War, Again

 The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.

~ George Orwell, 1984

War. It seems to be our inescapable human fate.

Current events in Israel and Iran have seemed inevitable for a long time, and now we are living with the violent results of that collision course. For America, this is a television war--so far. There is no predicting where or how far the conflict will go, but that's not the point. The point is, it's on. 

I understand why Israel took the action that it did. As President Trump has so often emphasized, Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb. It became obvious that the price of stopping Iran is war. Again.

There's a Christmas carol that was written during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Do You Hear What I Hear? The song was an appeal for world peace. Although unseasonable, more than 60 years later it is appropriate to our moment. As the last stanza puts it:

Bing Crosby's 1963 recording of Do You Hear What I Hear?

Battle Ready

Put on the full armor of God... Ephesians 6:13

I have a new podcast addiction. Battle Ready, with Father Dan Reehil. I've been following him on Instagram and yesterday I finally added his podcast to my collection. The episodes are less than 30 minutes, so I've been bingeing on them all weekend.

Fr. Dan has a fascinating backstory. He grew up on Long Island, not far from my hometown. At the age of eleven, he was sexually molested by his parish priest; because of that terrible event, he fell away from the Catholic Church for many years. He became a Wall Street banker and was married for five years before divorcing; he also obtained a Church annulment. 

His priestly vocation story began on a 1998 trip to Medjugorje. There are many videos documenting this, including a marvelous in-depth interview on the The Shawn Ryan Show #141, so I would direct you there for more details.

One of the most interesting facts about Fr. Dan, at least to me, is that he an exorcist. One doesn't just "become" an exorcist. A priest is selected for this demanding duty by his bishop. Currently there are only 18 exorcists in the US. Reehil's exorcism stories are chilling and remarkable. He leaves no doubt about the reality of Satan's relentless and increasingly intense spiritual warfare against us.

Fr. Dan has a relaxed demeanor and is an easy conversationalist. He presents his spiritual points in a simple, disarming way that makes so much practical sense in our troubled world. 

Put on God's armor and give Battle Ready a try. At the very least, it will make you think.

Big Trouble

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse...

~ Genesis 12:3

The United States has an anti-Semitism problem.

Leaving aside all of the street demonstrations and college campus chaos since October 7, 2023--which are all horrifying enough--extreme acts of violence against American Jews have shot up dramatically in just the past few weeks.

In April, on the first night of Passover, Pennsylvania's Jewish Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence was set on fire in an attempt to murder his entire family. In May, a young couple about to become engaged were shot to death leaving the Jewish Museum in Washington DC, murdered by a Hamas supporter. Now, to start off the month of June, peaceful protestors honoring the Israeli hostages were attacked--again by a Hamas supporter--by fire bombs in Colorado. Jewish people were literally set on fire in our country. Not insignificantly, the Colorado criminal was an illegal alien.

I think we are in dire peril. Tom Homan says that the 2 million illegal alien "gotaways" that entered the US under the Biden administration "scares the hell" out of him. Homan is convinced that another 9/11 "or worse" is coming.

 

I agree. If you haven't done so yet, say a prayer for the USA. We need it; we are in very big trouble.