Increased hanta virus outbreaks may be related to global warming, since shifts in weather patterns in otherwise dry regions can lead to excess mouse populations. And mice are the main carries of the virus.

SimplyMe said:

I know the quote from Matthew just fine

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then you would see where our dear friend misquoted - it is obvious and has zero to do with Aramaic, why because she was speaking English.

Get over it

Or are we wasting our inheritance like the prodigal son? What was the prodigal son’s actual sin?

That question popped into my head as I heard the Gospel reading that I’ve heard countless times. The obvious answers — essentially, sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll — seemed unpersuasive this time. Is this really just a story saying that if you go and do the really common bad things that people tend to do, then God will still forgive you?

Well, yes! It’s definitely that. Jesus, in telling this parable, was showing the Pharisees and scribes that he hung around with sinners because he wants to forgive them and be reconciled with them.

But here’s something odd: The prodigal son says that he has sinned against God and against his father. Obviously, fornicating and getting drunk are sins against the Ten Commandments, and thus sins against God. But what sin has he committed against his father?

The sin of squandering. What an evocative word. His father had something good, and he gave it to his son as a gift so he could use it for some particular purpose. But, instead, he squandered it. That’s worth looking at because it also sheds light on the part of the story that troubles many people: the father’s attitude toward his other, obedient son.

So what’s so terrible about squandering an inheritance?

First, it’s clearly terrible for the son himself. He burns through his money and ends up humiliated and starving. It was a bad plan, and it bit him in the butt.

It was also bad for the father. He very likely wanted to help set his son up with a homestead of his own so his wealth would flourish and grow. A young man with a sizable inheritance could easily marry, likely have children of his own, and bring joy and delight to his father.


His sin was also bad for the community. By squandering his inheritance, he refused to enrich the land or make jobs for the next generation. I know how tediously modern that sounds — “His great sin was that he failed to engage in community development!” — but it’s true! Things haven’t changed that much. When you get something good, you’re not supposed to waste it. You’re supposed to use it to help yourself, show respect to the person who gave it to you, and help other people. That’s what good things are FOR.

But on every count, the prodigal son did the opposite.

Using our many gifts for good​

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A historic South Carolina church that has existed since the Civil War was recently bestowed the honor of a historical marker recognizing its roots of ministering to freed slaves.

First Zion Missionary Baptist Church of Bluffton, a predominantly African American church that traces its origins to 1862, received the historical marker last Saturday in which elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Bluffton Mayor Pro Tempore Dan Wood, were in attendance.

Originally known as First African Baptist Church, the founding pastor was a former slave from Georgia named Abraham Murchison, who also served as the first mayor of Mitchellville, a freed black community on Hilton Head Island.

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Glory to God!

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed the meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday evening practically empty-handed.

Expectations in Israel were high that Netanyahu would be able to secure either a reduction in the 17% tariffs announced by President Trump last week, or a strong stance against Iran for resisting U.S. efforts at negotiations over the country’s nuclear ambitions, or possibly even positive developments in the issue of the hostages, after Netanyahu met with Trump and his special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

However, to the disappointment of many in Israel, Netanyahu left with little good news for Israel. Instead of announcing fresh sanctions on Iran or a possible date for a cooperative strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the U.S. president announced direct negotiations while Netanyahu sat next to him.

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Always such fruitful conversations here at CF.

Say it aint so said:

In light of this:

Vietnam: In a letter Saturday, Vietnam’s Communist Party offered to remove all tariffs on U.S. goods in hopes of lowering the 46% tax Trump imposed. From this thread.

Trump et all if they had their desire, would like to remove all tariffs from all trading partners and in this case with Vietnam, Vietnam is asking for zero tariffs as well.
The hourly manufacturer rate of pay in Vietnam is $6.95. The hourly manufacturer rate of pay in the US is $ 28.92. That's a 76% difference. So not only a huge labor cost savings, with the Trump TCJA (Tax Cuts Jobs Act) the US shifted the toward a territorial tax system. That allows multinational corporations to avoid US taxes on most foreign earnings. So you, as a manufacturer if you moved overseas you will 1) face no tariffs 2) Save 76% in labor costs and 3) don't have to pay US taxes on your revenue. 4) Regulatory laws are mitigated.

So if you were a American manufacturer, why would you not move your operations to Vietnam?
.

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I think a lot of Vietnam workers get just minimum wage or around 200 a month. • What is the Average Salary in Vietnam? • iScale Solutions.

Prof Michael Heiser said:

The Bayes' Theorem approach really isn't that helpful because you have to presume certain things and plug certain assumptions.

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The Bayes Theorem is useful if you use it properly. You are not supposed to just plug in a subjectively arbitrary number based on your presumption.

You can more or less manipulate them to find: lo and behold, the person who wrote this post that Jesus doesn't exist, doesn't exist either, according to Bayes' Theorem.

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That's because they failed to assign the weights correctly.

Once I have assigned weights to propositions, how can anyone tell I didn't do it arbitrarily or whimsically?

Fortunately, there is a mathematically sound answer to this question. The goodness of my subjective beliefs can be measured objectively through the process of wagering based on my weights. My personal beliefs should remain coherent, even if they are subjective. Formally, a set of beliefs and preferences is referred to as coherent if it cannot lead to a Dutch book; that is, my weighting scheme does not guarantee that I lose money in the long run due to my betting habits. If your beliefs permit this outcome, then you are incoherent. You are effectively committing to a losing money scheme due to your habit of being too subjective in your assessment. I apply my coherent weighting scheme to bet against individuals whose bets are not coherent.

You want to train yourself to be a reasonable and coherent bettor. In general, you can use Bayes' rule to make any life decision in the most optimal way. In practice, the more accurately you estimate the three input probabilities in the Bayes Formula, the better your decision will be. This is the essence of actuarial science.

Likely could, but should not. Biblically, the Christ appointed the Apostles to lead; they appointed others, and they, in turn appointed more as the Church grew. Without being dually called and ordained; they have no call and no Authority to administer the sacraments.

All ready hell-bound by choice; what is one more lie.

Weighed 425 at the pulmonologists. He suggested going on zepbound but its $500 a month. Going to take a lot of money to consider but I could 100 pounds in 72 weeks on it. Something to consider.

I sincerely hope that these criminals get the full weight of the law and justice upon them for these heinous crimes.

The U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for CatholicVote president Brian Burch to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See took place Tuesday morning, with Burch facing questions on how he plans to represent the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts to the Vatican as well as his position on the Holy See’s relationship with China.

“I am deeply honored and humbled to be nominated by President [Donald] Trump to serve as the United States ambassador to the Holy See,” Burch told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “This is a role of great significance, and I am grateful for the trust President Trump and Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio have placed in me.”

Burch described the U.S.-Holy See relationship as “both unique and vital,” highlighting its character as being rooted not in traditional diplomacy but rather in “shared commitments to religious freedom, human dignity, global peace, and justice.”

The hearing took place alongside those of Trump’s ambassadorship nominees to Croatia and Chile. Burch, a Catholic father of nine, answered questions from a handful of committee members, including committee chairman Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho; Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire; Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska; and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida.

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Multiple U.S. bishops are hailing a proposed bipartisan effort to keep religious workers — including Catholic priests — in the United States by extending their special visas instead of sending them to their home countries for extended lengths of time.

Catholic advocates have been warning for months of a looming crisis in which many U.S.-based priests will be forced to leave their ministries and return to their home countries, after which they would be subject to lengthy wait times before coming back.

A 2023 change to U.S. visa rules created a backlog of visa applicants that has threatened to prevent priests from obtaining a green card before their initial religious worker visa expires.

The backlog was created when the State Department and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) increased the number of immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras who are applying for EB-4 visas, the special visa category used by religious workers.

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WarriorAngel said:

In the end - status doesn't matter.

I don't follow celebrities too much.
They do have a Double edged sword.
More temptations being famous --- OTOH --- more prayers because of being famous.

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That’s very true.

Lady Bug said:

Celebrities are still people, though. It's the idolization of them that is the problem.

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Indeed. I don’t understand it either.

WarriorAngel said:

Adding to my prayers.

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Thank you.

God bless you

Gnarwhal said:

No prob, hope you enjoy it!

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Thank you!

Blessings!

essentialsaltes said:

Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation files disciplinary complaint against Gableman​

Complaint alleges 10 counts of violations of state attorney code of conduct against former Supreme Court justice​

It's impressive how many of these legal challenges against the 2020 election of Joe Biden have not just failed in a court of law, but led to ethics violations and disbarments for the attorneys involved in these garbage cases.

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From WI Supreme Court to an Ex-Eaq.

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who led 2020 election probe agrees to surrender law license​

Gableman acknowledged in the filing that the complaint provides “an adequate factual basis” and that he couldn’t successfully defend himself against the allegations.

[The probe itself cost $2.3 million and found nothing.]

Former Major League Baseball star Octavio Dotel has died after a nightclub ceiling collapsed on him and spent his final moments screaming for help.


Dotel, 51, is among at least 44 other people who died following the collapse at the Jet Set club in Santo Domingo 12:44am local time Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, he was reported as having been rescued from the rubble after screaming for help.

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Does the historical evidence show more than one guy running the Church in 1st-century Rome?​

The Letter of Clement to the Church of Corinth, which dates to the latter part of the first century, is often appealed to as evidence that the church of Rome, and by way of implication the bishop of Rome, had a posture of leadership relative to the other churches within the Christian world, since the letter is sent to the church of Corinth to settle certain disputes they were having in response to the church of Corinth’s request for the church of Rome to intervene.

But some Protestants argue that the letter doesn’t speak in the first-person singular, which is what we’d expect if the letter were being issued by Clement, the bishop of Rome. Rather, the letter is written in the name of the church of Rome (“The church of God which sojourns at Rome, to the church of God sojourning at Corinth”) and uses the first-person plural “we”: “We feel that we have been somewhat tardy in turning our attention to the points respecting which you consulted us.”

Moreover, some have argued that Clement wasn’t even the bishop of Rome when this letter was written. Clement wasn’t bishop until around A.D. 90. This letter, so it’s argued, was written some time before the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70. Clement, therefore, would have been a presbyter, apparently working as a secretary of sorts in the Roman church. The reason for this early dating of the letter is that Clement speaks of the Temple as if it were still standing in chapter forty-one of his letter.

For some Christians, these two details indicate that the early church of Rome wasn’t governed by a single bishop, like what the papacy would demand, but rather was governed by a council of presbyters.

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There comes a time when the ability to accept reality, or even more, the truth about a subject, becomes too unbearable to some because it means their position is incorrect. They will ultimately have to concede the point. The anatomy of this process is where we either encounter the exercise of humility or hubris, and in the case of hubris, potential anger or worse, hatred. This example is found quite often within sacred Scripture and becomes more vivid in Jesus’ interaction with Jewish leaders after Jesus’ miracles.

The backdrop of this interaction is carefully presented by St. John in his Gospel on the feast of the dedication of Jerusalem during the winter season, which in many respects is ominous of how the Jewish leaders felt about Christ. As Jesus walked within the temple, specifically in the portico of Solomon, the Jewish leaders could not hold their contempt of Jesus and asked him if he was the Christ by demanding to “tell us plainly.”[1] The nature of the question reveals the Jewish leader's unwillingness to acknowledge the Son of God and the miracles he had performed. Jesus’ response to their demand is blunt and direct,

I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness to me; but you do not believe. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. [2]

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It's not like they are cute and cuddly.​

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4​

In IVF is Not the Way (Sophia Institute Press, May 2025) I finally got the chance to flesh out an idea I have had ever since I had a miscarriage—the idea of loving an embryo. This was one of the times when my faith and science clashed hard in conflict. It also was a time when philosophy helped make sense of things.

Just a “Chemical Pregnancy”
​

The scenario I am about to describe happens to a lot of Catholic women. If you’re not Catholic, just try to see it through our eyes. Our faith informs us univocally that children are the supreme gifts of marriage to be respected as persons:

A child is not something owed to one, but is a gift. The “supreme gift of marriage” is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of property, an idea to which an alleged “right to a child” would lead. In this area, only the child possesses genuine rights: the right “to be the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of his parents,” and “the right to be respected as a person from the moment of his conception.”
(CCC 2378; Citing Donum vitae, II.8)

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Donum vitae is an instruction on the respect for human life in its origin that was issued in 1987 in response to the rise of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), namely in vitro fertilization (IVF). To the question of what respect is due to the human embryo, taking into account his nature and identity, the answer is concise:

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Reach into the very back of a desk drawer … Who knows what will be there?

Being an active member of Our Sunday Visitor’s staff for years meant that I traveled to the Holy Land on many occasions.

Often, the trip involved flying to Israel aboard El Al, the country’s international airline.

Flights would usually leave an American airport in the early evening. After departure, in those days, a full, hot meal was served. El Al follows the Jewish dietary, or kosher, regulations, and on each passenger’s tray — since many passengers were not Jews — was a pamphlet explaining kosher law.

Jesus and the Apostles surely followed kosher rules, but as gentiles began to convert to Christianity — and as St. Peter experienced a private revelation from God — Christians abandoned Old Testament dietary restrictions (see Acts 10:9-33).

Well, I found that pamphlet in a drawer, and in reading it, Catholic teachings came to mind — not exclusively about food, but statements regarding the environment by Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Francis, who in 2015 wrote an encyclical on the subject, Laudato Si.

The sacredness of human life​

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