The Recycle Hoax and Global Warming Hypocrisy

NPR's Michael Copley reports on the Recycle Hoax - "recycling cannot go on indefinitely, and does not solve the solid waste problem.




"Consumers sort their trash so plastic packaging can be repurposed, and local governments use taxpayer money to gather and process the material. Yet from the early days of recycling, plastic makers, including oil and gas companies, knew that it wasn't a viable solution to deal with increasing amounts of waste."

The plastic inndstry, not unlike others, has worked for decades to convince policymakers (aka corrupt politicians) that recycling would keep waste out of landfills and the environment.

Copley doesn't report that the New York Times and Legacy Media fawned over Taylor Swift recently having "to travel across the globe and through time, to make the Superbowl," as NYT's Benjamin Hoffman, reported. Exacerbating climate warming. Her critics called her hypocritical for that. Yet, I can assure you her critics are as hypocritical.

The plastics industry is like any other industry, like: The fashion industry. The fashion industry produces Up to 100 billion garments every year. And each year, as much as 92 million tons of clothing ends up in landfills. Only 20% of textiles are collected for reuse or recycling globally. Almost 60% of all clothing material is actually plastic.

Puppy Mills

The global pet care market size was estimated at USD 150.67 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 159.10 billion in 2022.

Approximately 2.15 million puppies are sold that originated from puppy mills every year.

Approximately 2,000 “dog breeding facilities” are granted official operations licenses by the USDA. 

There are an estimated 10,000 puppy mills in America.

Only around 30% of pets in the U.S. come from rescue facilities.

Up to 25% of the dogs in shelters are purebred, often resulting from the busts of puppy mills.

About 20% of puppies purchased from pet stores (a large driver of puppy mill usage) end up being surrendered to a shelter.

About 1.2 million dogs are euthanized in shelters every year, many because puppy mills flood the market.

The minimum legal size of a puppy mill cage is only six inches larger than the dog.

The electric vehicles - Heritage Foundation research explains that the carbon dioxide emitted while manufacturing a Nissan Leaf battery is “equivalent to driving a gasoline-powered BMW 320d for 24,000 miles.” For a larger Tesla Model S battery, carbon dioxide emissions are “equivalent to driving the BMW 320d for 60,000 miles.”

The fast food and restaurant industry: The restaurant industry is far from being good for the environment. Restaurants generate enormous quantities of food waste, plastic waste, and emissions while simultaneously consuming huge quantities of water and energy (Kasim & Ismail, 2012

The consumer industry: Americans spend over $1.3 billion on greeting cards in the digital age, while for Ventines Day Americans spent over 1.4 billion U.S. dollars on chocolate candy

Over $2 billion worth of pumpkins purchased for Halloween endup in landfills instead of the stomach of hungry kids. Thirteen million hungry kids just in America alone are hungry, 700 million world with1
Over $3 billion worth of Christmas trees, not counting decorations, end up in landfills

Whole mountains are being leveled in the name of progress.

The facts speak for themselves: we live in a disposable society with the flawed notion that the planet has united resources:
Hence it's easy to accept the idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers, corrupt politicians, Propagandists and experts in technology

We can debate the science, although in California and in Social Media platforms like @LinkedIn, it is verboten


Pope Francis Laudate Deum is Spot on. 29. The ethical decadence of real power is disguised thanks to marketing and false information, useful tools in the hands of those with greater resources to employ them to shape public opinion.

"Artificial intelligence and the latest technological innovations start with the notion of a human being with no limits, whose abilities and possibilities can be infinitely expanded thanks to technology. In this way, the technocratic paradigm monstrously feeds upon itself." Laudate Deum

Consider the recent report that 
"Scientists Resort to Once-Unthinkable Solutions to Cool the Planet - Three geoengineering projects seek to alter the chemistry of the atmosphere and the ocean. Critics warn of unintended consequences," with good reason.  Not a single invention has been void of unintended consequences, despite what social media, legacy media or the establishment may claim, including the recent COVID Vaccine. Yet, the New York Times and the Legacy Media fawned over Tailor Swift doing the unthinkable to warm up the planet, while nillionaire brothers took millions out of their gas station chain so they could repay debt on their private jets. The good news, according to the Palestinian Wasp, Taylor Swift's fans, including the New York Times and Legacy Media, should not worry about her finances or her contribution to global warming.

But the New York Times was not alone. While we take a Cursory review of media coverage praising Swift for her contribution to global warming: HindustanTimes' @AditiSrivastava reports:"Chiefs fans sing Taylor Swift's Love Story as she spans time zones for Super Bowl arrival"

New York Times's Benjamin Hoffman, reports:  Taylor Swift had to travel across the globe and through time, to make the Superbowl. Swift and Gates made it to Day's rendition of the Black National Anthem

The New Yotk Time's Santul Nektar  @SantulNerkar used a different lens with similar results. Nektar reported the "Cetaphil's ad showed a father and daughter connecting over football and Taylor Swift, a nod to how the music superstar’s relationship with Travis Kelce was said to have gotten more fathers and daughters watching NFL games together this season. But a social media influencer said the idea was stolen from her". 

Jake Fenner over at  the Dailymail.Com took on the Black National Anthem prism:
Super Bowl fans are left split by Andra Day's performance of the 'Black National Anthem' ahead of the game... as Megyn Kelly says song 'doesn't belong' in pre-game proceedings.

What no one reported is that

Every year, about 1,5000 private jets fly to and from airports for meetings at the WEF or #SuperBowl appearances. Each jet emits 2 tons of CO2

The yearly carbon footprint: US average: 16 tons of CO2.

Bill Gates: 7,500 tons of CO2.

John Kerry: 2,000 tons of CO2.

Taylor Swift: 8,205 tons of CO2


Then there's the Climate Change Billionaires Bliss:

In Singapore, they call it "nudging" consumers to do what the state wants, which is increase use of public transportation, a government official explains, then cracks a big laugh, as he is behind the wheel of a Mercedes.


Recall Gavin, billionaires & corrupt politicians tell us to eat insects, turn off gas appliances, nudge us to stop using gasoline cars (make it imposdible to afford filling up) & instead switch to EVs - while they use private jets, eat scrumptious dinners and so on - that's nothing.

According to a 2022 Oxfam report, 125 of the world's richest billionaires each emit over a million times more carbon than the average person in the bottom 90%, and a solid 50-70% of billionaires' emissions are thought to result from their investment

Or as we like to say, leave it to corrupt politicians,  Propagandists and Influencers

forget about God - it's about Mammom. Forget about America, is about Mammon. Forget About Global Warming -  its about Mammon.

And we all are hypocritical.

RELATED

The Qanat System puts California Politicians to shame.

Around 3,000 years ago, way before the Conquistadors sat foot on America, the Qanat System was developed as a sophisticated method of transporting water over long distances. These underground aqueducts were crucial for sustaining agriculture and settlements in hot, arid climates.

The Qanat system involved digging tunnels by hand, often extending for many miles, with vertical shafts or wells dug at intervals to provide ventilation and access for the workers. These shafts supplied oxygen and allowed workers to reach the underground tunnels, making the construction of these vital water channels possible. The Qanat system remains a remarkable example of ancient engineering and ingenuity in water management.

Sadly California Politicians never learned: The Qnat System is in Iran, not California

Feast Day of Saint Joselito, Teenage martyr for the faith and Patron saint of children and teenagers

February 10 is the Feast Day of Saint of José Sánchez del Río, aka Joselito.
Teenage martyr for the faith and Patron saint of children and teenagers.

St. José Sánchez del Río was a Mexican Cristero (“soldier for Christ”) who was martyred for refusing to renounce his Catholic faith.

2000 years ago Gamaliel the Elder, or Rabban Gamaliel I, a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the early first century CE, a man held in great esteem by all Jews and as the Jewish law teacher of Paul the Apostle, Gamaliel encouraged his fellow Pharisees to show leniency to the apostles of Jesus Christ- Acts 5:34. He explaind why the Sanhedrin shouldn't kill Jesus' twelve apostles. He points out what happens to religious and or political movements that are not in God's will: once the leaders are gone, the movements disappear: "Acts 5:39 But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him. 40 After recalling the apostles, they had them flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them."

150 years later, Tertulian had a similar message:  “We spring up in greater numbers the more we are mown down by you: the blood of the Christians is the seed of a new life," yet AntiChristian governments such as the Mexican government that persecuted Catholics during the Cristero War

and or authoritative governments, 

refuse to pay heed.

Simon Sinek argues his Golden Circle explains why some leaders are able to inspire, while others aren’t.  Likewise, the Golden Circle of Hate explains why some leaders are able to promote hate.

Saint José was a young boy who stood up for people to be able to love God and the Church freely in Mexico. He wanted to be a soldier, but was too young to fight; instead, he was allowed to carry the flag.

Joselito, as he was also known, was martyred at just 14 years old during the Cristero War, an armed resistance to the Mexican government's persecution of the Catholic Church between 1926 and 1929. Captured by government forces, Joselito was offered his freedom if he denied the faith.

As José was forced to walk through town, he recited the rosary, prayed for his enemies, sang songs to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and proclaimed, “I will never give in. Long Live Christ the King!"

Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe!" In the midst of the torture, the chief captain of the escort asked him, not out of compassion, but out of cruelty, what he would like his parents to hear as his last words. Jose replied: "We will see each other in heaven. Long live Christ the King!

The miracle needed for his canonization attributed to José Luis Sánchez del Río the inexplicable recovery of a baby in Mexico who doctors said had "no hope of survival", 2008–2009. 

The Cristero War erupted in 1926 after the Mexican government began enforcing anti-clerical laws written into the Mexican Constitution. President Plutarco Elias Calles, who took office in 1924, violently targeted the Church, seizing church

As the war on children and the unborn continues, Saint Joselito, pray for us and a national conversion

St Scholastica, foundress of the Benedictine nuns & Twin Sister of St. Benedict

February 10 marks the feast of Saint Scholastica, (480 – 10 February 543)
an Italian Christian hermit the sister of Benedict of Nursia and the foundress of the Benedictine nuns. She is the patron saint of Benedictine nuns, education, convulsive children, and right relationships.

“Either speak of God or keep silence, for, what in this world is so worthy of speech?” - Saint Scholastica

Xx

Saint Scholastica illustrates the old proverb, Man proposes, God disposes.
According to the late-6th-century Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great, Scholastica was born c. 480 in Nursia, Umbria, of wealthy parents (Anicius Eupropius and his wife Claudia Abondantia Reguardati). Scholastica and Benedict were brought up together until he left central Italy for Rome to continue his studies. St. Scholastica consecrated her life to God from her earliest youth. After her brother went to Monte Cassino, where he established his famous monastery, she went to Plombariola, where she founded and governed a monastery of nuns, about five miles from that of St. Benedict.

The twins visited each other once a year in a farmhouse because Scholastica was not permitted inside the monastery. They spent these times discussing spiritual matters. According to the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great, the brother and sister spent their last day together in prayer and conversation. Scholastica sensed her death was close at hand and she begged Benedict to stay with her until the next day.

He refused her request because he did not want to spend a night outside the monastery, thus breaking his own Rule. Scholastica asked God to let her brother remain and a severe thunderstorm broke out, preventing Benedict and his monks from returning to the abbey.

Benedict cried out, “God forgive you, Sister. What have you done?” Scholastica replied, “I asked a favor of you and you refused. I asked it of God and he granted it.”

Brother and sister parted the next morning after their long discussion. Three days later, Benedict was praying in his monastery and saw the soul of his sister rising heavenward in the form of a white dove. Benedict then announced the death of his sister to the monks and later buried her in the tomb he had prepared for himself.

Prayers to Saint Scholastica

Saint Scholastica, God granted your request because of your great love. I ask now that you turn to God with my request out of your great love for Him and your great love for me.


Love is patient (1 Cor. 13:4). Through God’s grace, help me, St. Scholastica, to grow in love by becoming more patient.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails (1 Cor. 13:7-8). St. Scholastica, you were a great witness to this truth. Help me to believe it more fully and to live it out each day.

Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

California needs Saint Josephine Bahkita

February 8th marks the feast day of Saint  Josephine Bahkita, patron Saint of Human Trafficking. And California needs Saint Josephine: it's not Systemic racism.  It's Systemic Humanism.

Prayer for the Intercession of St. Josephine Bakhita

• Asks for her help in freeing those who are enslaved
• Asks for her help in providing relief to survivors of slavery
• Asks for her help in providing healing for survivors of slavery

Consider that California is No.1 in Child Trafficking. 2.  California is No.1 in fentanyl consumption and 3. California is No.1 in Homelessness Where “homeless” is misleading. The vast majority of those on the streets are there due to severe drug addiction and/or mental illness. The issue not that they got a little behind in their mortgage payments and would be back on their feet if someone just offered them a job

Saint Josephine is an illustration of the Transitive Property of Hate  a shining ray of hope for human trafficking victims and an inspirational demonstration of how a victim can recover from their trauma and become whole again.

Josephine Bakhita was a Sudanese-born slave who became a Roman Catholic Canossian nun in Italy, living and working there for 45 years. In 2000, she was declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church

Bakhita was born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan - Darfur, (Arabic: “Land of the Fur”) historical region of the Billād al-Sūdān (Arabic: “Land of the Blacks”), roughly corresponding to the westernmost portion of present-day Sudan.

When she was 7–8 years old, she was seized by Arab slave traders, who had abducted her elder sister two years earlier. She was forced to walk barefoot about 600 mi to El-Obeid and was sold and bought twice before she arrived there. Over the course of twelve years  she was sold three more times.

In El-Obeid, Bakhita was bought by a rich Arab who used her as a maid for his two daughters. They treated her relatively well, until after offending one of her owner's sons, the son lashed and kicked her so severely that she spent more than a month unable to move from her straw bed. Her fourth owner was a Turkish general. She had to serve his mother-in-law and his wife, who were cruel to their slaves. Bakhita says: "During all the years I stayed in that house, I do not recall a day that passed by without some wound or other. When a wound from the whip began to heal, other blows would pour down on me.

In 1883 she was sold to Callisto Legnani, Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan. Two years later Legnani took Josephine to Italy and gave her to his friend Augusto Michieli. Bakhita became babysitter to Mimmina Michieli, whom she accompanied to Venice’s Institute of the Catechumens, run by the Canossian Sisters. While Mimmina was being instructed, Josephine felt drawn to the Catholic Church. She was baptized and confirmed in 1890, taking the name Josephine.

When the Michielis returned from Africa and wanted to take Mimmina and Josephine back with them, the future saint refused to go. During the ensuing court case, the Canossian Sisters and the patriarch of Venice intervened on Josephine’s behalf. The judge concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885.

Prayer for the Intercession of St. Josephine Bakhita

• Asks for her help in freeing those who are enslaved
• Asks for her help in providing relief to survivors of slavery
• Asks for her help in providing healing for survivors of slavery

St. Paul Miki & companions. martyred during Christian Persecution in Japan

February 6th is the Memorial of St Paul Miki and Companions victims of the Japanese Christian Persecution- Not unlike what we are seeing today.- They were the first martyrs of Japan.

While Nagasaki, Japan, is familiar to Americans as the city on which the second atomic bomb was dropped, immediately killing over 37,000 people.

But three and a half centuries before, 26 martyrs of Japan were crucified on a hill, now known as the Holy Mountain, overlooking Nagasaki

In the 1540s, St. Francis Xavier introduced Christianity to people in Japan. A generation later, Paul Miki was born and raised in the faith, one of the first fruits of the seeds planted by the great Jesuit missionary.

By the 1580s, there were more than 200,000 converts to Christianity in Japan, and the Japanese emperor felt threatened by the new religion. He banished Catholics in 1587, but the Jesuits who continued to serve the faithful there went into hiding and worked in secret.

Paul was born the son of a Japanese military leader and educated by these Jesuits. He wanted to become a priest and began studies. Just before his ordination, the emperor began violently persecuting Christians. Despite this, Paul decided to continue his ministry and was known for his eloquent and intelligent preaching.

Under this persecution, Paul and 25 other men and boys—Jesuits, Franciscans, and lay people—were arrested and condemned to execution. They were forcibly marched 600 miles throughout Japan so as to be an example to other people. Villagers abused them as they passed by, but the Christians sang the Te Deum, an early Christian hymn of praise.

By the time the group entered Kyoto, their ears had been severed and blood streamed down their necks. The sight of these suffering Christians inspired sadness and compassion among the witnesses, many of whom were moved to become Christians themselves. The Christians were then taken to a hill near Nagasaki and tied to crosses. Executioners killed the martyrs by stabbing them in the stomachs with swords.

As he was awaiting death, Paul said, “The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ's example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.”

St. Paul Miki and his companions were the first martyrs of Japan, and their example sustained the Christian community there with courage, even as it survived underground for 300 years.

When missionaries returned to Japan in the 1860s, at first they found no trace of Christianity. But after establishing themselves they found that thousands of Christians lived around Nagasaki and that they had secretly preserved the faith. Beatified in 1627, the martyrs of Japan were finally canonized in 1862.

St. Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs whose example encouraged Christians in Japan—pray for us!

The Power of Women Can Be Harnessed For Good or Evil. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden prefer evil.

Women Have The Power To Make Choices: The choices we make today, determine who we become on the future:  That power can be used for good or evil:

“You who claimed to be my judges. you'll be careful. one day we'll be judged.” — Joan of Arc.

The Good:
The Jesus Movement spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire due in part to the initiative of female apostles, prophets, evangelists, missionaries, heads of house churches and widows and financial support from Christian businesswomen such as Mary of Magdala l   Joanna, Lydia, Phoebe , Olympias, and others.  Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged as much on February 14, 2007, when he said, “without the generous contribution of many women, the history of Christianity would have developed very differently.” The “female presence in the sphere of the primitive Church,” he also noted, was in no way “secondary”.

The Ugly

Joan of Arc rose from the illiterate daughter of a peasant to the head of a French army. Avirginal teenage warrior in white armor, a Catholic saint and martyr, and the woman who fought the odds and medieval gender roles only to be betrayed by the man she helped.  The English executioner, later said he had sinned gravely.and repented for executing "a saintly woman."   Nearly 20 years after Joan's execution, King Charles VII ordered an investigation into Joan's trial that helped clear her name. Other investigations followed, including one Pope Calixtus III held in 1455 — a retrial that completely exonerated Joan of the earlier charges of heresy and witchcraft. Joan's fame continued to grow, and in 1920, Pope Benedict XV canonized her as a Catholic saint.

Read More: 

The Evil

On the other side of the spectrum is
Kamala Harris as illustrated in her tweet: "The power a woman has to make decisions about her own body is directly connected to her power to make decisions about her future."  is meaningless.  The following statement "This week I met with health care providers to talk through how we protect reproductive rights for women in America " is not only oxymoronic, but is evil.  The statement is euphemism for infanticide aka  #BlackGenocide, the disintegration of the African-American nuclear family and a host of other social ills.

Is it any wonder Joe Biden, Joe, aka #JoeOfScranton, aka diábolos(Greek #διάβολος,)  Kamala Harris aka #Gomer (Hebrew: גומר,) the #DNC  and the qBiden Administration are collectively referred to as the #AntiChrist?

Whoopi Goldberg speaking for progressives in the USA says women need to get rid of the Toxic Thing inside them. However, just like Hamas, the Islamic IndustrialComplex and  its ecosystem the Toxicity is in the heart, not in the womb. A hateful heart generates hateful thoughts. Such thoughts become acts of terrorism. Or if you prefer, Ben Sirach states [4] When a sieve is shaken, the refuse remains; so a man's filth remains in his thoughts.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2270) "Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life. 72

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. 73

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. 74

(CCC 2271) " Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish". 75


YET, Democrats continue to enable #BlackGenocide

Sixty years ago,  The Great March on Washington, organized by A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin with an alliance of civil rights, labor, annd religious organizations  came together under the banner of jobs and freedom and was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963.

At the march, final speaker Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, delivered his historic " I Have A Dream" speech in which he called for an end to racism and racial segregation


Five years later, MLK Jr. was assassinated, turning his dream into a nightmare:  racism has morphed into DEI, the #AbortionIndustrialComplex  has enabled the Black Genocide, the disintegration of the African-American nuclear family and  a fatherlesssness crisis.  NYT's Katie Rogers "reports" the Biden Administration continues to sharpens its Abortion Message, which is nothing less than  AntiChristian and pure evil and Biden's Administration is being referred to as an Anti-Christ 

David Brooks is Dead Wrong about the Nuclear Family

"The nuclear family is the stone progressives rejected and water is still wet."

David Brooks argument in the Atlantic that "THE NUCLEAR FAMILY WAS A MISTAKE - The family structure we’ve held up as the cultural ideal for the past half century has been a catastrophe for many. It’s time to figure out better ways to live together." Is like arguing that because water has been wet for half a century, it  has been a catastrophe and we must change it.!

The nuclear family is not a contrived progressive construct. It's God's creation, from the beginning! The Catholic Catechism (2207) teaches "The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society."

Consistent with Jeremy Rifkin's the Emphatic Civilisation where he charts the evolution of human consciousness from the rise of mythological consciousness in primitive tribal societies, to theological or faith-based con- sciousness in the agrarian Dark Ages, and deological consciousness" introduced by the Age of Reason.

Consider the effects of the Black Genocide, including the fact that the African American nuclear family has joined the Sea Turtles in the endangered list and the social ills due to fatherlessness: – 71% of high school dropouts are fatherless; fatherless children have more trouble academically, scoring poorly on tests of reading, mathematics, and thinking skills; children from father-absent homes are more likely to be truant from school, more likely to be excluded from school, more likely to leave school at age 16, and less likely to attain academic and professional qualifications in adulthood


Do you know that in Google books, you can hardly find references related to nuclear family, racism gun violence, peer pressure, abortion, homelessness, mental health, fatherlessness, obesity and so on, prior to 1960? But then (1963) after an uber progressive Warren SCOTUS decided that teaching children about wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord., charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and chastity was too radical, all hell broke lose.

Using analysis tools like the Ishikawa Cause-Effect Diagram, the Pareto Rule, Security Professionals' Attack Tree and or Occam's Razor, they all suggest that after the uber progressive Warren SCOTUS (1963) decision, we have had
[ ] A mental health crisis
[ ] Infanticide turned into #BlackGenocide
[ ] African American nuclear family has joined the Sea Turtles in the extinct list - compare to 2% divorce rate for couples using NFP
[ ] [80% of AA kids are raised in fatherless homes
[ ] Replaced faith-based Gleaning with SNAP
[ ] [AIDS epidemic
[ ] Opiod crisis
[ ] We have a fatherlesssness crisis
[ ] A Girlhood Crisis
[ ] A Trans Crisis.
[ ] Obesity crisis


What David Brooks is about feelings.  About libertinage.  If it feels good, do it.

Gender identity is not a feeling, for example: Gender identity is not a feeling.  "God created man in his own image . . . male and female he created them"; He blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply"; "When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created." Catholic Catechism  2331

Granted, there are various worldviews:

[  ] Hindu sees the human person as a soul trapped in a body

[  ] The Buddhist sees the person as neither a body nor a soul

[  ] The atheist views the person as a body without a soul.

While We’re each free to believe whatever we want to believe, Sacred Scriptures say life is short, death is real, Hell is hot, eternity is long, and Jesus saves!

The Christian view is that humans are bodies and souls, created in the image and likeness of God. Every human being has a unique and rational soul that animates his human body, whether in the womb or a jail cell


[  ] Everyone made in God's image
[  ] Everyone is broken
[  ] Everyone is created for love
[  ] Everyone has desires that are not good.  We are all broke
[  ] Those who identify as gay or trans, have dignity 
[  ] Those who experience same-sex attraction are worthwhile
[  ] Those who are grappling with their Sexuality as part of the family, that is, part of the human family, and if they are Christian, they are part of the family of God
[  ] If you are same-sex attracted person, you belong to the Catholic Church.



The nuclear family is the stone progressives rejected and water is still wet.

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God- The Octave Day of Christmas

The Solemnity of Mary, is a feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Jesus Christ, whom she had circumcised on the eighth day after his birth according to Levitical Law.

 

An Octave, derived from Latin octava is eight. In Christianity, it is the eighth day after a feast. It is also the whole period of these eight days, during which certain major feasts are observed

The octave of Christmas is celebrated as an eight-day feast which begins on the Nativity, Dec. 25, and continues to January 1. According to Jewish law, circumcision is the physical representation of the covenant between God and Abraham described in the Old Testament and is required for the inclusion of males in the Jewish faith. Newborn boys are circumcised in a traditional ceremony on the 8th day after birth:

March 25, nine months before Christmas, is the date that is often associated with the Annunciation to Mary, Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that, by the coming of the Spirit upon her, she would conceive and bear the heir to David’s throne, whose kingdom would have no end. Annunciation:

[  ] Through the disobedience of Adam sin enters the world. Rom. 5:12
[  ] The Father sends His Son to save the world. Jn. 3:17
[  ] The Angel Gabriel is sent to a virgin named Mary. Lk. 1:26,27
[  ] The Angel tells Mary: “You are to have a Son and will name Him Jesus.” Lk. 1:31
[  ] He is the Son of God. Lk. 1:32
Mary consents: “Let it be done to me.” Lk. 1:38
[  ] God the Son becomes Man, in obedience to His Father. Lk. 1:35
[  ] By His obedience many shall be saved. Rom. 5:19
[  ] Mary becomes Mother of God. Lk. 1:35
[  ] Nothing is impossible with God. Lk. 1:37

Nativity- December 25

[  ] In Bethlehem will be born He Who is to rule my people. Micah 5:2

[  ] Joseph and Mary leave Nazareth to register in Bethlehem. Lk. 2:4

[  ] There, Mary gives birth to the Son of God. Lk. 2:7

[  ] Mary lays Him in a manger, because there is no room for Him in the inn. Lk. 2:7

[  ] Angels announce to shepherds nearby: “The Savior is born.” Lk. 2:10,11

[  ] Angels sing: “Peace to men of good will.” Lk. 2:14

Presentation of the Lord

[  ] When the Child Jesus is eight days old, He is circumcised. Lk. 2:21

[  ] And his parents name Him Jesus. Lk. 2:21

[  ] The name of Jesus is the only name by which we can be saved. Acts 4:12

[  ] “Ask the Father anything in My Name. He will give it to you.” Jn. 16:23

[  ] Lord, You are good and forgiving to all who call upon Your Name. Ps. 86:5

[  ] Joseph and Mary take Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to God. Lk. 2:22

[  ] Simeon, a holy man, foretells: “This Child is destined for the fall and rise of many.” Lk. 2:34

[  ] “Your own soul a sword shall pierce.” Lk. 2:35

[  ] Joseph and Mary take Jesus to their hometown of Nazareth. Lk. 2:39

[  ] Whatever you do, do all in the Name of Jesus. Col. 3:17

While Catholic theology emphasizes that God's covenant with the Jewish people remains valid: according to an epistle of Cyprian of Carthage, circumcision of the flesh was replaced by circumcision of the spirit, Saint Paul argues true circumcision is not physical but spiritual: "For, as it is written, “Because of you the name of God is reviled among the Gentiles.” Circumcision, to be sure, has value if you observe the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Again, if an uncircumcised man keeps the precepts of the law, will he not be considered circumcised? Indeed, those who are physically uncircumcised but carry out the law will pass judgment on you, with your written law and circumcision, who break the law. One is not a Jew outwardly. True circumcision is not outward, in the flesh. Rather, one is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not the letter; his praise is not from human beings but from God" Romans chapter 2:24-29

Ways to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in this feast day:

 Pray the Rosary, Pray the Divine Office (3-5 times during the day, Spend Time in Reflection,  Visit a Marian Shrine. Attend a Mass.

 

Competed Well. Finished the CIY & BIY Podcasts, Kept the Faith

Recalling Saint Paul's Letter to Timothy: "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith," 2 Timothy 4:7 

We successfully completed Father Mike Schmitz's Catechism In a Year (CIY) Podcast as well as the Bible in a Year (BIY.) and picked up Divine Office along theway,  three times a day: Lauds, Vesper and Compline. While it took some convincing, we couldn't wait and actually completed them (CIY & BIY) last night, and we are thankful for that!

Early in the year, when our youngest daughter brought us the idea about the possibility of starting CIY, I attributed her enthusiasm to naivete. After all, I had previously recommended to our family that whenever there were doubts about Church Teachings, to simply refer to the Catechism-  I even bought them all a printed copy. Then the online version became available. All very convenient, yet there was a caveat: The Catechism was too technical and  it was not easy to read or comprehend.

We reluctantly started our daily dose of CIY & BIY podcasts. But in short notice we were hooked on Father Mike's down to earth engaging style. We found Father Mike's presentations not only easy-to-understand but also informational and entertaining, dispelling many myths along the way.

For added context, I have read different versions of the Bible
Including the KJB version and listened to various Bible expositors, such as Pastor Chuck Smith, Greg Laurie, Rick Warren and others. I Felt so confident on my accumulated wealth of Biblical knowledge that more than once, I have responded "It's not Biblical," to Homilies, art or simply comnents. To only later realize I waswrong after hearing Father Mike Schmitz's BIY Podcast and OR CIY


Couples could use certain sections of Father Mike's CIY for marriage counseling in additional to several reminders from the Church Father's, such as Sin and Prayer are mutually exclusive. Or kex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi - as we pray, so we believe, so we pray.


Or, take he Lord's Prayer.Tertullian (CC 2761) said "The Lord's Prayer is truly the summary of the whole gospel."

Father Mike Schmitz, using the Catholic Catechism, deconstructs the Lord's Prayer, using the last twelve episodes of his Catechism In a Year Channel and shows why Tertullian was right.


Then there's the Book of Revelation. In Seven Days, starting in Day 359, Father Mike's treatment of the Book of Revelation took the mystery out of it and made it easier to digest.

Whether you are a Bible neophyte or a Bible expert - like I thought I was - going through Father Mike's Bible In a Year and Catechism In a Year Podcasts cannot only be edifying but get you ready to give an answer:" Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame." 1 Peter Chapter 3

As Saint Paul charged Timothy: "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.

For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.

But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry." 2 Timothy 4:1-5

Dispelling Myths About Mary, Mother of God

Many so-called Christians poke fun at Catholics' veneration, some would say infatuation with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.

Even the Beatles call her Mother Mary.

The widely used meme below paraphrased Jesus in John Chapter 14 when He says “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me " But they seem to forget the rest of the Sacred Scriptures:


In the first letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul rebukes them for sowing discord: "For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by Chloe's people, that there are rivalries among you. I mean that each of you is saying, “I belong to* Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.”

Jesus in what is generally known as the Farewell Prayer or the High Priestly Prayer and by far the longest prayer of Jesus in any of the gospels (John 17:1–26,)  He addressed  the earlier parts of the discourse  to His disciples, and in the final part addresses the Father, as He turns his eyes to heaven and He prays for ALL Christians, whether self-described  liberal or conservative, Evangelicals or Protestants. to be united and to follow his example. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17

In the Beatitudes, Jesus Warns about hate stated, or implied “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,n ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment,o and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift - Matthew Chapter 5





A cursory look at the Catholic Catechism shows that while the Blessed Virgin Mary is addressed properly, as the Mother of God, she is not equal to Gid:

(CCC 487)  What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ


488 "God sent forth his Son", but to prepare a body for him, he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, "a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary":

The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life.

490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.



491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

960 The Church is a "communion of saints": this expression refers first to the "holy things" (sancta), above all the Eucharist, by which "the unity of believers, who form one body in Christ, is both represented and brought about" (LG 3).

963 Since the Virgin Mary's role in the mystery of Christ and the Spirit has been treated, it is fitting now to consider her place in the mystery of the Church. "The Virgin Mary . . . is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer. . . . She is 'clearly the mother of the members of Christ' . . . since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head." "Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church."

964 Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death"; it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:

Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross. There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words: "Woman, behold your son.

965 After her Son's Ascension, Mary "aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers." In her association with the apostles and several women, "we also see Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation."


966 "Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death." The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:

In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death

967 By her complete adherence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity. Thus she is a "preeminent and . . . wholly unique member of the Church"; indeed, she is the "exemplary realization" (typus) of the Church.


968 Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. "In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace."


969 "This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. . . . Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix."

970 "Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men . . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it." "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source."

971 "All generations will call me blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs. . . . This very special devotion . . . differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration." The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an "epitome of the whole Gospel," express this devotion to the Virgin Mary





972 After speaking of the Church, her origin, mission, and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary. In her we contemplate what the Church already is in her mystery on her own "pilgrimage of faith," and what she will be in the homeland at the end of her journey. There, "in the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity," "in the communion of all the saints," the Church is awaited by the one she venerates as Mother of her Lord and as her own mother.

In the meantime the Mother of Jesus, in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven, is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines forth on earth until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim People of God.







493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature". By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long

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December 12 is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of many Toponymic Marian Titles for Mary, the mother of Jesus. In Christianity, Mary is known by many different titles, epithets, invocations, and several names associated with places where she has appeared. All of these descriptives refer to the same woman named Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ




Liturgy of the Hours in Memoriam of Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, Miguel Cabrera

Today, December 9 is the Memorial of Saint Juan Diego, while In the Christian tradition, church bells are rung as a call to prayer voluntarily. at the canonical hours prayed at fixed prayer times, as well as at the start of a church service, but typically not referred to as a "call to prayer " 



Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a memorial celebrated on 12 September, to commemorate all the privileges bestowed upon Mary by God and all the graces received through her intercession and mediation. 



Memorial of Jesus's Grandparents

On July 26 the Roman Catholic Church commemorated the parents of the Virgin Mary, Saints Joachim and Anne.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

December 12 is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of many Toponymic Marian Titles for Mary, the mother of Jesus. In Christianity, Mary is known by many different titles, epithets, invocations, and several names associated with places where she has appeared. All of these descriptives refer to the same woman named Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. The Virgin of Guadalupe has been proclaimed "Queen of Mexico", "Patroness of the Americas", "Emppress of Latin America", and "Protectress of Unborn Children" (the latter two titles given by Pope John Paul II in 1999).

Toponymic Marian Titles, refer to places where Blessed Mary has appeared over the centuries, such as the Madonna of Loreto, the Madonna of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fatima, the Madonna of Medjugorje, or Saint Mary on the Sea, or Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Lady of Guadalupe, is often called the "great missionary" or Virgen Morena ("Brown Vurgin) who brought the Gospel to the Americas. Invoked as Star of the Evangelization of Peoples, comforter of indigenous people and the poor, the faithful humbly implore her help on the Tepeyac Hill in Mexico.

The Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe, appeared to Juan Diego, an Aztec who converted to Christianity, at a time when Mexico was shaken by violence and continuous violations of human rights and dignity. Indigenous people, in particular, suffered serious discrimination.

The Marian apparitions consolidated the encounter between the indigenous peoples and Christ. Mary presented herself as the "Mother of the true God" and she chose Juan Diego to be her messenger. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, also known simply as Juan Diego  was a Chichimec peasant and Marian visionary. He is said to have been granted apparitions of the Virgin Mary on four occasions in December 1531: three at the hill of Tepeyac and a fourth before don Juan de Zumárraga, then bishop of Mexico. The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located at the foot of Tepeyac, houses the cloak (tilmahtli) that is traditionally said to be Juan Diego's, and upon which the image of the Virgin is said to have been miraculously impressed as proof of the authenticity of the apparitions

Besides the numerous titles for our Blessed Mary, there's the Marian Principle:  To explain the structure of the Church, Von Balthasar speaks of several principles. The best known is the "Petrine principle", which refers to its hierarchical structure with the apostolic role of Peter, the Apostles and their successors. Another is the Pauline principle which represents its missionary dimension and so on.

All the principles of the Church, however, are oriented towards the primary one which is the "Marian principle". It refers to the very reason why the Church exists: To correspond with love to God's infinite love. It is called "Marian" because Mary, with her total FIAT, is the prototype of such love response. To be "the prototype" means that Mary is the first finished model of what all Christians should become. Von Balthasar writes: "Before men were placed into office, the whole Church was present in Mary". Just as Mary lived intimately united to the Trinity, we too are called to respond to the action of the Holy Spirit so that Christ reigns in us and directs us to live in faithful love and obedience to the Father.

This Marian total surrender of love to God is the essence of holiness. All dimensions of the Church, all structures and institutions, including the hierarchy are totally ordered to foster this holiness in her members. Mary is the point of reference. Where the Marian principle is central there is an authentic presence of the Church.   

In the words of the Catechism:

In the Church this communion of men with God, in the "love [that] never ends," is the purpose which governs everything in her that is a sacramental means, tied to this passing world. "[The Church's] structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ's members. And holiness is measured according to the 'great mystery' in which the Bride responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom." Mary goes before us all in the holiness that is the Church's mystery as "the bride without spot or wrinkle." (Eph 5:27). This is why the "Marian" dimension of the Church precedes the "Petrine."   CCC 773


Marian Titles, names that derive from attributes referring to Mary in the Sacred Scriptures or popular veneration, or that derive from characteristics attributed to her or from ways of saying common language, such as  Madonna, from the L,atin mea dominina, “my Lady”.

Dogmatic names are derived from the presence of Mary in the Gospels and the Liturgy, such as the Virgin, Mother of Christ, Immaculate Conception, Descendant of David, New Eve, Our Lady and so on.

Marian names derived from titles attributed by theologians and Fathers of the Church, such as Regina Caeli, Stellaa -  sort of polar star for Christians, especially for those who travel by sea, or Ivory Tower in the Laurentian Litanies, supplications in the form of litany addressed to God and the Virgin born in the Holy House of Loreto from the first half of the sixteenth century, and who turn to the Virgin Mary invoking her under numerous titles. In this case, the reference is to the Song of Songs and the three main properties of ivory, candour, consistency and value.  Or Mary Sorrowful, or Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, with reference to the seven sorrows faced by Mary in the Gospels.

 Marian Titles related to popular devotion, sacred images, or apparitions of Our Lady. For example, Our Lady of Grace ,  The miraculous Madonna

Marian Titles linked to natural phenomena, such as Our Lady of Lightning,  Our Lady of the Snow, from the miraculous snowfall that took place on August 5, the day of the dedication of the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and that prompted Pope Liberius to erect the basilica of Santa Maria a Nives on the Esquiline hill of Rome, the oldest Marian sanctuary in the West.


Marian Titles linked to iconography  such as the Madonna of the Pear, from the painting of the fifteenth century depicting the Virgin while giving a pear to the baby Jesus, the symbol of the latter’s acceptance of the sacrifice for the redemption of humanity, or Mary who unties the knots, from the painting by Johann Georg Schmidtner painted in the eighteenth century from which the famous great Marian devotion originated.

Not Pope Francis. But Pope Saint Damascus

 Pope Francis when criticized, has not objected,  for he is a sinner, he said. But he objects to those who also criticize the Church for his sins. After all, there's a big difference. between impeccability and infallibility. Where Impeccability is the absence of sin, an attribute of God and infallibility is that in specified circumstances the Pope is incapable of error when it comes to Church teaching

Consider that when this pope was elected bishop of Rome; some bishops  didn't like it. They  consecrated another deacon, as pope. The controversy between
Them resulted in  battles in two basilicas, scandalizing the bishops. At the synod that he called on the occasion of his birthday, he asked them to approve his actions. The bishops’ reply was curt: “We assembled for a birthday, not to condemn a man unheard.” Supporters of the antipope even managed to get him accused of a grave crime.  Internal political struggles, doctrinal heresies, uneasy relations with his fellow bishops and the media a marred the peace of his pontificate

As pope, his lifestyle was simple in contrast to other ecclesiastics of Rome, and he was fierce in his denunciation of Arianism and other heresies. A misunderstanding of the Trinitarian terminology used by Rome threatened amicable relations with the Eastern Church, and this pope was only moderately successful in dealing with that challenge


To his secretary this pope was “an incomparable person, learned in the Scriptures, a  doctor of the  Church, who loved chastity and heard its praises with pleasure.”

This pope makes us aware of two qualities of good leadership: alertness to the promptings of the Spirit, and service. His struggles are a reminder that Jesus never promised his Rock protection from hurricane winds nor his followers immunity from difficulties. His only guarantee is final victory.

His encouragement of his secretary's biblical studies led to the Vulgate, the Latin translation of Scripture which 12 centuries later the Council of Trent declared to be “authentic in public readings, disputations, preaching.” His secretary is none other than Saint Jerome. Traditionally, Saint Jerome is regarded as the most learned of the Latin Fathers. Saint Jerome is a person one can easily identify with: As a young man drawn to libertinage, with a curious mind, he learns to stand on principle, eventually becoming an ascetic and a Bible Scholar. Saint Jerome was a Feminist, and an easy target of the noted Porphyry’s accusation that the Christian communities were run by women and that the favor of the ladies decided who could accede to the dignity of the priesthood

Obviously "this pope" is not Pope Francis, but could have been.  This is Pope Saint Damascus I and today, December 11 is his feast day

Pope Damasus I was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death. He presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list of sacred scripture.He spoke out against major heresie, thus solidifying the faith of the Catholic Church, and encouraged production of the Vulgate Bible with his support for "his secretary" Saint Jerome. He helped reconcile the relations between the Church of Rome and the Church of Antioch, and encouraged the veneration of martyrs