The Divine Physician ‘Needs’ the Sick

March 5, 2022 Saturday after Ash Wednesday Readings for Today

Video “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.  I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”  Luke 5:31–32 What would a doctor do without patients?  What if no one were sick?  The poor doctor would be out of business.  Therefore, in a sense, it’s fair to say that a doctor needs the sick in order to fulfill his role. The same could be said of Jesus.  He is the Savior of the World.  But what if there were no sinners?  Then Jesus’ death would have been in vain, and His mercy would not be necessary.  Therefore, in a sense, we can conclude that Jesus, as the Savior of the World, needssinners.  He needs those who have turned away from Him, violated the Divine Law, violated their own dignity, violated the dignity of others and acted in a selfish and sinful way.  Jesus needs sinners.  Why?  Because Jesus is the Savior, and a Savior needs to save.  A Savior needs those who need to be saved in order to save! This is important to understand, because when we do, we will suddenly realize that coming to Jesus, with the filth of our sin, brings great joy to His Heart.  It brings joy, because He is able to fulfill the mission given Him by the Father, exercising His mercy as the one and only Savior.   Allow Jesus to fulfill His mission!  Let Him offer mercy to you!  You do this by admitting your need for mercy.  You do this by coming to Him in a vulnerable and sinful state, unworthy of mercy and worthy only of eternal damnation.  Coming to Jesus in this way allows Him to fulfill the mission given Him by the Father.  It allows Him to manifest, in a concrete way, His Heart of abundant mercy.  Jesus “needs” you to fulfill His mission.  Give Him this gift and let Him be your merciful Savior. Reflect, today, upon the mercy of God from a new perspective.  Look at it from the perspective of Jesus as the Divine Physician who desires to fulfill His healing mission.  Realize that He needs you in order to fulfill His mission.  He needs you to admit your sin and be open to His healing.  In so doing, you allow the gates of mercy to pour forth in abundance in our day and age.  Dear Savior and Divine Physician, I thank You for coming to save and heal.  I thank You for Your burning desire to manifest Your mercy in my life.  Please humble me so that I may be open to Your healing touch and that, through this gift of salvation, I allow You to manifest Your Divine Mercy.  Jesus, I trust in You.

A Day to Fast and Abstain

March 4, 2022 Friday after Ash Wednesday Readings for Today Saint Casimir—Optional Memorial

Video “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”  Matthew 9:15 Fridays in Lent…are you ready for them? Every Friday in Lent is a day of abstinence from meat. So be sure to embrace this little sacrifice today in union with our entire Church. What a blessing it is to offer sacrifice as an entire Church!  Fridays in Lent (and, in fact, throughout the year) are also days in which the Church asks us to do some form of penance. Abstinence from meat certainly falls into that category, unless you dislike meat and love fish. The most important thing to understand about Fridays in Lent is that they should be a day of sacrifice. Jesus offered the ultimate sacrifice on a Friday and endured the most excruciating pain for the atonement of our sins. We should not hesitate to offer our own sacrifice and to strive to spiritually unite that sacrifice to Christ’s. Why would we do that?  At the heart of the answer to that question is a basic understanding of redemption from sin. It’s important to understand the unique and profound teaching of our Catholic Church on this. As Catholics, we do share a common belief with other Christians throughout the world that Jesus is the one and only Savior of the world. The only way to Heaven is through the redemption won by His Cross. In a sense, Jesus “paid the price” of death for our sins. He took on our punishment.  But with that said, we must understand our role and responsibility in receiving this priceless gift. It’s not simply a gift that God offers by saying, “OK, I paid the price, now you’re completely off the hook.” No, we believe He says something more like this, “I have opened the door to salvation through my suffering and death. Now I invite you to enter that door with me and unite your own sufferings with mine so that my sufferings, united with yours, will bring you to salvation and freedom from sin.” So, in a sense, we are not “off the hook;” rather, we now have a way to freedom and salvation by uniting our lives, sufferings and sins to the Cross of Christ. As Catholics, we understand that salvation came at a price and that the price was not only the death of Jesus, it’s also our willing participation in His suffering and death. This is the way that His Sacrifice transforms our particular sins. Fridays in Lent are days in which we are especially invited to unite ourselves, voluntarily and freely, with the Sacrifice of Jesus. His Sacrifice required of Him great selflessness and self-denial. The small acts of fasting, abstinence and other forms of self-denial you choose dispose your will to be more conformed to Christ’s so as to be able to more completely unite yourself with Him, receiving the grace of salvation.  Reflect, today, upon the small sacrifices you are called to make this Lent—especially on Fridays in Lent. Make the choice to be sacrificial today and you will discover that it is the best way to enter into a deeper union with the Savior of the World. Most sacrificial Lord, I choose, this day, to become one with You in Your suffering and death. I offer You my suffering and my sin. Please forgive my sin and allow my suffering, especially that which results from my sin, to be transformed by Your own suffering so that I can share in the joy of Your Resurrection. May the small sacrifices and acts of self-denial I offer You become a source of my deeper union with You. Jesus, I trust in You.

What is a brutal truth about life that needs to be said?

Omar N.

Human Interaction & Relationships - Dec 31

What is a brutal truth about life that needs to be said?

These words from actor Anthony Hopkins are brutal:

Let go of people who aren't ready to love you.

This is the hardest thing you will ever have to do in your life and it will also be the most important thing.

Stop having difficult conversations with people who don’t want to change.

Stop showing up for people who have no interest in your presence.

I know your instinct is to do everything you can to gain the appreciation of those around you, but it's an impulse that steals your time, energy, mental and physical health.

When you start fighting for a life with joy, interest and commitment, not everyone will be ready to follow you to that place.

That doesn't mean you have to change who you are, it means you have to let go of people who aren't ready to be with you.

If you are excluded, insulted, forgotten or ignored by the people you give your time to, you are not doing yourself a favor by continuing to offer them your energy and your life.

Truth is, you're not for everyone and not everyone is for you.

This is what makes it so special when you find people that you have friendship or love matched.

You will know how precious it is because you've experienced what it isn't.

There are billions of people on this planet and a lot of them you will find at your level of interest and commitment.

Maybe if you stop showing up, they won't look for you.

Maybe if you stop trying, the relationship ends.

Maybe if you stop texting, your phone will stay dark for weeks.

That doesn't mean you ruined the relationship, it means the only thing that was holding it was the energy that only you gave to keep it.

That's not love, that's attachment.

It's giving a chance to those who don't deserve it!

You deserve so much more.

The most valuable thing you have in your life is your time and energy as both are limited.

The people and things you give your time and energy to, will define your existence.

When you realize this you start to understand why you’re so anxious when you spend time with people, activities or spaces that don’t suit you and shouldn’t be near you.

You’ll start to realize that the most important thing you can do for yourself and everyone around you, is to protect your energy more fiercely than anything else.

Make your life a safe haven, in which only people "compatible" with you are allowed.

You are not responsible for saving anyone.

It's not your responsibility to convince them to improve.

It's not your job to exist for people and give them your life!

You deserve real friendships, true commitments, and complete love with healthy, prosperous people.

Deciding to distance yourself from harmful people, will give you the love, esteem, happiness and protection you deserve.

What's the most unusual and shocking medical case from history?

Sean Kernan

Son of Quora - Feb 25

What's the most unusual and shocking medical case from history?

Lina Medina’s parents knew something was off about her stomach. The swelling was clearly getting worse.

The family lived in a small village in Peru, with Lina being one of nine children.

Doctors ran tests and were stunned to learn she was 6 months pregnant.

The case drew widespread outrage and medical curiosity. It defied physiology that someone so young was pregnant.

More importantly, why was she pregnant?

Many people initially believed the story was fake — until multiple doctors flew in to confirm the case via testing.

In the summer of 1939, Lina gave birth at just five and a half years old, meaning she’d become pregnant at four.

She delivered a healthy son, Gerardo, via C-section. She was nowhere near able to pass a child through her hips.

There have been other young children who got pregnant further back in time.

Their stories are mostly grim, with either the baby dying and/or the child dying in the process (c-sections weren’t widely used until the early 20th century).

The science behind her pregnancy

Most trained pediatricians immediately knew how she could have become pregnant.

There is a rare condition called precocious puberty. Because of genetics, or dysfunction in hormonal glands, the body begins releasing estrogen (or testosterone) very early.

For those who have it, it is often a source of embarrassment and family tension.

Top doctors were assigned to Lina’s case and, during her delivery, they noted she had fully developed sexual organs.

They also learned she’d had her first menstrual cycle at three years of age.

Her condition happens in 1 in 5,000 to 10,000 children but is more common in girls.

Boys experience comparable symptoms, developing adult features like facial hair and lower voices.

Lina is an extremely rare and well-documented case of precocious puberty.

In fact, you will see Lina’s case in many obstetrician textbooks in medical schools around the world.

The ranking of the other youngest reported mothers gave birth at 6, 7, 8, and 9, with one of the mothers becoming a grandmother at just 17.

These cases are all from many decades ago, not because the abuse has stopped, but because we now have treatments to counteract precocious puberty.

Her son, Gerardo, grew up alongside his mother, not knowing she was his mother until he was 10.

Lina with her son just after delivery. (Via Peruvian School of Medicine (public domain))

The aftermath and search for the father

Unsurprisingly, there was international pressure to find the abuser. Police and doctors interviewed Lina repeatedly in hopes of identifying him.

However, Lina could never provide any specifics: she either didn’t know who he was or she’d been coached not to say anything.

There was speculation she’d been abused at an annual festival where rape was common but this theory was later dismissed.

Lina’s father, Tibuerelo, was initially arrested on charges of rape. But after being held for several days, he was released as there was no evidence to tie him to the crime.

Statistically, the odds are high that her abuser was someone close to the family, if not an actual family member.

I suspect her family had a suspicion on who assaulted the girl but chose to keep a lid on it to protect them.

Even if they knew it was the father, convicting him would send the sole earner to prison while the already-poor family had nine mouths to feed.

The family garnered massive amounts of unwanted attention.

It was in newspapers all over the United States in the late 1930s before fading into the backdrop of World War II.

Sadly, stories like Lina’s are all too common. Her pregnancy merely produced an undeniable symptom of her abuse.

Early-onset puberty is more common in modern times and puberty is happening earlier and earlier, largely because of environmental and dietary habits (hormone-filled foods).

Her life after the pregnancy

Fortunately, Lina was able to get an education and secure a stable job as a secretary in Lima, Peru.

She had a relatively-good career, and by most accounts, a good life. She later married and had a second son when she was 40. She was able to provide him an education and better life than the one she was born into.

She is still alive today, at 88 years old. She lives in relative privacy and thankfully, wasn’t ruined by the incident.

We live in a sick world peeps.

What is the most brutal truth about Ronaldo's first son?

Jean-Marie Valheur

political aficionado & former journalist - Feb 22

What is the most brutal truth about Ronaldo's first son?

Do you mean Ronaldo, the world famous football player? Queer as a daffodil, my dear! Ronaldo loved gallavanting with the boys, but loved admitting it a lot less. Not good for his ‘image’ and his income — the world of football is rather homophobic, after all. Player’s wives and supposed hyper-masculinity are all the rage and the sport sells well around the world including some highly conservative nations.

Silence pays and rumors cost. So a decade or so ago the legend suddenly had a son… he said the mother was an ‘unidentified woman’ who agreed to let him ‘raise the child’ with help of his mother. He played it off as if he had an illegitimate child, mother couldn’t raise it so he bravely stepped up the plate… thus ‘proving’ his heterosexuality. In truth, he discreetly had the boy by IVF with a surrogate mother.

The story of the son broke just around the time when certain images of the famous athlete were leaked to the press, in which he carresses another man’s genitals near a pool. Suddenly no one talked about those anymore — the son was all people talked about, which was exactly the effect what he was trying to achieve.

Fast forward ten years and Ronaldo had another set of twins using IVF, followed by a kid with his current girlfriend. He’s expecting kids number five and six later this year. It is, by all accounts, a happy and blessed family. And Ronaldo is still super gay.

The World or Your Soul?

March 3, 2022 Thursday after Ash Wednesday Readings for Today Saint Katharine Drexel, Virgin—USA Optional Memorial

Video “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”  Luke 9:25 Many people dream of winning the lottery.  And oftentimes, the dream is for many millions of dollars.  Imagine what you would do if you became an instant millionaire or an instant billionaire.  Do you find yourself daydreaming about this? If so, perhaps the question above is a good one to ponder.  What good is it if you win the biggest lottery in history, become the wealthiest person on the face of the Earth, but lack the grace of God in your life and lack faith?  Would you trade your faith for being exceptionally wealthy and gaining the whole world?  Many people probably would or else Jesus would not have asked this question. Very often in life we have the wrong priorities.  We seek instant satisfaction and gratification over eternal fulfillment.  It’s hard for many people to live with an eternal perspective.   Some may say, “Well, I choose both!  I want the whole world and the salvation of my soul!”  But Jesus’ question presupposes that we cannot have both.  We must pick which one we choose to pursue.  Choosing a life of faith and the salvation of our souls requires that we let go of many things in this world.  Even if God were to bless us with much in this world, we must strive to live in such a way that we are ready and willing to “give it up” if it were beneficial to our eternal salvation, or the salvation of others.  This is hard to do and requires a very deep love of God.  It requires that we are convinced, on the deepest level, that the pursuit of holiness is more important than anything else. Reflect, today, upon this profound question from Jesus.  Know that He poses it to you.  How do you respond?  Do not hesitate to make God and His abundant mercy the central focus of your life.  Lent is one of the best times of the year to seriously look at the most fundamental desire and goal of your heart.  Choose Him above all else and you will be eternally grateful you did. My eternal Lord, as we enter into this Lenten season, give me the grace I need to look at my priorities.  Help me to honestly discern that which is the most fundamental and central driving motivation of my life.  Help me to choose You above all else so that You will help everything in my life to become ordered in accord with Your holy will.  Jesus, I trust in You.

Being Set Free for Love

Wednesday, March 2, 2022 Ash Wednesday Readings for Today A Day to Fast and Pray for Peace

Video Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.  (see Psalm 51) Mercy.  That’s what it’s all about.  As we begin Lent, a great place to start is with a better understanding of mercy. Often when we think about Lent, we think of it with a sort of dread.  “I have to give something up,” we often think. But if that is our thought, then we are missing the point.  Do I “have to” give something up?  Well, yes and no.  It’s true that God wills this and has spoken this practice of self-denial and self-discipline to us through His Church.  That is true.   But it’s much more of an invitation to grace than the imposition of a burden.   Giving something up is really all about entering into God’s abundant mercy on a deeper level.  It’s about being freed from all that binds us, and it helps us experience the new life we so deeply seek.  Giving something up could refer to something as simple as fasting from a food or drink.  Or, it can be any intentional act that requires a certain self-denial. But this is good!  Why?  Because it strengthens us in our spirit and our will.  It strengthens us to be more resolved to say “Yes” to God on that complete level.   So often in life we are controlled by our emotions and desires.  We have an impulse for this or that or to do this or that, and we often let those impulses or desires control us. Entering into a practice of self-denial helps strengthen us to control our disordered tendencies rather than being controlled by them.  And this applies to much more than just food and drink.  It applies to many things in life including our life of virtue, especially our charity. Mercy is all about charity.  It’s about love in the way God wants us to love.  It’s about being free to let love consume us and take us over so that, in the end, all we want to do is love. This can be a hard practice to establish in our lives but is the source of our joy and fulfillment.   Mercy, in particular, is an act of love that, in a sense, is not deserved by another.  It’s a free gift that is given purely from the motivation of love.  And this is exactly the love God gives us.  God’s love is all mercy.  And if we want to receive that mercy, then we also have to give it.  And if we want to give it, we need to properly dispose ourselves to giving mercy.  This is accomplished, in part, by our little acts of self-denial.   So make this a great Lent, but don’t get stuck thinking that the Lenten sacrifices are burdensome. They are one essential piece of the pathway to the life God wants to bestow upon us. My sacrificial Lord, may this Lent be truly fruitful in my life.  May it be a grace and a joy to embrace all that You wish to bestow upon me.  Jesus, I do trust in You.

What is God Calling You to Give Up?

March 1, 2022 Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Readings for Today

Video Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Mark 10:28 Some are called to give up much and follow Christ.  For example, there are those called to the monastic life or a cloister as a religious sister.  They truly give up everything of this world to seek out and follow the invitation of Christ to follow Him in this radical way.   All of us, however, are called to give up “everything” to follow Christ in our own unique way.  By giving up everything, we are called to completely surrender our own will and preferences in life to serve Christ in accord with His divine plan.  This may take on many forms but, in the end, it’s always a call to give up everything. The good news is that “giving up everything” is nothing other than giving up our own selfish ideals and preferences in life.  The even better news is that the life God has in store for us is far better than we can dream of or imagine.  So, by saying “No” to our own will and doing things our own way, we are in fact saying “Yes” to doing things in the perfect way of God. Why wouldn’t we want to seek only His will each and every day of our lives?  Why wouldn’t we want to serve Him and His perfect plan? This may take on the form of service to our families.  Giving to them when we do not feel like doing so.  It may mean striving to find joy in small acts of service and love.  It may mean, for some, giving up all normal attachments in life so as to seek His will in a more radical way.  Whatever the specific calling in life may be for you, it’s worth embracing God’s will.   Reflect, today, on how ready and willing you are to say “Yes” to Christ no matter what He asks of you.  Are you willing to say “Yes” even to that which He has not yet revealed to you?  Say “Yes” today to whatever your future holds and God will bless you in abundance. My trustworthy Lord, no matter what it is You call me to do in life, the answer is “Yes.”  I want to serve Your will selflessly and completely.  Help me to live that calling with generosity and love.  Jesus, I trust in You.