"Day by day the money-masters of America draw together, they grow more class-conscious, more aggressive. Political corruption was the buying up of legislatures and assemblies to keep them from doing the people's will and protecting the people's interests; it was the exploiter entrenching himself in power, it was financial autocracy undermining and destroying political democracy. By the blindness and greed of ruling classes the people have been plunged into infinite misery." Upton Sinclair
Into the ancient holy land
Behold, the son of God is come to man.
Hoc est enim corpus meam.
In Innocence fall all heroes and their creeds;
An age is done, an age from here proceeds.
Hic est enim calix sanguinis mei, Novi et aeterni testamenti.
What consuming pagan fires could not do—
A covenant of love, and Word made flesh, in You.
Qui pro nobis et pro multis effundetor;
In remissionem peccatorum.
Sleep swells His breast, though heavy pressed,
By Golgotha, and Adam's sin,
And the hopes of he who signs his name herein.
Jesse
"What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
John 1:3-5
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth."
John 1:14
"He became what we are, so that we might become what He is."
Athanasius
What a wonderful condescension and extravagance we have from God. For although we were made and formed in His image, He has thereafter sanctified that image, and confirmed us as His creation, in the Incarnation.
"In the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Thereafter, any attack, even on the least of men, is an attack on Christ, who took on the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all. Through our relationship with the Incarnation, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time are delivered from that perverse individualism which is the consequence of sin, and recover our solidarity with all mankind."
"The unsustainable will not be sustained. It ends in flamboyant deceits, and a spectacle of vulgarities."
Jesse, Blessed Are Those Called to the Supper of the Lamb, 23 December 2021
"We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children."
Jimmy Carter, Nobel Lecture, December 10, 2002
"In the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Thereafter, any attack, even on the least of men, is an attack on Christ, who took on the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all. Through our relationship with the Incarnation, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time are delivered from that perverse individualism which is the consequence of sin, and recover our solidarity with all mankind."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it."
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined."
Isaiah 9:1
"An angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone around them."
Luke 2:9
"What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
John 1:3-5
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Ephesians 6:12
“Let all my nothingness be drowned in the ocean of your mercy.”
Maria Faustyna Kowalska
"I wish Mary [the Queen] was here. She made me human. She was my best friend."
Jesse, A Banquet of Consequences, a Celebration of Love, 24 December 2018
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”
Albert Schweitzer, Aus meiner Kindheit und Jugendzeit, 1924
"In the end this is the only real tragedy, when out of fear, or pride, or feelings of disappointment we harden our hearts, and destroy our selves while thinking to preserve them, pinned to boards like dead specimens in our own dark rooms of selfishness, unrecalled at the hearths of even friends and family. Christmas is a time of life, remembrance, forgiveness, tolerance, and love.
An ill wind blows from the east, and a darkness falls over the earth.
Worldly men harden their hearts, and set their face against God. And the madness overtakes them.
We are given no choice between the obviously corrupt, and the more genteel grifters, who plunder and murder in our name. And they call it the will of the people.
We imprison and persecute prophets and messengers who show us the truth. And we call it freedom.
We murder the innocent, and call it peace.
If we could see the world as we make it through His eyes, it would break out hearts.
And yet, in an ocean of mercy, those who stand firm in His love will be saved.
For God has become man, and walked among us. And He calls us to follow, even in this day.
The bond market closed at 2 PM today. The associate carnies of the equity markets will be throwing paper airplanes around until the normal close.
I will be joining the adults and head out and do some useful things.
Here are the state of the charts as of now.
Stocks rallied, but then pulled back sharply. More technical trading.
The rationale about zero options they gave for the big move the other day was rubbish.
What a surprise.
Gold tried to break out, and then broke back down but still stuck a close just over resistance at 2060.
Silver the same.
The Dollar chopped sideways.
The situation in the Ukraine and the Middle East is concerning to anyone with awareness and an unbiased conscience.
Somebody wake up Uncle Joe.
I think a lot of people are rejecting the 'lesser of two evils' argument now. Whether the corporate Democrats choose to listen or not is on them, not on us, for rejecting their tainted and cynical propositions.
And so we begin the long holiday weekend.
'Remember to feed the least of His creatures, the birds and animals. And bring comfort and fellowship to the hearts of those you meet, with a kind word and a smile. Each of us has our own burdens and troubles to carry. And it is our duty and joy to lessen the troubles of others, out of gratitude for His love of the unworthy, of us.'
“The essence of a speculative bubble is a sort of feedback, from price increases, to increased investor enthusiasm, to increased demand, and hence further price increases. Major speculative bubbles, as I argued in Irrational Exuberance, are always supported by some superficially plausible popular theory that justifies them, and that is widely viewed as having sanction from some authority figures. These may be called new-era theories.”
Robert Shiller
"When power is not attentive to justice it cannot endure. The market ideology is now the new form of imperial power and many of us, without any critical reflection, have signed onto that and organized our lives in that way."
Walter Brueggemann, Truth Speaks to Power, 2013
"Greed is not good. Greed is a disease, an aberration of simple honest ambition and necessary provision taken to excess. This simple distinction may be lost on a people no longer able to distinguish between virtue and sin, honor and expediency, appetite and gluttony, the means and the ends.
Every great religion, every school of philosophy has cautioned throughout history on the perils of unbridled and unregulated greed. And yet this generation would make a god of it, although they may not understand, or care, what it is that they are doing, and whom it is they serve.
Greed, often in company with hubris and fear, is a handmaiden of the corrupting influence of power and triumph of the will. Greed is contagious, and attacks the very contentment of society at its heart, turning it towards oligarchy and oppression.
What the US has today is not market capitalism that predominantly rewards the merits and work of individuals, but a system of fraud and plunder by privileged oligarchs masquerading as fair and honest markets of legitimate valuation and price discovery."
Jesse, Greed Is Not Good, 19 December 2010
"The most important problem in the world today is your soul, for that is what the struggle is about."
Fulton J. Sheen
Equity trading tomorrow will be light ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend.
The bond market will close early at 2 PM.
Stocks bounced back after yesterday's 'technical' selloff.
The Dollar declined.
VIX marked time but remained rather complacent.
Gold and silver rallied.
The Gold futures continuous contract is very obviously pinned against the stiff resistance at $2060, extending up to $2080.
I would expect the banksters to continue to put up resistance as they have done so in the past.
IF gold can break 2080 it could go on a run higher to some reasonable chart pattern projection, and markedly higher.
This is what the Western financial system and their highly leveraged paper gold pyramid scheme fears.
As a word of caution, it has been some time ksince the grip that the Western banking powers have not failed to meddle in the precious metals market.
Let us pray for those whose hearts are hardened against His grace and loving kindness by greed, fear, and pride, and the seductive illusion and crushing isolation of evil.
We pray that we all may experience the three great gifts of our Lord's suffering and triumph: repentance, forgiveness, and thankfulness. And in so doing, may we obtain abundant life, and with it the peace that surpasses all understanding.
It is available for your use at no cost, but with attribution and a link to the original posting.
I make every attempt to respect the rights of others. If you feel that something here has infringed your work please let me know and I will correct it immediately. It is not always easy to determine the status of material posted to the Internet with regard to fair use and public domain.
