non veni pacem

I know all the arguments, and I’m still not totally comfortable with St. Faustina’s diary. I’m also uneasy with the way the Divine Mercy devotion has superseded or even replaced devotion to the Sacred Heart, as if we can’t have both, and I decry the idea of mercy without repentance, which is the error currently all the rage.

But I’m going to tell you a quick story of how it came to win me over, and I am proposing to you a trial run with this devotion.

How did it win me over? At first, it was upon finding adherents among many holy priests I know, one after the other, many of them Trad. I resisted, being prideful and holding onto those reservations about the diary. It was a few years ago, upon learning that the FSSP actually celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday, that I realized there had to be something I was missing.

My interaction with the devotion was increasingly accompanied by an unmistakable sign of the Holy Ghost: Sneaking up and smacking me in the head. You know what I’m talking about. It just kept happening more and more, until I finally figured out what what going on. It typically takes something like the Roadrunner dropping the anvil for me to wake up and put the pieces together, which happened about a year ago.

I found myself headed towards a Midwestern city I wasn’t very familiar with, and in need of Confession. After consulting masstimes.org to see what might work, it looked as if nothing was going to fit between planes, meetings, and required drive time. Plane landed crazy early, which gave me a chance, if I hurried, at a church named for the Divine Mercy. It was on a leafy street in a suburban neighborhood, a nice old stone church. Inside, it was beautiful, not wrecked. Side devotional altar to the Divine Mercy. Lone priest in the box.

Let’s just say it was one of those eye opening, scales falling, kind of moments. Like something that, once seen, cannot be unseen.

Since then, I’ve experienced several more encounters, many of which continue to come when I’m not expecting it. It is now to the point where I can say the devotion definitely bears fruit.

What can be most helpful is a simple meditation on the Divine Mercy itself, and how much it makes perfect sense, as it is borne of God’s perfect love for us. We don’t deserve it; we deserve so much worse, but we just can’t get our heads around how much he loves us. Infinite love, bearing infinite mercy, depending only on our repentance: Contrition and purpose of amendment.

Here is a quick way to get yourself into it. This is a prayer card I keep in my stack of daily devotions. If you pray it earnestly, you will see fruit, take it from me.

19 April 2005. I will never forget the very moment it happened, as I watched it, nor the disbelief on the face of Fr. Neuhaus on EWTN as it happened.

I can’t seem to find that clip, but enjoy this one instead.

Pray for Pope Benedict, still reigning.

From bizjournals.com, link to full story at bottom of post:

Hospitals are facing “dire financial consequences” and furloughing staff, as cutbacks meant to prepare for COVID-19 cases have instead cost them as much as $575 million a month, about 30-40% of normal revenues.

The cancellation of elective procedures meant to free up beds for potential coronavirus patients, combined with a drop in emergency room visits, has deprived hospitals of the “cash cows” they need to stay afloat.

The result is health care centers in financial distress, at risk of closing or reducing staff, said Dr. Daniel Derksen, director of the Arizona Center for Rural Health at the University of Arizona.

“If you don’t have the revenues to support paying your nurses and physicians and staff and transport, lab, imaging, X-rays, those types of things, it creates just an untenable situation,” Derksen said.

Gov. Doug Ducey last month issued two executive orders directing hospitals to simultaneously increase capacity while cutting nonessential surgeries like knee replacements and minor cancers. Hospitals complied, but it was not without cost, said Arizona Public Health Association Executive Director Will Humble.

“Revenue is down and expenses are up,” Humble said. “If you don’t have the cash reserves to carry yourself through, you’re in big trouble fast even meeting payrolls.”

On Wednesday, Ducey told Arizona Capitol Times that he understands the problem and he’s open to a partial loosening of the restrictions on elective services if the data supports doing so.

The governor told the Times he still wants to make sure hospital capacity is sufficient to handle COVID-19 cases, with sufficient supply of personal protective equipment, ventilators and other needed items.

Ed.: Oh, about the data… here are the numbers. As you read them, hold in the front of your mind that we have eight million (8,000,000) people in AZ:

Read the rest here: https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2020/04/16/hospitals-near-financial-extinction-from-limits.html?ana=knxv

Washington (AFP) – The wealthy Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation called Wednesday for global cooperation to ready COVID-19 vaccines for seven billion people, while offering $150 million toward developing therapeutics and treatments for the virus.

While it is likely to take as many as 18 months to develop and fully test a safe coronavirus vaccine, global authorities and businesses need to start now on plans to manufacture it, said foundation chief executive Mark Suzman. “When you are dealing with a novel pathogen like COVID-19, as and when we get to identifying a successful vaccine, we are going to need billions of doses.”

“There are seven billion people on the planet,” he said. “We are going to need to vaccinate nearly every one. There is no manufacturing capacity to do that.”

Suzman announced the foundation, started and controlled by mega-billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates, is adding $150 million to the $100 million it announced in February to help in international efforts to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

“A successful vaccine has to be available for seven billion people. You need to test if there are unexpected side effects, or side effects within cohorts or groups, whether it’s pregnant women or the elderly or the very young,” said Suzman.

But even as those trials take place, he said, there needs to be an international group of experts, countries and companies honing in on those with the most promise and preparing ahead of time to manufacture them.

“Clearly for us, the World Health Organization is a very strong, reliable partner,” Suzman said, noting the Gates Foundation is WHO’s second-largest source of funding after the US.

Suzman said the Gates Foundation is “reasonably optimistic” that one or more successful vaccines can be proven within 12 to 18 months.

“This will be the fastest vaccine ever developed in human history,” he said.

“There will be no return to ‘normal’ until there is a vaccine,” Suzman said. “But there are no dramatic ways to short-cut it.”

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/gates-foundation-calls-global-cooperation-vaccine-7-billion-223450593.html

When have you ever heard of forcing healthy people to stay home, instead of isolating the sick and the vulnerable? Have you wondered why you’ve never before heard of “flattening the curve,” or “social distancing?” Have you noticed that the “experts” in charge of destroying our country manage to be wrong about almost everything?

Folks, get outside. Get some fresh air and sunshine. Stop hiding in your houses. Why? Because sun+heat kills viruses, and your house is a petri dish.

Here is the study that proves it:

ABSTRACT

Background: By early April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had infected nearly one million people and had spread to nearly all countries worldwide. It is essential to understand where and how SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted. Methods: Case reports were extracted from the local Municipal Health Commissions of 320 prefectural cities (municipalities) in China, not including Hubei province, between 4 January and 11 February 2020. We identified all outbreaks involving three or more cases and reviewed the major characteristics of the enclosed spaces in which the outbreaks were reported and associated indoor environmental issues. Results: Three hundred and eighteen outbreaks with three or more cases were identified, involving 1245 confirmed cases in 120 prefectural cities. We divided the venues in which the outbreaks occurred into six categories: homes, transport, food, entertainment, shopping, and miscellaneous. Among the identified outbreaks, 53.8% involved three cases, 26.4% involved four cases, and only 1.6% involved ten or more cases. Home outbreaks were the dominant category (254 of 318 outbreaks; 79.9%), followed by transport (108; 34.0%; note that many outbreaks involved more than one venue category). Most home outbreaks involved three to five cases. We identified only a single outbreak in an outdoor environment, which involved two cases. Conclusions: All identified outbreaks of three or more cases occurred in an indoor environment, which confirms that sharing indoor space is a major SARS-CoV-2 infection risk.

Source: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.04.20053058v1

Jan. 14: The WHO announces, “Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in Wuhan, China.” Meanwhile, according to The Associated Press, internal Chinese documents show that government officials acknowledged likely human-to-human transmission of coronavirus, and said they were following orders from the president of China to keep it under wraps.

Jan. 17: The CDC and the Department of Homeland Security announce that travelers into the U.S. from Wuhan will undergo new screening at several major airports.

Jan. 19: The WHO hedges somewhat: “Not enough is known to draw definitive conclusions about how it is transmitted, the clinical features of the disease, the extent to which it has spread, or its source, which remains unknown.”

Jan. 23: Vox publishes an article stating that travel bans to fight viruses “don’t work.” The article initially referred to the “Wuhan coronavirus,” before being edited weeks later. The article’s URL remains unchanged.

China seals off Wuhan, canceling plane, train and bus travel.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says in a Journal of the American Medical Association podcast that the U.S. wouldn’t implement shutdowns of cities like what was occurring in China: “There’s no chance in the world that we could do that to Chicago or to New York or to San Francisco, but they’re doing it.  So, let’s see what happens.”

Jan. 24: Politico reports that the Trump administration held a briefing on the coronavirus for senators, but it was “sparsely attended” in part because it “was held on the same day as a deadline for senators to submit their impeachment questions.”

“The initial thought from the Dems, I think, is that we were trying to distract from impeachment,” a GOP Senate aide told Politico. The outlet added that a White House official “recalled feeling surprised at the ‘incredibly’ poor attendance, noting that it came ‘even though the amount of concern expressed then was rather intense.'”

Jan. 26: “The American people should not be worried or frightened by this. It’s a very, very low risk to the United States,” Fauci says on The CATS Roundtable. “It isn’t something that the American public needs to worry about or be frightened about.”

Jan. 27: The Biden campaign, including its top coronavirus adviser Ron Klain, praise China for being “transparent” and “candid.” Speaking to Axios, Klain asserts: “I think what you’d have to say about China is, it’s been more transparent and more candid than it has been during past outbreaks, though still there’s problems with transparency and candor.” Even as he says there were “many” areas in which China hasn’t been transparent, Klain asserts that China had helpfully released a “sequence of the virus.” Klain goes on to say there isn’t “any reason” for anyone to postpone essential travel to anywhere except the Wuhan area.

Jan. 28: Three days before Trump closes off most travel from China, Klain says he opposes that measure.

Jan. 30: The WHO declares a global health emergency, and the State Department issues advisories against traveling to China.

Jan. 31: Trump issues the “Proclamation on Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus.” Later in the day, Biden campaigns in Iowa and tells the crowd that Americans “need to have a president who they can trust what he says about it, that he is going to act rationally about it. … This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria and xenophobia – hysterical xenophobia – and fearmongering to lead the way instead of science.”

Also in the wake of the ban on Jan. 31:

• An article in The New York Times quotes epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm as saying that Trump’s decision to restrict travel from China was “more of an emotional or political reaction.”
• The Washington Post runs a story quoting a Chinese official asking for “empathy” and slamming the White House for acting “in disregard of WHO recommendation against travel restrictions.”
• Vox tweets: “Is this going to be a deadly pandemic? No.” The tweet was deleted weeks later.
• Canada’s health minister Patty Hajdu, who would later say there was no reason to doubt Chinese coronavirus data, says the risk of the virus is “low” and that early-warning systems are working “exactly as they should.” The “spread of the disease is contained,” Hajdu claimed.

NOTE: HERE COMES THE PIVOT TO ORANGE MAN RACIST

Feb. 2: “There’s a virus that has infected 15 million Americans across the country and killed more than 8,200 people this season alone,” CNN tweets. “It’s not a new pandemic — it’s influenza.”

New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot  tweets: “As we gear up to celebrate the #LunarNewYear in NYC, I want to assure New Yorkers that there is no reason for anyone to change their holiday plans, avoid the subway, or certain parts of the city because of #coronavirus.”

Feb. 5: The Senate acquits Trump on two counts of impeachment, in a widely expected result that dominated journalists’ and politicians’ attention for months.

Feb. 7: Barbot strikes again, assuring residents, “We’re telling New Yorkers, go about your lives, take the subway, go out, enjoy life.” City lawmakers have called for Barbot to be fired because of the comments.

Feb. 9: Mark Levine, the chair of New York City Council health committee and a Democrat, tweets: “In powerful show of defiance of #coronavirus scare, huge crowds gathering in NYC’s Chinatown for ceremony ahead of annual #LunarNewYear parade. Chants of ‘be strong Wuhan!’ If you are staying away, you are missing out!”

Feb. 11: Klain, the Biden adviser, remarks that the evidence “suggests” the coronavirus won’t be a “serious pandemic.”https://www.youtube.com/embed/h8KZ3F7JwT0

Feb. 13: “There are ZERO confirmed cases of coronavirus in New York City, and hundreds of Chinese restaurants that need your business!” the New York City mayor’s office tweets. “There is nothing to fear. Stop by any Chinatown for lunch or dinner!”

Feb. 17: Fauci announces that the risk of coronavirus infection in the U.S. is “miniscule,” according to USA Today. Fauci, one of the top experts (COUGH) in the field and a senior White House coronavirus adviser, also told the paper that people shouldn’t wear masks unless they are contagious. (By April 3, Fauci appeared to endorse national stay-at-home orders.)

Feb. 18: In remarks at Joint Base Andrews, Trump states: “I think President Xi is working very hard.  As you know, I spoke with him recently.  He’s working really hard.  It’s a tough problem.  I think he’s going to do — look, I’ve seen them build hospitals in a short period of time.  I really believe he wants to get that done, and he wants to get it done fast.  Yes, I think he’s doing it very professionally. We’re also working with him and helping him, as of the last few days, as you know.” Pressed on whether he trusted China’s coronavirus data, Trump responds, “Look, I know this: President Xi loves the people of China, he loves his country, and he’s doing a very good job with a very, very tough situation.”

Feb. 24: “It’s exciting to be here, especially at this time, to be able to be unified with our community,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tells reporters as she visits San Francisco’s Chinatown. “We want to be vigilant about what is out there in other places. We want to be careful about how we deal with it, but we do want to say to people ‘Come to Chinatown, here we are — we’re, again, careful, safe — and come join us.’”

Also on Feb. 24, the White House submits a request to Congress for $2.5 billion in supplemental spending to help combat the coronavirus outbreak. The request includes $1.25 billion in new money, with the rest coming from unspent funds.

Mar. 2: “Since I’m encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives + get out on the town despite Coronavirus, I thought I would offer some suggestions,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweets.

UM, YEAH. MARCH 2nd. GET OUT ON THE TOWN, Y’ALL. TWEET STILL NOT DELETED:

Since I’m encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives + get out on the town despite Coronavirus, I thought I would offer some suggestions. Here’s the first: thru Thurs 3/5 go see “The Traitor” @FilmLinc. If “The Wire” was a true story + set in Italy, it would be this film.

— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) March 3, 2020

Mar. 4: Barbot, the top New York City health official, declares, “There’s no indication that being in a car, being in the subways with someone who’s potentially sick is a risk factor.”

On CNN, Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta downplay the virus.

“The flu right now is far deadlier,” Cooper says. “So if you’re freaked out at all about the coronavirus you should be more concerned about the flu, and you can actually do something about it, and get a flu shot.”

“15,000 people roughly have already died of the flu this season,” Gupta responded. “Couple years ago, 60,000 people died of the flu.”

Mar. 9: At a Fox News town hall, Bernie Sanders says he would not close the border, even if it were necessary to halt the spread of coronavirus. He then attacked Trump’s “xenophobia.”

Also on this day, Fauci remarks that going to campaign rallies may not be a bad idea: “You know, I can’t comment on campaign rallies. It really depends. We are having as we all said — this is something in motion. This is an evolving thing. So I’m not sure what we’re going to be able to say at the time we’re going to have a campaign rally. If you’re talking about a campaign rally tomorrow, in a place where there is no community spread, I think the judgment to have it might be a good judgment. [But] if you want to talk about large gatherings in a place you have community spread, I think that’s a judgment call, and if someone decides they want to cancel it, I wouldn’t publicly  criticize them.”

Source for above timeline: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/from-new-york-to-canada-to-the-white-house-initial-coronavirus-responses-havent-aged-well

Now ask yourself, dear reader, what exactly happened beginning March 10th, such that we completely closed down the country three days later? What could have happened? Getting the feeling that gaslighting might be involved? Are you getting mad enough to actually take five minutes and write to your governor, congressman, and senators? It won’t do any good, but at least you will have done it.

I am watching the Gov. Cuomo press conference, where he is explaining how no one is going to be allowed to return to work without being tested, 18.5 million more tests are needed in NY, and he is now assembling a “tracing army” to hunt you down.

Then I read how the NJ governor cannot foresee ever getting our lives back.

TRENTON, New Jersey (WPVI) — As social distancing measures continue amid the coronavirus outbreak, many people are wondering when things will get back to normal.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says he does not see that happening anytime soon. “People talk about a new normal, I think that’s a reality,” Murphy said. “The notion that we’re going to go back, let’s turn the clock back to three months ago, I just don’t see it.” During his press briefing Wednesday, Murphy described a new normal restaurant might be at 50% capacity, with a temperature check at the door, servers wearing masks and gloves, surfaces being wiped down hyper-aggressively, and tables far apart. If they become widely available, Murphy said he could see customers taking a rapid saliva test…

GO BACK AND READ THAT AGAIN. HE’S NOT KIDDING.

He referenced a Harvard study that determined the world may need to continue social distancing practices until 2022 in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic unless hospital capacity is increased or an effective vaccine is developed.

While the governor said he loves greeting with a big handshake, a kiss, hugs, and high fives, Murphy said all are postponed for the foreseeable future. “I would love nothing more…I just don’t see- I take my cues from the health experts and I’ll continue to – I don’t see a normal, even if it were to take place, a normal gathering in the foreseeable future. I don’t see it,” Murphy said.

https://6abc.com/health/gov-murphy-i-dont-see-normal-gathering-in-foreseeable-future/6105332/

Meanwhile, in Michigan, a ray of sunshine on a snowy day:

Offertory Ps. 77:23-25
The Lord opened the doors of heaven and rained down manna upon them for food. He gave them the bread of heaven, and man ate the bread of angels, alleluia!

Secret:
O Lord, we joyously offer You at Easter this Sacrament which so wondrously feeds and nourishes Your Church. 

Happy Easter! Are you feasting or fasting?

Hopefully you are feasting, this being only the fourth day of the Octave. But perhaps you’re fasting too, involuntarily, because you are deprived of the Eternal Sacrifice. If so, use this time to meditate on your hunger, and use it to your benefit. This is the same hunger you should feel every time before you receive; it is a combination of physical hunger and spiritual hunger. The Eucharistic Fast is not only about reverence for the Sacred Species, it’s also about generating physical hunger, which is then meant to be used as a tool. It helps us toward the spiritual dimension, in wanting to be united with Our Lord. Pray that all obstacles might be removed from our unity with God.

The value of fasting is woven throughout the Old Testament, and Our Lord upheld and continued this. He explained its value in Matt 17:20, but make sure you are reading a Catholic bible, because the prots ripped it out. http://drbo.org/chapter/47017.htm He leads by example in Matt 4:2, and He instructs how we are to carry it out in Matt 6:16-18. In fact, this passage from Matt 6 comes right after He gives us the Pater Noster. He teaches us how to pray, and then immediately teaches us how to fast. Not a coincidence.

I am in the fortunate position of having access to open churches, access to Confession, access to Adoration, and access to Mass… DAILY. I promise to remember all of the readership whenever I take part. God sees and knows everything that is happening. Abide in Him. He is in control.

And now some more Anglican organ music.

Crown him with many crowns,
  The Lamb upon his throne;
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
  All music but its own:
Awake, my soul, and sing
  Of him who died for thee,
And hail him as thy matchless king
  Through all eternity.

Crown him the Virgin’s Son!
  The God Incarnate born,–
Whose arm those crimson trophies won
  Which now his brow adorn!
Fruit of the mystic Rose
  As of that Rose the Stem:
The Root, whence mercy ever flows,–
  The Babe of Bethlehem!

Crown him the Lord of love!
  Behold his hands and side,–
Rich wounds, yet visible above,
  In beauty glorified:
No angel in the sky
  Can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye
  At mysteries so bright!

Crown him the Lord of peace!
  Whose power a scepter sways,
From pole to pole,–that wars may cease,
  Absorbed in prayer and praise:
his reign shall know no end,
  And round his pierced feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend
  Their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown him the Lord of years!
  The Potentate of time,–
Creator of the rolling spheres,
  Ineffably sublime!
Glassed in a sea of light,
  Where everlasting waves
Reflect his throne,–the Infinite!
  Who lives,–and loves–and saves.

It is absolutely unbelievable that no one is calling this out as bullshit. New York just went back 33 days and added everyone who previously didn’t die of the Corona to the Corona count, even if they never tested positive. You know, just part of following the “local trends” guidance from the CDC.

April 14 (Reuters) – U.S. coronavirus deaths rose by at least 2,228 on Tuesday, a single-day record, to top 28,300, according to a Reuters tally, as officials debated how to reopen the economy without reigniting the outbreak. The previous single-day record was 2,069, set last Friday.

The increase of 2,228 deaths excludes a revision by New York City to include deaths presumed to be due to the novel coronavirus but never tested dating back to March 11. New York City’s health department said the death toll is now over 10,000, including the 3,700 deaths added on Tuesday.

LOCAL TRENDS

https://news.trust.org/item/20200414214724-hfp57