “No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins. And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” (Luke 5:33-39) Many of us are “old wineskins.”  We have aged.  I’m one.  However, I have a problem with the claim that pouring “new wine” into me

I received in my CTK inbox the publication: “The Breached Dam: The Fiducia Supplicans Surrender to the Homosexual Movement” by Jose Antonio Ureta and Julio Loredo (2024) published by the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property.  I did not request it.  It just appeared like an unwanted guest at a family gathering and celebration. What follows are a few excerpts (38-41) from Fiducia Supplicans . (begin) 38. For this reason, one should neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation. At the same time, one should not prevent or prohibit the Church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing. In a brief prayer preceding this spontaneous blessing, the ordained minister could ask that the individuals have peace, health, a spirit of patience, dialogue, and mutual assistance—but also God’s light and strength to be able to fulfill his will completely. 39. In an

After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her. He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them. At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them. And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.” But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ. At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea. (Luke 4:38-44)

  I suspect some of you may not appreciate my frequent use of Pearls Before Swine comics.  This particular strip is one reason why I do highlight Stephan Pastis' work and creativity. "She is not gone. She just moved" is a comforting notion with hugs and love being the connection to the one who is gone from our sight but not from our hearts. Hugs and love also must be given to those who are not gone and depend on us for care and comfort. Otherwise, they will have neither peace nor rest.  Tombstones are for the dead, not the living.   Deacon David Pierce 

Antisemitism continues to raise its venomous and ugly head.  Denying that the Holocaust never happened is one such example believed by gullible stooges.  What follows is from the Southern Poverty Law Center.      (begin) Holocaust denier claims run the gamut. Some of these falsely say that most Jewish people were not killed in a World War II systematic genocide but instead were the victims of disease, starvation or other indiscriminate hardships. Other Holocaust-denial group members embrace claims that the gas chambers did not exist or were used only to delouse prisoners. Many deniers claim the gas chambers could not have killed as many victims as historical research shows, propping up their arguments by highlighting discrepancies in the number of recorded casualties. Others suggest that the gas chambers were built after the war as a way of extracting reparations from the Germans and/or to justify the creation of Israel. Holocaust deniers and revisionists also promote antisemitic trope

First Reading Moses said to the people: "Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, 'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.' For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?" (Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8)