Dear Friends,

The Shroud of Turin is still, well shrouded in mystery. The Shroud is thought by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus. I say, “thought” because no one has ever been able to empirically prove that it is and no one has been able to prove that it isn’t. The Shroud of Turin is the most studied and investigated artifact on the planet. And despite the most sophisticated and highly technical scientific analysis it still refuses to yield its secrets.

Dear Friends,

And I came to believe in a power much higher than I I came to believe that I needed help to get by In childlike faith I gave in and gave him a try And I came to believe in a power much higher than I “Came to Believe” by Johnny Cash.

Welcome to all our members, part-time members, sometimes members, associate members, family members of members, not-so-sure-you’re-a-member members, Spring Training visitors and anyone who just wandered in on this Easter Sunday to see what Catholics do on an Easter Sunday.

Your title here...

Dear Friends,

As we enter into the week we call Holy we begin with the crowds who sing “Hosanna’s” to Jesus as he enters Jerusalem but we will end the week with them by shouting “Crucify him”. There are moments when we want a Savior of our own making and moments when we reject the type of Savior that God offers us. How much do we want a God who comes to us on our terms yet spurn the God who comes to us on His terms?

Dear Friends, The AZ Legislature passed a bill that specifies that a “physician may not provide irreversible gender reassignment surgery to any individual who is under eighteen years of age," (The bill makes some exceptions, including in the case of someone born intersex.) And right on cue the media and the usual progressives they cheer for accused the Legislature of “targeting transgender children”. Well, no. The law doesn't target transgender children, it protects children, who cannot give full consent, from having their bodies permanently mutilated. We don't allow minors to purchase alcohol, tobacco, firearms, vote or be conscripted into military service because we understand that there is a developmental difference between children, teens and adults. So why would we allow them to have surgeries and treatments that are irreversible? Why is it OK for a minor to have a mastectomy or have their genitals surgically removed but not buy a six-pack?

Dear Friends,

Ash Wednesday throws a bucket of cold water on the culture. “Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return” is just about as heretical as you can be in our culture. For the culture far from being non-religious is in fact very religious and dogmatic at that. It embraces not the faith of Christians but the faith of Peter Pan. The faith of Peter Pan simply states that those who age will die. The secret to immortality then is to remain perpetually a child, wishing on a star and having a Nanny to take of you.

Dear Friends,

This Third week of Lent let’s take a look at what I call the “Seven Habits of Highly Sinful People”. Also called the deadly or capital sins. They are rightly termed “capital” because they are first and foremost the foundations of all our sins and defects of character. And the Virtues are the way to overcome these sins and defeat them once for all.

Dear Friends,

I guess we are back to no longer asking for Russian dressing on our salads. After years of the Russiagate hoax, it’s back to maintaining a posture of “despise all things Russian” in order to prove your bona fides and be allowed in polite society. Now we have this: Anastasia, a movie about the legend of a Russian princess who escaped the murderous Bolsheviks, is now cancelled by Disney because it is about a Russian.

Dear Friends,

From our perspective from this side of the Atlantic, we scratch our heads and wonder why in the world does Russia want to invade Ukraine? The days of empires are long gone and the idea of self-determination for peoples and countries has long been established. So why?

The conflict and now war for Ukraine is rooted in a very long history that includes the rise and fall of empires, wars and ethnic strife, political machinations, Western leaders being out played in a geopolitical chess game but also includes the history of Christianity. Sadly, in many ways religion is at the center of this conflict.

Dear Friends,

Our dear friend norma loquendi says that the term “toxic asset” is an oxymoron that you can bank on! It is amazing at what speed we distort the meaning of words or just outright change the definition of a word to make it seem like it is something it is not. George Orwell would be proud. My favorite current obfuscation is “pre-embryo”. It is a nonsensical and non-scientific redefining of the meaning of embryo to describe an embryo that is not yet implanted in a womb but is rather in a Petri dish. Of course, no matter where the embryo is it is still an embryo.

Dear Friends,

In recent years Alcohol producers have tried to market themselves as socially responsible. That’s why you frequently will see attached to beer commercials the slogan: “Drink Responsibly” or “Don’t Drink and Drive”. Does it work? Well yes but not in the way you think. Alcohol producers spend a lot of money on advertising and they don’t do it as a shot in the dark or with their fingers crossed hoping it has an effect. They carefully and meticulously measure the impact of their marketing strategies. What they find when they run those “Drink Responsibly” ads is that alcohol sales actually increase. What a fantastic cover: make yourself look socially responsible and increase your sales. Brilliant.

Dear Friends,

We celebrate this week St. Valentines Day and as anyone who has been married for a long time knows, love, real love is much more than romance. Still romance is important and must be kept alive and that’s why having a day to just be romantic is important. Unfortunately for those whose married love is waning a heart shaped box of chocolates or a dozen roses won’t change things much. Married love requires much more.

Dear Friends,

Years ago, a news station did a real hit job on a friend of mine that affected his business for the worse. They had cleverly edited some video to make it sound like he was sayings things he never said. I went and spoke to the News Producer and she admitted they had edited the video to have my friend say things he never actually said. When I asked her how she could justify doing that, she simply said, “well even though he never said those things, he is the type of person who probably would say such things”.