Reflections from news and commentary of the day
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Vance says Turkey, Saudis, UAE and others “privately helping” US on Iran but “not willing to say so publicly”
Business news | data | Eastern Europe | Eurasia | Middle East | Africa
https://new.intellinews.com/articles/vance-says-turkey-saudis-uae-and-others-privately-helping-us-on-iran-but-not-willing-to-say-so-publicly-466433
Vance says Turkey, Saudis, UAE and others “privately helping” US on Iran but “not willing to say so publicly”
Azerbaijan and Qatar also among emerging, unacknowledged alignment designed to squeeze Iranian economy, adds vice president.
Impunity in the West Bank - The New York Times
Impunity in the West Bank - The New York Times
Impunity in the West Bank
Former Israeli military officers warn that settler violence in the West Bank is destroying Israel’s democratic values from within.
Cardinal Burke: Today’s sexual immorality resembles Sodom and Gomorrah – Sign of the Cross Media
Cardinal Burke: Today’s sexual immorality resembles Sodom and Gomorrah – Sign of the Cross Media
https://www.signofthecrossmedia.com/news/cardinal-burke-todays-sexual-immorality-resembles-sodom-and-gomorrah/
Fr. Bob's Reflection for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Guest Post
A successful restaurant owner with no religious affiliation once said to a priest, “Father, I hate to say this, but some of the most unethical people I meet are churchgoing Christians.”
The priest replied, “Unfortunately, there are bad Christians, just as there are good ones.”
The owner responded, “But Father, aren’t Christians supposed to be different?”
The priest looked at her sadly and answered, “Yes. Yes, they are.”
That conversation raises an important question: What should distinguish the lives of Christians from everyone else?
Today's Scripture offers a clear answer. As followers of Jesus, we are called not only to do what is right ourselves, but also to help one another live according to the Gospel. Christian love is not passive. It cares enough to speak the truth with charity.
Consider a mother who returns home from the grocery store and discovers that her young daughter has slipped a candy bar into her pocket without paying for it. What should she do?
This scenario actually happened. A newspaper columnist told the story of a mother who immediately took her daughter back to the store, had her return the candy bar and apologize. Surprisingly, the store manager dismissed it as no big deal. But the mother knew better. She wanted her daughter to understand that stealing is wrong, no matter how small the item.
Or imagine overhearing your son's friend say, “If you need the answers to tomorrow's math test, give me a signal.” Would you ignore the comment, or would you say something?
Author Jerome Weidman experienced a similar situation as a third-grade student in a New York City public school. He and 11 classmates all turned in the same unusual and incorrect answer on a test. Rather than accuse anyone, their teacher, Mrs. O'Neill, asked the boys to remain after class. Then she quietly wrote these words on the chalkboard:
"The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out."
Years later, Weidman reflected, “I don't know about the other 11 boys, but speaking for myself, it was the most important single lesson of my life.”
Both the mother in the grocery store and Mrs. O'Neill understood something essential about Christian responsibility. They loved enough to correct the wrongdoing. They refused to remain silent when someone was heading down the wrong path.
That is precisely what Jesus teaches in today's Gospel: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault when the two of you are alone.” His words are not an invitation to judge or condemn, but to care enough to help another person choose what is right.
Someone once wrote, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to remain silent.”
The Christians in these stories chose not to remain silent. Instead, they acted with courage, compassion and love. My friends, we must do the same. When we lovingly guide one another toward what is good and true, we become the kind of Christians the world expects us to be – and the kind of disciples Christ calls us to be.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Robert Warren, S.A.
Spiritual Director
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Is clean water a constitutional right? US appeals court issues ruling | abc10.com
Is clean water a constitutional right? US appeals court issues ruling | abc10.com
https://www.abc10.com/article/news/nation-world/clean-water-constitutional-right-us-ruling-mississippi/507-bb63c517-3039-466e-a5c5-a209074fbb5c
Is cloud seeding the answer to Utah’s water problems? | Opinion – Deseret News
Is cloud seeding the answer to Utah’s water problems? | Opinion – Deseret News
https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2026/09/05/is-cloud-seeding-the-answer-to-utahs-water-problems/
Nevada warns new Colorado River rules could slash Las Vegas water supplies by 71%
Nevada warns new Colorado River rules could slash Las Vegas water supplies by 71%
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/nevada-water-use-lawsuit-colorado-river/
Colorado River cuts could force 'unprecedented' low water use for Arizona, new study finds
Colorado River cuts could force 'unprecedented' low water use for Arizona, new study finds
https://www.industrialinfo.com/news/article/could-colorado-river-cuts-leave-nevada-projects-high-and-dry--362114
Colorado River cuts could force 'unprecedented' low water use for Arizona, new study finds
Colorado River cuts could force 'unprecedented' low water use for Arizona, new study finds
https://www.kjzz.org/science/2026-09-08/colorado-river-cuts-could-force-unprecedented-low-water-use-for-arizona-new-study-finds
CENTER SQUARE: Feds spare Upper Basin; states still feel water cuts pressure ~ MAVEN'S NOTEBOOK | California Water News Central
CENTER SQUARE: Feds spare Upper Basin; states still feel water cuts pressure ~ MAVEN'S NOTEBOOK | California Water News Central
https://mavensnotebook.com/2026/09/05/center-square-feds-spare-upper-basin-states-still-feel-water-cuts-pressure/
Navajo Nation Council names confluence of Colorado River a sacred site under tribal law
Navajo Nation Council names confluence of Colorado River a sacred site under tribal law
https://www.kjzz.org/tribal-natural-resources/2026-09-04/navajo-nation-council-names-confluence-of-colorado-river-a-sacred-site-under-tribal-law
Tribes along the Colorado River are still fighting for their rights
Tribes along the Colorado River are still fighting for their rights
https://knpr.org/2026-09-07/tribes-along-the-colorado-river-are-still-fighting-for-their-rights
America is losing its war against wildfire | Grist
America is losing its war against wildfire | Grist
https://grist.org/extreme-weather/america-is-losing-its-war-against-wildfire/
UC BERKELEY: New digital tool shows where exactly California’s water goes — and how climate change might disrupt it ~ MAVEN'S NOTEBOOK | California Water News Central
UC BERKELEY: New digital tool shows where exactly California’s water goes — and how climate change might disrupt it ~ MAVEN'S NOTEBOOK | California Water News Central
https://mavensnotebook.com/2026/09/05/uc-berkeley-new-digital-tool-shows-where-exactly-californias-water-goes-and-how-climate-change-might-disrupt-it/
YALE CLIMATE CONNECTIONS: The next water crisis is beneath our feet ~ MAVEN'S NOTEBOOK | California Water News Central
YALE CLIMATE CONNECTIONS: The next water crisis is beneath our feet ~ MAVEN'S NOTEBOOK | California Water News Central
https://mavensnotebook.com/2026/09/08/yale-climate-connections-the-next-water-crisis-is-beneath-our-feet/
Monday, September 7, 2026
“Will the Good of the Other” BISHOP BARRON’S SUNDAY SERMON
Sunday Sermon
Friends, for the wokeist philosophy that dominates today, empathy—feeling the feelings of the other and not harming those feelings—is treated as a supreme value. But while empathy is perfectly good and decent, the Bible teaches that love, not empathy, is the supreme value. And love does not mean, primarily, feeling the feelings of the other or not hurting those feelings; it means willing the good of the other—and that can be, as Dostoevsky said, “a harsh and dreadful thing.”
Sunday, September 6, 2026
Presidential Actions REBUILDING THE UNITED STATES NAVY AND AMERICA’S SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRIAL BASE
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/08/rebuilding-the-united-states-navy-and-americas-shipbuilding-industrial-base/
[Salon] Fwd: Mairav Zonszein: "It's Not Just the West Bank Settlers. It's Israel." (NYT) -
FM: John Whitbeck
In the NEW YORK TIMES guest essay transmitted below, my distinguished recipient Mairav Zonszein explains that the settler militias terrorizing Palestinians in the West Bank are "not isolated extremists or hooligans" but, rather, Israeli government agents carrying out Israeli government policies "to intimidate, harrass and make Palestinian life in the West Bank unbearable" as part of "a greater national project that is largely uncontested in Israel."
In view of this reality, it is pathetically inadequate for Western governments to merely sanction individual illegal settlers and particularly egregious politicians and to agonize over whether to require products produced in illegal settlements to be so identified when sold in their countries or banned from sale in their countries.
If Western governments are to have any hope of preserving any pretense of any genuine concern for human rights or international law, they must sanction the State of Israel itself and ban the sale of any of its products in their countries so as to, as Mairav writes, "compel Israel to dismantle the settlement enterprise as a whole."
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/opinion/israel-west-bank-settlers-violence.html
It’s Not Just the West Bank Settlers. It’s Israel.
Saturday, September 5, 2026
Politicians in San Francisco introduce legislation to form a publicly owned utility.
https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=0fca1927-a127-411b-ace4-d25e9fd754a9
https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=0fca1927-a127-411b-ace4-d25e9fd754a9
Friday, September 4, 2026
China’s Objections at the United States-Hosted G20 Finance Meeting and the Limits of Manufactured Multilateral Consensus
China’s Objections at the United States-Hosted G20 Finance Meeting and the Limits of Manufactured Multilateral Consensus
https://ggtvstreams.substack.com/p/chinas-objections-at-the-united-states?publication_id=2723908&post_id=214141557&isFreemail=true&r=1y80w&triedRedirect=true
California’s biggest reservoir in decades faces crucial moment
California’s biggest reservoir in decades faces crucial moment
https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/california-reservoir-sacramento-river-22416938.php?hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc2ZjaHJvbmljbGUuY29tL2NhbGlmb3JuaWEvYXJ0aWNsZS9jYWxpZm9ybmlhLXJlc2Vydm9pci1zYWNyYW1lbnRvLXJpdmVyLTIyNDE2OTM4LnBocA%3D%3D&time=MTc4ODUzMTU5MTI2Mw%3D%3D&rid=OWU3MmE4YmItMmFlMy00MGQ5LThiODAtODZhMTdhNDViM2Rk&sharecount=MQ%3D%3D
This Data Center Is Getting a $77 Million Tax Break to Create One Job
This Data Center Is Getting a $77 Million Tax Break to Create One Job
https://nysfocus.com/2026/04/20/data-center-tax-break-jpmorgan-chase
Tax breaks for tech giants' data centers mean less income for states
Tax breaks for tech giants' data centers mean less income for states
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/20/tax-breaks-for-tech-giants-data-centers-mean-less-income-for-states.html
Tax Incentives for Data Centers | Data Center Glossary
Tax Incentives for Data Centers | Data Center Glossary
https://www.streamdatacenters.com/resource-library/glossary/tax-incentives-for-data-centers/
BigLaw sees opportunity to support trillion-dollar data centers
BigLaw sees opportunity to support trillion-dollar data centers
https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/biglaw-sees-opportunity-to-support-trillion-dollar-data-centers
‘LIQUID GOLD!’: Trump says Alabama will benefit from New York’s ‘terrible decision’ to ban data centers
‘LIQUID GOLD!’: Trump says Alabama will benefit from New York’s ‘terrible decision’ to ban data centers
https://1819news.com/news/item/liquid-gold-trump-says-alabama-will-benefit-from-new-yorks-terrible-decision-to-ban-data-centers
Congress rejected Pentagon office’s equity power | Semafor
Congress rejected Pentagon office’s equity power | Semafor
https://www.semafor.com/article/09/02/2026/congress-rejected-pentagon-offices-equity-power
Thursday, September 3, 2026
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Fr. Bob's Reflection for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Guest Post
Many years ago, there was a young boy named Eugene Orowitz. He disliked his name and, by most accounts, didn't seem destined for greatness. As a skinny, 100-pound sophomore in high school, he certainly didn't look like an athlete.
One afternoon in gym class, the teacher gathered the students on the track to demonstrate how to throw the javelin. Afterward, he invited the students to give it a try.
When Eugene stepped forward, his classmates laughed. "Can you even lift it?" they teased. "Be careful – you might hurt yourself."
Ignoring their ridicule, Eugene imagined himself as a warrior preparing for battle. He raised the javelin over his head, took six quick steps and let it fly.
The javelin sailed more than 50 feet before crashing into the empty bleachers. His throw traveled twice as far as anyone else's – and hit the metal seats with such force that it bent the javelin beyond repair. The gym teacher simply handed it to Eugene and said, "Take it home. The school can't use it anymore."
That summer, Eugene practiced endlessly. By his senior year, he could throw the javelin 211 feet, farther than any high school athlete in the country. He earned a scholarship to the University of Southern California and began dreaming of competing in the Olympics.
Then everything changed.
He suffered a severe shoulder injury that tore a ligament beyond repair. His athletic career ended overnight. His scholarship disappeared, and with it, his Olympic dream. It seemed as though years of hard work had been lost in an instant.
After leaving college, Eugene took a job in a warehouse. His story raises a question many of us have asked: Why does God allow suffering? Why do our hopes sometimes seem to crumble?
Jesus offers an answer in today's Gospel: "Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
Those words can sound confusing at first. But Jesus is reminding us that when we place our lives – even our disappointments and hardships – in God's hands, He can bring about something greater than we could ever imagine.
That promise isn't only about eternal life. God is also at work here and now, transforming our setbacks into new beginnings, if we allow Him.
While working in that warehouse, Eugene met a struggling actor who asked him to help rehearse some lines. The experience sparked an interest in acting, and Eugene enrolled in acting school.
Before long, he landed the role of "Little Joe" Cartwright on “Bonanza,” one of television's most beloved westerns. The series ran for 14 years. He later starred in another television classic, “Little House on the Prairie.”
By then, Eugene Orowitz had become known to the world as Michael Landon.
Before his death in 1991, Landon said the best thing that ever happened to him was tearing the ligament in his shoulder. What had seemed like the end of his dreams became the beginning of a life far richer than the one he had planned.
We all experience broken dreams. We all know disappointment, loss and suffering – some more than others.
But today's Gospel reminds us not to lose hope. Trust the Lord. He sees possibilities where we see dead ends. When we surrender our lives to Him, He can transform even our deepest wounds into unexpected blessings.
My friends, sometimes, the hardest thing to do is also the holiest: “To let go ... and let God.”
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Robert Warren, S.A.
Spiritual Director
Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)