Are you looking for Solutions for America in Distress

You are in the right place to find out about what is really going on behind the scenes in the patriot movement in America, including solutions from Oathkeepers, Anna Von Reitz, Constitutional Sheriffs, Richard Mack, and many more people who are leading the charge to restore America to freedom and peace. Please search on the right for over 8400 articles.
You will find some conflicting views from some of these authors. You will also find that all the authors are deeply concerned about the future of America. What they write is their own opinion, just as what I write is my own. If you have an opinion on a particular article, please comment by clicking the title of the article and scrolling to the box at the bottom on that page. Please keep the discussion about the issues, and keep it civil. The administrator reserves the right to remove any comment for any reason by anyone. Use the golden rule; "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Additionally we do not allow comments with advertising links in them for your products. When you post a comment, it is in the public domain. You have no copyright that can be enforced against any other individual who comments here! Do not attempt to copyright your comments. If that is not to your liking please do not comment. Any attempt to copyright a comment will be deleted. Copyright is a legal term that means the creator of original content. This does not include ideas. You are not an author of articles on this blog. Your comments are deemed donated to the public domain. They will be considered "fair use" on this blog. People donate to this blog because of what Anna writes and what Paul writes, not what the people commenting write. We are not using your comments. You are putting them in the public domain when you comment. What you write in the comments is your opinion only. This comment section is not a court of law. Do not attempt to publish any kind of "affidavit" in the comments. Any such attempt will also be summarily deleted. Comments containing foul language will be deleted no matter what is said in the comment.


Sunday, December 15, 2019

Glitzy Christians and Sunshine Patriots


By Anna Von Reitz

I was talking with a friend recently and he came up with a new description that startled me, but I knew right away what he was talking about: "glitzy Christians". 
We both have met many multi-millionaires and even billionaires in the course of our lifetimes and have rubbed shoulders and noses with these men and women over the course of decades, but somehow had never discussed our mutual experiences with the wealthy Christian community.  

Of course, I nodded.  I knew exactly what he was saying, when he said "glitzy Christians". 

Christians who spend money on a new private jet every year, and who go 
hang-gliding in Nepal.  Christians who wouldn't dream of missing the winter season in Geneva.  Christians who wear million-dollar diamonds on the golf course.  Christians who have season tickets that the Vienna Opera, that they might use once a year. 

The very best of them have "a" cause or maybe two, that they are passionate about.  Saving the wild horses of the western states.  Providing homes for outcast teenagers in LA.  Promoting adult literacy.  Saving wild parrots in Borneo.

I wondered what Jesus would say.  I wondered if it is even possible to be "Christian" and "glitzy" at the same time.    

Of course, it's not my call.  Of course, I am not privy to the history of their souls or the lessons they are trying to learn.  But if you think about it, Jesus was the Great Leveler, the One who brought it all down to brass tacks: tax collectors and prostitutes, Roman soldiers, Samaritans, lepers, sinners and outcasts of every kind came to him.  The rich and famous stayed away.

Too controversial.  Too common.   

He is the one who said, "If you would be perfect, go and give all that you have away to the poor."  

It is part of His Testament that we cannot serve both God and Mammon.  

So maybe being rich is not such a good thing.  

Perhaps it is an obstacle to our souls' freedom and growth, that leaves us empty and disconnected at the end of the day, as so many of my very wealthy acquaintances seem to be. 

So many of them seem to be like little kids whistling in the dark, delighted that they "made it" and are so rich and powerful, and yet.... 

Empty. Alone. Depressed.  Running hither and thither, restlessly searching for meaning.  

They show up on my doorstep when they get in trouble with the government, and they presume because they are wealthy that they can buy first in line treatment.  But they can't.  

They make their case about how important they are and how important their issues are, but I seldom agree.  Usually, they are just like everyone else with a beef, a fight with a regulatory agency, or the IRS or a Zoning Commission someplace. 

It's not that I am not sympathetic when "the government" is in the wrong, as it often is.  It's more a matter of seeing them and their problems without the fake glory of their money, and knowing that 90% of the time, their problems are just like everyone else's problems.  They only think that they are special because they are rich.  

Recently, a billionaire acquaintance was arrested for money laundering and other charges.  I thought back to when he approached me for a legal opinion about his latest get-richer-scheme.  I wasn't encouraging.  He left me with the tab for lunch.  Now, he's in jail.  

I am wondering if he cashiered enough money with his family to pay for his defense team.  No doubt the government has locked down his own resources and left his parents to pay his bail -- and all this, just before Christmas.

I'm sorry he didn't take my advice. I'm sorry he was so wrong-headed about basic things, like being grateful when someone takes time out of their day and gives you a legal opinion for free.  Like not sticking "the little people" with the bill. Like using your wealth for something more and better than just accruing more and more and more.... 

Like caring --- really caring --- about the world we live in.  

There's so much that he could have done, both in terms of making money and giving back.  Oh, he wanted his freedom, but he wasn't interested in helping others achieve theirs.  Contributing to the overall push to restore our lawful government wasn't on his radar.  Just tweaking things so that he could be free was enough, in his opinion.  

Unfortunately, that seems to be par for the course with the rich and famous. That's why their money actually does so little worthy work and contributes so little to the benefit of humanity.  

Why invest in State Assemblies that will restore the lawful government of this country, when you could invest in mini-golf courses, instead? 

So I paid the lunch tab for him and his buddies and I smiled and I walked away, knowing that I was richer than all of them.  

And then today I got a note from a woman who is reduced to living on SSI, and it's Christmastime, and she sent me a donation of $25 for our work here, and she apologized because she couldn't afford to send more.  I sat at my desk and wept. 

That same billionaire could have given me $25 million, and it wouldn't have hurt him half as much, as what she shared from what little she had. 

I wrote back to her and told her that we recently hit rock bottom with all the expenses we've had here, all across the board.  We got down to 26 cents in our account, but we didn't go in the red.  And her $25 was the first contribution after that low point.  

Think about that.  

There haven't been any big donors helping us pursue the American National Credit owed to Americans.  There haven't been any "investors" backing our bid to recoup the gold FDR stole from our Great-Grandparents and Grandparents. 
No "glitzy Christians" have cared enough about the country to weigh in on America's side of the issues.  No Big Timers have paid our way to the Philippines or the Hague or Rome.  

They seem quite content that everything go to wrack and ruin, so long as their investments run high.  America?  Their neighbors?  The communities they live in?  Who cares?  

A woman who is so crippled up, she's on SSI.  

A teen in Baltimore who makes a living mowing lawns in the summer and shoveling snow in the winter.  

A cowboy out in Montana who sends $20 every pay day.  

A man in New York who sends a small percentage of every sale he makes.... $1.01, $2.89, $1.78...... 

A retired steam and boiler technician, a waitress at Don's Diner, a Korean War Vet, a farmer in the Midwest facing eviction, a dock worker who is on Workman's Comp, and so the list goes on.  Our contributors.  

Not a truly rich man among them. 

If anyone has cause in years to come, to go back and look at how we survived the winter of 2019-2020, and how our effort grew despite everything against it. and they pour over our books and accounts as much as they like, they won't be able to say that there was any political party behind us, or any rich financier.  

All they will find will be "un-glitzy" people who don't go to St. Moritz to ski, and patriots who cared.  

The day will come when the rich and famous will beat a path to our door, just as they now trample the road into Washington, DC, seeking favors and pay offs and buy offs and all the rest of it.  Count on me to turn a deaf ear--- not to any injustice, but to any pretension of importance on their parts.  

It's clear to me who the really important people are, the ones who make the wheels turn, who wash the cars and the dishes, who feed the hungry, who do all the work and bear all the burdens.  The race is not to the swift.  The glory does not belong to the rich and famous.  

It belongs to us, down here in the trenches, slogging along day to day and year to year, to our workmates and families, to our friends.  The glory always belongs
to those who think and who care --- and it always comes down to us, because it is our will that finds its way to expression.  It's our dream that we, together, build.

We won't be alone or empty or wondering what life was all about when our time comes.  We won't regret missing the ski season at St. Moritz.  Or the unused season tickets at the Vienna Opera. 

----------------------------

See this article and over 2100 others on Anna's website here: www.annavonreitz.com

To support this work look for the PayPal buttons on this website. 

How do we use your donations?  Find out here. 

Third Sunday in Advent

Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's
The Church's Year


On this Sunday again, the Church calls on us to rejoice in the Advent of the Redeemer, and at the Introit sings:
INTROIT Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men: for the Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitous; but in every thing by prayer let your requests be made known to God (Phil. 4). Lord, thou hast blessed thy land; thou bast turned away the captivity of Jacob (Ps. 84). Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
COLLECT Incline Thine ear, O Lord, we beseech Thee, unto our prayers: and enlighten the darkness of our mind by the grace of thy visitation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end, Amen.
EPISTLE (Phil. 4:4-7). Brethren, rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitous; but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What is meant by "rejoicing in the Lord"?
By "rejoicing in the Lord" is meant rejoicing in the grace of the true faith we have received, in the hope of obtaining eternal happiness; rejoicing in the protection of the most High under which we stand; and in the persecution for justice's sake in which Christ Himself exhorts us to rejoice, and in which the Apostle Paul gloried (II Cor. 7:4).
What else does St. Paul teach in this epistle?
He exhorts us to give all a good example by a modest and edifying life, to which we should be directed by the remembrance of God's presence and His coming to judgment (Chrysostom. 33, in Joann.); he warns us against solicitude about temporal affairs, advising us to cast our care on God, who will never abandon us in our needs, if we entreat Him with confidence and humility.
In what does "the Peace of God" consist?
It consists in a good conscience (Ambrose), in which St. Paul gloried and rejoiced beyond measure (II Cor. 1:12). This peace of the soul sustained all the martyrs, and consoled many others who suffered for justice's sake. Thus St. Tibertius said to the tyrant: "We count all pain as naught, for our conscience is at peace." There cannot be imagined a greater joy than that which proceeds from the peace of a good conscience. It must be experienced to be understood.
ASPIRATION The peace of God, that surpasseth all understanding, preserve our hearts in Christ Jesus. Amen.

COMFORT AND RELIEF IN SORROW

“Is any one troubled, let him pray" (Jas. 5:13).
There is no greater or more powerful comfort in sorrow than in humble and confiding prayer, to complain to God of our wants and cares, as did the sorrowful Anna, mother of the prophet Samuel, (I Kings 10) and the chaste Susanna when she was falsely accused of adultery and sentenced to death (Dan. 13:35). So the pious King Ezechias complained in prayer of the severe oppression with which he was threatened by Senacherib (IV Kings 19:14). So also King Josaphat made his trouble known to God only, saying: But as we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes on Thee (11 Para. 20:12). They all received aid and comfort from God. Are you sad and in trouble? Lift up your soul with David and say: To Thee I have lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven. Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He shall have mercy on us (Ps. 122:1-3). Give joy to the soul of Thy servant, for to Thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul (Ps. 85:4).
GOSPEL (Jn. 1:19-28). At that time the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to John, to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and did not deny; and he confessed: I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? what sayst thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias. And they that were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? John answered them, saying: I baptize with water: but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not: the same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. These things were done in Bethania beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Why did the Jews send messengers to St. John to ask him who he was?
Partly because of their curiosity, when they saw St. John leading such a pure, angelic and penitential life; partly, as St. Chrysostom says, out of envy, because St. John preached with such spiritual force, baptized and exhorted the people to penance, that the inhabitants of Jerusalem came to him in great numbers; partly, and principally, they were impelled by the providence of God to demand publicly of St. John, if he were the Messiah, and thus be directed to Christ that they might be compelled to acknowledge Him as the Messiah, or have no excuse for rejecting Him.
Why did the Jews ask St. John, if he were not Elias or the prophet?
The Jews falsely believed that the Redeemer was to come into this world but once, then with great glory, and that Elias or one of the old prophets would come before Him, to prepare His way, as Malachias (4:5) had prophesied of St. John; so when St. John said of himself that he was not the Messiah, they asked him, if he were not then Elias or one of the prophets. But Elias, who was taken alive from this world in a fiery chariot, will not reappear until just before the second coming of Christ.
Why did St. John say, he was not Elias or the Prophet?
Because he was not Elias, and, in reality, not a prophet in the Jewish sense of the word, but more than a prophet, because he announced that Christ had come, and pointed Him out.
Why does St. John call himself "the voice of one crying in the wilderness"?
Because in his humility, he desired to acknowledge that he was only an instrument through which the Redeemer announced to the abandoned and hopeless Jews the consolation of the Messiah, exhorting them to bear worthy fruits of penance.
How do we bear worthy fruits of penance?
We bear fruits of penance, when after our conversion, we serve God and justice with the same zeal with which we previously served the devil and iniquity; when we love God as fervently as we once loved the flesh-that is, the desires of the flesh-and the pleasures of the world; when we give our members to justice as we once gave them to malice and impurity (Rom. 6:19), when the mouth that formerly uttered improprieties, when the ears that listened to detraction or evil speech, when the eyes that looked curiously upon improper objects, now rejoice in the utterance of words pleasing to God, to hear and to see things dear to Him; when the appetite that was given to the luxury of eating and drinking, now abstains; when the hands give back what they have stolen; in a word, when we put off the old man, who was corrupted, and put on the new man, who is created in justice and holiness of truth (Eph. 4:22-24).
What was the baptism administered by St. John, and what were its effects?
The baptism administered by John was only a baptism of penance for forgiveness of sins (Lk. 3:3). The ignorant Jews not considering the greatness of their transgressions, St. John came exhorting them to acknowledge their sins, and do penance for them; that being converted, and truly contrite, they might seek their Redeemer, and thus obtain remission of their offences. We must then conclude, that St. John's baptism was only a ceremony or initiation, by which the Jews enrolled themselves as his disciples to do penance, as a preparation for the remission of sin by means of the second baptism, viz., of Jesus Christ.
What else can be learned from this gospel?
We learn from it to be always sincere, especially at the tribunal of penance, and to practice the necessary virtue of humility, by which, in reply to the questions of the Jews, St. John confessed the truth openly and without reserve, as shown by the words: The latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose, as the lowest of Christ's servants, giving us an example of humility and sincerity, which should induce us always to speak the truth, and not only not to seek honor, but to give to God all the honor shown us by man. Have you not far more reason than John, who was such a great saint, to esteem yourself but little, and to humble yourself before God and man? "My son," says Tobias (4:14), "never suffer pride to reign in thy mind, or in thy words: for from it all perdition took its beginning."
ASPIRATION O Lord, banish from my heart all envy, jealousy and pride. Grant me instead, to know myself and Thee, that by the knowledge of my nothingness, misery and vices, I may always remain unworthy in my own eyes, and that by the contemplation of Thy infinite perfections, I may seek to prize Thee above all, to love and to glorify Thee, and practice charity towards my neighbor. Amen.

EMBER WEDNESDAY IN ADVENT
EPISTLE (Is. 7:10-15). And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying: Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell or unto the height above. And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. And he said: Hear ye, therefore, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.'
EXPLANATION In this Epistle is contained the important prophecy of the Savior's birth from a virgin. War was declared by the kings of Israel and Syria against Achaz, king of Juda, who at their approach was overpowered with fear, and thought of seeking aid from the Assyrians instead of looking to Almighty God for help; and for this lack of confidence in God, the prophet Isaiah was sent to announce to him the destruction of both kings, and his own preservation. The prophet, wishing Achaz to prove his assertion, requested the king to demand a sign from God; but he being given to idolatry, did not wish to ask a sign from heaven, for he had more faith in the assistance of the demons and of the Assyrians. He offended God by his refusal and the prophet rebuked him, saying: The Lord himself will give you (that is, your posterity) a sign, for the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and he shall be called Emmanuel, that is-God with us. By these words Isaias desired to impress upon the king, that as surely as he should be preserved from his enemies, so surely this Emmanuel, the Son of the Virgin, would appear to redeem the world from Satan's power. Let us learn from this lesson always to trust in God, who can deliver us from all danger, and let us also be grateful to Him, who seven hundred and forty-three years before the time, permitted, for our consolation, the announcement of the coming of His Son, our Savior.
The gospel (Lk. 1:26-28) of this day will be found in the second part of this book on the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin.
ASPIRATION O Emmanuel, powerful, holy God! Our Savior and our Redeemer! be with us always in life and death: for, if Thou art with us who can be against us?
COLLECT Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that the approaching celebration of our redemption may bring us the necessary graces for the present life, and bestow upon us the rewards of eternal happiness. Through our Lord.

EMBER FRIDAY IN ADVENT

EPISTLE (Is. 11:1-5). And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness, and he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins.
EXPLANATION In this epistle the Lord announced to the Jews, through the prophet, the consoling promise that when they were sufficiently punished, and had come to the consciousness of their own misery, the Savior would come and bring all things to order. The rod spoken of by the prophet, is the Blessed Virgin who would proceed from the root of Jesse, that is, from the stem of David, and give birth to the flower, viz., to the Savior upon whom the Holy Ghost, with His sevenfold gifts, would descend, that is, dwell in Him. As a reader of the heart He would judge man, not according to his outward appearance, but according to his intentions. He would not flatter the sinner, but with severe words punish his sinful life, and because just and faithful, He would reward every man without respect to person. Let us be always mindful in all our omissions and commissions, that our Lord sees into our hearts, and judges not only according to our works, but principally according to our intentions, and let us strive ever to have pure motives in all our actions.
ASPIRATION O Fragrant Flower of the Virgin, Jesus our Savior, come and draw us to Thee, that we may walk in the perfume of Thy ointments, and obtain a merciful judgment from Thee.
COLLECT Show forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy power, and come, that we who confidently trust in Thy love, may be the sooner delivered from all adversities. Through our Lord.

EMBER SATURDAY IN ADVENT

EPISTLE (II Thess 2:1-8). Brethren, we beseech you, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together unto him: that you be not easily moved from your mind, nor be frighted, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God. Remember you not, that when I was yet with you I told you these things? And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh: only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way, and then that wicked one shall be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.
EXPLANATION At the time when St. Paul wrote this epistle, the false report was circulated that the Last Day was at hand, and Christ was coming to judge all men. The Apostle warns the faithful against trusting this, telling them they should not permit themselves to be misled; for first, the greater part of mankind would fall away from God, and Antichrist, the son of perdition appear, but not until the gospel was everywhere preached. The great falling off would be gradual, caused by the heresies which would arise from time to time, and would be completed by Antichrist, whom our Lord, at last, on the Day of Judgment would kill with the breath of his mouth. Let us learn from this epistle not to be curious concerning the Last Day, and the Advent of Christ, but to prepare, rather for the coming of Jesus into our hearts, that He may be merciful to us in death, and at judgment.
ASPIRATION The gospel of this day will be found in the instruction on the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
COLLECT O God, who seest us afflicted on account of our own wickedness; mercifully grant, that by Thy coming we may be comforted. Through our Lord.