Reasons Nations Establish Sovereign Wealth Funds
Nations create sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) for several key economic and strategic reasons:

1. Stabilizing Government Finances

Many SWFs are designed to stabilize a country's economy by managing the volatility of revenues, especially for nations dependent on commodities like oil, copper, or diamonds. By saving excess revenues during boom years, these funds can be used to support government budgets during downturns, smoothing out the effects of fluctuating commodity prices and reducing the risk of economic instability.

2. Saving for Future Generations

SWFs allow countries to convert finite, non-renewable resources into lasting wealth. By investing proceeds from natural resources or trade surpluses, nations can build up savings to benefit future generations, ensuring long-term prosperity even after resources are depleted.

3. Diversifying the Economy and Investments

By investing in a broad range of global assets, SWFs help diversify a country's wealth beyond its primary sources of income, such as oil or exports. This diversification reduces reliance on a single sector and helps protect the economy from sector-specific shocks.

4. Supporting Economic and Strategic Development

Some SWFs are used to drive domestic economic development by investing in infrastructure, nurturing key industries, and supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They may also be used to create "national champions"—prominent domestic companies in strategically important sectors.

5. Maximizing Returns on Excess Capital

When countries accumulate large fiscal or trade surpluses, holding these as cash is often inefficient. SWFs allow governments to invest surplus funds in global markets to maximize returns, rather than letting the money sit idle.

6. Managing Currency and Trade Surpluses

For countries with persistent trade surpluses, SWFs can help manage foreign exchange reserves and prevent excessive appreciation of the national currency, which could harm other export sectors.

A man set fire to a group of people participating in a peaceful walk in Boulder, Colorado, supporting Israeli hostages. Eight people — four men and four women — were injured, including one woman who was engulfed in flames. The FBI has described it as a "targeted terror attack."

Authorities say the suspect shouted “free Palestine” as he attacked with what was described as a makeshift flamethrower.

The assailant, identified as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, threw incendiary devices into the crowd gathered on the Pearl Street Mall around 1:26 p.m. Sunday, The New York Times reported.

Continued below.

Hey alll, I LOVE George Michael's music since I was a kid. Recently gone all in with Christ and want to know if George Michaels songs are ok to listen too?

Jesus Christ was and is the only begotten Son of God. But he isn’t only the Son of God, but he was and he is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who is our creator God, the God who made us and formed us in our mother’s wombs. He was with God in the beginning, and while he lived on the earth he was both fully God and fully human (God incarnate), but he was not born with a sin nature as we are, because he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and not of man. And he never once ever sinned.

Now God the Father sent Jesus Christ to the earth, and he had him be born as a human baby to a woman who was a virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit, with the ultimate purpose in mind that he would become our sacrificial lamb to die on that cross to put our sins to death with him so that we would, by faith in him, die with him to sin and live for him and for his righteousness. For he put our sins to death with him on that cross so that we will now die to our sins and walk in obedience to his commands, by God-gifted faith in him.

So, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in the Lord Jesus we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Therefore, we no longer are to let sin have mastery over us to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in eternal life with God. So we need to believe this and no longer obey sin (see Romans 6:1-23).

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

And we are to be encouraging one another with these words. And this, in truth, is to be the purpose of our gatherings, not to sit as spectators enjoying a “worship service,” but as participants with one another, exhorting and encouraging one another so that none of us are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness, and speaking the truth of God’s word to one another so that we won’t be led astray by people who, in their deceitful scheming, are teaching false gospels meant to appease human flesh and the ungodly.


Therefore, because in Jesus’ death on that cross he put our sins to death with him, so that by faith in him we will now die to our sins and obey him and his commands, sin is no longer to be what we practice. We are no longer to be those who deliberately and habitually sin against the Lord in various ways. We are not to be the hardhearted who do just whatever it is that we want to do, regardless of how what we do impacts other humans. But this type of sinning is running rampant within “the church” in the USA.

So many charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing are teaching the people that all they have to do is make a profession of faith in Jesus, and now all their sins are forgiven, and heaven is secured for them when they die, but regardless of how they live. But Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught that, by faith in Jesus, we die with him to sin so that we can now walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to his commands. But if sin, and not obedience, is what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

Login to view embedded media
If We Go On Sinning Willfully
An Original Work / June 2, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

New research shows children of divorce face greater risks of poverty, imprisonment, early death, and emotional instability.

A new study documents the enduring impact of divorce, showing that children raised by divorced parents have lower incomes and higher rates of incarceration, teen birth, and premature death.

Teen births nearly double, from seven per 1,000 teenage girls to 13. Most concerning, the authors also found a “sharp and persistent” rise in teenage deaths.

“Experiencing a divorce at an early age increases children’s risk of teen birth by roughly 60 percent, while also elevating risks of incarceration and mortality by approximately 40 and 45 percent, respectively,” concluded a new working paper titled “Divorce, Family Arrangements, and Children’s Adult Outcomes” by Andrew Johnston, Maggie Jones, and Nolan Pope. The researchers cross-correlated data from the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, and the US Census Bureau for children born between 1988 and 1993 whose parents divorced, then studied divorce’s longitudinal effects. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) published the 69-page paper this month.

The working paper compared one million siblings whose parents split up, noting the amount of their childhood each spent in a separated household.

Continued below.

“Support for same-sex marriage among Republicans has dropped 14 points in the last 3 years, per Gallup.” So reports Bryan Metzger, a senior politics reporter for Business Insider. According to Gallup’s analysis of their own numbers:

Ten years after the Supreme Court established same-sex marriage as a constitutional right, national support remains strong and steady at 68%. However, this ostensible stability masks deepening partisan divides. Although Democrats’ and independents’ support continues to rise or hold steady, Republicans’ support—which initially grew in the years following the Obergefell decision—has fallen each of the past three years. The moral acceptability of same-sex relations shows a similar pattern.

Click to expand...

Why? What is going on here? We don’t have hard data yet as to what caused the trend. But here are a few thoughts. They are in no particular order and they overlap somewhat.

First, it’s not just a partisan thing. It’s a generational thing. Generation Z’s support for same-sex marriage has “plummeted” in recent years.

Second, well, consider some of the comments in Metzger’s thread. Says Family Research Council’s Joseph Backholm:

People are starting to see the big picture. SSM was sold on the basis that personal happiness is the greatest good. That was never true, but pretending it is has terrible consequences that we are just beginning to experience and come to terms with.

Click to expand...

Third, consider some of those terrible consequences. “Maybe pushing gay porn and gender ideology into schools wasn’t such a great idea,” says one commenter in Metzger’s thread. “I had no idea accepting gay marriage meant I would have to accept men in women’s sports and doctors cutting the breasts off of teenage girls,” says another.

Continued below.

Booker slammed for alleged 'Nazi salute' to Cali Dems just months after Musk was dragged for same gesture​

Waited to see if anyone else would post this.

Short version: A man attacked a demonstration in Boulder. Colorado. The demonstration was for the freedom of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Account differ but the man set the demonstrators on fire.

Here's some links from "acceptable" sources:

Boulder attack updates: Suspect booked on charges after 'act of terror' with 'makeshift flamethrower'

Eight injured after man sets people on fire at Colorado rally for Israeli hostages

He was in the US illegally. It was harder to find from "acceptable" sources. Maybe this one will be close enough to acceptable. It's more in depth than several others:

Colorado firebomb terror attack suspect was in the US illegally after overstaying his visa, previously applied for asylum: report

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for its first attack targeting Syria's transitional government, saying it killed or injured seven members of what it described as the "apostate Syrian regime."

The terror group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, claimed it carried out two attacks on a military road in the desert region of Talul al Safa in the southern province of Suwayda on May 22 and May 28.

In one attack, on May 22, a blast in the desert region killed or wounded seven Syrian soldiers, IS said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.

Continued below.

God can't judge us by the standard of absolute perfection, or we would all stand condemned, and if you think otherwise, then I think you will stand condemned, and anything you have done or achieved by your own efforts is as filthy rags, and is an offense to God, because it puffs you up with pride, which is a sin that God hates over and above and beyond any others, because that is what happened to the Devil, and is also what happens with his children, who are God's actual enemies, etc. That being said, then should we continue in sin then? or not ever resist the urge to sin then? Well, that's probably not a very good idea either, but neither is trading some sins for sins that God hates even very much more either, etc. I would tell you that any and all sin, including some sins that you might trade for other sins, they can all be a possible risk to salvation, or of you getting to enjoy an eternity with God in the afterlife in Heaven, etc. Because He cannot judge us by the standard of absolute perfection, but nor can He just completely ignore any or all sin, then it's possible that some sin(s) can be a possible risk to salvation, etc. But God might also love a person a lot more who seems to be to the rest of the world 100% completely lost in their sins, because they are humble, versus a proud, judgemental, extremely critical and condemning, self-righteous person because they are not, etc, but are actually the true enemies of his, etc.

This is why I said some people are going to be very, very surprised on judgement day when that happens in Heaven, or before you can get into Heaven, etc.

I do also believe that judgement of every single individual is all going to be on a case by case basis also, etc, even though this won't seem to be very fair at first to some though, but in or by the end of it (the judgement) God will show us all how it was all 100% just/true/right, etc. And then people will be sent to their appropriate destinations that everyone regardless of where they are going will then be 100% agreed upon 100% completely, etc.

Also, none knows whether or not those being saved or getting into Heaven will be many or few either, Jesus didn't even know while he was here, but it was like the exact time and days of all of the seasons, no one ever knows/knew except our Father in Heaven, etc. So, just in case you are trying to evaluate the likelihood of your making it in or not based on that, you can't, because no one ever fully knew/knows that ever but only our Father in Heaven, and He has chosen not to fully reveal all of the exact details of that until we are all standing before Him before we are all maybe (or maybe not) getting into Heaven, etc.

God Bless.

This happened a long time ago. The only reason it's on my mind is, it came up in a family discussion earlier.

Subject: Parents involving their children in an act of dishonesty. Especially when those same parents, catching those same children in a lie, would not hesitate to wear the daylights out of them with a belt.

State fair. My brother had recently turned 13. My mother tells the lady at the ticket booth he's 12. Of course, 12 and under paid a lower price for entry, but I didn't make that connection at the time. I didn't realize she was trying to be slick and save a little bit of money. I honestly thought, his birthday was recent enough, maybe Mom forgot he's 13 now. So, I said it. Out loud.

The ticket booth lady let him on through at the 12-and-under price. It could be that she didn't hear me. Or it could be that she heard me loud and clear, and she knew very well what I would catch if she made my mother pay full price for him, and she wanted to spare me such a fate. If that's the case, I'm grateful. If she didn't hear me, that was probably just as well for me too.

There was an expression going around during WWII, "Loose lips sink ships." The context was that an enemy spy could be overhearing, so be careful what you say. The adults in my family co-opted that phrase and put it in the context of, "I'm trying to pull a fast one here, and I don't want you blowing it for me, so keep your yap shut or you're in big trouble." As it is, I still caught a fair amount of dirty looks and grumbling, once we were away from the ticket booth, because I had opened my "big mouth," and "almost ruined everything."

Of course, the example came up in the discussion of hiding the Jews from the Nazis. "Do you have any Jews hiding in your house?"--"No, sir!" Well, I am entirely incapable of looking someone in the eye and saying something I know not to be true. Not that I'm holier-than-thou and I've never tried; I simply can't do it. I'm not even good at poker, or any other game involving strategy, because I just can't bluff. I *will* give myself away, however unintentially. So, for me, honesty really is the best policy. That means I probably shouldn't create a situation in which I would need to cover up something, such as hiding Jews from Nazis. The Jews would likely be better off if I don't involve myself, so that I can't give it away. (I am occasionally accused of lying, possibly because so many other people in those circumstances would lie, and that hurts me a lot. I may even take steps to document and prove what I'm saying is true. Only to be told I'm being unnecessarily defensive.)

That's not the only time I was ever the bad guy for speaking the truth. "Tell the bill collector on the phone I'm not home," was another common setup. I got ROYALLY chewed out for putting a bill collector on hold, "Just a minute please," and telling my mother it's a utility company asking for her. She looked angry and shook her head. I came back to the phone and said she's not home. After the call ended, she blew all the way up at me. In slightly different words, she said, "What a fool you made of me! You weren't discreet enough! They're gonna KNOW I was home!" I was every bit of 11 years old at the time. Supposed to be crafty and wise in the ways of the world at that age, wasn't I?

Repeat, this is the same mother who wouldn't have hesitated to let me have it with a belt if I ever lied to HER about anything.

Experience with similar situations in my young years tells me that if my mother's state fair ruse had failed, if she had ended up paying the full entry price for my brother, I would have been punished. Most likely everyone would get a soft drink, or ice cream cone, or some other treat, except me. Reason being, because I opened my mouth, now there's not enough extra money to get me one too. Maybe that'll teach me a lesson for next time.

Assuming rigorous honesty is a Christian value, or even a secular moral value, what should each person in this situation do? As the child, should you open your mouth and tell the truth, even if it exposes that your parent is lying? As the parent, is it right to expect your child to lie FOR you, especially if you would severely punish that child for lying TO you? As the ticket booth operator, would you let the 13-year-old on through at the 12-year-old price to save his sister from getting clobbered?

What are your thoughts?

Praise & Thank Jesus Christ for granting the Ukrainians a huge victory in battle as the Russians wage war against them:

The overture to the American founding comes ahead of the national semi-quincentennial, or 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and after nearly half a decade of dramatic disagreement over what those ideals mean. Democracy itself has been up for debate, with Democrats alleging that Trump represents an existential threat to that form of government.

This is so important, so many of these progressive D.C. bureaucrats have little understanding of the Declaration or Constitution.

In context, John had just finished writing the Revelations of Jesus Christ, as he had been given them by God, with regard to the last days. Yet the message here is mainly directed to the people who are reading this at any time in history prior to the fulfillment of these final events taking place which were written about in the book of Revelations, and while the people still have the time to choose God and his will over their sinful and fleshly desires.

For what did God say? He said he will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost, and he who overcomes will inherit these things, and God will be his God, and he who overcomes will be God’s son (or daughter). But read this in the context of verse eight which gives the opposite rewards based on the opposite response to the Lord and to his offer of salvation from sin and of eternal life with God.

So, what is the message here? It is the same message which was taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles all throughout the New Testament books. Faith in Jesus Christ will result in us denying self, dying with Christ to sin, and us walking in obedience to his commands, or it is not genuine faith which saves. We are the ones who thirst after God and after his will and after his righteousness and for the purpose to obey him and to live for him.

And “without cost” to us means that we do nothing in ourselves to earn or to deserve such a great salvation. Only by the grace of God, via Jesus’ death and resurrection, as persuaded by God, and as gifted to us by God, can any of us be of faith in Jesus Christ and die with him to sin and now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living. And thus have the hope of salvation from slavery to sin and of eternal life with God in heaven.

And overcoming has to do with overcoming sin and its hold on our lives, by the grace of God, in the power of God, so that we can now serve the Lord Jesus with our lives in surrender to his will and purpose for our lives. None of this is possible in our own human strength and will. But we must overcome and be those who now obey our Lord, in practice, in order for us to be those who inherit salvation from sin and eternal life with God in heaven.

So, “without cost” does not mean that there will be no cost to following Jesus with our lives. For we are taught in the Scriptures that it will mean self-denial and putting sin to death, by the Spirit, and walks of obedience to the Lord and to his commands. And it will cost us friends and family and relationships and jobs and careers, etc. And we will be hated and persecuted for our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, but it will be worth it all.

But, if all we do is give lip service to Jesus Christ, and we do not bow to him as Lord, and we do not obey his commandments, and we do not forsake our sins, then we will not inherit eternal life with God. For all who are immoral people, and thieves, liars, adulterers, murderers, and idolaters, in practice, are regarded as the unbelieving, and they will not inherit eternal life with God, but their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.

So don’t believe the lies which are telling you that all you have to do is to make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and now all your sins are forgiven, and heaven is now guaranteed you when you die. For the Scriptures teach that we must deny self, die to sin daily, and walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands, in practice, as evidence of faith in action which will result in forgiveness of all sins and eternal life with God. So take God seriously!

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

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The Lake That Burns with Fire
An Original Work / June 1, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

# 1 FOR / GAR , is a CONJUNCATION

# 2 I WOULD / THELO , is in the Greek , Present Tense , Active Voice , in the Indicative Mood , in the Singular .

# 3 NOT / is a Disjuncative Partacle Negative

# 4 BRETHEN / ADEILHOS , Vocative Case , in the Plural

# 5 THAT YE / HYMAS , is a Personal Possesseive Pronoun , in the Accusative Case , in the Plural

# 6 OF THIS / LOUTO , Demanstrative Ponoun , in the Accusative Vase , in the Neuter , in the Singular

# 7 MYSTERY / MYSTERION , in the Accusative Case , in the Neuer and in the Singular , meaning that there ONLY ONE MYSTERY

that Paul wrote about in Rom 16:25 and you can FIND that word 21 times MYSTERY witten by Paul

# 8 THAT / HINA , is a Conjuncation

# 9 LEST / ME , is and other DISJUNCATIVE PARTICILE NEGATIVE

# 10 YE SHOULD BE / LO , is in the Present Tense , in the Subjuncative Mood , in the Plural

# 11 WISE / PHRONIMOS , in the Normative Case , in the Plural

# 12 IN / PARA , Is a Preposition

# 13 YOUR OWN CONCEIT / HEAUTOU , is a Refexive Peonoun , in the Dative Case , in the n n Pliral

# 14 THAT / HOTI , is a Conjuncation

# 15 BLINDNESS / POROSIS is in the Nominative Case , in the Singular

# 16 IN / APO , is a Proposition

# 17 PART / MEROS , in the Genitive Case , in the Singular and is in the Neuer

# 18 IS HAPPENED / GINOMAI , in the Perfect Tense , in tthe Active Voice , in the Indicaive Mood , means you better believe IT !

# 19 TO ISRAEL / ISRAEL

# 20 UNTIL / ACHRI , is a Preposition

# 21 THE / HO , is a Definite Article ,

# 22 FULNESS / PIEROMA , in the Nominative Case , in the Singular , in the Neuer

# 23 OF THE / HO , is a Definite Article , in a Genitive Case , in the Plural , in the Neuter

# 24 GENTILES / ETHNOS , in the Genitive Case , in ghe Plural , in the Neuter

# 25 BE COME IN / EISERCHOMAI , is in the Aorist Tense , Subjuncative Mood , in the Singular

It just meas to me , that TODAY we are are in the Dispensation of the MYSTERY , Rom 16:25 HAVING been Known all the GENTILES

FOR THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH and saved by Rom 10:9 and 10 !!

dan p

This is a completely off the wall question, but in Acts 17:23, Paul talked about seeing an altar to an ‘unknown god.’

Most temples had some kind of imagery representing the various gods worshipped there. The falcon head of Horus, or the lyre and bow & arrows of Apollo for example.

So what might an altar to an ‘unknown god’ look like? A block of wood or stone? Just an open niche in a wall?

I know, weird question, and completely pointless since, like Paul said, we know who He is.

It's going to be a long time until we rid our nation of the terrorists let in under the Biden administration.

Praise & Thank Jesus Christ for granting the Ukrainians a huge victory in battle as the Russians wage war against them:

Pray for protection of Israelite Bride against the demonic spirits of antisemitism:

Gerald Weston says; "The biblical holy days" 3 And what about Leviticus 23:11-21?

My mom impressed me the other day. My family are all evangelicals, but they never took issue with my conversion and even took interest in it. My mom and sister came to my confirmation (dad didn't just because he can't sit long in a pew without major discomfort). So I've been lucky in that regard, in the sense that none of the non-Catholics closest to me had any issue with my conversion.

Recently I found out that one of my mom's close lifelong friends apparently DOES have an issue, and she brings it up often when she and my mom talk. I personally don't care cause I find this friend of her obnoxious and try to avoid her anyway. However, my mom told me recently about their conversation and how her friend trotted out all the usual propaganda. What I found interesting though is that my mom went to bat for the faith. Her friend was tossing out all the usual lies about Our Lady and my mom was disputing them, and even went so far as to tell her "Don't you think if the God of the universe chooses someone to bear his Son that makes her pretty special?"

My mom's always been a peculiar case to me. She's always seemed to find some appreciation for Catholic teaching, worship, etc. She values the beauty in our sacred art, architecture, and especially music (she's a musician). Yet she's never been able to bring herself to convert. I think she has some hangup she's not willing to name or explain, but I think it comes from her Baptist upbringing (which she's always resented, ironically).

But I'm curious and hopeful that her defense of Our Lady could be a positive indicator that maybe she's softening up a bit. I don't know if I'll ever be the one to escort her to RCIA since I've been trying for eight years, but I pray it happens with or without my help. If she converted my dad would do it at the drop of a hat, he's rather fond of Catholicism and only stays where he is because of my mom. And then I wonder whether my sister and her husband might be open to converting if my mom did.

Anyway, does anyone know of any Saints or anecdotes or individuals they know personally who kind of set a precedent for this?

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Ukrainian drones had attacked airfields in five regions stretching across five time zones. Several aircraft caught fire in the regions of Murmansk, near the border with Norway, and Irkutsk, in eastern Siberia, the ministry said in a statement.

...
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on social media that planning for the operation had begun a year and a half ago, and that those involved in the attacks had been withdrawn from Russia before they took place.

He called the results of the assault “absolutely brilliant” and added, “Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so — we are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war.”

A video verified by The New York Times shows two drones being launched from containers mounted on the back of a semi-truck less than four miles from the Belaya air base. Both fly in the direction of large smoke plumes rising from the base. Footage recorded shortly afterward shows the same containers ablaze.
Another video shows drones flying less than four miles from the Olenya air base. The man recording it suggests that the drones had been launched from a truck parked just down the road. The Times could not confirm that these drones were part of the assault.

I have a feeling this Shavuot is a milestone....what will happen in the next couple days??

I had an embarrassing health related problem today. Because of this I decided to skip Mass. (i only go on Saturdays except Easter, for other reasons). By the time Mass was going to start I was feeling better but not sure it was over. Then I thought my issue was over, but by that time I‘d already decided to do something else. I plan to watch Mass online tomorrow morning and participate to make up for missing today, except I obviously won’t take communion. Is that an excuse to skip Mass or do I need to confess this?

LONDON -- The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted a large-scale operation targeting four Russian military airfields on Sunday, an SBU source confirmed to ABC News, claiming to have hit more than 40 military aircraft "that bomb Ukrainian cities every night."

The governors of the Russian regions of Irkutsk and Murmansk confirmed drone attacks in their respective regions. Videos shared with ABC News by the SBU showed drones attacking Olenya airbase in Murmansk and Belaya airfield in Irkutsk. Both are home to Russian strategic bomber aircraft, including nuclear-capable bombers.

Continued below.