Dear Mr. Candidate,

Because we continue to note reports that you converted to Roman Catholicism – after, apparently being reared as an “evangelical” and spending time as an “atheist” (The Sisters in school always taught us “Cattle are ‘raised,’ children are ‘reared.’”), we thought we would take time to offer some insights.

[EDITORS’ NOTE: We sincerely pray for your pardon 
for the brutality of this post and the accompanying photos. 
There are too many photos from
which we might have might have chosen,
but too horrible to even view.
Nonetheless, brutality is what happens when individuals, 
governments and political candidates “other” people. 
As Americans complete their ballots and prepare for Election Day, 
our priestly and prophetic roles demand that we stand against othering.]

Sometimes God just ain’t too subtle.

But He, She, They – we’re dealing with The Trinity here; pronouns can be difficult – does/do enjoy an occasional word game and a challenge.

Although not impossibly difficult, the message – truly old school ‘cause it was in disappearing ink – seemed designed to make these reporters “work for it.

“It’s not fair.
A leader of this country should not use people
as pawns in a way that bypasses someone’s rational thought.
I just think it’s really sickening that politicians
in this country are not touchable,
but individuals [like my dad] are painted
as the leader [of the events of January 6].”
Peyton Reffitt

Thank you, Gus!

Thank you!

Through your tears, you taught a nation what it means to be a loved and loving son of a loved and loving father. 

It’s a simple mistake. 

So common, even the 45^th president of the United States made it as recently as August 15 when he referred to “the Congressional Medal of Honor.”

It seemed the calls always came in the darkest pre-dawn hours.

And began with an apology: “Father, I’m sorry, but…”

Either a baby in the Intensive Care Unit had “just died” or death was imminent.

“Can you, please, come… Now!”

We’ve heard the stories too often.

In the secrecy of the confessional and the (please, God) safety of the counseling setting… Too, too often.

They’re “pillars of the church” and “such a good Christian family.”

Except, the brutal truth is that they aren’t.

Holy Moly!

The independent, for-profit World Population Review doesn’t engage in polemics or fearmongering, but these numbers should have some folks shaking in their boots:

• “Providing real-time statistics for diverse topics, the reference website Worldometer put the population of Cuba at 11,173,678 on July 16.”

“Do not say that those who are killed in God’s cause are dead;
they are alive, though you do not realize it.”
Qur’an 2:154

Long, long ago, a Maryknoll Sister
with a distinguished history of serving
the poorest of the poor on the missions was
beginning graduate studies and set out to purchase a computer.
Having made her selection, she presented a Sisters’ credit card
and the special ID that would allow a religious institute tax break on the sale.
The self-satisfied and arrogant salesclerk made a critical mistake:
He lectured Sister about why she should be wearing a habit.
“Young man, do you know what the habit was?”
Sister queried, stand straight up and confident.
“The habit was nothing more than the day-to-day dress
of a fifteenth century peasant girl.
I may be many things, but I have never been
a Fifteenth Century peasant girl.”

If “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…,” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) David Bowe (1971) was right: We’re living in a world of “ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!”

“So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind
Is all the sad world needs.”
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I’ve just returned from the cemetery, where I’ve confirmed that Mr. Flynn is not – as some might expect – spinning in his grave.

Our father was initiated into the Knights of Columbus on Tuesday, October1, 1946.

Honest-To-God Truth:

There are men and women in prisons in the United States who should never again see the light of day as free people.

“We’re starting to forget 2020 now.
How can we commit to ending the systemic inequalities
that have led to so many deaths in these [1918 and 2020] pandemics?”
Historian Beatrix Hoffman

Despite serving fourteen terms in the Colonial Assembly and representing the colony in the First Continental Congress in 1774, Joseph Galloway was no fan of Pennsylvania’s independence from the crown. He favored England’s continued control of the Colony and, when the Continental Congress rejected the idea, the Assembly accepted his resignation on May 12, 1775.

Galloway wasn’t finished.

Farm worker Javier Diaz suffered three cracked ribs and a broken leg and collarbone. His employer, cattle rancher Juan Cadavid told The Wall Street Journal’s online site “The Wall” he was “tossed… in the air as if he were a ball.” Fisherman Alvaro Molina’s boat was hit in the Magdalena River, forcing him to swim to share.

The culprits?

Two great verbal slap downs.

[We’ll come to the second later, but we admit that after hours of research we’ve been unable to find the details and precise wording.]

At a time when so many members of Congress have bartered away their shame, few living Americans actually heard or saw what may still be the most stinging putdown in Congressional history.

As the lilies of Easter lose their fragrance,
it is time for Christians of all denominations
to consider Tikkun Olam as a living expression
of “Resurrectional Faith.”