By request, here’s the live thread for Sally Yates’s turn on the hot seat in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is just a quick and dirty. Will be back later.

This is the only live link I can find at the moment. Please, add more in the comments as they surface.

17th Ordinary Sunday
July 26, 2020
“The Most Important Thing”

1 Kings 3:5-12
Romans 8:28-30
Matthew 13:44-52

My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord –

What is the most important thing in our life during the time we have here?
As we develop and mature, it is likely that the most important thing will be modified in some way or even change. Certainly, children, teens, and young adults become increasingly more aware and focused upon what is most important to them as they experience more and understand more.

For some, relationships and family are the most important thing – For some, it is
their education and, then, their profession – For some, it is their position in the community and the influence that this gives them. Sadly, for some, it is their egos which must be satisfied no matter what the cost. Finally, for some, it is to possess God by being possessed by God Himself.

Fortunately, God can be the most important thing in everyone’s life without
sacrificing family, education, occupation, or position and influence. However, this is true provided that we focus upon and pursue those things according to God’s will and plan for us. In fact, God expects us to be the best we can be regarding those things which make up our time while we are here on Earth!

In the Book of Kings, Solomon was given the tremendous responsibility of ruling
the Chosen People at a very young age. He had absolutely no experience at leadership. But he was God’s choice and he loved God. So, God came to Solomon and asked him what he wanted as he began his reign. Solomon asked for wisdom – for an understanding heart! He asked for the gift to be able to judge between right and wrong – between good and evil – so that he could better serve the nation.

Solomon put all selfishness aside, seeking to be God’s servant – And for this,
God blessed him with all those other things for which he did not ask: a long life, wealth, and honor above all the kings of the surrounding nations.

Jesus takes up this same unflinching focus on what is, truly, most important
in today’s passage from St. Matthew. A man finds a long-forgotten hidden treasure. He sells everything he has to purchase the land that holds the treasure – The gem merchant finds a pearl of exquisite beauty with an astronomical price. Nevertheless, he sells everything else just to be able to possess it and admire it!

What Jesus is teaching us is that God must be our hidden treasure and priceless
pearl. We must be willing to sacrifice anything else that keeps us from God. Each of us is called to serve God in our own particular way. Our education, our job, our profession, our position, our family should each help us to serve and to love God. But like Solomon, we must have an understanding heart undergirded with humility. We must be able to judge between right and wrong, between the just and the unjust, between the truly good and the pseudo-good of evil.

The temptation we face will be to make small compromises which, in turn, lead
to greater ones. Then it is not far from relegating God to a lesser place and inferior status in our hearts and lives!

At times, we will be asked to make great sacrifices. We will also be faced with
great suffering and pain. Sometimes, this will be from the hands of others who would deter us, or derail us, in our efforts to serve God and keep Him first!

However, St. Paul has words of great encouragement for us in his verses
from Romans. All things that happen to us – even the painful things and events – work together for the good of those who truly love God! God has a plan for us that will bring us, ultimately, to the same resurrection and the glory of Jesus in the eternal presence of God! What we must do is remain steadfast and undeterred in our quest for the possession of God Himself!

So let us pray, that each of us attain all that God can be for us – both in this life
and in the next!

Amen.

July 26, 2020 Msgr. Russell G. Terra
Msgr. Russell G. Terra, Parish Homilies,
Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Redding, CA

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For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves; 
it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest anyone should boast.

This Superlative Sanctuary Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.

It is also a place to read, post and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.

In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.

We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.

Please show respect and consideration for your fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name calling, ridicule, insults, baiting and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.

In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.

Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion , outlined here https://wqth.wordpress.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/

Let’s not give the Internet Censors a reason to shut down this intellectual haven that Wolf has created for us.

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The Storm is upon us.
Please remember to Pray for our President.

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AND WHAT TIME IS IT?
TIME TO DRAIN THE SWAMP!!!

Our movement is about replacing
a failed and CORRUPT political establishment
with a new government
controlled by you, the American People.
~ Candidate Donald J. Trump ~

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Also remember Wheatie’s Rules:

1. No food fights.
2. No running with scissors.
3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.

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And,

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On this day and every day –

God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up

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Hopefully, every Sunday, you can find something here that will build you up a little . . . give you a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.

“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

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Amazing Grace

It’s All About God’s Grace . . . and our Gratitude.

Grace: The unmerited love and favor of God toward human beings.

Unmerited Love and Favor

(an incomplete listing)

Eons in the past –
God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

Two millennia ago –
The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us, paying the price for our sins.
God sent His Holy Spirit, our Helper-Advocate, at Pentecost.

Very recent past –
God draws us to Himself.
The Holy Spirit indwells us when we believe.
God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

Now –
The Holy Spirit saves, fills, seals, and sanctifies believers through His power. The Holy Spirit reveals God’s thoughts, teaches, and guides believers into all truth, including knowledge of what is to come. The Holy Spirit also helps Christians in their weakness and intercedes for them.
The Lord will deliver us from every evil work and preserve us for His heavenly kingdom.
Through Jesus, in prayer, we can come openly, in complete trust, to God’s throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

And soon –
God will raise us up on the last day.
When Jesus comes again, we will be transformed to be like Him.
God will present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
God will prepare for us, things so wondrous that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into our hearts, those things which He has prepared.

Some thoughts for us now –
Hebrews 4:12-16

We don’t walk alone, live alone, or face our troubles alone. Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor who assures us of His help.

Though we have sinned, we now can come openly, in complete trust, in prayer through Jesus, to God at His throne of grace. This is not our privilege gained through anything we have done. We have it solely because of Jesus. We can come to the presence of God at His throne of grace and be allowed to speak to Him, because Christ loved us and saved us. We come through the righteousness of Jesus, we come through His Name, and we come through His promises.

We are allowed to come before the Almighty God, Creator of the universe, not some earthly king, but the Creator of heaven and earth. We can come before Him right now, or any time day or night, and call upon Him confidently in prayer and He will give us the privilege to speak to Him.

In prayer we come before the throne of God. In prayer we come to the supreme Dignitary . . . and worship Him while we speak to Him.

It is because of God’s grace we come. We have no right of access or merit in ourselves, nor can any mortal obtain it for us. This blessing is freely and generously given to us as a gracious act of the God of grace.

His mercy and grace are provided to help us in our times of need. We need help when we get sick, when we lose a loved one, a job, a house, a friend, etc. We need His help in making decisions, in choosing our words, in living our daily lives. We need God’s help to overcome fear and uncertainty, and the constant changes of our lives.

We need God’s grace . . . always.

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Amazing Grace

Amazing grace, How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come,
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’ve first begun.

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Saturday Again!

I keep hoping to be able to describe the day as “Shitstorm Saturday” but it hasn’t quite happened yet.

Which saves me from the dilemma of trying to decide whether I should call it a “fecal tornado” to be more polite.

Edit to add: Colorado Statehood Day

Just realized today is Colorado’s Statehood Day. August first 1876, we became the 38th state. And Old Glory had 38 stars on it for the next thirteen years (nearly a record at the time, though the interval between Missouri and Arkansas being admitted with 16 years, and we stuck with the 15 star flag for a lot longer than we should have–long enough for it to be “the flag [that] was still there”). And we picked up one of our nicknames, “Centennial State.”

So we’ve now been giving 144 years of service to Californians and Texans as a place to go to when they realize their mistake. Though at least Texans usually go home after tourist season ends. Californians inflict their bad political choices on us.

A Reminder Of Today’s Issues.

Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People...Our campaign represents a true existential threat, like they’ve never seen before.

Then-Candidate Donald J. Trump

Needs to happen, soon.

Lawyer Appeasement Section

OK now for the fine print.

Please note that our menu has changed, please listen to all of the options.

This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Political correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines,  here, with an addendum on 20191110.

We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.

And remember Wheatie’s Rules:

1. No food fights
2. No running with scissors.
3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
4. The gun is always loaded.
4a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty.
5. Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy.
6. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.
7. Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
8. Social Justice Warriors, ANTIFA pukes, BLM hypocrites, and other assorted varieties of Marxists can go copulate with themselves, or if insufficiently limber, may substitute a rusty wire brush suitable for cleaning the bore of a twelve or ten gauge.

(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)

Coin of The Day

I realized today that the dollar is five hundred years old this year.

We didn’t invent dollars, the Bohemians did. There was a major silver strike in the town of Joachimsthal in the early 1500s, and the only way, politically, to export that silver was to make it into big coins–about the size and weight of the silver dollar, and this became a joachimsthaler. This got shortened to thaler in due course, or even taler. (Pronounced like “taller” not “tailor” or “tailer,” that last being Slick Willie’s only possible interest in it.) The Dutch, who traded with the 13 colonies, especially during the French and Indian War (a/k/a the Seven Years War, which really was the first true world war with fighting on at least three continents), called coins this size daalers, and they had a lot of them, from trading with Spain. There the denomination was the eight reales, hence the piece of eight, and a reale we called a “bit” (so now the origin of the slang “two bits” for a quarter is clear).

Trying to find a good image of one of these coins is a bit of a challenge, and the best one I could find was tiny, so here goes:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Joachimsthaler_1525.jpg

Russia didn’t have large silver coins at the time. The ruble was a bookkeeping unit only, consisting of two hundred dengas, but there was an attempt in the 1650s to introduce a ruble coin. It was seriously underweight (weighed less than 200 dengas), so it didn’t go over too well, and the Russians were in any case trying to use an outdated (even then) technology to strike them.

http://www.cnba.org.ar/images/articulos/reforma/005.jpg

I bring this up because those coins were known as yefimoks…because instead of dropping the first part of the word joachimsthaler, they dropped the last part, and Yefim is the Russian equivalent of Joachim (Jonathan). Russia went through many rounds of inflation in the 1700s, to the point where the proper weight of a ruble was now less than a thaler, not more, and they tried to introduce a “heavy ruble” to combat inflation, and also issued 1.4 and 1.5 ruble coins periodically, about the right weight to match a thaler.

The English “Crown” of five shillings was also considered roughly the same, in fact large silver coins about the weight of a dollar are often called crowns as a generic class by people who collect foreign coins–some even specialize in the size, collecting coins of that size (but very different denominations) from countries all over the world. (Pesos, rubles, crowns, thalers, dollars, yen, guilders, florins, five mark pieces…those large silver coins turned out to be pretty popular.) The man most famous for popularizing that line of collecting was named John S. Davenport.

Of course NONE of these units of money are worth what they used to be; the US Dollar has probably eroded less than the others, certainly less than the yen, ruble, and peso, but it has still eroded quite a bit.

But returning to Joachmisthal.

When the Curies were doing their investigations of the radioactivity present in uranium ore even after the uranium had been removed, they got their ore from a place called Jachymov, in Bohemia. Ultimately that line of research led to people discovering atomic fission, and thence to the Bomb. And when the Nazis tried to pursue their own version of the Manhattan Project, their source of uranium was Jachymov, which after all was in the Sudentenland, which they had seized in 1938.

What does that have to do with Joachimsthal? Jachymov is merely the Czech name (and thus the current best name) for the town once known as Joachimsthal.

So it turns out the Dollar and the Bomb both came from the same place.

Standard disclaimer: Neither these, nor any other coins I show here, are ones I own. In some cases I own a similar coin or coins, but by no means all or even most of them. [At least one place didn’t appreciate me linking to their images a couple of weeks ago. We’ll see how this one goes.]

Obligatory PSA/Reminder

Just one more thing, my standard Public Service Announcement. We don’t want to forget this!!!

Remember Hong Kong!!! And remember the tens of millions who died under the “Great Helmsman” Chairman Mao.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=L3tnH4FGbd0%3F

中国是个混蛋 !!!
Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!!
China is asshoe !!!

For my money the Great Helmsman is Hikaru Sulu (even if the actor is a dingbat).