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…we can.

Happy New Year, readers!

It’s that time of year again. Let’s see how I did last time…

1 – A stalemate/compromise will be formally ratified in a ceasefire/treaty agreement between Ukraine and Russia. – No.

2 – Northern Ireland will announce a referendum on leaving the U.K. – No.

3 – No new American (USA) Cardinals will be named. – Yes.

4 – There will be a schism in India as a result of the ongoing Syro-Malabar liturgical dispute. – No… barely.

5 – A B-List Hollywood actress will enter religious life. – No.

6 – A personal friend of mine will be chosen for the episcopacy. – No.

7 – The Pontifical Academy for Life will not have any more abortion supporters added to its membership roster. – Yes.

8 – No encyclicals will be promulgated by Pope Francis. – Yes.

9 – I will be able to do a planche for at least 5 seconds. – Heck no.

10 – The Mets will win the World Series. – No.

Well, that’s 3/10. Not great. Let’s try again.

1 – A Dominican will be canonized as a saint.

2 – No significant Roman action will occur on Medjugorje – either positive or negative.

3 – I will successfully complete my scheduled 100-mile ultramarathon from Rome to Assisi.

4 – The Personal Apostolic Administration in Campos (TLM diocese in southern Brazil) will receive become a major news item as a flashpoint over the old mass.

5 – Biden will drop out of the presidential race.

6 – Canada will win fewer than 20 medals at the Summer Olympics.

7 – Bud Light will still not have economically recovered from its advertising faux pas of 2023.

8 – There will be a major downturn of Bitcoin (at least 10% of market value from its high point today).

9 – This blog will reach 400 total subscribers (356 right now).

10 – K-Mart will go out of business.

Alright. Well. That is a bit of a mix. See you next year.

My final announcement about commercial enterprises I am involved with this year is about the tobacco company I am helping to launch in Malawi.

Malawi is consistently listed as one of the poorest countries in the world, and it has been described as “advanced Africa” – as opposed to “beginner Africa,” which would be a place like Ghana. (It is, however, remarkably peaceful, relative to other places nearby on the list – Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen, etc.) The tobacco industry is enormous in the country, though it has taken a bit of a dive in recent years. This has caused many farmers to switch to growing a more lucrative crop – which is also smoked, but is green… so that they can feed their families. Malawi still remains for now among the top-10 exporters of tobacco in the world.

If you are interested in helping to build a Catholic tobacco brand, we are open to investors as low as $2,000 – which buys about five acres of rich land with product already growing on it.

I know it’s not everyone’s “thing.” But it is a good thing anyway. Hey… The last public building opened in the Papal States was Pius IX’s personal tobacco factory, in Trastevere… So, there.

Today, the Office of Readings gave us a homily of St. Quodvultdeus – a rather obscure 5th century bishop of Carthage and friend of St. Augustine.

Here it is:

A tiny child is born, who is a great king. Wise men are led to him from afar. They come to adore one who lies in a manger and yet reigns in heaven and on earth. When they tell of one who is born a king, Herod is disturbed. To save his kingdom he resolves to kill him, though if he would have faith in the child, he himself would reign in peace in this life and for ever in the life to come.

Why are you afraid, Herod, when you hear of the birth of a king? He does not come to drive you out, but to conquer the devil. But because you do not understand this you are disturbed and in a rage, and to destroy one child whom you seek, you show your cruelty in the death of so many children.

You are not restrained by the love of weeping mothers or fathers mourning the deaths of their sons, nor by the cries and sobs of the children. You destroy those who are tiny in body because fear is destroying your heart. You imagine that if you accomplish your desire you can prolong your own life, though you are seeking to kill Life himself.

Yet your throne is threatened by the source of grace, so small, yet so great, who is lying in the manger. He is using you, all unaware of it, to work out his own purposes freeing souls from captivity to the devil. He has taken up the sons of the enemy into the ranks of God’s adopted children.

The children die for Christ, though they do not know it. The parents mourn for the death of martyrs. The child makes of those as yet unable to speak fit witnesses to himself. See the kind of kingdom that is his, coming as he did in order to be this kind of king. See how the deliverer is already working deliverance, the saviour already working salvation.

But you, Herod, do not know this and are disturbed and furious. While you vent your fury against the child, you are already paying him homage, and do not know it.

How great a gift of grace is here! To what merits of their own do the children owe this kind of victory? They cannot speak, yet they bear witness to Christ. They cannot use their limbs to engage in battle, yet already they bear off the palm of victory.

Merry Christmas, dear readers! I missed posting yesterday, but I’m sure it wasn’t a problem.

I am leaning towards starting a podcast. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years and years, and due to some personal goings-on I now have the opportunity to do this. I already have the name, the format, even a good draft of a logo. I am already identifying the assisting talent.

The truth is there is no independent English-language podcast with traction, visibility, and longevity centered in Rome about theology and current events. I want to create it.

I know that if I asked for feedback, it would all be positive. Instead of that, give me some ideas for things to do on the show. Guest interviews, news, cultural and historical analyses, theological deep-dives, okay, yes, great. What else? What would a good hook be for you personally? Let me know in the comments. And, if you want to help fund this, reach out through the Contact section. Thanks!

-Eamonn

Tomorrow is a day to forget the news. Stop reading the blogs (even mine). Rejoice in the birth of the Savior! He comes with blessing in His hand…