More Practical Help for State Nationals -- Banking

By Anna Von Reitz

In order to get by and thrive in life, you have to have a reasonable concern for "the other fellow" --- your family, your workmates, and yes, public employees, shopkeepers, veterinarians.... the list goes on. You also have to deal with bankers.

Most of the problems people are having with banks --- at least those that come over my desk --- are self-created and can be fixed just as quickly as they start.

Let's review some basics.

You are allowed by law to transact your business as you wish. You can, by law, use Federal Reserve Notes or United States Notes, either one. So, why not choose to use the lawful currency, United States Notes? This helps pay down the so-called "National Debt" and helps everyone in this country, including you.

The use of United States Notes presents a paper problem for the bank, because at any given time, most banks don't stock a lot of United States Notes, and they are worried that you are going to walk up to their cashier and want to cash out your account in United States Notes. If they ask, assure them that that is not your intention.

Not having enough United States Notes on hand could be a cause of embarrassment for the banks, or worse, cause people to think the bank is insolvent, etc., and cause a "bank run".

In reality, that is an extremely unlikely scenario, and denominating the funds in your accounts as United States Notes isn't actually the worry of the individual banks, because the government backs those denominated funds internationally as SDRs.

So, no actual worries for the banks, and you are, meanwhile, paying down the National Debt and making sure that your funds won't be subject to any bail-outs or bail-ins or other shenanigans.

If you bank is edgy about your decision to denominate the funds in your accounts as United States Notes, just sit them down and explain what I just explained to you. Many small town bankers are not all that familiar with the currency laws and the use of United States Notes. Set them at ease. It's your decision.

Next point.....

There is no reason to be scared of using a Social Security Account Number when setting up a bank account. The banks use this information to insure against losses, but if they get caught doing anything inappropriate with your Social Security Account, they get fried and served for lunch.

Social Security Numbers function as both CUSIPS and AUTOTRIS account numbers. The familiar version with dashes is the CUSIP account set aside for making charges. The much-less familiar AUTOTRIS version without dashes is the credit side of things. This is a direct demand account that FDR established "for" you without your knowledge or consent and dubbed a "special trust account" --- that you haven't known about or had access to. How convenient.

This "special trust account" was created by Executive Order 2039 and technically applied only to Municipal Employees....but via non-disclosure and fraud, the perpetrators entrapped almost everyone and then used it as the excuse to steal your name, your assets, your rights, and in many instances, even your lives.

That "trust account" is yours and it's time that you had the benefit of it.

So understand and make sure the bank understands that when they ask for your Social Security Number that they are asking for access to your trust account and to your Signature for their use as a rubber stamp---let them know that you are aware of what they are doing and that you will hold them individually 100% commercially liable if they do anything at all inappropriate with this information. To clip their wings be sure to use a "byline" and "without prejudice" and a small copyright notice (a small "c" surrounded by a circle) when you sign the Signature Card.

That identifies that particular signature as your own unique creation and places it under your private copyright. That means that not only will they be fried and served for dinner if they mess with your account, they will be deep-fat fried.

With that caveat, go forth and conquer.

The exact verbiage to safely endorse the back of a check and denominate the funds in "lawful money" --- is:

By:_________________________ (c)

All rights reserved. Redeemed in lawful

money. 12 USC 411.

Please note that I don't have a copyright symbol in this program so the (c) above should actually be a small "c" that is completely encircled.

Use your Upper and Lower Case Signature to sign checks, like you were taught in school, and don't use any exotic punctuation or odd or inappropriate abbreviations like "ar" or "LS".

After all --- "ar" might mean "all rejected" or anything else at all, and "LS" --- "Living Soul" certainly doesn't belong on a check.

Also consider that if you were a bank and someone was placing a restriction on their signature using unknown abbreviations, you would have cause to be alarmed, too.

Just think about what you are doing and in which arena you are operating and play it straight. Most banks are aware of their fiscal responsibility to their customers and are only asking that you be reasonable and explicit --that is, honest, about what you are doing and what you expect of them in return.

So spell it out. Say, "All rights reserved." or "Without prejudice". That's perfectly okay for you to say or do and nobody should have any concern about that --- but "ar" or "wp" won't do.

Admittedly, if you get numerous checks you could get writer's cramp doing endorsements, so get a self-inking rubber stamp at a copy shop, and all you have to do is add your signature.

Finally, you should be aware that there advantages to running your affairs as a small independent business which are "corporate" but not "incorporated". This places your business squarely in the realm of international trade, which offers you protections when conducting business with commercial (incorporated) corporations and makes it clear that you are not subject to commercial presumptions.

Ah, so. When a commercial corporation tries to attack you or seize your bank account they find it to be a much more difficult proposition. Most of them, including the IRS and other privateers prefer to go after lower hanging fruit.

If you are dealing with a commercial bank (most are) they will want you to have a business license when setting up an account, which is to protect them, not you. But having met that hurdle for a time, and presuming that you are conducting your business exclusively with lawful money, you can let the license lapse and operate as a truly private business, even though you are using the services of a commercial bank.

The commercial corporations can mess with their own script and control their own affairs and employees within reasonable limits. The transition from a licensed small business with limited commercial obligations to a private business functioning entirely in the realm of international trade should be viewed as similar to the transition when you move from one state or country to another.

Most banks are dependent on small businesses which by far employ the greatest number of people in any given community and which generate the lion's share of GDP. The last thing they want to do is drive your business away.

That said, the banks need to get their act together, too, and show you the care and respect that you deserve. If they treat you well and keep your accounts secure, they've done their job. If not, the pendulum swings and other alternatives must and will be sought.

I have a very handy reference on my desk that shows how to convert a "Federal" Credit Union into a State Credit Union --- and I am not talking about a "State of State" Credit Union, I am talking about an actual State Credit Union.

Credit Unions naturally belong in the realm of international trade and are perfect for the needs of average people and small businesses. Most of us would be well-served and well-advised to do most, if not all, of our business with credit unions as a result. We simply do not need the array of services and regulations associated with big commercial banks.

So just sit down for a few minutes out of your life and think seriously about what is best for you and for your country. How do you want to conduct business? What services do you need? How are you going to sign your checks? Which currency will you use? What impact does that decision have on your funds and accounts--- and on your country?

Although money and often, lack of it, consumes an inordinate amount of effort and concern in our lives, we are taught almost nothing about it in school ---- for the simple reason that what you don't know benefits crooks and leaves you more vulnerable to pirates.

When you think about the efforts that you make to earn money, doesn't it make sense that you should think about what money is? What credit is? What securities are? How banks work? How important is your signature? How can it be abused?

There are many questions that most Americans never ask and we really should --- for our own sake and the sake of our country, too.

Most people choose a bank at random. They go to that bank because their parents went to that bank, or because some high-flyer friend uses it, or because its on the way home. That's not the way to choose a bank.

Banks are run by people and you want a bank that shares your values and which offers the services you need.

For most of us, that means we want a bank that is operating under a State Charter and which has been in business for a long time serving people just like us.

Let's face it, most of us have no reason or need or ability to be transferring millions of dollars around the globe, so why would we take our business to one of the huge, glitzy commercial banks?

No. Most of us need a Mom and Pop bank or credit union, one that is locally chartered and controlled by actual people that we either know, or can get to know.

Most of the bankers I have met in my lifetime are extremely lonely people. Most of them really do care about their communities and their employees and the services they provide. Within the weird world of a credit-debt currency system and double accrual accounting, they are doing the best they can.

And they love it when they get an "Attaboy!" or "Attagirl!"

So instead of treating your bank like a convenient public toilet, stop a moment and think about your bank. What do you really know about it? It's history? Who runs it? The laws and regulations that impact it?

If you have questions or concerns --- ask, discuss, learn. Most bankers are happy to share their expertise and will give good advice if they are asked.

As with any other human endeavor, you have Good Guys and Bad Guys.

So take the time to actually think about your bank and your banking needs and do some research and soul-searching. It's your money and your credit----and your life.

How do you want to conduct your business to best benefit yourself, your community, and your country as a whole?

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Practical Help for State Nationals

By Anna Von Reitz

This is for those who have declared and recorded their proper political status as Joe Average Americans, and who are not Federal Employees or Dependents. 

Federal employees and those who are actually receiving unearned welfare "benefits" have other options and other things to say "in-house" to the members of the Congressional Delegations.

For the rest of us, it is obviously necessary to light a fire under their collective rumps.  There are many measures that we can take to compel these yahoos to perform and to clean up their own Mess.  Writing a simple letter and flooding their offices with complaints about one supremely important topic --- the remedies you are owed --- is one way to do it. 

We have begun a program to secure these remedies for Americans who have taken the time and made the effort to correct their political status.  Thus far, the Internal Revenue Service and "Treasury Department" are attempting to stonewall us and unreasonably restrict access to remedy.  They need direction from their bosses --- the members of Congress; and we need to give the members of Congress their marching orders, too. 

No need to be rude, just get your points across. 

I will note that if you want to send an email to "YOUR" Congressional Delegation, most of their email programs require you to choose a "title" or "office" --- this is so they can pretend that you are actually agreeing to serve in such an office and are their employee, instead of being their employer.

As this is a "required field"  go ahead and choose any "office" you wish--- then explain and disclaim this at the very beginning of your email to them. 

I usually choose "Marine Corps General" and then explain that I actually don't occupy any Office of Person, but was forced to choose one by the email program and so, chose "Marine Corps General" because that's how I feel ...

To help get you thinking and started, here's a sample of the kind of letter you --those who have declared their actual political status --- can write: 

Dear Senate Delegates:

I have suffered multiple attempted acts of commercial piracy because you have failed to properly instruct Federal subcontractors concerning the exemptions that average Americans are owed and also failed to expedite the Mutual Off-set Credit Exchange I am owed.  See Public Law 73-10.  

Your failure to properly oversee and administer this process has led to the accumulation of the so-called "National Debt" --- a situation that must be corrected.  It has also led to millions of Americans suffering unjustifiable foreclosures and allegations of federal tax debts that they don’t owe.

There is a Treasury Direct Account that was created in my name without my knowledge or consent as a result of FDR's Executive Order 2039.  That "special trust account" is supposed to be used to off-set public debts and to hold me harmless as a [man/woman] who holds no Office of Person in the Federal or State of State Governments.   

In the hard copy version that will follow this email, I am enclosing a letter to the Internal Revenue Service [or other agency, court, etc.] that I have been forced to send after a prolonged failure on their part to respond to me and continued harassment and false allegations of federal tax debts brought against Federal PERSONS that I never knowingly authorized to exist. 

You will note that I have also been forced to file liens against the perpetrators and to "offer" to enforce commercial and legal sanctions against them.  This is regrettable, because for the most part, they don’t know that they are doing anything wrong.  They’ve been left in the dark like everyone else.

I consider the Courts and the out of control Federal Agencies to be at fault for this circumstance and even more so the banks and lending institutions including the USDA, but ultimately, I consider you all to be at fault for this inland piracy against average Americans who have not been given anything like “full disclosure” and who are left operating in the dark as a result of your continued failure to provide disclosure and failure to properly instruct your employees, including members of the court systems.  

As you are choosing to perform in an undisclosed capacity as members of an "incorporated" government, I should also point out that you are yourselves without any protection of sovereign immunity and that the municipal plenary oligarchy you are serving is out of compliance with its charter --- that old-fashioned thing known as The Constitution of the United States.  

We, Americans, will still be here, but the continued existence of "the" United States is another matter.  The Pope issued your municipal charter and the States and People hold the other end of the string.  Now that we are, by dint of our own efforts, aware of all the nasty things FDR did, we have taken appropriate action to declare our proper political status, organize the States of the Union, and prepare to finish the long, long overdue "Reconstruction" of the Federal Government.

If you have an interest in the well-being of this country and any shred of honor, it is well past time to take an interest in the malfunctioning of your subcontractors and the harm that your failure to properly instruct your own employees is causing to them and everyone else. 

 ____________________

NOW, obviously, you have to tailor things to your own circumstance.  

If you haven't filed punitive liens, don't say you have.  Put in your own information about whichever agency or agencies you have a beef with. Make it clear that you are owed remedy and are being stonewalled and prevented from obtaining it by mis-informed Federal Employees.  

Light a fire under them.  Do so by the millions.  They deserve it.  

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It is “Cognitive Dissonance”

By Anna Von Reitz

Cognitive Dissonance occurs when new information doesn’t fit into our learned pattern of assumptions.  Such information tends to bounce out of our minds, like a pin ball hitting a bumper.  

The information I teach isn’t actually hard to understand. It’s not rocket science—- but it can feel that way because of Cognitive Dissonance and our built-in tendency to avoid, shut out, and if possible— ignore, whatever doesn’t fit neatly into our own conceptualization of the topic at hand.  

How difficult is it to understand that the Reconstruction that was supposed to happen after the Civil War didn’t happen? 

And an important part of our intended Federal Government has been missing ever since? 

So we need to.get.organized and do the job, right? 

What good does it do to drain the swamp, if you don’t also remove the dam that’s causing the problem in the first place?

We are missing the largest, most important, and only truly American portion of the Federal Government because the Reconstruction is still hanging. 

This circumstance is what is causing the breakdown of accountability and discipline — it’s the dam creating The Swamp. 

So let’s try to consciously move past the Cognitive Dissonance and into the clear light of new understanding. 

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The Truth About the Presidency

By Anna Von Reitz

The American States properly constituted, polled, and assembled, have agreed that Donald John Trump meets all Constitutional requirements to become The President of The United States of America, and that he does represent the chosen President of the American People despite the defects of the underlying legal presumptions giving rise to the election process. 

It is therefore deemed a matter of Good Faith with respect to those Americans who, however improperly identified through no fault of their own, have elected him, to honor their expressed Will,  and also to express the Will of those members of the American People still present on these shores who have by a majority of States also approved his election, to announce that Donald John Trump of New York is qualified and elected to serve in the High Office of the Power Holder and as The President of The United States of America, if and when he throws off the chains which have hitherto bound him and accepts and adopts his birthright political status as a New Yorker and as Holder in Due Course of all Persons associated with his Good Name.  

Upon his action declaring himself a New Yorker and accepting his Name and all Persons/PERSONS related to him as Holder in Due Course, free of any other ownership or obligation to Cede and Company, the State of New York, the STATE OF NEW YORK, the United Nations or any other foreign city-state, he is right-wise empowered to enter into The Office of The President of The United States of America by the American People, and is charged to direct the operations of all foreign subcontractors on our shores.  

He is specifically and in public instructed that upon entering the Power Holder Office, he is to meet with the Electors within 90 days, and is to maintain the security and well-being of these States and these People without exception, including the prevention of any mercenary conflicts on our shores, the arrest of persons engaged in acts of commercial piracy and fraud, and the persons of those engaged in predatory and criminal activities aimed at children, the aged, and the infirm.  

As President of The United States of America, he is empowered and entrusted to act as the day to day Chief Executive Officer of the American States and People, to direct the course of business in their behalf according to The Prudent Man Standard.  His powers include the authority to discipline and impose the constitutionally established limitations upon all Federal Officials, Subcontractors and Agents.  

We regret the circumstance that he has had to face and the fraudulent misrepresentation of Americans which has led to commercial interests gaining an improper control of our government and the promulgation of false claims in commerce against our citizenry.   We further regret the gross breach of trust and insupportable actions of certain members of the Municipal House of Representatives.  

We look forward to Mr. Trump's acceptance of the actual Power Holder Office and stand ready to guide him through the process necessary to attain that Office and to function as the actual American President. 

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A Third One-Pager

By Anna Von Reitz

The American Civil War was not a war.  It was a Mercenary Conflict fought by business enterprises organized as States of States, like a The State Of New York and The State of Georgia.  

The men who fought were all mustered out by these organizations, not by any actual State.  These State of State organizations both North and South are called “Confederate States” and were members of the original Confederation formed by The Articles of Confederation, 1 March 1781.

Thus, the actual States, like Maine and Georgia and Wisconsin, were not part of the Civil War and neither were average Americans civilians. 

As our States and ancestors were not part of the Civil War there is no plausible excuse for anyone now or in the past to “presume” we are enemy combatants or anything else of this kind.  

We certainly don’t need a Peace Treaty as we were not involved in any altercation. 

Americans who have suffered occupation by our own for-hire military for 150 years are owed The Law of Peace, AR 27-161-1, and are all internationally protected persons under the Geneva Conventions. 

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Another One Pager

By Anna Von Reitz

America has never been a “democracy”.  The British Territorial United States — which is a British Territorial Commonwealth under contract to provide our States with certain “enumerated Services” is a democracy.  

America has never been a “plenary oligarchy” or municipal government functioning as a Roman Patriarchal Republic or “Civil” Government, either.   

America is composed of fifty republican states that are the Union of unincorporated Counties within the physical boundaries of each State. 

Incorporated entities cannot serve as true Counties nor as true States and incorporated Legislatures have no ability to pass laws affecting living men and women. 

So we are not “a” Republic, not a “democracy” and not the subjects of any foreign statutory law.  These plain facts need to be firmly understood by every American.  

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One Page -- The Robert David Steele Challenge

By Anna Von Reitz

“It’s too confusing.... makes my head hurt.... needs to get it down to one page....”

Okay— start here and format the one page: 

————-

You’ve been lied to. 

The American Federal Government hasn’t been whole and hasn’t functioned as intended since 1860. 

The Federation of States doing business as The United States of America (Unincorporated) delegated certain enumerated “Powers” to three Subcontractors: (1) the States of America (American); (2) “the” United States of America (British); and (3) “the” United States (Papist Municipal Government). 

The American Subcontractor ceased to function in 1860, and has never been “reconstructed”, largely because the States and People were never fully informed of the circumstance and the need to do so. 

We are now assembling our properly constituted and re-populated States of the Union, dba, The United States of America (Unincorporated)  to finish the job. 

Go to: www.TheAmericanStatesAssembly.net for more information and assistance. 

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The Bar Association and US Democracy

By Anna Von Reitz

The Bar Association is a Guild -- a European-style Labor Union.

A Bar Association "license" is a Union Card.

Bar Associations are operating their foreign courts in this country as Closed Union Shops.

This is in flagrant violation of the Smith Act and Taft-Hartley Act, which are laws of the Territorial United States, published as part of the Federal Code.

The [Territorial] Federal Code is not being enforced by President Trump as Commander-in-Chief, most likely because: (a) he doesn't realize that it is his job to oversee and discipline these foreign quasi-military courts; (b) they are using the Municipal COURTS to violate the Territorial law; (c) people assume (wrongly, it turns out) that members of the Bar Association would obey, and not evade, the law; (d) all the above.

Law is an occupation of common right in this country and always has been. Attorneys are not allowed to speak for any injured parties or to deliver hearsay evidence in our courts.

Demands or "provocations" demanding that anyone procure an Bar Attorney or that they accept a Public Defender, are part of the evidence that these foreign courts are engaged in attempted human trafficking and constructive fraud against Americans.

This is yet another evidence in the face of obvious admission that the British Territorial Government is a "democracy" --- that is, it functions by Mob Rule. A 51% mandate legalizing murder, for example, is sufficient to condone wholesale homicide in such a vicious and primitive political system as theirs; it must also be faced that the British Territorial Government has never yet achieved any kind of mandate approaching 51% of the eligible voters, that less than 30% typically turn out in any election year, and that of those a mere plurality of 11-12% is what carries their excuse for a "vote".

Please also note that "Political Parties" are foreign to the American System of Government, and are evils (very expensive evils) that only arose in this country in the wake of the Civil War.

Any American reading this who isn't scandalized, should be.

We spend billions of dollars every election cycle for the purpose of electing new slave masters. Every four years our country is subjected to mind-numbing public debates that only expose how stupid the political candidates are, how totally corrupt such a government is, and how stupid we are for putting up with it.

We pay literally billions of dollars more each year for court services that we do not receive, and on the backside of it, we suffer pillaging, plundering and racketeering to the tune of billions more, to say nothing of the damage done in terms of lost jobs, lost property, broken families, and lost income, as these foreign courts run by the Bar Union deliberately misidentify Americans as Federal Citizens and attack them as "enemies" in a war that officially ended, and which we took no part in, over a century ago.

We, Americans, do not live in a "democracy". We live in fifty republican States of the Union.

The British Territorial democracy is subject to our lawful government and runs its concession on delegated authority, and if that is not true, then our run amok employees need to be fired, and the Trustees need to be arrested and subjected to public trials for treason, piracy, and conspiracy against the Constitutions.

And instead of worrying about Russia or China, we need all fire power we can get focused on London and Rome.

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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. 

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

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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.