“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.” Marcus Tullius Cicero
13 December 2019
The Pandemic of 1918
"Besides replicating very quickly, the 1918 strain seems to trigger a particularly intense response from the immune system, including a ‘cytokine storm’ – the rapid release of immune cells and inflammatory molecules.
Although a robust immune response should help us fight infection, an over-reaction of this kind can overload the body, leading to severe inflammation and a build-up of fluid in the lungs that could increase the chance of secondary infections.
The cytokine storm might help to explain why young, healthy adults – who normally find it easier to shake off flu – were the worst affected, since in this case their stronger immune systems created an even more severe cytokine storm."
Let us pray for those whose hearts have grown cold, and become hardened against His grace by greed, fear, and the seductive illusions of pride.
We ask to receive the three great gifts of our Lord's suffering and triumph: repentance, forgiveness, and thankfulness—so that we may obtain abundant life, and the peace that surpasses all understanding.
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