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Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Companies prodded to rely less on China, but few respond
Companies prodded to rely less on China, but few respond: BEIJING (AP) — The United States, Japan and France are prodding their companies to rely less on China to make the world’s smartphones, drugs and other products. But even after the coronavirus...
Biden’s China Policy Starts With Building a Stronger America - Defense One
Biden’s China Policy Starts With Building a Stronger America - Defense One: The candidate’s surrogates are outlining a plan to beat China’s leaders, not change them.
US Catholic bishops: Louisiana abortion ruling 'a cruel precedent'
US Catholic bishops: Louisiana abortion ruling 'a cruel precedent': Monday’s Supreme Court decision overturning a Louisiana law holding abortion clinics to the same standards as other surgical centers ‘continues a cruel precedent’, the chair of the US bishops’ pro-life committee reflected.
Tesla workers fired after staying home during covid-19 pandemic - The Washington Post
Tesla workers fired after staying home during covid-19 pandemic - The Washington Post: A day before their employment was threatened, the workers had spoken out on their concerns about conditions inside the plant.
Amazon to pay $500 million in bonuses to workers most exposed to coronavirus - CNET
Amazon to pay $500 million in bonuses to workers most exposed to coronavirus - CNET: It's giving out one-time bonuses to its front-line employees.
The End of the Trump Rally - The American Prospect
The End of the Trump Rally - The American Prospect: Reality has caught up with the president, and the angry televised spectacles that defined his 2016 campaign have lost their power.
Nearly 11% of the workforce is out of work with no reasonable chance of getting called back to a prior job | Economic Policy Institute
Nearly 11% of the workforce is out of work with no reasonable chance of getting called back to a prior job | Economic Policy Institute: Key takeaways: In May, the official unemployment rate was 13.3%. However, the unemployment rate that takes into account all those who are out of work as a result of the virus was 19.7%, and the unemployment rate that includes only those who are out of work and don’t have a reasonable chance of being called…
Chinese virus vaccine approved for military use - Asia Times
Chinese virus vaccine approved for military use - Asia Times: China's military has approved a coronavirus vaccine for use within its ranks that has been developed by its research unit and a biotech firm, the company
Three Stages to COVID-19 Brain Damage, New Review Suggests
Three Stages to COVID-19 Brain Damage, New Review Suggests: A new review outlines a three-stage classification of the impact of COVID-19 on the central nervous system and recommends hospitalized patients with the virus all undergo MRI.
South Pole warming three times faster than rest of Earth: study
South Pole warming three times faster than rest of Earth: study: The South Pole has warmed three times faster than the rest of the planet in the last 30 years due to warmer tropical ocean temperatures, new research showed Monday.
Do Cry for Those in Arizona: What Happens When Politicians Disregard Health Care and Public Health Professionals During a Pandemic | naked capitalism
Do Cry for Those in Arizona: What Happens When Politicians Disregard Health Care and Public Health Professionals During a Pandemic | naked capitalism: How Arizona epitomizes the backwards approach the US has taken to its health care crisis.
The Hatchet Man's Tale: Why Bolton Matters - CounterPunch.org
The Hatchet Man's Tale: Why Bolton Matters - CounterPunch.org: Unreliable narrators are a staple of literature. Consider the delusional, self-serving narrator of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl or the way Humbert Humbert used his cultured references and gorgeous prose to dress up his crimes in Nabokov’s Lolita. Now along comes John Bolton and his account of time served in the Trump administration as national security More
Bill Clinton's Serbian War Atrocities Exposed in New Indictment - CounterPunch.org
Bill Clinton's Serbian War Atrocities Exposed in New Indictment - CounterPunch.org: President Bill Clinton’s favorite freedom fighter just got indicted for mass murder, torture, kidnapping, and other crimes against humanity. In 1999, the Clinton administration launched a 78-day bombing campaign that killed up to 1500 civilians in Serbia and Kosovo in what the American media proudly portrayed as a crusade against ethnic bias. That war, like most of the pretenses of U.S. foreign policy, was always a sham. More
Gospel Reflections Lessons in a Storm Tueday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 8:23-27
As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
Opening Prayer: I know you are here with me right now, Lord. I know you are thinking of me and eager to give me the graces I need to live this day to the full. I know you are looking at me with a gaze of personal and determined love. You created me, Lord, and you redeemed me, and you accompany me each moment through your Holy Spirit. Please open my mind and my heart so that I can receive the light and strength of your grace through this time I spend with you in prayer.
Encountering Christ:
- The Opportunities Storms Give Us: Why does Jesus permit storms in our lives? He didn’t have to let that storm come up as he and his Apostles were making their way across the sea. He shows clearly later on that he has power over the forces of nature at work in the storm. Why didn’t he exercise that power ahead of time, so that the storm wouldn’t even come up in the first place? At least one reason for permitting storms is that they give us opportunities to get to know Jesus better. At the end of this passage, after the crisis is over, St. Matthew tells us: “The men were amazed and said, ‘What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?’” Up to this point, Christ’s followers had witnessed amazing things: marvelous healings, dramatic exorcisms, and powerful preaching. This experience, however, shows them another side of Christ’s lordship: his power over the forces of nature. Their understanding, their knowledge of Jesus, still had room to grow. Maybe Jesus permitted this storm precisely so that through the experience, and through what he would show them in that experience, they would come to know him better. Maybe that’s why Jesus permits storms in our lives too. Somehow, being in a boat with Jesus as the storm rages on gives us a chance to know him more fully, and thus to love him more deeply.
- The Mystery of Faith: When his disciples wake him to share their panic with him, Jesus responds with a strange question: “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” The disciples must have looked at him as if he were crazy. Or maybe they looked at each other questioningly, wondering if their Lord had lost his marbles. A good number of Christ’s followers were fishermen, familiar with boats and storms. And those expert navigators were fearing for their very lives in the midst of this storm: “Lord, save us!” they cried out, “We are perishing!” From a normal, human standpoint their situation was clearly and obviously dire. But Jesus doesn’t chastise them for failing to make an accurate human evaluation of the situation. He challenges them on a different level, the level of faith. All his teaching, all his miracles—they have had the single purpose of stirring up in his followers faith. We must encounter Jesus and believe in him, trust in him. Only then can his grace penetrate and transform us. This is because God is a real person, and so our relationship with him must be based on something besides mathematical computations. We must throw in our lot with him, believing and trusting, as we must do with any friend if we want the friendship to grow and flourish. Jesus has given us all many direct and indirect experiences of his goodness and his trustworthiness. How deeply have they nourished our faith? Our reaction during life’s storms can tell us.
- In the Same Boat: Jesus and his disciples were in the same boat. Jesus isn’t a Savior who redeems us from a distance. Jesus wants to be close to us. The whole Christian mystery broadcasts that amazing truth. In the Incarnation God himself becomes a human being and walks with us here in this fallen world. On the Cross, God himself absorbs into his own body and soul all the many types of suffering that we can’t seem to avoid in our journey through life. He travels the dusty roads of Galilee with his disciples. He speaks with Nicodemus around the fire at night. He touches lepers and weeps with those who mourn. In Jesus God shows us that he truly is with us. He is in our boat. Jesus is “Emmanuel”—God with us. The problem, from our perspective, is that we so easily forget this. The storms of life throw us into a panic. The noise of life drowns out the voice of truth. The distractions of life obstruct our view of the bigger picture as God has revealed it. When will I decide to live according to the truths that I believe? When will I decide to accept the truth of God’s unlimited, unconditional, unmitigated love for me and interest in my life? Will it be today?
Conversing with Christ: Thank you for coming into my boat, Lord. Thank you for caring enough about me to walk with me and protect and enlighten me. Today I just want to savor this gift of your presence. I am never alone. Even the storms that batter me are part of your plan for my life. Nothing can separate you from me, because you are all in for me. Please teach me, Lord, to live with a greater and greater awareness of your presence. Grant me the grace never to forget that even when the storms rage, you are with me in my boat, and with a mere word you can rebuke the winds and calm the sea. You are my Lord and my brother, and I never want to leave your side.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will put some kind of faith-reminder (crucifix, image, rosary, post-it with a verse) in a place where I tend to feel more acutely the stresses and anxieties of life (desk, car, kitchen). Whenever I see it I will make a little act of faith, telling Jesus that I do believe in him and asking him to increase my faith.
For Further Reflection: Navigating the Stormy Seas: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat on Jesus Calming the Storm – Coming in the Fall of 2020. (https://rcspirituality.org/
The post Lessons in a Storm appeared first on RC Spirituality.
Progressive Lawmakers Decry Racism, But Their Policies Devastate People Of Color | Hoover Institution
Progressive Lawmakers Decry Racism, But Their Policies Devastate People Of Color | Hoover Institution: California politicians are promising to address racism with new policies, including a potential state constitutional amendment, ACA 5, that would restore racial, ethnic, and gender-based preferential hiring and college admissions. As one lawmaker remarked, “It is time to eliminate the systemic racism that permeates our society. We will not stand for anything less.”
How U.S. Border Agents Mistreat Black American Diplomats
How U.S. Border Agents Mistreat Black American Diplomats: A diplomatic passport with a notation that the bearer is a U.S. ambassador isn’t enough to earn African-Americans respect and courtesy.
NY, NJ and CT require CA residents to quarantine for 2 weeks | The Sacramento Bee
NY, NJ and CT require CA residents to quarantine for 2 weeks | The Sacramento Bee: Californians looking to visit New York, New Jersey or Connecticut will be expected to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival.
Coronavirus update: Fauci testifies new U.S. cases could 'go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around’ - The Washington Post
Coronavirus update: Fauci testifies new U.S. cases could 'go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around’ - The Washington Post: Fauci gave the dire warning in Senate testimony alongside other top heath officials.
Trump’s Record on Foreign Policy: Lost Wars, New Conflicts, and Broken Promises
Trump’s Record on Foreign Policy: Lost Wars, New Conflicts, and Broken Promises: Donald Trump claims he’s ending the “era of endless wars.” But over the course of his first term, he has come closer to starting new wars than ending the wars he inherited.
Is it safe to send kids back to school?
Is it safe to send kids back to school?
It might depend on the answer to these three questions.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/06/30/1004625/is-it-safe-to-send-kids-back-to-school/?truid=e6a9a97f971519b8818ba7420a6d576d&utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=subs&utm_content=06-30-2020
Gorsuch Does Transgenderism: Notes on the Wreckage - The Catholic Thing
Gorsuch Does Transgenderism: Notes on the Wreckage - The Catholic Thing: Hadley Arkes: Time to recall the role played in the past by America's political branches, liberal and conservative, to narrow and counter court decisions.
Religion and COVID-19—Keeping Faith in the Battle Against Coronavirus | Think Global Health
Religion and COVID-19—Keeping Faith in the Battle Against Coronavirus | Think Global Health: Faith leaders and their organizations can and should serve as crucial allies in the fight against COVID-19—and many are
Chris Murphy: A New Civil Rights Movement Is a Foreign Policy Win | Foreign Affairs
Chris Murphy: A New Civil Rights Movement Is a Foreign Policy Win | Foreign Affairs: This moment of reckoning could end up becoming a defining advertisement for the American model.
Chris Murphy: A New Civil Rights Movement Is a Foreign Policy Win | Foreign Affairs
Chris Murphy: A New Civil Rights Movement Is a Foreign Policy Win | Foreign Affairs: This moment of reckoning could end up becoming a defining advertisement for the American model.
George Floyd Moves the World | Foreign Affairs
George Floyd Moves the World | Foreign Affairs: The killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer has thrust the United States into an uncomfortable light, as people around the world have taken to the streets to decry American racism
How America’s Credibility Gap Hurts the Defense of Rights Abroad | Council on Foreign Relations
How America’s Credibility Gap Hurts the Defense of Rights Abroad | Council on Foreign Relations: The U.S. government’s response to anti-racism protests risks causing lasting damage to American credibility and influence in protecting minorities and oppressed groups worldwide.
Pandemic and Protests at Home Makes the United States Vulnerable Abroad
Pandemic and Protests at Home Makes the United States Vulnerable Abroad: Unless the United States is able to come together to address its persistent societal and political divides, global prospects for democracy may weaken, friends and allies of the United States
The Coronavirus Funeral: How the World Grieves in a Pandemic
The Coronavirus Funeral: How the World Grieves in a Pandemic: COVID-19 restrictions have meant that many people have died or grieved alone. Scenes from Singapore to the United States convey a deep sense of loss and show how end-of-life rituals are being adapted.
CRS July Briefing
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5 ways California fought Trump on immigration | The Sacramento Bee
5 ways California fought Trump on immigration | The Sacramento Bee: California had two big victories this month with The Supreme Court ruling in favor of the state’s sanctuary laws and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
Even the South Pole is warming, and quickly, scientists say - The Boston Globe
Even the South Pole is warming, and quickly, scientists say - The Boston Globe: The South Pole, the most isolated part of the planet, is also one of the most rapidly warming ones, scientists said Monday.
The inside story of how coronavirus spread in Massachusetts - The Boston Globe
The inside story of how coronavirus spread in Massachusetts - The Boston Globe: The Globe retraces the virus’s devastating path, detailing early misjudgment by the public health system and a fierce battle to bring COVID-19 under control.
The inside story of how coronavirus spread in Massachusetts - The Boston Globe
The inside story of how coronavirus spread in Massachusetts - The Boston Globe: The Globe retraces the virus’s devastating path, detailing early misjudgment by the public health system and a fierce battle to bring COVID-19 under control.
Iran issues arrest warrants for Trump and 35 others in Soleimani killing - The Boston Globe
Iran issues arrest warrants for Trump and 35 others in Soleimani killing - The Boston Globe: Iran has issued an arrest warrant for President Trump and 35 other people it says were involved in a drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad this year and has asked for international help in detaining them, according to Iranian news reports.
Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to new federal death penalty procedure - The Boston Globe
Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to new federal death penalty procedure - The Boston Globe: Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to new federal death penalty procedure
COVID-19 has largely spared the state’s youngest. But in Massachusetts group homes, infections touch many more - The Boston Globe
COVID-19 has largely spared the state’s youngest. But in Massachusetts group homes, infections touch many more - The Boston Globe: More than 8 percent of children living in Department of Children and Families group homes and similar settings have contracted the coronavirus, a figure that far outstrips the rate among young people elsewhere in the state.
NYC mayor de Blasio announces plan to slash police budget by $1 billion - National | Globalnews.ca
NYC mayor de Blasio announces plan to slash police budget by $1 billion - National | Globalnews.ca: The mayor, a Democrat, declined to discuss the sources of what he called "savings'' for the nation's largest police department, saying at a news briefing that the cuts are still being negotiated with the City Council.
Now It’s Woodrow Wilson’s Turn – Patrick J. Buchanan – Official Website
Now It’s Woodrow Wilson’s Turn – Patrick J. Buchanan – Official Website: Wilson’s support of segregation was a matter of record in his own time and is a subject about which every biographer and historian of that period has been aware. When did Princeton discover that this Southern-born president, the most famous son in the school’s history, like so many of his presidential predecessors, did not believe…
Data shows 14.6 million properties in U.S. at risk from floods
Data shows 14.6 million properties in U.S. at risk from floods
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/data-shows-14-6-million-properties-in-usa-at-risk-from-floods/article/574007?utm_campaign=%2Bcalifornia&utm_content=Data+shows+14.6+million+properties+in+U.S.+at+risk+from+floods&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email
Regional Coronavirus Surges Force Changes in Plans Elsewhere in the U.S. - WSJ
Regional Coronavirus Surges Force Changes in Plans Elsewhere in the U.S. - WSJ: A surge in new coronavirus cases and rising hospitalization rates in states such as California and Texas are jeopardizing reopening plans elsewhere, while other countries are struggling to stop clusters of infections from spreading.
Trump's phone calls alarm US officials, from pandering to Putin to abusing allies and ignoring his own advisers - CNNPolitics
Trump's phone calls alarm US officials, from pandering to Putin to abusing allies and ignoring his own advisers - CNNPolitics: In hundreds of highly classified phone calls with foreign heads of state, President Donald Trump was so consistently unprepared for discussion of serious issues, so often outplayed in his conversations with powerful leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and so abusive to leaders of America's principal allies, that the calls helped convince some senior US officials -- including his former secretaries of state and defense, two national security advisers and his longest-serving chief of staff -- that the President himself posed a danger to the national security of the United States, according to White House and intelligence officials intimately familiar with the contents of the conversations.
Tomgram: Rebecca Gordon, The Sudden Descent of the United States | TomDispatch
Tomgram: Rebecca Gordon, The Sudden Descent of the United States | TomDispatch: Archive
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Tomgram: Rebecca Gordon, The Sudden Descent of the United States
Posted by Rebecca Gordon at 8:00am, June 30, 2020.
Follow TomDispatch on Twitter @TomDispatch.
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Ever more often, as I face the latest news from this increasingly woebegone American world of ours, I imagine bringing my long-dead parents back to view it. After all, they knew bad times and good. They lived through the Great Depression as young adults, World War II (my father was in the U.S. Army Air Corps), and the 1950s and 1960s. Those were the decades of my youth when, thanks to both Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal and the boom the war had triggered, economic inequality in this country narrowed drastically from the “roaring twenties.”
I now regularly picture the two of them in this pandemic moment, comfortably social-distanced from me, as I start to describe our present world by telling them something that’s astounded me since I first stumbled across it in 2017: three men -- Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett -- now have more wealth than the bottom half of American society. Three years later, at a moment when
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Support Us
Tomgram: Rebecca Gordon, The Sudden Descent of the United States
Posted by Rebecca Gordon at 8:00am, June 30, 2020.
Follow TomDispatch on Twitter @TomDispatch.
Email Print
Ever more often, as I face the latest news from this increasingly woebegone American world of ours, I imagine bringing my long-dead parents back to view it. After all, they knew bad times and good. They lived through the Great Depression as young adults, World War II (my father was in the U.S. Army Air Corps), and the 1950s and 1960s. Those were the decades of my youth when, thanks to both Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal and the boom the war had triggered, economic inequality in this country narrowed drastically from the “roaring twenties.”
I now regularly picture the two of them in this pandemic moment, comfortably social-distanced from me, as I start to describe our present world by telling them something that’s astounded me since I first stumbled across it in 2017: three men -- Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett -- now have more wealth than the bottom half of American society. Three years later, at a moment when
This Is Trump’s Plague Now - The Atlantic
This Is Trump’s Plague Now - The Atlantic: The first coronavirus spike, in late April, can be blamed on the president’s negligence. The second spike, in June, is his own doing.
Monday, June 29, 2020
CDC says U.S. has 'way too much virus' to control pandemic as cases surge across country
CDC says U.S. has 'way too much virus' to control pandemic as cases surge across country: "What we have in the United States, it's hard to describe because it's so many different outbreaks," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC.
San Quentin joins a growing list of U.S. prisons overwhelmed by coronavirus | America Magazine
San Quentin joins a growing list of U.S. prisons overwhelmed by coronavirus | America Magazine: George Williams, S.J., the Catholic chaplain at San Quentin, spoke with America about conditions inside the prison and what needs to be done to protect its especially at-risk inmates.
RAY McGOVERN: Russiagate’s Last Gasp – Consortiumnews
RAY McGOVERN: Russiagate’s Last Gasp – Consortiumnews: One can read this most recent flurry of Russia, Russia, Russia paid the Taliban to kill GIs as an attempt to pre-empt the findings into Russiagate's origins.
By Ray McGovern
Special to Consortium News
On Friday The New York Times featured a report based on anonymous intelligence officials
By Ray McGovern
Special to Consortium News
On Friday The New York Times featured a report based on anonymous intelligence officials
Gospel Reflectons Faithful Forever Solemnity of Sainst Peter and Paul
Matthew 16:13-19
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Opening Prayer: As I come before you today, Lord, I thank you for all the gifts you have given me. I thank you especially for the gift of my faith, for bringing me into your very family, the Church, and strengthening me day after day, year after year with all the graces of the sacraments. Thank you for being with me right now. I turn to you to give you praise and to receive whatever grace you see fit to give me today.
Encountering Christ:
- Peter the Rock: This isn’t the only time Jesus changes Simon’s name to Peter. In the Gospel of John, the very first time Jesus meets Simon he says to him, “‘You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter)” (John 1:42). Such a solemn changing of someone’s name is always deeply significant whenever it happens in the Bible. It happened with Abraham and Sarah; it happened with Jacob; it happens here with Peter. Jesus changes his name to reflect his mission in salvation history. Jesus gave Peter a special role of leadership in his band of Apostles. His presence and his ministry would be the guarantee of the Church’s authenticity after Jesus ascended back to heaven. And that guarantee would continue throughout the centuries through what has come to be known as “the Petrine ministry,” that is, the papacy. Peter concluded his life serving as the bishop of Rome, the city where he was martyred around the year 64 A.D. Since then, the bishop of Rome (the pope) has been the figure through which the Holy Spirit has continued exercising Peter’s own ministry of unity and universality in Christ’s Catholic Church. The papacy is the continuation throughout history of Peter’s special leadership role in the Church. And the promise Jesus makes that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church, that the Church will faithfully guard and spread the Gospel until Jesus comes again, is linked to this Petrine ministry: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” This is Our Lord’s plan for his followers. Because he has been faithful to it, Christians like you and me have always had trustworthy access to Christ’s truth and grace through the Gospel and the sacraments—and we always will. Thanks be to God!
- The Church: Throughout history, many worldly forces have tried to destroy Christ’s Church. In fact, efforts to destroy the Catholic Church are a constant factor in human history since the time of Christ. First there was the Roman Empire. Then there were a series of Muslim empires. Then in more modern times Napoleon himself had the pope kidnapped in order to try to absorb the Catholic Church into his empire. The Nazis and Communists both targeted the Catholic Church in the twentieth century. And in addition to these attacks from the outside, the forces of evil have ceaselessly sought to undermine the Church from within— through heresies, divisions, and corruption. And yet, more than twenty centuries after Jesus made this promise that his Church would stand strong forever and never fail in its mission to roll back the forces of darkness, that much maligned and suffering Church is still the primary moral and spiritual compass of the world. God is faithful. We can count on him. Truly.
- Apostles of Rome: Today the Church not only contemplates the figure of St. Peter and God’s truly amazing fidelity as shown through his promise to protect the Church through the Petrine ministry. We also contemplate the figure of St. Paul, who was also martyred in Rome around the year 64 A.D. Together, Peter and Paul are considered the Apostles of Rome. St. Paul’s ministry complemented St. Peter’s. Peter’s ministry was the solid rock which gave unity and universality to the Gospel wherever it was preached. Paul’s ministry set out to preach that Gospel to the far corners of the world. As he describes it in today’s second reading: “The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.” St. Paul himself showed reverence for the Petrine ministry when he went to consult with St. Peter and the other Apostles in Jerusalem about his own mission in the Church. He describes how, “I presented to them the Gospel that I preach to the Gentiles–but privately to those of repute–so that I might not be running, or have run, in vain… and when they recognized the grace bestowed upon me, James and Cephas [Peter] and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised” (Galatians 2:2, 9). St. Paul shows here his respect for the hierarchical structure of the Church as it was established by Jesus. But he also shows us the human side of the Church. He never rebelled against the divine authority present in the Petrine ministry, but he did courageously challenge Peter the man to live more coherently with the doctrine that he was teaching: “And when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong… And the rest of the Jews [also] acted hypocritically along with him, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy…” Jesus guarantees that he will always give life and safety to his Church through the Petrine ministry, in spite of the fact that those who exercise that ministry (the popes) will always be imperfect human beings.
Conversing with Christ: I praise you, Lord, for your infinite power, which somehow finds a way to preserve your Church and even keep it growing in spite of the flaws of your followers and the wrathful attacks of your enemies. I praise you for giving me older brothers and sisters in the faith like Saints Peter and Paul and all the saints. If your grace transformed their lives, I know that same grace can keep transforming my life. Dear Jesus, I never want to abandon you or abandon your Church. Keep me faithful, Lord, through darkness and through light, just as you did for Peter and Paul.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray in a special way for the Holy Father and the Church, maybe by lighting a candle near one of the sacred images in my parish church.
For Further Reflection: Built to Last: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat on St. Peter and the Papacy.
Written by Fr. John Bartunek, LC.
The post Faithful Forever appeared first on RC Spirituality.
Complaints change nothing: Pope’s forceful homily for Sts. Peter and Paul (full text)
Complaints change nothing: Pope’s forceful homily for Sts. Peter and Paul (full text): On this feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis celebrated Mass with a reduced congregation in St. Peter’s Basilica. In his homily, he focused on the striking moment the early Church passe…
In the US, China-bashing is rooted in myths of Western superiority | South China Morning Post
In the US, China-bashing is rooted in myths of Western superiority | South China Morning Post: Across the centuries, Europe propagated anti-Chinese stereotypes as a response to the perceived threats to European might.
Will China’s debt-fuelled economic bubble eventually pop? | South China Morning Post
Will China’s debt-fuelled economic bubble eventually pop? | South China Morning Post: China: The Bubble that Never Pops, by journalist and economist Tom Orlik, looks at China’s debt-fuelled state-led growth model.
Coronavirus Report: The Hill's Steve Clemons interviews Gary Slutkin | TheHill
Coronavirus Report: The Hill's Steve Clemons interviews Gary Slutkin | TheHill: Steve Clemons: Gary, thanks so much for joining us.
'How George Floyd's death changed my Chinese students' - BBC News
'How George Floyd's death changed my Chinese students' - BBC News: Some students at Jasmine Cochran's school in China found it hard to trust a black teacher. George Floyd's death made a huge difference.
Flu virus with 'pandemic potential' found in China - BBC News
Flu virus with 'pandemic potential' found in China - BBC News: It appears to be able to infect people, although pigs are the hosts, say experts.
If You're Asymptomatic, You May Be More Likely to Get the Coronavirus Again
If You're Asymptomatic, You May Be More Likely to Get the Coronavirus Again
New research on antibodies suggests that asymptomatic patients are more at risk for another infection.
https://bestlifeonline.com/asymptomatic-coronavirus-again/
Fauci: Covid-19 vaccine might not get US sufficient level of immunity - CNN Video
Fauci: Covid-19 vaccine might not get US sufficient level of immunity - CNN Video: Dr. Anthony Fauci says he would "settle" for a Covid-19 vaccine that's 70% to 75% effective, but that this incomplete protection, coupled with the fact that many Americans say they won't get a coronavirus vaccine, makes it "unlikely" that the US will achieve sufficient levels of immunity to quell the outbreak.
We’re All on the Frontlines Now - The Catholic Thing
We’re All on the Frontlines Now - The Catholic Thing: Robert Royal: The BLM-Antifa “uprising” is following the Marxist playbook. To end it, we need to stop its infiltration into schools and media.
Chinese companies take record 50% of global equity raising in first half of 2020 - Reuters
Chinese companies take record 50% of global equity raising in first half of 2020 - Reuters: Firms in China brought in half of equity capital raised globally this year so far, setting a record that highlights the economy's earlier revival from the COVID-19 pandemic, plus the degree to which soured U.S. relations are turning Chinese firms homeward.
What Americans think about the looming Israeli annexation and Trump’s Middle East plan
What Americans think about the looming Israeli annexation and Trump’s Middle East plan: How do Americans feel about the Trump administration's so-called peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and about possible Israeli annexation of West Bank territories?
Our Ghost-Kitchen Future | The New Yorker
Our Ghost-Kitchen Future | The New Yorker: A business model that seemed marginal before the coronavirus pandemic now looks like the future of restaurants.
Faulty COVID-19 antibody tests now complicating efforts to know reach of virus – 60 Minutes - CBS News
Faulty COVID-19 antibody tests now complicating efforts to know reach of virus – 60 Minutes - CBS News: A 60 Minutes investigation has found that federal officials knew many COVID-19 antibody testing kits had flaws, but allowed them to enter the U.S. market.
Why scientists say wearing masks shouldn’t be controversial | Science News
Why scientists say wearing masks shouldn’t be controversial | Science News: New data suggest that cloth masks work to reduce coronavirus cases, though less well than medical masks.
U.S. coronavirus hotspots failed to build up public health tools - Axios
U.S. coronavirus hotspots failed to build up public health tools - Axios: States still aren't doing enough testing or contact tracing.
Trump’s freeze on new visas could threaten US dominance in AI
Trump’s freeze on new visas could threaten US dominance in AI
The
president’s executive order to temporarily suspend H-1B visas
exacerbates the US’s precarious position in the global competition for
AI talent.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/06/26/1004520/trump-executive-order-h1b-visa-threatens-us-ai?truid=e6a9a97f971519b8818ba7420a6d576d&utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=subs&utm_content=06-29-2020
The US now has more covid-19 tests than it knows what to do with
The US now has more covid-19 tests than it knows what to do with
Many
labs can run thousands more tests a day . Containing the virus and
reopening the economy both depend on figuring out how to use that
capacity.
Kevin Winter/ Getty Imageshttps://www.technologyreview.com/2020/06/27/1004545/us-covid-19-coronavirus-test-capacity-unused-available-reopening/?truid=e6a9a97f971519b8818ba7420a6d576d&utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=subs&utm_content=06-29-2020
The Triple Crisis Shaking the World by Joschka Fischer - Project Syndicate
The Triple Crisis Shaking the World by Joschka Fischer - Project Syndicate: More than just a public-health disaster, the COVID-19 pandemic is a history-defining event with far-reaching implications for the global distribution of wealth and power. With economies in free-fall and geopolitical tensions rising, there can be no return to normal: the past is passed, and only the future counts now.
How a review of the U.S. response to Covid-19 could get started
How a review of the U.S. response to Covid-19 could get started: Outside experts have called for a Sept. 11-style commission to evaluate the U.S. response to the pandemic. Here are some of the issues it could review.
On “White Fragility” - Reporting by Matt Taibbi
On “White Fragility” - Reporting by Matt Taibbi: A few thoughts on America’s smash-hit #1 guide to egghead racialism
Florida’s Covid Cases Up Fivefold in 2 Weeks: ‘The Numbers Are Scary’ - The New York Times
Florida’s Covid Cases Up Fivefold in 2 Weeks: ‘The Numbers Are Scary’ - The New York Times: A surge in coronavirus cases has prompted officials to prohibit alcohol sales in bars and close Miami beaches for the coming holiday. But will it be enough?
How the Pandemic Is Making It Tougher to Study Whales - The New York Times
How the Pandemic Is Making It Tougher to Study Whales - The New York Times: Monday: Whales are dying at alarming rates, but the pandemic is keeping researchers away. Also: Gov. Gavin Newsom closes bars in some counties.
US Bishops Join Coalition Asking Congress to Aid Low-Income Students
US Bishops Join Coalition Asking Congress to Aid Low-Income Students
https://zenit.org/2020/06/29/us-bishops-join-coalition-asking-congress-to-aid-low-income-students/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Pope%20Speaks%20of%20Unity%20and%20Prophecy%20on%20Feast%20of%20Sts%20Peter%20and%20Paul%201593446485%20ZNP&utm_content=Pope%20Speaks%20of%20Unity%20and%20Prophecy%20on%20Feast%20of%20Sts%20Peter%20and%20Paul%201593446485%20ZNP+CID_d4d76516b6cb7cc98b46d223cf395d9b&utm_source=Editions&utm_term=US%20Bishops%20Join%20Coalition%20Asking%20Congress%20to%20Aid%20Low-Income%20Students
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