Monday, April 22, 2024

DEMS WAVE UKRAINIAN FLAGS ON HOUSE FLOOR AS AID PACKAGE PASSES;COLUMBIA RABBI TELLS JEWISH STUDENTS TO GO HOME DUE TO ANTI-SEMITISM;BILL MAHER SLAMS HOLLYWOOD PEDOPHILES

MONDAY, APRIL 22

DEMS WAVE UKRAINIAN FLAGS ON HOUSE FLOOR AS AID PACKAGE PASSES The Republican-controlled House Saturday passed a massive $95 billion foreign aid package, which included $60 billion for wartime Ukraine. During the vote, numerous Democratic lawmakers waved Ukrainian flags on the House floor and chanted “Ukraine!” Critics quickly blasted the spending package for not addressing the ongoing crisis at the southern border. READ

COLUMBIA RABBI TELLS JEWISH STUDENTS TO GO HOME DUE TO ANTI-SEMITISM Rabbi Elie Buechler told Jewish students at Columbia University in New York City, to leave campus “as soon as possible.” Buechler wrote: “The events of the last few days … have made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy.” Buechler is the director of the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at Columbia. READ

POPE FRANCIS MEETS WITH PRO-ABORTION DEM SENATOR Pope Francis met with Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-GA, during a private audience at the Vatican Saturday. Warnock is the senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church and “has come under fire for using Sacred Scripture to justify the practice of abortion,” Catholic theologian Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D., wrote for Breitbart. “Warnock, who was endorsed by abortion giant Planned Parenthood, has publicly stated that abortion is consistent with his role as “a Christian minister,’” Williams added. READ

FLOURISHING FLORIDA CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ‘LIVING UP TO MISSION’ FORMER TEACHER SAYS While the number of children attending Catholic schools has precipitously declined nationally over the past decade, Florida has bucked this trend with a 9.2% increase in Catholic school enrollment since 2014. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a universal school choice law last year. Former Catholic School teacher Lauren May told FOX News another reason for this growth “is because our Catholic schools in Florida are really living [up] to their mission and their identity.” READ

BILL MAHER SLAMS HOLLYWOOD PEDOPHILES Comedian Bill Maher called out the entertainment industry for sexualizing children and hiring known pedophiles, on an episode of his show Friday. “After Brian Peck, who was one of the lead creeps at Nickelodeon, served 16 months in prison for the molesting he did there, Disney hired him, naturally, to work on a children’s series,” Maher said during the viral eight-minute segment. “For pedophiles in Hollywood, it’s a small world after all.” READ

CHICAGO POLICE OFFICER SHOT AND KILLED “Chicago police officer Luis M. Huesca was shot and killed just before 3 a.m. Sunday while driving home after his shift with the department ended,” Breitbart reported. Huesca, 30, had “been shot multiple times and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.” Huesca’s death comes after the fatal shootings of law enforcement officers in Memphis and upstate New York in the past week and a half. READ

PRO-LIFE ORGANIZATIONS REACT TO NEW PLANNED PARENTHOOD STATS Two national pro-life organizations have reacted to Planned Parenthood’s 2022-23 annual report, denouncing the abortion giant’s actions as going “above and beyond the law” for receiving government funding. “This report should be the centerpiece of criminal investigations into misconduct by Planned Parenthood and its board,” American Life League’s Planned Parenthood watchdog division, STOPP, said in a statement. READ

BETWEEN THE LINES Former FBI agent and whistleblower Kyle Seraphin says our culture has lost focus: “We’ve walked away from the values that allowed us to defeat things like communism. We used to think we were the good guy and we aspired to be the good guy. And in order to do that, we did so with Christian values.” WATCH

DIOCESE OF PHOENIX TARGETED IN CYBER ATTACK The Diocese of Phoenix, Arizona on April 17 announced that its systems were targeted in a cybersecurity attack and that an unauthorized party accessed sensitive and confidential information on the platform. The diocese “detected suspicious activity within its computer network,” according to online legal news outlet JD SUPRA. “In response, the Diocese of Phoenix secured its network and then enlisted the help of cybersecurity specialists to investigate the incident.” READ

WHY LEFTISTS ARE LESS HAPPY Studies show that being left-wing tends to make people less happy, according to author and journalist Ian Leslie. Leslie recently wrote a Substack article highlighting differences between left and right-wing people, reporting that “in its more extreme form, the liberal mindset is unhealthy and self-harming.” Leslie added that left-wing individuals tend to have worse mental health than right-leaning people across all generations and both sexes. READ

FOR THE SINCERE DOUBTERS Among those who don’t believe in God, there are some who say, “I wish I could, but I am unable to.” Now, this could be a cop-out answer for some, but for others, it is sincere. This article is for the sincerely disposed skeptic—the genuine, intelligent seeker—or in other words, the person who really does wish they could believe in God, but for whatever reason, finds themselves unable to. READ

CATHOLIC 101 St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the most highly regarded saints of the Catholic Church, is often referred to as the “Angelic Doctor.” How did he get this saintly nickname which tells us a lot about his holy life and work? READ

SAINT OF THE DAY Saints Caius and Soter were two holy popes of the early Church who presided over periods of intense persecution of Catholics. Both holy fathers are believed to have been martyred. Although Caius and Soter lived in different centuries—and their papacies are more than 100 years apart—they share a feast day owing to the many similarities between their two pontificates. READ

DAILY PSALM “Athirst is my soul for the living God.” (Psalm 42:2) READ

DAILY READINGS Today's Mass readings READ

PRESERVATION Magnificat Scriptorium is a Catholic design studio that works to preserve tradition through beautiful bookbinding. From missals to prayer books, watch how these old sacred books are masterfully restored by hand. WATCH