George M. Sipe @George@rcsocial.net

In todays first reading (Numbers), the Lord has Moses send scouts to land of Canaan. They return confirming His promise of a land of milk and honey. BUT report the inhabitants are too strong for the children of Israel so the people despair. For this they are punished, consigned to the desert for 40 years until the generation changes.

This reminds me of the children of today's culture who also deny our Lord's word instituting a visible Church, giving it power and authority, and protecting it until the end of time. Something to think about.

Speaking of same old, same old...

The new Fascists (along with their "sympathizers"), using the very best Orwellian doublespeak call themselves "ANTI-fascists".

Today is a first Friday.

Today is the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, a/k/a "doubting Thomas" (or "doubting Didymus").

The "doubting" label is quite unfair. IMHO it is quite prudent to exercise caution and discern the truly divine from the possibly demonic.

Moreover, it was St. Thomas who first recognized Jesus as "my Lord and my God". For that he should be remembered more appropriately as St. Thomas the Confessor.

David Anders gave an interesting exegesis last week of Genesis 15 (Abraham's vision / covenant with God). (This is an extract from his daily EWTN Called to Communion show.)

On July 4th, RCsocial.net reaches its 1 year anniversary!

Coincidentally, also happening this July 4th is the move of 1 million #Gab users to the federverse. We will be able to follow them and vice versa, just like all other ActivityPub sites. This is a big boost for free speech and in wrestling control from the oppressive tech giants.

It also provides much-needed balance to the anti-free-speech viewpoint of Mastodon developers.

Photo: Church of the Holy Sepulchre by Fr. Lawrence Lew.

This is "Memorial for Unborn Children" by Slovakian sculptor Martin Hudáček.

I realize more and more how much every soul needs God's mercy throughout life and particularly at the hour of death. -- St. Faustina

RCsocial.net is now integrated with the Keybase identity proof system.

In their app, select "Add more identities" then search for "RCsocial.net". Follow the prompts and your RCsocial.net profile will be linked (and verified to) any other sites (even Facebook and Twitter -- double shudder) you choose.

"Pieta" by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1876)
#art

This is a map of attacks on churches in France over the last 4 years. None of these were accidents. #persecution

People do not seem to realize the high level of Christian #persecution in the modern world. It is increasing. On a typical day, 11 Christians are killed for their faith.

Say it is Friday so you are not eating meat. Could you enjoy the new "Impossible Whopper" at St. Louis area Burger Kings? Supposedly it looks, smells and tastes just like meat.

My answer: no. Doing so would entirely miss the spirit of the penance, trying to slip by on a technicality.

Friends, you are incoherent (and probably uneducated deplorables too).

The New York Times has published an opinion piece written by Peter Atterton (a professor of philosophy at San Diego State University) entitled "A God Problem". The tag line is "Perfect. All-powerful. All-knowing. The idea of the deity most Westerners accept is actually not coherent."

I read it so you don't have to. Want to read a smart philosopher? Read Peter Kreeft.

Academia and journalism, coming together to deliver the quality we expect of them. This bit of enlightenment from the Times (according to Fr. Z - a/k/a "Hell's Bible"):

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/opinion/-philosophy-god-omniscience.html