DO NOT FORGET TO POINT TO THE DIVINE - THE HODEGETRIA

 

"She who Points the Way"

The Hodegetria

Photograph by Silver S. Parnell

Taken at Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Albuquerque, New Mexico

I am frequently searching the internet for inspiring religious personalities who point the way to Christ; people who lead the faithful and entice the nonbeliever to incline the mind to Jesus, lift our gaze to Him, and approach Him, so as to come near and bask in the beatific vision, the warmth of His Love and His saving Word. Even a hermit of 20 years sometimes yearns for some common encouragement, along the pilgrim road.

I am usually disappointed in my quest because, although there are many self-appointed interpreters of the message of the day, they rarely bear positive, life-affirming and supportive tidings.

Instead, there is a constant drumbeat of resentments, complaints, and grievances. It isn't enough that the political sphere is rife with professional grumblers and that these political jeremiads are constantly repeated, even by professional Catholics, but the same has also happened with regard to religious scandals, conspiracies and bitter protests, such as dissatisfaction with Vatican II, which was news decades ago but which monastics of various stripe are grousing about even today, as if something could be done about it NOW. Some of them are so extreme that they accuse various people in the hierarchy of  heresy, of all things.

Hodegetria from Rila Monastery

It is one thing to lobby for political change. That is our duty as Americans in a free democracy (particularly NOW, when authoritarians are pushing us toward fascism in a shockingly rapid pace), but that is not the tack we are supposed to take with regard to our religion. Catholicism is not a democracy! Our religion really IS based on an authoritarian model, and the laity aren't in charge of any of it. We're lucky we get a voice at all, considering the way it is set up. Even the priests and monks and nuns have a limited authority and must appeal to their superiors for changes. There are approved, time-tested methods for this kind of thing.

I am not saying that these bellyachers are wrong about everything that disturbs them. I am saying that they are confused about their role in the scheme of things and the manner in which they have chosen to ease the tension of having these objections.

Hodegetria, modern version

For instance, the Latin Mass.  I really wish the Vatican had not suppressed the Latin Mass.  It is not entirely suppressed, but it  is close to being so. But as much as I love that Latin mass, I know that it is not my job to lobby for its full reinstatement. At least, I won't be writing tomes dedicated to the topic, nor will I waste my time and everyone else's making public videos about it and insinuating some grand Satanic conspiracy behind the Latin Mass losing favor and giving way to the Novus Ordo, the language of which I find positively ugly. But it is not my job to correct the Vatican, and if it WAS, I would not try to do it by advertising the conspiracy theory on YouTube and getting the laity all heated up about it.

If I really thought I had a duty to make my opinion known, I would respectfully tell the people whose job it is to correct these sort of errors and leave it at that.

Hodegetria of Smolensk

As usual, I am talking about method, which is very important. It isn't just my idea. The Catechism specifically instructs, in essence, that the ends do not justify the means. You may not licitly use evil means because you anticipate the end result will be good. It simply is not allowed, but we are seeing many examples of it lately, and it is giving me pause. (The most obvious example, at present, is the Catholic support of Donald Trump for the sole reason that he claims he doesn't like abortion and that women who do that should have "some punishment" and he has been willing to issue an Executive Order that there are only 2 sexes. In exchange for these 2 very weak advantages which can easily be circumvented by women themselves or executive orders by future presidents, people of "faith" are willing to have every manner of evil used against other humans in order to have Trump in office. Trump is hurting millions of people, and about 30% of Catholics are using all sorts of weird logic to justify it.)

Last night, I tried to find another hermit whose words might inspire me, and instead I found a number of videos by a monk who appeared to be somewhat young to be dispensing wisdom on high, and he had nothing uplifting to say.

Hodegetria Bohorodicka

He had politics mixed up with religion and he was first putting forth the idea that Vladimir Putin, the murderous ex-KGB officer who has ruled Russia as a sadistic dictator for the last 25 years, is not really all that bad, because of some weird logic and word salad, word salad, word salad. He brought up the highly disputed idea that Russia had NOT been consecrated to our Blessed Mother, as requested by Our Lady at Fatima, when the Vatican has clearly stated, a number of times, that it HAD done so. There are all sorts of conspiracy theorists positing that it was not actually done or it was done in the wrong way and that therefore bad things are happening in the world because of it, when the evidence for this is terribly weak. His logic was bizarre.

For some reason, the study of classical logic has been missed in the educations of many people who are opening their mouths and giving opinions these days. I don't know how this happened because I know that I certainly was made to learn Classical Logic and its fallacies in HIGH SCHOOL, so I don't know why so many people missed this subject.

Icon from the Iconostasis of St. George

Being a practitioner and teacher of meditation for many years, I know that the thing on which we meditate is the direction in which we travel. It's very much like driving a car, which I learned when I was 16. If I looked to my left, I found myself turning the wheel in that direction. In short, if you concentrate on your complaints, resentment and suspicions, you will be living in Hell in no time.

The point of spiritual life is to go to Christ. This is what our Blessed Mother does. She points to Christ. This concept was considered so important, so central to the faith, in the early years of the church that either the first or one of the very earliest icons was called "Panagia Hodegetria" or "the Hodegetria," in short.  It means "She who points to Christ." Its first painting was supposed to have been worked by Saint Luke the Evangelist.

Saint Luke the Evangelist

Painting the Hodegetria

I have a personal connection to this particular icon because my 46th Great-Grandmother, Saint Aelia Eudocia, the wife of Emperor Theodosius II, brought it from Antioch to Constantinople, to be housed in the Hodegon Monastery, also known as the Monastery of the Panaghia Hodegetria in Constantinople, which was built specifically to house this standing icon. (Later icons are typically painted from the waist up.)

In the west, this icon is sometimes called "Our Lady of the Way."

My 46th Great Grandaunt, Saint Pulcheria (Empress of the Holy Roman Empire) founded that Monastery for the housing of that icon, which was very celebrated in its day. (Pulcheria lived from January 19, 399 to July of 453, and was said to have taken a vow of chastity on the day it was brought to her in Constantinople, she was so profoundly affected.) 

I was thrilled to be able to see a simple reproduction of it when I was attending Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church when it hosted that icon and I was able to photograph it.

Notice that Our Blessed Mother is holding Jesus in the crook of her left arm and pointing to him with her right. Her head is inclined toward Him, reminding us to place our mind on him. In turn, his sweet little baby hand is raised in blessing toward her.  It is a wonderful image!  The iconography is a complete lesson in itself. It is remarkable, really. Spiritual life is not a life of complaint. We should always have our attention fixed on Christ and he will bless us for it! This is the sum total of the purpose of most spiritual disciplines and is highly relevant to the contemplative life.

Hodogetria, sitting, Greek model

We do not know what happened to that icon. Various legends claim that it was spirited off to Russia or Italy. Indeed, Russian iconography is full of many copies of this icon and has a long tradition.

When it was in Constantinople it was displayed every Tuesday to the public, and there is some record of its procession through the crowd. Sometimes it would be touched with puffs of cotton wool that were then given out to the crowd.  As you can see, it was a devoutly cherished item of religious devotion, but after the Fourth Crusade, in about 1261, it was moved to the Monastery of the Pantocrator, which is now a mosque in Istanbul.

Hodegetria of Crete

It disappeared during the fall of Constantinople and may have been cut into 4 pieces. Some Russians continue to insist that it did get carried to Russia and is there today, in Moscow.

There is an "Italian tradition" that has a completely different story, and you can read about all of this online. 

In any case, I hope to have brought you a sweet reminder of the importance of continuing to incline the mind to Christ and keeping it there, and I ask you to remember to take regular breaks from the stress and fighting of our modern life to meditate and contemplate on Him, who is our Salvation.

I pray for you daily. Please pray for me.

Silver Rose

Monastery of the Pantocrator

MANY AMERICANS ARE DESCENDED FROM OLGA OF KIEV, AND UKRAINIANS ARE FAMILY

SAINT OLGA OF KIEV "EQUAL TO THE APOSTLES"

c. 888 - 11 July 969

My 34th Great Grandmother

In 1978, I began researching my genealogy, but it would be about 40 years before I had a breakthrough that led me to the discovery that my ancestry included many notable nobles and saints, including Saint Olga of Kiev, who ruled in what was called "Kievan Rus'."  

People of modern day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia occupy various territories of the ancient Kievan Rus', but Kiev (spelled variously, such as "Kyiv) is located in Ukraine and, since discovering my link with that land and those people, I have had a tender place in my heart for all the concerns of those people.

Thanks to my DNA results from Ancestry, which conclusively confirm my personal genealogy research, my relationship to the world at large is a lot more complex and comprehensive than I could ever have imagined, prior to 1978, when I first began this journey.

Knowing the width and depth of my relations, going back many centuries, has increased my Catholic love for all peoples of the world. We cannot behave meanly toward anyone, not only because we must love our neighbors (and even our enemies) but the person on the receiving end of our displeasure and our punishment may very well be related to us, and therefore family!

Broadly speaking, my direct ancestry is:

42% - England and Northwestern Europe

28% - Wales

25% - Ireland

3%  - France

2% - Spain

Spain also includes individuals from Portugal. Northwestern Europe includes individuals from Ukraine and Nordic countries. There was more movement across larger swaths of land than one would think possible in those early years. Also, I discovered that, while some women originated in Portugal, they ended up married to kings in Spain, etc. That kind of thing went on quite a bit. Kings would often import  noble wives from the nobility of other lands.

With regard to the reason why many Americans are descended from or otherwise related to European royalty, we have to remember the type of people who originally came to this country and settled it. those of us whose roots go back to very early Virginia, for instance, are descended from people like Lieutenant Colonel Walter Aston, who was my 11th great grandfather, and it is through him (among several others) that I gain my ancestry from Saint Margaret of Scotland and Saint Olga of Kiev!

Distinctly separate from all the above, in 2003, when I began to live as a religious hermit, I had decided to dedicate, in general, my spiritual practices to the benefit of the renewal of the Unified Christian Church that existed prior to the Great Schism of 1054, during which Mother Church split in two, with the Western Church being called the "Roman Catholic Church," and in the East, the "Eastern Orthodox Church." 

I have not been a Christian my entire life, but as soon as I became converted, and I learned about the Great Schism, it broke my heart in two, just as Mother Church had been broken in two. I am sure that Jesus would not want this separation of his people, and I pray that all my pains and sufferings that are offered up on behalf of the reunification of our church may reach heaven and that all my sainted ancestors, including Saint Olga, my 34th great grandmother, will intercede for this special purpose.

All of these separate occurrence have helped to greatly increase my sensitivities toward the Ukrainian people, especially after I began to follow the news of its numerous invasions by Russia since 2014. 

The idea that a giant bear of a nation could simply roll its tanks and armies over the borders of a sovereign country and mow down its people, taking and occupying land against the wishes of and over the dead bodies of Ukrainian citizens who love their country dearly, infuriates me and makes me cry at the same time.

What is even more shocking is that our current president, who has long been suspected of being an asset of Russia, has behaved despicably toward the beleaguered president of Ukraine, Velodymir Zelensky. Ignoring the treaties that Russia has already signed with Ukraine, and which Russia has violated over and over again for more than a decade, President Trump has thrown Ukraine under the bus and is refusing to help them any more.

It is unconscionable that Trump had already pushed aside Zelensky and inserted himself into this matter, arrogantly purporting to have the authority to negotiate with Putin on Ukraine's behalf, entirely without the input of Ukraine, and then to also demand that Ukraine PAY US BACK by giving us half of the valuable rare minerals that are located in the land that Russia has brutally occupied.

With Trump's affection for Putin and Russia, I could easily see him GIVING to Putin those rare earth minerals immediately upon signing the agreement with Zelensky, who is wise to pause before agreeing to this devil's bargain, as far as I am concerned.

We all watched in horror as, against all prior expectations of the decorum expected of a president, Trump savaged poor President Zelensky, who remained remarkably calm and centered during the onslaught of vulgar words and demands thrown at him.  

He and our Vice President even criticized the fact that the man was not wearing a SUIT, as if this man's country was not in ruins, as if life just went on, unabated for him, while his compatriots fought and died for their land.  How could Zelensky dress up, like an elite effete snob in an expensive suit, unaffected by the carnage that is being wrought in his country, thanks to villainous Putin? He could not do that.

When President Zelensky gently but persistently tried to educate Trump and inform him that Russia had broken every agreement they had signed, to date, and that therefore Ukraine needed some kind of security to make sure that Russia would keep THIS particular agreement, Trump became enraged. His face became bright scarlet, and I felt sure that I could see a cold sweat of fury dripping from him. Trump is a man who cannot be taught anything. He is impervious to information that does not comport with what he thinks he already knows, all of which must always serve his ego and self-image in one way or another.

Trump and his smarmy sidekick ended up telling President Zelensky to leave. They want him to apologize and to sign the agreement without any changes. Imagine - after dragging him over there and subjecting him to a dressing down in front of the cameras, which included RUSSIAN outlets (which we never used to allow before), Trump expects that poor man to apologize. It is the worst kind of gaslighting I have ever seen in my life.

Within the next day or two, the entire EU embraced Zelensky and promised him a few million dollars in aid, which is not enough to stop this terrible war and beat the Russians back behind the gate. But I hope that Zelensky does NOT do as Trump wishes, because once he capitulates, all will be lost anyway.

I find it most shocking that Trump supporters are defending all of this. They don't care that he is driving America into the arms of the Russians, our enemies, who hate us, who have always hated us, and who want our destruction. Imagine how happy Putin must be at this moment, now that Trump has not only kicked our allies in the face, but he has also thrown Ukraine to the wolves.

"America first" has become "America only" and, worst of all, "America alone." Trump's supporters are clueless about how dangerous this is for us. They are buying into Trump's childish claims that NATO and the other alliances we have formed over decades were only calculated to take our money. His cynical and completely ignorant claim is being repeated from the rooftops by members of his cult who believe this garbage. And it IS garbage. It is not true. That is not how America would ever have characterized itself.

Worst of all, Trump's evil mischaracterization of the motives of others causes even more division than already exists. It is as if he is trying to pry the U.S.A. entirely out of the world community, leaving it alone and vulnerable.

Please join me in praying for a miracle for Ukraine. Pray that they do not have to sign that evil agreement with Trump but that somehow, some way, they are able to be victorious over the Russian hordes that have invaded their land.

Please join me in appealing to our Saint Olga, "Equal to the Apostles" that she intercede on the behalf of the Ukrainian people and also those in America who know the risks that are being taken by Trump's isolationism. Join me in praying that, instead of isolating ourselves, that people of good will join together, unimpeded, so that the message of Jesus, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, can most easily be accomplished.

Also, please pray that the people who have been brainwashed with the awful, hateful, and divisive lies and dystopian vision of Trump, may have their eyes opened to the truth so that they may join us on the world stage and embrace Zelensky, as the European Union has done.

And I would love very much if some of you could find it in your hearts to also join me in the prayer for the unification of Holy Mother Church so that she may breathe through both lungs, East and West, once more.

Today, we are ALL Ukrainians.

God bless you all.

Silver Rose

RETURN TO THE LORD IN HASTE

 

If there is one abiding principle I have learned in the 20 years I have been living the hermit life, it is that the Lord is always with us and all we have to do is turn our gaze to Him to submerge ourselves in the recognition of the continuing connection between the sheep and their Shepherd.

How this is done forms the life work of the spiritual aspirant. The more quickly one returns to God as each worldly task is completed, is an indication of our appetite for Him, for if we are tempted by the allurements of the world, then we tarry too long entertaining our baser instincts, wasting the gift of our attention when we should be delighting God with our loving glance.

Even the hermit cannot experience the submersion of the concentrated faculties in God every minute of the day. Our minds are required to negotiate our way down our path, whichever road we have chosen or which has been chosen for us. 

To pray unceasingly is the path of the contemplative hermit. Prayer and Labor, Ora et Labora, establishes the rhythm for the hermit, as our engrossment moves from one mode to another, from work to the Lord and back to work again, everything in its proper time. Our concentration needs to be complete for each. The Lord will know when our entire mind is not with him, and He will miss those parts of us that are withheld from Him, as He wants our entire consciousness to be upon him. Likewise, during our dedicated labors, even if only washing the dishes, we need our whole mind for the task, otherwise the crockery gets broken.

Just now, there is a lot of crockery being broken on Capitol Hill, and it is very distracting. We have a president who is rampaging through all the arms of the government and breaking things, in contravention of our laws, the Constitution, and our customs. It is disturbing to the hermit, first of all, because many people are being hurt unnecessarily and cruelly, which always bothers this hermit. 

The overriding problem, as I see it, is that this is not "business as usual" because this ruler is imitating many of the same things Hitler, Stalin and others have used to suppress and control people. 

I have reason to believe we are in danger of losing the democracy that allows me to live as a hermit, in peace. It will be more than crockery that gets broken if this man is allowed to follow through with his stated aims. Our entire way of life may be broken. 

Because of all of this, my attention has, of necessity, been captured by current events in a way that has not been done before this. There are civic duties to discharge, and I must do them. But at the same time, I cannot abandon my contemplative life.

Although I am aware that there is a constant stream of bad news and reportage of frightening events, I am posting this to remind my friends not to fall down that deep well of fear and despair. Do what you have to do in this crazy world of ours. Advocate for justice, write your letters, make your phone calls, have your meetings, feed the hungry, house the homeless, and encourage the downcast, but as soon as you are finished, return to the Lord in haste, and abide with Him in peace, quiet, and blessedness.

REMEMBER that, when you turn your attention to the Divine, the anxieties do not follow you. They do not follow because they CAN'T. 

When we are absorbed in God, the Blessed Mother, and the encouraging saints, that beautiful vibration that we reach and then match with our inner selves will not allow for the anxieties to catch us. God is all good, and when we are absorbed in Him, Satan and all the worries of the world CANNOT join us in that protected space of Sacred Love.

The one caution I would give is to make sure you do not cling to the bad news. Don't become fascinated by the evil of the world. Don't attach yourselves to your pet peeves, or you will become peevish instead of holy. 

Do only what you feel you HAVE to do in order to discharge your duties, and then flee to the Lord. You do not want to become attached to the anger and hostilities that are flooding the public space. Anger has its own type of endorphins that flow into the body, and then you are caught.

I have seen more than one religious person become stuck like this. Their "message" becomes fixated on ugliness. Instead of pointing to our holy Lord, and presenting the beauty of the Holy Face, they post pictures of the torn-up bodies of aborted babies, and the images of people who live alternative lifestyles and have dozens of piercing and tattoos on their faces and necks. Instead of attracting the world to the promises of Christ, they repel them with grotesqueries and attempt to engage them with hatred toward people who live or think differently than we do.

Part of staying focused on The Lord is by maintaining a loving eye on the world. To love our neighbor is not to objectify him as a person to hate, but as a person who is beloved by God and to whom we may offer a brilliant image of the Lord, our blessed Mother Mary, the saints and angels, and the heavenly realm.

After all, life on this earth is not all we have to look forward to. So we attend to our duties with love and care, laying our minds at the feet of our Lord as much as we are able, all the while keeping a willing heart within us, always ready to incline ourselves toward God.

I pray for you. Please pray for me.

Silver Rose

SAINT WALPURGA (aka "Walburga") AN EXAMPLE FOR MODERN WOMEN

 

Saint Walpurga (Walburga)

(born about 710, died 25 Feb, 777-779)

Although I had never heard of today's saint when I began to study her, I already felt a strong pull toward her and I wondered why. Firstly, I am descended from and fond of many saints of this approximate era and locale (Middle Ages in the British Isles), and her name sounded familiar to me, but I have just discovered that she is considered to be the patron saint of female writers!

Walpurga, who is now typically referred to as "Walburga" in the west, was a very well educated woman of 8th Century Wessex, who is the first female published writer, thus her patronage of female writers.

It is likely I am related to her, as I am descended from King Ingeld of Wessex, (my 39th great grandfather) who died in Canterbury, Kent, England in about 718, approximately 8 years after Walburga's birth. He was not her father, however, because all the records indicate that she was the daughter of someone called "Richard the Pilgrim," who is referred to as an "underking," and her mother Wuna of Wessex. Family history prior to Walburga's parents is lost in the mists of time, but we know that there were likely dense relationship connections in that area of the country, with many folks related to one another, especially since the nobility marries amongst themselves. I have many ancestors and cousins in Wessex during the years when the area around "Dumnonia," (approximately relating to modern-day Devon), was first becoming part of Anglo Saxon England. These centuries from about 600 a.d. to 1300 a.d. are my favorite in the history of my ancestors, and I am frequently rooting around in the historical records, looking for my "royal rellies."

(Of course we have to keep in mind that, when you go that far back in time, the records are never perfect. Names and dates can fluctuate, but the places in which these people lived their lives are rather more set, as even today we have corroborating places of pilgrimage, with old castle ruins, holy wells, and other sorts of geographic place markers. There are written records, especially with regard to the exploits of kings. One has to piece it all together to figure it out for individual persons.)

Considering the early era and obscure parentage, I was fascinated to see how much information there is on this saint in the internet records. There are a large number of paintings of her, quite a few merchants selling her holy medals and statues, and a few books (mostly of prayers and novenas.)

All of this has aroused a determination to learn as much as I can about this saint and to include her in my prayers to the saints, at the very least to mention her among them, especially because I am a writer and I have suffered terribly with writer's block for the last 20 years. I am looking for inspiration to get my books finished before I die, and I am already 70 years old, so I do not have much time left!

It will take me some time to get up to speed with all the information that is known about her, so I will do the best I can with what I can immediately absorb, and then will return later to add more. 

Something we should know about her, which I think has some implications for our modern life, is that Walpurga's father was both royal and extremely pious. This is a recurring theme that I find in the Middle Ages which appeals to me greatly.

Walburga's Father

Richard the Pilgrim

One sees these people, draped in ermine and being treated like little demi-Gods but instead of arrogant and haughty people, the kings and queens are often extremely religious, modest, and HUMBLE. Under those sumptuous clothings, some of them were wearing hair shirts as a penance. 

This saintly quality was frequently transmitted to their children, and there are entire families of saints (such as in today's case) which I find quite inspiring. Another example would be Saint Therese of Lisieux, though she is more contemporary.

It would be so easy for these kings and queens to just kick back and let everyone serve them, eat all kinds of glorious food while the serfs eke by and practically starve on rough fare. But that is not the case with many of the royal saints of the Middle Ages who were passionately religious.

It is quite a different family arrangement than what we often find today. I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say that they don't want to interfere with their childrens' freedom to pick their own religion. Their excuse for not taking them to church or giving them ANY religious instruction at all is so that they will not violate their right to freedom of choice, which is ridiculous, when you think about it. Obviously, the parents themselves are not usually going to church so they have no religious instruction to give. Their decision to "let the children decide for themselves" is apparently a smokescreen to disguise their own limitations.

.

Walburga's parents transmitted to her and her brothers a remarkable level of piety and dedication to the faith. It demonstrates the beauty of and possibilities for families to become instruments of holiness.  

Looking at this issue from a personal perspective, I will tell you that I did not come from a religious family. I really wish I had, because it took me decades to get to where I am today, and I feel sad when I contemplate how much better I could have behaved with this gift of life that God gave me, if I'd had the blessing of a family that was interested in God. But my family was entirely unlike the ideal. Even my beloved Grammy, though a good woman, eschewed religion. She DID say that "all you need is the Golden Rule," which I believe originally came from the Bible, but I never saw her read the Bible, and don't know that she even HAD one, and she definitely did not go to church.

My mother LOATHED Catholics because, oddly enough, my grandmother sent her to Catholic school. I suppose the nuns were mean to her. That is a mystery for which I will never have an answer.  You see? The Catholic Church has been on the outskirts of my family all the time.

For much of my adult life, I struggled between the beliefs under which I had been raised, and a nagging sense that there was something better, finer, higher.... something holy. I investigated many religions. I was on the Scientology flagship when I was 19. I studied Buddhism in my 20's. I was a nun in a Hindu convent in my 30's and then, finally, when I read about the Catholic mystics while a hindu nun in that convent, I finally realized what I needed. Even then, it took a number of years before I was able to join the Catholic Church which is, itself, the topic of another entire book. 

As usual, I have digressed! I just wanted to give you all an idea of the contrast between a family raised with God, and one raised with immorality and selfishness.

We do not often see the combination of piety and power in the kings of today. On this topic, I am going to mention something that is political in nature, and I ask your forgiveness for doing so. I am sure you have noticed that I mostly do not discuss politics in my blog. I have more to give in the sphere of holy things than politics But just now, recent government actions are intersecting with spiritual and moral expectations of our leaders. We need them to be of the highest moral character in order for each to be an effective leader. But the current office holder falls so short of requirements that it is frightening many of us.

FAKE MAGAZINE COVER CREATED BY

THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE AND

SHARED ON HIS OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE

"X" ACCOUNT

Donald Trump has just taken his second bite of the apple and is president AGAIN. He has recently posted on his social media platform a painting of a fake "Time" Magazine cover, depicting himself wearing a crown. Underneath the picture is a paean to himself, after which he writes, "Long live the King!" It is terrifying because he is acting like a brutal, dictatorial king, breaking many laws, violating the Constitution of our country, and hurting a lot of people with mass firings, mass deportations, and cruel language that disparages various categories of human beings. He has a tremendous amount of power, and with it he is punching down on those weaker than himself. 

His right hand man, an unelected immigrant from South Africa, (Elon Musk) has been tasked with the job of destroying many of the agencies of our government. As is typical of this administration, Trump says they are doing one thing, i.e., "getting rid of waste, fraud and abuse," but they are actually doing something more sinister. The courts are trying to stop him, but he is simply ignoring the judgments and proceeding with what he wants to do.  He verbally CLAIMS that he is complying but thereafter continues on as he was going, simply ignoring the judges' rulings. It is maddening.

For instance, we were initially told that Musk and a small band of teenagers and college dropouts were conducting "audits," but they immediately started to destroy agencies that Trump does not like, starting with USAID that delivers foreign aid to starving people throughout the world. Aside from the obvious horror we feel at the idea of innocent people dying in the Sudan due to famine, for instance, the loss of our reputation around the world will most certainly have colossal ramifications.

The battalion of college kids spent only ONE WEEKEND sending emails to employees of USAID, firing people and furloughing others. Obviously, the agency CANNOT function, so all the food that we were trying to get to the people starving in Sudan and other places is, instead, sitting in warehouses or rotting in stalled transport.

Two days is not enough time to conduct an audit of my own personal finances, what to speak of an agency with world-wide operations. Neither Musk nor his band of college students has the education or experience to conduct an actual "audit" which would take months or years when conducted by professionals. Our aid to the poorest of the poor throughout the world has been kneecapped.

The people who have been fired are not surgically targeted. Musk and his teen crew simply chose the easiest people to get rid of, and then they bragged about how much money they saved because of firing them. The approach of these people is overwhelmingly transactional in nature, completely ignoring the humanity affected.

In addition, the operation is being done in a sloppy manner. They have been wrong about the nature of the contracts, the exact amounts of the required payments,  and have misunderstood reports and spreadsheet. Most unfortunate is that they appear to have failed to prepare themselves by getting information and instructions from those for whom these areas are familiar.

It appears they have no idea what they are doing, and while they may save money on salaries, they are disabling the primary functions of these agencies.

In another instance, when they sent out emails firing the people who kept watch over our stockpile of nuclear weapons, they had to walk it back but did not know how to contact those recently fired people whose business email accounts had been cancelled.

Trump is resolutely remaking the government in his image.  The House, Senate and Supreme Court are all "in his pocket" and getting him to obey the laws has been impossible. One judge issued an order and two weeks later had to issue the same order again, admonishing Trump to follow his order. But instead of doing so, he continues on with the plan.

Before taking office, Trump said he knew nothing about Project 2025. After the election, he is following it exactly. The government is being transformed into an American oligarchy, and it is terrifying.

. Even before he was elected, the GOP was heeding his orders, in some cases blocking measures that would solve problems that they complain about all the time just to avoid the solution being effected during someone else's administration. This man will not tolerate anyone else being given credit for anything good, unless Trump himself is dispensing those laudatory comments in a condescending way that imputes the original agency to himself and his orders and directions.

He has become increasingly rude, demanding and dictatorial. He threatens to hurt anyone who does not behave as he likes. He is continually issuing illegal and unconstitutional orders. In a recent public meeting, he asked one Governor if she was going to "comply" and she clearly said she would comply with "all laws and the Constitution," and he told her that she BETTER comply with what he wanted or her state will get NO Federal funding. This is how he talks. He says the silent parts out loud. 

Recently, in keeping with his habit of rudely and aggressively talking down to reporters, he has decided to abolish the First Amendment by limiting the journalists who cover him to an exclusive list of his choosing. Their journalistic credentials are limited, to say the least. In a hundred years, we have never seen this. But we have seen it in other countries. 

Historically, the famous Hitler did this in Germany. Currently, the countries that behave this way are Russia, North Korea, Burma, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Eritreya, Cuba, Uzbekistan, Syria and Belarus. There may be more. Dictators always suppress the free press as one of the first things they do to keep a country under their heel. Notice that the above list is composed of countries that are not known for being wealthy and successful. Dictatorships are not healthy governments, yet the egomaniacal personalities cannot give them up. They are obsessed with power.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

The Republicans in charge of the other branches of government are thrilled. They sit back and watch while the president destroys one agency after another, apparently not caring about the human costs. They can clearly see that the Constitution is being violated but as long as it is being violated to benefit them, they do not make a move to stop the speeding train.

Today the House of Representatives passed a resolution that will give the rich more tax breaks and will pay for it by robbing the poor. They are expressly after Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. The poor will lose medical care, food and housing. Old people will be thrown out of nursing homes. Many of us will end up in the street, homeless. 

None of this comports with the Christian faith to which he pretends to belong. They justify this cruelty by saying that charity is the job of the church. So they think it is alright to actively hurt the poor. A tiny little handful of men at the top of the ladder own more wealth than the entire bottom half. This disparity of income, caused by the suppression of wages and the negligible tax payments of the wealthy, causes terrible poverty.

The work of the people at the bottom of the pyramid creates the value in a company, which is monetized and shoved up the ladder to the corporate overlords.

Elon Musk and others in the right wing call poor people "the parasite class," when it is he and Trump and others like them that CAUSE the poverty to begin with. 

I worked for decades and put money into Social Security. I do not feel much like a "parasite."

To be clear, my entire income is Social Security, with the exception of some television residuals from work I did 40 some odd years ago. I am on a Medicaid waiver because of my disabilities. It is possible that I will lose most of my medical care and benefits if this bill is enacted into law.

The depraved and foul behavior of Trump and many of his Republican enablers is completely unlike the holy families that we are discussing in this blog post.

In one, now famous, interview, Trump was asked if he had ever ask for forgiveness from God and he said he had not because he does not need it.

This is not a humble king who is self-effacing, polite, generous to the poor, obedient to The Church and The Faith. Trump is a vile dictator who cares about nothing but his own extravagant ego and his pleasures.

While Musk has been savaging our government agencies, Trump has been playing golf. In less than a month in office, Trump's golf habit has cost the American people more than 10 MILLION DOLLARS. Our wealthy overseers only care about money being "wasted" on the poor but they zealously guard the income streams leading to their enjoyments.

Nero fiddled while Rome burned. 

A distressingly large group of generic Christians and even Catholics constantly make excuses for him, despite the growing list of examples of his complete moral bankruptcy. I can't write about all of it or else I will be here all night.

The excuse I hear most often is that King David was also a sinful man and God thought HE was ok, which is a ridiculous comparison.

There is a HUGE difference between a man who believes in the commandments of Christ and tries his best to meet them but fails - and the man who asserts the OPPOSITE values to those of Christ and succeeds in his efforts to achieve those evil ends. The first man is a fallible human being, and the second man is in league with Satan.

At any rate, we all have a choice, regardless of our family background and advantages or lack thereof. Today's saint followed in the footsteps of her sainted father and she actually accomplished a lot in her lifetime.

The last time she saw her father, she was but 11 years old. I imagine her waving fondly goodbye to her father and two brothers as they rode off on a pilgrimage, leaving her behind with the Abbess of a double monastery. Her father died while on pilgrimage, a year after he left, and Walburga remained in the monastery, becoming a nun, and spending 26 years with those holy women, becoming extremely well educated in the process.

She helped her brothers Willibald and Winibald to evangelize the pagan Germans, along with boniface, who was her uncle. One brother died, and she took over his monastery. Then the other died and she took over his as well.

She was an extremely gifted and pious woman who led both men and women in religious life, worked as an evangelist, wrote books about the holy souls of her two brothers, and is credited with a number of miracles.

I have a lot of reading left to do about this really interesting saint, and I will come back later, God willing, to add to this.

I pray for you all, as I hope you pray for me.

Silver Rose

Post Script: Please remember that all my writing is protected by legal copyright and none of it may be reproduced anywhere else for any reason without my specific written permission. Just because you can see it here on the internet does not mean you have any right to use it.