Reflections from news and commentary of the day
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Thursday, February 22, 2024
Uncharted Territories | Tomas Pueyo | Substack
Uncharted Territories | Tomas Pueyo | Substack: Understand the world of today to prepare for the world of tomorrow: AI, tech; the future of democracy, energy, education, and more. Click to read Uncharted Territories, by Tomas Pueyo, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
Risk of infection, hospitalisation, and death up to 9 months after a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine: a retrospective, total population cohort study in Sweden - The Lancet
Risk of infection, hospitalisation, and death up to 9 months after a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine: a retrospective, total population cohort study in Sweden - The Lancet: Risk of infection, hospitalisation, and death up to 9 months after a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine: a retrospective, total population cohort study in Sweden
Knesset votes resoundingly against unilateral Palestinian state recognition | The Times of Israel
Knesset votes resoundingly against unilateral Palestinian state recognition | The Times of Israel: 99 MKs back adoption of symbolic declaration championed by PM; despite voting in favor, Lapid calls measure a distraction, says unilateral recognition not a threat
Chinese firm’s leaked files show vast international hacking effort - The Washington Post
Chinese firm’s leaked files show vast international hacking effort - The Washington Post: The trove shows how Chinese security services promote rivalry between private hacking companies, spurring them to target foreign governments and institutions.
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Fr. Bob's Reflection for the First Sunday in Lent
We are now in the season of Lent. It’s a period of 40 days to repent and believe in the Gospel. It will end in Holy Week, and I find it strange that we call it Holy Week, because it was seven days of political corruption, moral cowardice, religious hypocrisy and physical violence.
This Holy Week we celebrate begins with a Man riding on a little donkey into the city of Jerusalem. The people who lined His route were cheering; they wanted to make Him King. But towards the end of the week, the tide of public opinion turned against Him. One of His followers betrayed Him while the rest ran for cover, and He was arrested. He was subjected to a mock trial. The Roman Governor sentenced Him to death and He was nailed to a cross.
We Christians have a strange vocabulary, because we call the day He was nailed to the cross “Good Friday.” Two great philosophies of life were arrayed on that Good Friday. One against the other. One was hatred and on the other side was love. Those who crucified Jesus seemed determined to make Him hate them, just as much as they hated Him.
The cruelty of that event was astonishing. They beat Him with a whip until His back was an open wound. They drove nails into Him and suspended Him on a cross. And they made fun of Him while He died.
Hate kept pounding Him with loads of heavy artillery at its disposal. But love held firm. And when the day ended and the battle was over, hate lay beaten in the dust and love hung triumphant on the cross.
It may have appeared that Jesus was ultimately defeated. But the Church refused to see it that way. We call His death a victory and have adopted the cross as our symbol.
Some of us become overwhelmed by life’s contradictions. The pain and injustice that they see on every side cause them to lose all faith in God and life. That could have happened to Jesus. No one felt the world’s great more keenly than Jesus did.
And, He experienced our pain as if it were His own. No one was ever treated more unfairly than He was. If you want to talk about injustice, look at Calvary. If you want to see corruption and religious hypocrisy at their very worst, look at Calvary.
If ever there was a person who had the right to doubt God, to despair of the human race and to become cynical about life, it was Jesus. But listen to Him as He says, “Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit.” Through all the injustice and all the pain, His faith did not fail. He kept on believing in God. Unlike many of us, He did not question why.
At Calvary, faith won a resounding victory over cynicism and despair. Jesus had no sword or spear, no way to defend Himself. His only defense was prayer and forgiveness.
Two-thousand years later, we gather together not in honor of the Roman Empire. But in honor of the Man who died on the cross. His death has given Him a place in history like nothing else. He has conquered more hearts and changed more minds than Caesar’s army ever dreamed of.
My friends, love is stronger than hate. Faith is more valid than cynicism. Non-violence is truly more powerful than brute force.
The question for us this Lent is, do we dare to believe it? Do we dare to try it?
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Robert Warren, S.A.
Spiritual Director
White House announces new actions to mitigate cybersecurity threats at US ports | The Hill
White House announces new actions to mitigate cybersecurity threats at US ports | The Hill: The White House announced four new actions Wednesday that aim to boost the cybersecurity of U.S. ports as a way to support supply chains. First, President Biden will sign an executive order that will bolster the Department of Homeland Security’s authority to address maritime cyber threats, announced Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber…
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