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Has Israel lost the war against Hamas?

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  In the early hours of Oct. 7 th , 2023, Hamas launched a barrage of 3,000 missiles from the Gaza Strip against the State of Israel, combined with ground attacks upon civilians and soldiers. The resulting one-day death toll of 1,200 people in Israel represented the largest Jewish loss of life since the Holocaust. In addition to murdering civilians and raping women, Hamas seized 253 hostages, Global reaction was swift and widespread, with leaders of democratic nations simultaneously condemning Hamas while asserting Israel’s right to defend itself. Today, seven months later, the Palestinian death toll stands at 34,500 as Israel continues its offensive on Gaza. A crippling blockade is leaving its population on the verge of starvation and plague. Vast swathes of Gaza lie in ruin, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement with a lack of shelter, food, clean water, and medicine. At least 153 hostages remain in the hands of Hamas. That narrative has now shifte
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The Wind that's Coming

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The first year of ministry after his ordination in 1951 brought Father Joseph Ratzinger to the Munich parish of  Heilig Blut  (Precious Blood). During the Nazi regime, this parish had two lay martyrs, Ludwig Baron Leonrod and Franz Sperr, and two priest martyrs, Hermann Josef Wehrle and Alfred Delp, SJ. They protested the cruelties of Hitler and his minions and had been executed as witnesses to Christ.    Expressing admiration for the brave testimony of these men for the spiritual truth of Jesus Christ over materialistic ideology, o n May 24, 1952, he penned the following words in the autograph book of a girl in one of his religion classes in Munich::   However the winds blow You should stand against them. When the world falls apart Your brave heart may not despair. Without the heart’s bravery which Has the courage to withstand unshakably The spirits of the time and the masses, We cannot find the way to God And the true way of Our Lord. ( In remembrance of your teacher of relig
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Shades of Things to Come?

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Thanks to Ray Sunshine for bringing this to HJ's attention and apologies for mistakenly deleting his comment.  There were dramatic scenes in Brussels on Tuesday at the "National Conservatism Conference" offering " a harbinger of what a police state in the heart of Europe might look like,"  according to the Catholic Herald . After the conference began, local Brussels police arrived at the Claridge building hosting the conference, and proceeded set up barricades in front of the event venue, preventing any further attendees, journalists or speakers from accessing the event. Eric Zemmous, the French politician, who was due to appear at the conference but was barred from entering when he turned up, said the city’s left-wing mayor had deployed the police like a “private militia” to stop a conservative conference from happening in Brussels. As the situation escalated, eventually Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo felt compelled to speak out: “What happened at th
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Dawkins is a "Cultural Christian"

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(This is a tortuous interview with Dawkins on LBC ... the interviewer being as bad as the interviewee!) Richard Dawkins declares himself to be a “cultural Christian” and believes Christianity is a “fundamentally decent religion” that is better for society than Islam. “I do think that we [Britain] are a culturally Christian country. I call myself a cultural Christian. I’m not a believer but there is a distinction between being a believing Christian and being a cultural Christian and so, you know, I love Hymns and Christmas carols, and I sort of feel at home in the Christian ethos. I feel that we are a Christian country in that sense. It’s true that statistically the number of people who actually believe in Christianity is going down, and I am happy with that, but I would not be happy if, for example, we lost all our cathedrals and our beautiful parish churches. It would matter if we certainly substituted any other religion, that would be truly dreadful.” Dawkins says he was “horrified
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A Blessed and Holy Easter

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A Blessed and Holy Easter to all who read and comment on this little blog. Halleluiah!  Lord, Jesus, You have risen from the dead and are gloriously triumphant!   May the glory and the promise of this joyous time of year bring peace and happiness to you and those you hold most dear. And may Christ, Our Risen Saviour, always be there by your side to bless you most abundantly and be your loving guide.
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Reflections on the Journey from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.

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The Pillar   interview with Trappist monk, Bishop Erik Varden: Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday. And yet the  long Gospel reading  at Mass that day takes us far beyond that event, describing Jesus’ Passion and death.  Why does the Church tell the whole story (barring the Resurrection) straight away, all at once? Basically, the Church tries to get us to live within the whole   story all   the time, to go beyond a merely linear conception of time. To follow the liturgy is to develop a capacity for synchronicity, the closest we get, this side of eternity, to an experience of living beyond time.  Think of the Midnight Mass at Christmas. One has just heard the Gospel of the Nativity. The priest has given a jolly little sermon. Then, all of a sudden, the manger is overshadowed by Calvary: “On the day before he was to suffer, he took bread…” The Babe of Bethlehem is the Lamb of God.  The mind boggles at this, which is why the Church in all sorts of ways lets us see that, if we stay imp
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Princess of Wales

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This struck a personal note with me. Article in  Aleteia After weeks of oft-hurtful speculation in the media, in online discussions, and even among celebrities, the Princess of Wales  has announced to the world that she has cancer. In a moving announcement that saw a seemingly stoic Catherine address the public, the mother-of-three shared her recent diagnosis and explained that she’d refrained from disclosing her illness in a bid to “shield” her children. However, behind her carefully spoken words, there was a woman whose voice was full of emotion, despite the positive message she expressed. In fact, as any parent can appreciate, the only thought that must be on her mind right now is that of protecting her children and reassuring them that she will indeed be okay. As the princess shared: “As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything t
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