Sober Up in 2025

As President Donald John Trump tries to broker a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia while authorizing the dropping of bombs in Yemen to attack Houthi rebels there in retaliation for attacks on American warships and commercial cargo vessels in retaliation for our continued support of the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians, which has begun afresh following Hamas’s refusal to release its remaining Israeli hostages, he authorized an assistant to call former United States Representative Dr. David Weldon (R-Florida) to inform Dr. Weldon that his nomination to be the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was being withdrawn just twelve hours before the United States Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) was to hold hearings on his confirmation.

According to published reports and Dr. Weldon’s own statement, which he issued on Saturday, March 15, 2025, Weldon did not have the votes to be approved by the committee as two Republicans, United States Senator William Cassidy (R-Louisiana), who is the committee’s chairman and a physician, and United States Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), had made up their minds to vote against the nomination. This is very sad as President Trump has said that he was going to end the previous regime’s systematic censorship of speech while preventing a truly pro-life nominee, Dr. David Weldon, from at least making his case publicly during his confirmation hearing.

Sober up in 2025!

Although Dr. Weldon is understandably grateful to President Trump for nominating him in the first place, I think that the bottom line of Trump’s using a subordinate to inform Dr. Weldon of the president’s decision to withdraw his nomination to be the Director of the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention is rather simple to understand.

That is, unlike United States Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr., who had earned a lot of political capital with Trump by ending his own independent campaign for the presidency to endorse and then campaign very vigorously for Trump, the latter had nothing “invested” in Dr. Weldon. Trump was willing to tolerate Kennedy’s reputation as an “anti-vaxxer” and knew that he, a Kennedy, had the ability to finesse issues, but he, Trump, was unwilling to tolerate a supposed “anti-vaxxer” even before he was able to state his case in a confirmation hearing because the nominee had run afoul of Big Pharma.

Donald John Trump still lives in an alternative universe in which his warped “Operation Warped Speed” saved hundreds of millions of lives and nothing but nothing is able pierce this delusion, not even the following recent evidence of the harm that continues to be done by his poisoned “emergency use” jabs:

Canadian researchers have called into question the findings of a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that downplayed the risk of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination.

The study, published in August 2024, examined 4,635 patients hospitalized for myocarditis in France up to 18 months following COVID-19 vaccination. It found that patients who developed myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination showed a lower rate of cardiovascular complications compared to those with “conventional” myocarditis.

In a letter to the editor published on Jan. 27 in JAMA, Dr. Chengliang Yang and Scott J. Tebbutt, Ph.D., of the University of British Columbia said the study arbitrarily reduced the number of post-vaccination cases of myocarditis by limiting the diagnosis window to seven days.

According to Yang and Tebbutt, criteria used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Brighton Collaboration recognize the onset of post-vaccination myocarditis symptoms for a significantly longer period — 40 days and six weeks, respectively.

They also cited a 2022 report by the U.S. government-run Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) suggesting that myocarditis may appear up to 120 days following vaccination.

“The study’s 7-day window may underestimate vaccine-associated myocarditis,” Yang and Tebbutt wrote. The JAMA study also did not examine cases of pericarditis, a similar cardiovascular condition associated with the COVID-19 shots.

Karl Jablonowski, Ph.D., senior research scientist for Children’s Health Defense (CHD), said the 7-day window used in the JAMA study “is really short for most adverse events to appear post-vaccination.”

“Under some paradigms, a person is not even considered ‘vaccinated’ until two weeks after they receive the vaccine. This is based on the constraint of biological processes to develop immunity — but manifesting myocarditis is also a biological process that takes time,” Jablonowski said.

According to the Daily Mail, “In myocarditis, it’s thought that the immune system may register mRNA in Covid vaccines as a threat, leading the immune system to attack itself and cause inflammation of the myocardium, the heart’s muscle.”

“This same mechanism has been linked to pericarditis, which leads to inflammation of the pericardium, the sac surrounding the heart,” the Daily Mail added.

Clinical educator Dr. Margaret Christensen, co-founder of the Carpathia Collaborative, said, “It’s no surprise” that a mainstream medical journal published a flawed study downplaying COVID-19 vaccine injuries.

“Those conclusions greatly benefit the bottom line for both the journal and the vaccine. How this got through a peer review process is a testament to just how corrupt the big medical journals are,” Christensen said.

Cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough said he has seen a growing number of patients with vaccine-induced cardiac problems.

“As a cardiologist, I am seeing the emergence of subclinical vaccine myopericarditis manifesting months to years after injection of mRNA, as chronic intermittent chest discomfort, palpitations, arrhythmias, heart failure and cardiac arrest,” McCullough said.

McCullough said vaccine-related myocarditis and pericarditis can sometimes appear years after vaccination.

“There should be no arbitrary time windows placed on genetic vaccination side effects which can emerge 5-15 years after administration,” McCullough said. “No healthy person should face either the acute or subacute manifestations of COVID-19 myopericarditis. It is wholly avoidable if vaccination is declined.”

‘Real-world data’ show increased rate of myocarditis following COVID shots

In their letter to the editor, Yang and Tebbutt referred to “real-world data” indicating “increased rates of myocarditis and pericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination compared to the pre-vaccine period,” including a study that found that average monthly cases of the two conditions increased post-vaccination.

The authors said there is “substantial” evidence linking cardiovascular disease to COVID-19 infection. They noted that this may indicate that the mechanisms triggering post-infection myocarditis are similar to those causing post-vaccination myocarditis. They called for more studies examining this relationship.

“Myocarditis is an expensive and difficult diagnosis to make,” Jablonowski said. “In the presence of small and uncertain numbers, it is no surprise that the scientific community makes contradictory claims.”

Yang and Tebbutt are not the first researchers to question the conclusions of the JAMA study. McCullough, along with biostatistician Jessica Rose, Ph.D., and epidemiologist Nicolas Hulscher, sent a letter to JAMA identifying “major methodological flaws” in the study “that led to significantly biased conclusions.”

“The 7-day vaccine myocarditis window is obviously biased and may be approximately four time s more likely to ascribe myocarditis to the infection as opposed to the vaccine,” the letter stated.

The letter also noted that “the mRNA has been found in blood 28 days after injection … and the vaccine-derived prefusion stabilized Spike protein is circulatory in blood for at least six months … suggesting there is a very large window after vaccination where myocarditis is a plausible vaccine injury syndrome.”

JAMA rejected the letter, which was subsequently published in the journal Science, Public Health Policy and the Law.

Growing number of studies connecting COVID shots to myocarditis

Several other recent studies have also identified a connection between the COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis.

Last year, an FDA-funded study published in The Lancet found that 60% of young people who were hospitalized with myocarditis after receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine still showed signs of myocardial injury roughly six months after getting the shot.

A study of 9.2 million South Koreans published last year in Nature Communications found a 620% increased risk of myocarditis and 175% higher risk of pericarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.

Last year, a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report identified a causal relationship between the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis.

A study published earlier this month found a 9.6% fatality rate among people who reported myocarditis or pericarditis after receiving a mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, with fatality rates highest among men under 30.

And documents shared with CHD last year, including emails between top officials at U.S. public health agencies, indicated that Israel’s Ministry of Health contacted these agencies as early as Feb. 28, 2021, about data showing a strong link between COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis. (JAMA Study Downplayed COVID Vaccine-related Myocarditis Risk, Researchers Say.)

An analysis of reports submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) found safety signals for 37 adverse events when COVID-19 vaccines were administered during pregnancy.

Miscarriage, preeclampsia, cervical insufficiency, chromosomal abnormalities, fetal malformations, premature birth, stillbirth, newborn asphyxia and newborn death were among the signals flagged by the study, published last week in the peer-reviewed journal Science, Public Health Policy and the Law.

The analysts identified the signals by comparing the rates of adverse events for the COVID-19 vaccines given during pregnancy to the same adverse events following the flu vaccine and all other vaccines when administered to pregnant women.

This method, called proportional reporting ratio (PRR), is the same one used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to analyze VAERS data to identify safety signals for the COVID-19 vaccines.

Pregnant women were excluded from the original COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy studies.

VAERS, run jointly by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), functions as “the nation’s early warning system” for vaccine safety issues. Safety signals mean a condition may be linked to a vaccine and further analysis is required to confirm the link.

The researchers found the safety signals for the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy consistently exceeded the thresholds set by the CDC and FDA for defining a signal, often by a significant margin.

On average, adverse pregnancy events were reported 69.2 times more frequently after the COVID-19 shot relative to other vaccines.

“We found unacceptably high breaches in safety signals for 37 AEs [adverse events] after COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant women,” the researchers concluded. They said the magnitude of the safety signals was “cause for alarm.”

Several of the researchers, including Dr. James A. Thorp, Dr. Daniel C. McDyer and Dr. Kimberly Biss are also practicing obstetricians/gynecologists. They noted the adverse events identified are consistent with their extensive clinical observations.

Thorp, co-author with Celia Farber of the forthcoming book, “Sacrifice: How the Deadliest Vaccine in History Targeted the Most Vulnerable,” told The Defender he saw every single one of the signals among women in his practice.

The researchers concluded that an “immediate global moratorium on COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is warranted.” The article is Part 1 of a three-part series.

Safety signals show COVID vaccines violate ‘Golden Rule of pregnancy’

The researchers argued that administering the COVID-19 vaccines to pregnant women violated the “Golden Rule of pregnancy” — that new and potentially harmful substances should not be introduced while a fetus is developing.

Even food and drinks considered safe for most people, such as fermented foods and certain fish, are not recommended for pregnant women because they have the potential to cause harm during pregnancy.

Major medical pregnancy catastrophes, such as the thalidomide and diethylstilbestrol (DES) disasters of the 20th century — involving recommended medications that caused serious harm to pregnant women, their babies and even their grandchildren — affirmed this rule.

The authors said their findings point to the COVID-19 vaccines having similar — or worse — effects on a significant number of women and their offspring.

And like DES, despite recommendations by the pharmaceutical industry, physicians should have been aware of the risks, the authors said.

Thorp said the most concerning signal was for cervical insufficiency — where the cervix weakens and can begin to open, leading to preterm birth or miscarriage — which was 499 times more frequently reported after COVID-19 vaccines than after other vaccines.

The other most frequently reported events included neonatal dyspnea, or breathing difficulties for newborns, which was reported 134 times more frequently. Premature infant death was reported 124 times more frequently after COVID-19 vaccines than other vaccines and fetal cardiac arrest was reported 108 times more frequently.

CDC continues to recommend COVID vaccine for pregnant women

According to the protocols set up at the beginning of the pandemic, the CDC should have been doing PRR analysis. However, the agency failed to publicly flag the signals identified in the paper.

In February 2023, CHD sued the CDC for its PRR data, which the agency had not released. After the lawsuit, the CDC began releasing the documents, but they were heavily redacted and the agency is still withholding some of the requested documents.

The CDC first recommended the vaccines for pregnant women in April 2021.

Then-Director Rochelle Walensky held a press conference to tell pregnant women there was no bad time to get a COVID-19 shot — before, during or after pregnancy. She made this announcement just two days after Pfizer sent the FDA the pregnancy and lactation report detailing the vaccine’s serious effects on pregnant women and babies from post-marketing data.

The agency continues to strongly recommend COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women, although other countries, including the U.K., have stopped.

On its COVID-19 vaccine pregnancy page, the CDC warns that pregnant women are “more likely to get very sick from COVID-19” than other people. It also says they are more likely to need hospitalization, intensive care, the use of a ventilator and experience complications such as preterm birth or stillbirth.

The CDC also reminds pregnant women that “severe COVID-19 illness can lead to death.”

Major physician professional organizations including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine all continue to tell pregnant women the vaccine is “safe and effective” for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

The recommendations were made despite the lack of safety and efficacy from randomized controlled clinical trials among pregnant women and limited data on COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy. (Study Finds 37 Safety Signals for COVID Vaccines During Pregnancy, CDC Still Urges Women to Get the Shots.)

The extent of the deception perpetrated by the “public health community,” “Big Pharma” and the latter’s wholly owned subsidiary, the mainslime media, was summarized as follows in a column on the Courageous Discourse website:

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

The study titled, A Narrative Review of the COVID-19 Infodemic and Censorship in Healthcare, was just published in the journal Secrecy and Society:

Abstract

Ideological and financial motivations have undermined science for decades. In this narrative review, we explore how organizations and governments used misinformation, disinformation, censorship, and secrecy to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Various rationales for employing censorship and secrecy during the COVID-19 pandemic are examined including how organizations and governments create confusion about the risks associated with their products and blame avoidance to shift responsibility and to avoid accountability for their actions. Methods of censorship employed during the COVID-19 pandemic are reviewed, examples are provided, and the consequences of these actions are reviewed. Information included in this review was obtained from scientific papers, government documents, mass media articles, books, and personal accounts of physicians and scientists. We examine how the use of censorship and secrecy created a challenge for scientists, physicians, politicians, and the general public in trying to understand COVID-related topics. Finally, strategies for managing censorship and secrecy during a pandemic are presented.

Here are the key highlights of the study:

1. COVID-19 Response Was Driven by Secrecy, Censorship, and Misinformation

Governments and global health organizations deliberately manipulated information to control public perception.
The response was not guided by science but by political and financial interests.
Censorship of dissenting voices was rampant, with doctors, scientists, and journalists punished for questioning the official narrative.

2. Suppression of Scientific Debate on the Origins of SARS-CoV-2

Early in the pandemic, any discussion of a possible lab-leak origin was dismissed as a "conspiracy theory"—despite evidence linking SARS-CoV-2 to gain-of-function research funded by the U.S. government.
Government agencies and social media platforms actively silenced discussions and suppressed independent investigations.
Whistleblowers revealed efforts to manipulate scientific conclusions—including CIA interference to shift findings in favor of a natural origin.

3. COVID-19 Vaccines Were Overhyped, Unsafe, and Mandated Through Coercion

The claim that vaccines prevented transmission was false, yet mandates were aggressively enforced.
Evidence of serious adverse effects was ignored or actively covered up by regulatory agencies.
Doctors who raised concerns about vaccine safety or efficacy were censored, lost their medical licenses, and faced legal threats.
The media and Big Tech worked with governments to smear critics, branding them as "anti-science" or "dangerous."

4. Cheap, Effective COVID-19 Treatments Were Suppressed to Protect Vaccine Profits

Repurposed drugs like ivermectin (IVM) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) were demonized—despite strong evidence they worked.
Physicians were blocked from prescribing these treatments, and pharmacists were instructed not to fill prescriptions.
The FDA and CDC colluded with Big Pharma to push expensive, patented drugs like Remdesivir and Paxlovid instead.

5. Lockdowns, Social Distancing, and Mask Mandates Were Not Backed by Science

Lockdowns caused immense harm, especially to children and small businesses, but were implemented based on fear, not data.
The "6-foot rule" was a baseless guideline—even Dr. Fauci later admitted it "just appeared" without evidence.
Governments and media silenced opposition, including world-renowned epidemiologists behind the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated for a focused protection approach instead of mass lockdowns.

6. Media and Tech Companies Served as Enforcers of Government Censorship

Big Tech platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube colluded with government agencies to censor dissenting voices.
Scientific journals retracted papers that challenged the COVID-19 narrative, regardless of the quality of research.
People lost their jobs, bank accounts were frozen, and financial institutions "debanked" individuals for speaking out against mandates and restrictions.

7. The COVID-19 Response Was the Most Widespread Attack on Free Speech in Modern History

Government agencies weaponized the term "misinformation" to silence legitimate scientific debate.
Doctors, scientists, and politicians were blacklisted for questioning the vaccines or advocating for alternative treatments.
Legal battles are now exposing how the government colluded with private companies to suppress free speech and manipulate public opinion.

Clearly, the COVID-19 response was a disaster driven by corporate greed, political control, and a suppression of medical autonomy. Restoring scientific integrity requires full transparency, accountability, and consequences for those who orchestrated the censorship and coercion. Future public health emergencies must not be left in the hands of corrupt institutions that prioritize profits and power over human lives. (The Disastrous Covid-19 Response Led to Mass Harm and Death.)

Dr. David Weldon would have put a stop to such madness if he had been confirmed to serve as the Director of the United States Centers for Disease and Prevent. Alas, the stubborn blindness of President Trump, Senators William Cassidy and Susan Collins, a pro-abortion Catholic, will prevent Weldon from serving as the CDC’s first director not owned part and parcel by Big Pharma.

Here is a reminder about Dr. Weldon’s background to remind this website’s readers what has been lost by the president’s withdrawing his nomination. This is what I wrote four months ago when Dr. Weldon was nominated:

Also quite positive is the appointed of former United States Representative Dr. David Joseph Weldon (R-Florida), who advocated for the life of Mrs. Theresa Maria Schindler-Schiavo twenty years ago (see Ten Years Later) to serve as the director of the United States Centers for Disease Control:

President-elect Trump announced that former Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., is his pick as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"Dave also served in a leading role in Government Oversight and Reform Committee Hearings, addressing issues within HHS and CDC. Dave has successfully worked with the CDC to enact a ban on patents for human embryos," Trump said.

Trump said that Dr. Weldon will play a key part in "Making America Healthy Again," saying that he will work on correcting "past errors."

"Americans have lost trust in the CDC and in our Federal Health Authorities, who have engaged in censorship, data manipulation, and misinformation," he said.

"Given the current Chronic Health Crisis in our Country, the CDC must step up and correct past errors to focus on the Prevention of Disease. The current Health of Americans is critical, and CDC will play a big role in helping to ensure Americans have the tools and resources they need to understand the underlying causes of diseases, and the solutions to cure these diseases," Trump added.

Trump said that Dr. Weldon "understands American Family Values."

"As a father of two and a husband of 45 years, Dave understands American Family Values, and views Health as one of utmost importance," he said. "Dave will prioritize Transparency, Competence, and High Standards at CDC. Dave will proudly restore the CDC to its true purpose, and will work to end the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and Make America Healthy Again!" (Trump picks former Florida Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon as director of CDC.)

Trump made yet another medical appointment on Friday evening with the selection of former Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) to head up the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"In addition to being a Medical Doctor for 40 years, and an Army Veteran, Dave has been a respected conservative leader on fiscal and social issues, and served on the Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, working for Accountability on HHS and CDC Policy and Budgeting," stated Trump on his Truth Social platform. "Dave also served in a leading role in Government Oversight and Reform Committee Hearings, addressing issues within HHS and CDC. Dave has successfully worked with the CDC to enact a ban on patents for human embryos."

Weldon is a stringently anti-abortion activist, who when he served in Congress was involved in legislation to legally protect anti-abortion doctors and restrict the way doctors can perform the procedure.

He is also well known for his role in the Terri Schiavo controversy, where after a Florida woman suffered brain death, Congress attempted to intervene against her husband's right to terminate life support. Weldon in particular used his credentials as a doctor to dispute Schiavo's diagnosis.

The CDC played a critically important role in trying to maintain public safety at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is year to year a frontline agency monitoring disease outbreaks and potential pandemics as they develop.

This comes after Trump announced several other appointments to key health positions, including a Fox News regular to serve as surgeon general, and, most controversially, anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. (Anti-abortion doctor known for role in Terri Schiavo case tapped to head CDC.)

Dr. Weldon’s appointment is excellent in every way, although the president-elect has nominated an absolute cipher to be the Surgeon General of the United States of America, a woman who was shallow enough to have called the so-called “covid vaccines” a “gift from God”:

After President-elect Donald Trump nominated Dr Janette Nesheiwat as the next Surgeon General of the United States, her comments about the COVID-19 vaccines resurfaced. In an opinion piece published on Fox News, Nesheiwat called COVID-19 vaccines a "gift from god".

Written after a year of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, Nesheiwat wrote that the country will be able to "end the needless loss of lives" with the advent of the vaccine.

"I'm optimistic we are on our way to ending the needless loss of lives starting with the nothing short of miraculous coronavirus vaccine and the development of therapeutics," she wrote.

"We have many vaccines in existence that treat a variety of non-life threatning diseases but to have a COVID vaccine, i.e. a Pfizer or Moderna mRNA that will actually save you from dying is a gift from God."

Shortly after Nesheiwat's nomination by the President-elect on Friday, several social media users posted screenshots of the article on social media platforms.

Many questioned how her views align with Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump's pick as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who is also a strong anti-vaccine advocate and has spread several debunked claims about the COVID-19 vaccines.

"Trump’s pick for Surgeon General Dr. Janette Nesheiwat is a COVID freak," Liz Wheeler, the host of the Liz Wheeler Show, wrote in a post on X.

"I'm optimistic we are on our way to ending the needless loss of lives starting with the nothing short of miraculous coronavirus vaccine and the development of therapeutics," she wrote.

Shortly after Nesheiwat's nomination by the President-elect on Friday, several social media users posted screenshots of the article on social media platforms.

"Trump’s pick for Surgeon General Dr. Janette Nesheiwat is a COVID freak," Liz Wheeler, the host of the Liz Wheeler Show, wrote in a post on X.

"Here is Trump’s pick for Surgeon General, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, claiming Covid vaccines were a “gift from God” that would stop you from dying," another said.

Here is Trump’s pick for Surgeon General, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, claiming Covid vaccines were a “gift from God” that would stop you from dying. If RFK Jr. gets roadblocked by these Big Pharma clowns then Trump failed bigly. (An0maly on X: "Here is Trump’s pick for Surgeon General, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, claiming Covid vaccines were a “gift from God” that would stop you from dying. If RFK Jr. gets roadblocked by these Big Pharma clowns then Trump failed bigly. https://t.co/kyF4vOBl1u" / X.)

"Meet your new Surgeon General, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, claiming Covid vaccines will be available for children, despite virus being a small risk," wrote another.

Announcing her nomination, Trump said: "I am proud to announce that Dr. Janette Nesheiwat will be the Nation’s Doctor as the United States Surgeon General. Dr. Nesheiwat is a double board-certified Medical Doctor with an unwavering commitment to saving and treating thousands of American lives."

"Dr. Nesheiwat is a fierce advocate and strong communicator for preventive medicine and public health. She is committed to ensuring that Americans have access to affordable, quality healthcare, and believes in empowering individuals to take charge of their health to live longer, healthier lives." (Janette Nesheiwat's 'Gift Of God' Comment On COVID Vaccines Viral After Trump's Surgeon General Pick.)

This is a sign that the former and future president has not given up his fantasy that the “covid vaccines” were a miracle that saved over one hundred million lives. He wants poor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to serve as a countervailing force against Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr., and possibly Dr. Weldon as well.

How can I say this?

Look for yourselves:

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked on the front lines in New York City treating thousands of Americans and helped patients in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s Historic Operation Warp Speed that saved hundreds of millions of lives,” Trump stated in his press release. (President Trump nominates Fox News’s pro-vax Dr. Janette Nesheiwat as Surgeon General.)

What utter blindness to the truth.

Trump has gone from contending his poisoned jabs saved over one hundred million lives to their having "saved hundreds of millions of lives."

Many medical professionals who opposed to the coronascam "protocols" and the "vaccines" have met with Donald John Trump in the past three years. All to no avail, it would appear, and we will see how long Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr., and Drs. Marty Makary and David Weldon hold their positions. (From Plus Ca Change, Plus C'est la Même Chose (The More Things Change. . . .).)

Well, Dr. David Weldon did not even last until he could make his case publicly in a confirmation hearing, something that he explained in a statement he issued on Saturday, March 15, 2025, Ember Saturday in the first week of Lent:

Twelve hours before my scheduled confirmation hearing in The Senate, I received a phone call from an assistant at the White House informing me that my nomination to be Director of CDC was being withdrawn because there were not enough votes to get me confirmed. I then spoke to HHS Secretary Bobby Kennedy who was very upset. He was told the same thing and that he had been looking forward to working with me at CDC. He said I was the perfect person for the job.

Bobby told me that earlier that morning he had breakfast with Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine who said she now had reservations about my nomination and was considering voting no. I had a very pleasant meeting with her 2 weeks prior where she expressed no reservation, but at my meeting with her staff on March 11 they were suddenly very hostile-a bad sign. They repeatedly accusing me of being “antivax,” even though I reminded them that I actually give hundreds of vaccines every year in my medical practice. More than 20 years ago, while in congress I raised some concerns about childhood vaccine safety, and for some reason Collins staff suddenly couldn’t get over that no matter what I said back.

There are 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats on the committee so losing one, was a problem if all the Democrats vote no which they have been doing. I can assume that the White House staff had my nomination withdrawn also because the Republican Chairman Dr. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana was also voting no. Ironically, he is also an internist like me and I have known him for years and I thought we were friends. But he too was also throwing around the claim that I was “antivax” or that I believed that vaccines cause autism which I have never said. He actually once asked that my nomination be withdrawn. So, he was a big problem and losing Collins too was clearly too much for the White House. The president is a busy man doing good work for our nation and the last thing he needs is a controversy about CDC.

The concern of many people is that big Pharma was behind this which is probably true. They are hands-down, the most powerful lobby organization in Washington DC giving millions of dollars to politicians on both sides of the aisle. They also purchased millions of dollars of advertising in newspapers, magazines, and on television. For any news or organization to take on big Pharma could be suicide. Many media actually carry water for Pharma. They also give generously to medical societies and colleges and universities. I have learned the hard way don’t mess with Pharma.

I have been told that Big Pharma had desperately tried to get rid of Bobby Kennedy but were unable due to the strong support of President Trump. Many people feel big Pharma actually feared me more than they feared Bobby because of my credibility and my knowledge of science and medicine. So, if they had to live with Bobby for 4 years they were definitely not going to have both him and me and put serious pressure on Collins and Cassidy.

Interjection and Correction:

No, as powerful as Big Pharma is, and it is very powerful, it is second in the “power rankings” of influence on policymaking in Washington, District of Columbia, to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), aka The Israeli Lobby.

Indeed, President Donald John Trump’s nominee to serve as a special envoy for hostage negotiations had to withdraw his nomination when he took heat from many in the Israeli Lobby, which is deeply embedded within every nook and cranny of the Trump administration, for saying that the United States of America was not a “client state of Israel”:

President Donald Trump's hostage envoy, Adam Boehler, said on Sunday that US meetings with Hamas on the release of hostages held in Gaza were very helpful, and he did not rule out additional encounters with the Palestinian terror group. Boehler emphasized that they were acting in US interests, stating that "we're not an agent of Israel." (Adam Boehler defends direct talks with Hamas, 'not an agent of Israel'.)

Although Adam Boehler was acting on behalf of President Trump in his efforts to negotiate with Hamas, his comments about the United States of American not being “an agent of Israel” angered Israeli officials almost as much as did the fact that he was speaking with representatives of Hamas. Thus, facing this criticism, Boehler withdrew his nomination but has been assured by officials within the Trump administration that he will still have a “broader” role to play in hostage negotiations, although it is safe to say not when it comes to the Middle East.

The moral of this story is as follows: as powerful as Big Pharma is, the Israeli Lobby is far more powerful.

Now, this is not to discount Big Pharma’s influence, especially with White House Chief of Staff, Susan Summerall Wiles, who has very close ties with Big Pharma in the Trump administration’s withdrawal of his nomination or upon the very closed mind Senator William Cassidy, who, unlike the fictional William “Hopalong” Cassidy, is unwilling to investigate anything than runs contrary to own very fixed preconceived notions. Here is a reminder about Susan Summerall Wiles's deep connections to Big Pharma:

Susie Wiles Is a Lobbyist for Big Pharma. She’s Also a Key Advisor to President Trump. That’s a Problem.

On April 26, former president Donald Trump revisited one of his most controversial pet projects: Operation Warp Speed.

This time, he dragged his political opponent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. into the fray.

“His Views on Vaccines are FAKE, as is everything else about his Candidacy,” wrote the former president about Kennedy in a post on Truth Social.

This ignited significant backlash from Trump’s base, highlighting the extent to which they disagree with him on COVID-19 vaccines.

Operation Warp Speed, which expedited the development and rollout of experimental gene therapy products in response to COVID-19, saw unprecedented profits for Pfizer and Moderna, as noted by senator Bernie Sanders.

Speed came at the cost of compromised clinical trials, with needles entering arms under Emergency Use Authorization with only two months of safety data on the FDA’s books.

As a result, tens of thousands of Americans report suffering vaccine injuries, as even The New York Times is now reporting.

Given the increasingly vocal opposition to the COVID-19 vaccination program, including among his base, why does Trump continue to demand acclaim for his role in pushing the shots through?

We find the answer in Susie Wiles, who appears to be the connective tissue between Trump and Big Pharma.

Wiles is a soft-spoken, approachable grandmother figure with a long career specializing in political machinations.

Daughter of legendary NFL play-by-play man Pat Summerall, Wiles’ early work in Republican politics earned her the label “indispensable,” both to her clients and the media, to whom she frequently leaks inside information.

As Politico admits, her allegiances are not clear: “The Wiles M.O… was and remains hard for [her colleagues] to describe.”

Wiles is also a seasoned lobbyist; her LinkedIn profile summarizes her leadership roles at multiple corporate and political lobbying firms since the mid-1980s, allowing her to sway Trump’s psyche with her conflicts of interest.

Wiles became co-chair of lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs in February 2022.

As highlighted by Wholistic News, Mercury’s clientele includes Pfizer; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which spearheaded vaccine funding and distribution efforts during the COVID-19 crisis – a role also played by the United Nations Foundation, another Mercury client; and Gilead Sciences, developer of the equally-rushed COVID-19 “therapeutic,” remdesivir, as critiqued in Science. (Full article.) (As found at Trump Announces Former Big Pharma Lobbyist to Run White House Staff. A correction to a fact stated in this article: Susan Wiles's father, George Allen "Pat" Summerall, was a National Football League placekicker between 1952 and 1961 before he became a broadcaster for the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1962. I remember seeing him play for the New York Football Giants when my father watched games on television.)

Dr. Weldon elaborated on the specific misrepresentations that he believes led to the hostility he faced even before he was prevented from making his case publicly in a confirmation hearing:

My big sin was that as a congressman 25 years ago I had the temerity to take on the CDC and big Pharma on two critical childhood vaccine safety issues. Hundreds of parents had been coming to me from all over the country, insisting that their child has been seriously damaged by the inoculations. Some claimed it caused autism. The parents made two different assertions. One was the fact that FDA, CDC, and Pharma had allowed a tremendous amount of a neurotoxic preservative called thimerosal into the infant schedule and that the thimerosal was the cause of the problem.

Under pressure from me and many other members of the House, both Democrat and Republican, the CDC and Pharma removed the neurotoxic thimerosal, but it took them years to do it. One of the things that seemed to unite us in The House who engaged on this was that none of us took money from Pharma. Bernie Sanders actually joined us.

CDC ended up publishing a research study claiming the mercury had done no harm, but there were credible accusations that CDC had incorrectly manipulated the data to exonerate themselves. If confirmed I was planning on going back into the CDC database and quietly investigate this claim. Ironically, I was hoping to find no evidence of corruption of the science at CDC. Maybe in hearing it from me members of the public might be reassured and it might help improve the currently somewhat tarnished image of CDC and Pharma.

But I unfortunately also had the temerity to take on CDC and Pharma regarding another childhood vaccine safety issue, the safety of the measles vaccine called MMR. More than 25 years ago there were a series of articles published by a British pediatric gastroenterologist named Andrew Wakefield. He had seen many parents who claimed that after the MMR their child had not only deteriorated developmentally but had also become fussy eaters and developed diarrhea. He did colonoscopies on the children and discovered that they had a new form of inflammatory bowel disease. His research was later duplicated and to this day he has been credited for defining this form of childhood inflammatory bowel disease.

Wakefield published 15 papers in all. Only one was withdrawn. The one that created the big controversy was published in a journal called Lancet and one of the co-authors on the paper was a highly respected Irish virologist by the name of O’Leary. I actually knew of O’Leary. I used to take care of AIDS patients prior to going to congress and I knew of O’Leary’s reputation as a solid scientist. One of the complications the AIDS patients were developing was a form of cancer called Kaposi Sarcoma and O’Leary had shown that the cancer occurred in the AIDS patients when there was co-infection with a second virus called Herpes Simplex Type 8.

Wakefield decided to give some of the colon biopsy specimens to O’Leary who was able to show using a technique called PCR that the inflammatory bowel disease biopsies in these children contained the vaccine strain measles viruses. The live virus in the vaccine was supposed to be weakened and not cause illness. This suggested that the children were not able to handle the viral particles and that it was causing an infection in their bowels which also might have been affecting their central nervous system and causing the autistic features.

When this article was published thousands of British parents started refusing the MMR and there were measles outbreaks. British health officials had their hands full. They decided to get the journal Lancet to withdraw the article and they actually got O’Leary to withdraw his research findings. I was following all of this closely and had actually met with O’Leary and I had looked at his biopsy micrographs and his PCR findings. It certainly looked to me like the vaccine particles were causing the problem in these children, and I was surprised that O’Leary withdrew his assertions.

I then called O’Leary on the phone and asked him why he was doing this. There was a very long pregnant pause. He then said that it had taken him many years to get to the place where he was in the scientific community, and after another pause, he said he had four small children at home. I had small children at home myself at the time and I understood what he was saying. If he didn’t do it, he was going to be fired. He was going to be ruined.

British officials were not satisfied with just getting the journal to withdraw the article and getting Dr. O’Leary to withdraw his claims. They then decided to begin proceedings to take away Dr. Wakefield’s medical license and one of his lead co-authors. Wakefield by this time had moved to the United States and to defend himself in court would have cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars so he let them take his license away. But his lead co-author Dr. Simon Murch was still practicing medicine in England and decided to defend himself in court, and the government lost and they were not able to take his license away. If Wakefield had the money to defend himself, he would never have lost his license. The court documents clearly show that Wakefield and his co-authors had not done anything unethical or inappropriate and their work was possibly valid.

But that was all big Pharma needed. They could go around, saying it and feeding it to the media that the research had been withdrawn and Wakefield lost his license. But I looked at the micrographs and it sure looked to me like there was vaccine strain measles particles infecting the bowels of these kids.

The CDC was charged with the responsibility of repeating Wakefield’s research and showing that the measles vaccine was safe, but they never did it the right way. They decided to do epidemiologic studies instead of a clinical study. Again, as in the mercury study there were claims made that indicate that there was a problem with MMR [were there]. CDC was accused again of changing the protocol and data analysis until the association went away.

Ironically, I talked with Wakefield after all of this was over. He agreed with me that we have to vaccinate our kids for measles. He thought the solution was to give the vaccine at a slightly older age, like they do in many European countries. Or we might be able to do research and figure out why some kids have a bad reaction to the MMR. Clearly, big Pharma didn’t want me in the CDC investigating any of this.

There are a lot of additional ironies in all of this. I believe the CDC is mostly made up of really good people who really care about public health for our nation, though its credibility has been seriously tarnished because of the failures in the way the Covid-19 crisis was managed. 40% of Democrats and 80% of Republicans, don’t trust the CDC. Many don’t trust Pharma as well. I really wanted to try to make the CDC a better more respected agency and killing my nomination may have the opposite effect. Distrust may worsen.

I also have a lot of respect for the pharmaceutical industry. I practice internal medicine and I use medications in caring for my patients that were invented by American pharmaceutical companies. I can tell you firsthand they are very effective and help a lot of people. The new ones are outrageously expensive, but once they go off patent, they can become very affordable and very life-saving for many people with chronic and acute illnesses.

But I unfortunately, am viewed very negatively by the industry that I use on a daily basis to help my patients. Bobby Kennedy is a good man who really is passionate about improving the health of the American people. President Trump did a good thing in making him secretary of HHS. Hopefully they can find someone for CDC who can survive the confirmation process and get past pharma and find some answers. (Statement of Hon. Dave Weldon on the Withdrawal of Nomination for CDC.)

While I disagree very much with Dr. Weldon’s decision to use any of the currently available vaccines for any reason as they are derived from the evil fruit of the stem cells of butchered human beings, the fact that he does administer vaccines and that this meant nothing to Senators William Cassidy and Susan Collins speaks volumes about how easy it is for those with prejudices to refuse to make careful, dispassionate distinctions when examining the qualifications of one they have been convinced the person is “unqualified” or perhaps even “dangerous.” This refusal to make dispassionate distinctions is an important constituent element of intellectual dishonesty, and there is, sadly, a whole lot of that in every quarter of life today, especially in the realms of government, politics, law, medicine, science, academics, mainslime “journalism” and commentary, and, of course, every aspect of Big Pharma, Big Ag, and Big Tech.

Once again, though, the lack of intellectual honesty is one of the man consequences of the Protestant Revolution’s overthrow of the Social Reign of Christ the King as it is very difficult for men steeped in one theological and philosophical error after another to see the truth even on the natural level, no less to accept the fact Truth Himself has entrusted His Divine Revelation exclusively to His Catholic Church for its eternal safekeeping and infallible explication.

Writing in Humanum Genus, April 20, 1884, Pope Leo XIII explained:

But the naturalists go much further; for, having, in the highest things, entered upon a wholly erroneous course, they are carried headlong to extremes, either by reason of the weakness of human nature, or because God inflicts upon them the just punishment of their pride. Hence it happens that they no longer consider as certain and permanent those things which are fully understood by the natural light of reason, such as certainly are -- the existence of God, the immaterial nature of the human soul, and its immortality. The sect of the Freemasons, by a similar course of error, is exposed to these same dangers; for, although in a general way they may profess the existence of God, they themselves are witnesses that they do not all maintain this truth with the full assent of the mind or with a firm conviction. Neither do they conceal that this question about God is the greatest source and cause of discords among them; in fact, it is certain that a considerable contention about this same subject has existed among them very lately. But, indeed, the sect allows great liberty to its votaries, so that to each side is given the right to defend its own opinion, either that there is a God, or that there is none; and those who obstinately contend that there is no God are as easily initiated as those who contend that God exists, though, like the pantheists, they have false notions concerning Him: all which is nothing else than taking away the reality, while retaining some absurd representation of the divine nature.

When this greatest fundamental truth has been overturned or weakened, it follows that those truths, also, which are known by the teaching of nature must begin to fall -- namely, that all things were made by the free will of God the Creator; that the world is governed by Providence; that souls do not die; that to this life of men upon the earth there will succeed another and an everlasting life.

When these truths are done away with, which are as the principles of nature and important for knowledge and for practical use, it is easy to see what will become of both public and private morality. We say nothing of those more heavenly virtues, which no one can exercise or even acquire without a special gift and grace of God; of which necessarily no trace can be found in those who reject as unknown the redemption of mankind, the grace of God, the sacraments, and the happiness to be obtained in heaven. We speak now of the duties which have their origin in natural probity. That God is the Creator of the world and its provident Ruler; that the eternal law commands the natural order to be maintained, and forbids that it be disturbed; that the last end of men is a destiny far above human things and beyond this sojourning upon the earth: these are the sources and these the principles of all justice and morality.

If these be taken away, as the naturalists and Freemasons desire, there will immediately be no knowledge as to what constitutes justice and injustice, or upon what principle morality is founded. And, in truth, the teaching of morality which alone finds favor with the sect of Freemasons, and in which they contend that youth should be instructed, is that which they call "civil," and "independent," and "free," namely, that which does not contain any religious belief. But, how insufficient such teaching is, how wanting in soundness, and how easily moved by every impulse of passion, is sufficiently proved by its sad fruits, which have already begun to appear. For, wherever, by removing Christian education, this teaching has begun more completely to rule, there goodness and integrity of morals have begun quickly to perish, monstrous and shameful opinions have grown up, and the audacity of evil deeds has risen to a high degree. All this is commonly complained of and deplored; and not a few of those who by no means wish to do so are compelled by abundant evidence to give not infrequently the same testimony. (Pope Leo XIII, Humanum Genus, April 20, 1884.)

Yes, there is no “knowledge” of what constitutes justice and injustice or even of simple truth on a natural level in a land that gives full rein to blasphemy and sacrilege, a land where even the adversary himself has “rights” as it is considered to be something akin to a “hate” crime to mention the Holy Name of the Divine Redeemer, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, which had been banned until recently by United States Department of Defense and its military services from being invoked outside of chaplaincy use.

How can we expect there to be any concept of justice even on the natural level when their nations promote public worship of the devil while mocking Christ the King?

How can we expect there to be any concept of justice even on the natural level when the civil law sanctions the killing of the innocent preborn and the vivisection of anyone after birth under the aegis of the medical industry’s manufactured, profit-making myth called “brain death”?

How can we expect there to be any concept of justice even on the natural level when so many people are unjust in their own personal dealings, when relativism and positivism have become the accepted norms of social conduct?

As has been noted before on this site, we are called by the binding precepts of the Fourth Commandment and of the Natural Law itself to love our country. Authentic love of one's nation, however, wills her good, the ultimate expression of which is her Catholicization, that is, the subordination of everything in her national life to that which redounds to the good of the souls of her citizens as that good as been entrusted to and defined by the one and only true Church, the Catholic Church that Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ founded upon the Rock of Peter, the Pope, and I am afraid that not even Dr. David Weldon, who is not a Catholic as far as I can tell, nor Vice President James David Vance, who is a Catholic, understand this whatsoever.

The confusion within the precincts of the false opposites of naturalism is such that even some truth of the natural level does pierce through the Judeo-Masonic “cone of silence” (no link to the “cone of silence” reference as it is Lent, of course) it is usually incomplete and/or obscured by those who do not see all truth, including Truth Himself, through the eyes of the true Faith.

Today, Thursday, March 20, 2025, is Thursday in the Second Week of Lent.

Dom Prosper Gueranger’s reflection on this Lenten ferial day is very much related to the carnal men in civil government today who are incapable of thinking in supernatural terms and thus oblivious to the fact that everything they say and do—including offenses against the Holy Faith and against truth even on the natural level, whether by omission or commission—has an eternal dimension to it for which they must answer at the moment of their Particular Judgment:

The Station for today is in the celebrated Basilica St. Mary’s across the Tiber. It was consecrated in the 3rd century under the pontificate of St. Callixtus, and was the first Church built in Rome in honor of our Blessed Lady.

COLLECT

Grant us, we beseech thee, Lord, the assistance of thy ice; that whilst we duly ply ourselves to fasting and prayer, we may be delivered from all enemies both of soul and body. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

EPISTLE

Lesson from the Prophet Jeremias 17:5-10.

Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like tamaric in the desert, and he shall not see when good shall come; but he shall dwell in dryness in the desert, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence. And he shall be as a tree that is planted by the waters, and spreadeth out its roots towards moisture; and it shall not fear when the heat cometh. And the leaf thereof shall be green, and in the time of drought it shall not be solicitous, neither shall it cease at any time to bring forth fruit. The heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable; who can know it? I am the Lord that search the heart, and prove the reins; who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices, saith the Lord Almighty.

The Epistle and Gospel for today are intended as instructions upon Christian morality. Let us, for a moment, turn away our eyes from the sad spectacle of the plot which is being got up against our Redeemer by his enemies; let us today think of our own sins, and how to apply a remedy. The Prophet Jeremias here gives us the description of two classes of men: to which class do we belong? There are some men who make flesh their arm; that is to say, they only care for the present life and for created things; and this disposition of mind necessarily leads them to frequent violations of the commandments of their Creator. It was so with us, when we sinned: we lost sight of our last end, and the threefold concupiscence blinded us. Let us lose no time, but return to the Lord our God; a delay might bring upon us that curse which our Prophet says overtakes the unrepenting sinner: he shall not see good, when good shall come. The holy Season of Lent is fast advancing; the choicest graces are being daily offered us: woe! to the man whose mind is distracted by the fashion of this world that passeth away, (1 Corinthians 7:31) and takes no thought for eternity and heaven and, even in this time of grace, is like tamaric, a worthless weed of the desert. Oh! how numerous is this class! and how terrible is their spiritual indifference! Pray for them, O ye faithful children of the Church, pray for them without ceasing. Offer up your penances and your almsgivings for them. Despair not; and remember that each year, many straying sheep are brought to the fold by such intercession as this.

The Prophet next describes the man that trusteth in the Lord; his whole hope is in God, and his whole care is to serve him and do his blessed will. He is like a beautiful tree that is planted near a stream of water, with its leaf ever green, and its fruit abundant. I have appointed you, says our Redeemer, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain. (John 15:16) Let us become this favored and ever fruitful tree. The Church, during this holy time, is pouring out upon our hearts rich streams of God’s grace: let us faithful welcome them. The Lord searchest the heart: if he find that our desire to be converted is sincere, what an Easter will not the coming one be to us!

GOSPEL

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke 16:19-31.

At that time: Jesus said to the Pharisees: There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table, and no one did give him; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the Angels into Abraham’s bosom. And the rich man also died, and he was buried in hell. And lifting up his eyes, when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried, and said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. And Abraham said to him: Son, remember that thou didst receive good things in thy lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is fixed a great chaos; so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence come hither. And he said: Then, father, I beseech thee that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house; for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torments. And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. But he said: No, father Abraham, but if any one went to them from the dead, they will do penance. And he said to him: If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they believe if one rise again from the dead.

The commandments of God cannot be broken with impunity; he that sins, shall be punished. This is the teaching of today’s Gospel; and after reading it, we exclaim with the Apostle: How fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God! (Hebrews 10:31) What a terrible truth is here told us! A man is in the enjoyment of every comfort and luxury this life can give; when suddenly death surprises him, and he is buried in hell! In the midst of those eternal burnings, he asks for a drop of water, and that drop is refused him. Other men, whom he knew on earth a few hours ago, are now in the abode of eternal happiness, and a great chaos separates him from them forever. Oh! what misery! To be in despair for endless ages! And yet there are men that live and die without giving so much as one day to think upon hell! Happy, then, are they that fear! for this fear will aid them to lighten that weight of their sins, which would drag them into the bottomless pit.

Alas! what strange darkness has come upon the mind of man as a consequence of sin! People that are shrewd, and prudent, and far-sighted in everything that regards their temporal concerns, are mere idiots and fools in every question that regards eternity. Can we imagine anything more frightful than their surprise when they awaken in the next world and find themselves buried in hell? Observe, too, that our Savior, in order to make his instruction more impressive, has not here described the condemnation of one of those whose crimes scandalize the neighborhood, and make even worldlings look upon him as a pure prey of hell. The history he gives us is that of a man who led a quiet life; he was agreeable in company, and sought after; he was respected, and did honor to the position he held in society. He is not accused of any public scandals; there is no mention made of any atrocious crime; our Savior simply says of him: he was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. It is true, he was not charitable to the poor man who lay at his gate; but he did not ill-treat him: he allowed him to lie there, and did not even insult his misery. When then, was this rich man condemned to burn eternally in that fire which God created for the wicked? It is because a man who leads a life of luxury and feasting, such as he lived—never thinking of eternity—caring for nothing but this world, which we are told to use as though we used it not, (1 Corinthians 7:31) — with nothing about him of the spirit of the Cross of Christ: — such a man as this is already a victim to the triple concupiscence of pride, avarice, and luxury; he is their slave, and seems determined to continue so, for he never makes an effort to throw off their tyranny. He has yielded himself up to them; and they have worked their work in him, — the death of the soul. It was not enough that he should not ill-treat the poor man that sat at his gate, he ought to have shown him kindness and charity, for such is God’s commandment. His very dogs had more compassion than he; therefore, his condemnation and perdition were most just. But, had he been told of his duty? Yes, he had the Scriptures; he had Moses and the Prophets; nay more, he had Jesus and the Church. Men who are leading a life like this, are now surrounded by the graces of the holy Season of Lent. What excuse will they have, if they so far neglect them, that they do not even give themselves the trouble to think of them? They will have turned their Lent into judgment against themselves, and it will have been but one great step nearer to eternal misery.

Bow down your heads to God.

Be favorable, O Lord, to thy servants, and hear their prayers in the grant of everlasting mercy; that glorying in thee their Creator and Governor, they may have all things perfected and perpetuated to them. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Hymn of Prudentius, which we have followed with so much interest during this week, thus closes.

HYMN

O Jesus! Teacher of holy doctrine! grant that we may all now walk courageously in the path thou hast marked out or thy followers; that our spirit, having subdued gluttony, may in all things triumph and be master.

O blessed fasting! It is the object of the devil’s hatred: it is dear to the King of earth and heaven; it makes the great sacrifice of the altar acceptable; it stirs up the faith of the drowsy heart; it takes from the soul the rust that clogs her power.

As fire is quenched by water, or as snow is melted by a scorching sun; so, (but by higher law,) are the wild weeds of our base sins uprooted by the sacred power of fasting, when joined with charitable alms unstintingly bestowed.

For this, too, is a great virtue, — to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to kindly help the needy, and to behave towards all, both rich and poor, as members of the one great family of mankind.

Right blessed is he, whose right hand works the praiseworthy deed of lavish alms, but whose left hand knows not the sweet charity done! Such a man shall receive eternal riches, and interest a hundred-fold shall be given to him that thus lends to the poor. (As found in Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., The Liturgical Year, as found online at: Thursday of the Second Week of Lent.)

As always, let us continue to beg Our Lady for all the graces necessary to see the world—and our own place in it—clearly through the eyes of the true Faith and to use this Lent profitably to make reparation for our sins and those of the whole world by offering up the penances of this Holy Season to the Throne of the Most Holy Trinity as the consecrated slaves of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary we continue our daily and most fervent devotion to her Most Holy Rosary without fail.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

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