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The White House had sent the university a set of demands it said were aimed at curbing campus antisemitism only to backtrack later

A letter outlining sweeping demands on university admissions, hiring, and school curriculums, which the White House claims targeted antisemitism, was sent to Harvard University by mistake, the New York Times has cited senior US officials as saying.

The White House had emailed the Ivy League university an “updated and expanded list of demands” last Friday, following a wave of pro-Palestinian protests across US campuses. The message warned Harvard that it “must comply” in order to maintain government financial support. The proposals called for changes to be made to governance, hiring, and admissions, including the elimination of all DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs.

Harvard rejected the demands, accusing the White House of trying to “control” its campus. In response, US President Donald Trump’s administration announced it would freeze over $2.2 billion in federal grants and $60 million in government contracts with the university.

A little later on, however, an official from the Trump administration contacted Harvard, claiming that the letter was “unauthorized,” according to two people familiar with the matter.

The letter had reportedly been seen by Sean Keveney, acting general counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services and a member of the antisemitism task force, according to three other sources briefed on the incident.

Though the letter’s content was genuine, there were conflicting accounts within the administration about how it had been mishandled, an unnamed official told the newspaper. Some reportedly believed it was sent prematurely; others said it was meant for internal circulation only.

May Mailman, a senior policy strategist at the White House, acknowledged the controversy when speaking to the New York Times, but criticized Harvard for not verifying the letter.

Harvard rejected that criticism, saying the letter bore official federal signatures and appeared legitimate. “It remains unclear to us exactly what, among the government’s recent words and deeds, were mistakes or what the government actually meant to do and say. But even if the letter was a mistake, the actions the government took this week have real-life consequences” for students and employees as well as “the standing of American higher education in the world,” it said in a statement to the Times.

In October 2023, Israel declared war on Hamas, the militant organization which controls Gaza, after the Palestinian group launched a surprise attack against the Jewish state which claimed over 1,200 lives. The brutality of the large-scale offensive, which has left over 50,000 dead according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, has sparked university campus protests in the US, which has been providing West Jerusalem with weapons.

Columbia, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Yale, Michigan, and Northwestern became key protest sites last year, forming the backdrop for heightened tensions that have influenced the administration’s push for stricter campus oversight. Last month, the task force also cut $400 million in funding to Columbia and warned of further cuts.

Above: New York Easter parade on Fifth Avenue. April of 2025 has a great many holidays and momentous events to remember. April 18 and 19 are the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy in Massachusetts, and so shall usher in the beginning of our national Semiquincentennial. This year, however, those days are also Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Of course…

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Caesar, like the poor, is always with us. So is Judas. And so are the disciples of Christ. The Tyrant, the Traitor, and the Martyr. These three types of men form the very threads from which the tapestry of history is woven. Caesar and his followers come in many philosophical shapes and many ideological guises, but they are always animated by the same spirit of secularism, the same spirit of…

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Efforts to intimidate Christian worshipers will fail, Emir Kusturica has said in response to Moldova’s treatment of a bishop

The move by authorities in Chisinau to prevent a Moldovan bishop from attending an annual ceremony in Jerusalem is part of a wider war against Orthodox Christianity, renowned Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica has said.

Bishop Marchel of the Moldovan Orthodox Church was set to fly to Israel on Thursday for the Holy Fire ritual on April 19. He told the media that border police at Chisinau airport had stopped him for a search and returned his passport only after his plane had departed, despite finding nothing suspicious. Marchel later said his second attempt to board a flight to Israel was also “unjustifiably” blocked by the authorities.

The Holy Fire ritual at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, held on Holy Saturday, is a key event which precedes Orthodox Easter. The flame is believed to descend miraculously each year at the site of Christ’s crucifixion. Pilgrims light candles from it and take the fire back to their home countries to light others as part of an ancient holiday tradition.

When asked by RIA Novosti on Friday about the Moldovan government’s treatment of the bishop, Kusturica said, “after the attack on the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, nothing surprises me anymore.”

In late March, Ukrainian officials and police broke into the catacombs of the country’s most important monastery, the burial site of early Orthodox saints. The move came amid a power struggle over the Kiev Pechersk Lavra between the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), created only in 2018 and backed by the government of Vladimir Zelensky.

“It was a sign of war against the Orthodox world, against Orthodox Russians and all Orthodox believers,” the two-time Palme d'Or winner said about the events in Kiev.

The blocking of the Moldovan bishop’s trip to Jerusalem “continues that same battle. They think that with new secular political steps they will first intimidate and then destroy Orthodox civilization. But they will not succeed,” Kusturica insisted.

READ MORE: Moldovan authorities ‘intimidating’ largest Christian church – opposition

As in neighboring Ukraine, Moldova has faced religious tensions involving two major Orthodox factions: the Moldovan Orthodox Church, which is affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, and the Metropolis of Bessarabia, under the Romanian Orthodox Church. Amid rising geopolitical tensions with Russia, the pro-EU government in Chisinau has largely backed the Bucharest-aligned metropolis.

I get that this may be an incomplete story. But IF this is true, I cannot believe this can be allowed to happen. By Catholics. A venerable parish church (building, not the reconfigured parish) is closing because the parish can’t be bothered to raise $30,000? This community was settled by German immigrant Catholics, and their community built this House of God. Now it will be abandoned.

From KMOV:

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – After 130 years, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Arnold has been closed for safety reasons. It was damaged during the March 14 tornado that hit Arnold.

“It’s sad that it has to close,” said Carol Eichelberger

Parishioners are still coming to grips with the news.

“130 years, that’s a lot of history. That’s a lot of weddings, that’s a lot of funerals, that’s a lot of baptisms,” said Judge Eagle.

According to Reverend Gerald Blessing, pastor of Holy Family parish where the church is located, the storm caused cracks in the mortar on the exterior of the building. When an engineer inspected the inside of the bell tower, more cracks were found.

“And the report stated for safe use, he’s becoming less and less comfortable with the amount of wind load that that steeple could take,” he said.

The church building was closed out of an abundance of caution, and masses were moved across the parking lot to the parish center.

Engineers recommended the bell tower be reinforced with steel to ensure its safety, at an estimated cost of over $100,000. While insurance would cover the cost, Blessing said $30,000 in additional repairs, for tuckpointing and interior plastering, were not covered.

According to Blessing, parish leadership and the parish finance committee made the decision that the cost of keeping the building safely operational outweighed the benefit. With the decision not to add steel reinforcements to the bell tower, the church’s years of service had come to an end.

“It’s hard, but they are, they’re fighting through it because they’re faithful people,” said Fr. Blessing.

A mass and prayer service is planned for April 27 to pay tribute to the building that served the parish for 130 years.

_______________

My childhood parish. Family and friends married there. My father and grandparents buried there.

But it’s just a building, right?

By Roberto de Mattei*

Simon of Cyrene and Veronica are two figures that the tradition of the Church have placed close to the hearts of the faithful because they participate in the Passion of Our Lord during the Way of the Cross.

Of Simon, the Gospel says: "And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross" (Mk 15:21).

Simon of Cyrene, a city in North African Libya where there was a flourishing Jewish community at the time, happened to be passing by and was forced to carry the cross because Jesus no longer had the strength, and the Jews wanted him to go all the way to Golgotha to have him crucified there. The compulsion to which Simon was subjected became an extraordinary privilege for him. It is therefore permissible to imagine that divine providence chose him because his soul was seized with deep compassion in the face of the shameful spectacle.

Veronica, on the other hand, acted on her own initiative, out of that impulse that often makes women more generous and self-sacrificing than men. The reward for her was extraordinary. According to tradition, the image of the Holy Face of Jesus was imprinted on the linen cloth that she had offered the Savior to wipe the blood and sweat from his face.

Little is known about both, but the fact that Mark's Gospel (15:21) mentions Simon's sons suggests that his family may have played an active role in the early Church, and that the Rufus mentioned by Mark is the same one Paul mentions in the Letter to the Romans when he says: "Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well" (Rom 16:13).

Veronica does not appear in the canonical Gospels, but unlike Simon, she is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church, which makes her an undisputed historical figure who, thanks to her veil, which has become one of the most precious relics of Christianity, holds great significance in ecclesiastical veneration.

The Veil of Veronica has been kept in St. Peter's Basilica since at least the beginning of the 8th century, when Pope John VII had a special chapel built in St. Peter's dedicated to the relic, which, like many others, may have come from Constantinople. The recognition of its authenticity is also evident in the fact that Pope Innocent III, in the 13th century, approved its public display, and from then on, it was shown to pilgrims from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica on special occasions, attracting a large influx of faithful. This is attested to by Dante Alighieri, who, in a famous passage of the Divine Comedy, compares himself to one of the many pilgrims who came "perhaps from Croatia" to venerate the icon of the Face of Christ in the first Holy Year in the Church's history in 1300:

Like one who perhaps comes from Croatia

to see our Veronica,

who cannot be sated with his ancient longing,

but says in his thought while he gazes:

"My Lord Jesus Christ, true God,

was then your face like this?"

Paradise, XXXI, 103–108

An expression of this veneration is also the large statue of Veronica by the sculptor Francesco Mocchi from 1640, located in a niche of the four pillars of St. Peter's Basilica.

The Jesuit Heinrich Pfeiffer (1939–1921), professor of art history at the Pontifical Gregorian University, argues in his book Il Volto Santo di Manoppello ("The Holy Face of Manoppello," Carsa Edizioni, Pescara 2000) that the precious relic, which was kept in St. Peter's Basilica for centuries, was allegedly stolen and secretly brought to the small Abruzzese town of Manoppello between 1608 and 1618.

Veronika Maria Seifert, lecturer in Church history at the Sant’Apollinare Higher Institute of Religious Sciences, concludes in her meticulously researched book Il sudario della Veronica e il Volto Santo. Storia e devozione ("The Sudarium of Veronica and the Holy Face. History and Devotion," Velar, Bergamo 2024) that the relic removed from St. Peter's Basilica in the 17th century was not the Veil of Veronica, but the Holy Face, that is, the small burial shroud that John saw in the empty tomb (Jn 20:7). The Mother of God, the apostles, and the disciples had carefully collected all the objects that had come into contact with Jesus, explains the author of this study, and the two relics, which were kept in the Church from generation to generation, both came to Rome. The Veil of Veronica is still in the Vatican, while the Holy Face was brought to the Capuchin monastery of Manoppello in the 17th century. There are unfathomable points of contact between the two relics, but also profound differences: from the closed or open eyes to the more or less recognizable "image" imprinted on the cloth.

St. Peter's Basilica has claimed possession of the Veil of Veronica since the Early Middle Ages and last publicly displayed it on April 6, 2025, as on every fifth Sunday of Lent, from the Veronica Loggia. The holy relics considered "Acheiropoieta," that is, images not painted by human hands that show the faithful the image of the suffering, dead, and risen Christ, are therefore three: the Veil of Veronica, the Holy Face of Manoppello, and the Shroud of Turin.

Regardless of the number of these relics and the place where they are kept, the Holy Face of Jesus has always been deeply venerated. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face was an ardent devotee. She contemplated with immense love the Face of Jesus, which, despite the traces of all the wounds, blows, and humiliations suffered, expressed an impressive mercy, gentleness, and noble features.

The Church is the mystical body of Christ and stands before us like Christ before Veronica. In the Holy Face that Veronica has transmitted to us, we contemplate today the sufferings of the Church, which suffers on its Good Friday but preserves the extraordinary dignity that made the Face of Christ shine in his suffering. The saints of all centuries have wept over the suffering of Christ. May the Mother of God at least moisten our eyes and stir our hardened hearts, uniting us closely with her redeeming compassion during the Holy Triduum.

*Roberto de Mattei, historian, father of five children, professor of Modern History and History of Christianity at the European University of Rome, president of the Lepanto Foundation, author of numerous books, most recently in German translation: Verteidigung der Tradition: Die unüberwindliche Wahrheit Christi, with a foreword by Martin Mosebach, Altötting 2017, and Das Zweite Vatikanische Konzil. Eine bislang ungeschriebene Geschichte, 2nd expanded edition, Bobingen 2011.

Books by Prof. Roberto de Mattei in German translation and the books by Martin Mosebach can be obtained from our partner bookstore.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Corrispondenza Romana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

The US state of Virginia’s seal has been pulled from Texas school platforms, according to Axios

A US school district has removed an online civics lesson about Virginia and its state flag due to rules against frontal nudity, Axios has reported.

The Virginia official flag features the state seal, which depicts the Roman goddess Virtus standing over a defeated tyrant. In line with classical imagery, Virtus is partially draped, with one breast exposed.

According to Axios report on Friday, the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District (CISD), located outside Houston, Texas, has removed the Virginia lesson from an online platform used by elementary students in grades three to five. The district confirmed the move in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Texas Freedom to Read Project.

The group’s co-director, Anne Russey, said the district cited its newly adopted policy banning “visual depictions or illustrations of frontal nudity” in elementary school library materials.

The removed content was part of PebbleGo Next, an educational website used by schools across the US, including some in Virginia.

Virginia’s original 1776 state seal portrayed the Roman goddess Virtus clad in toga and a full breastplate. The imagery was adopted for the state flag in 1861, when the legislature placed the seal on a blue field to formalize it as Virginia’s official emblem. In 1901, however, a redesign introduced the bare-breasted figure after the secretary of the commonwealth criticized the earlier version for lacking “artistic grace and beauty” and appearing too masculine.

Y’all. This is not normal. Texas is broken. Can we speak to the manager? https://t.co/mu1DIVLPQO

The current design, finalized in 1931, shows Virtus in a helmet, holding a spear and sword above a fallen tyrant, with the state’s Latin motto that reads Sic Semper Tyrannis – “Thus Always to Tyrants.” 

The Texas Freedom to Read Project, which advocates against book bans and censorship, criticized the flag’s removal and the law behind it. On its website, the group described state policies as “vague and confusing.” 

“Today, it’s the Virginia state flag. Tomorrow will it be books that contain historical photos…” the group said.

READ MORE: Texas set to introduce Bible lessons in elementary schools – WaPo

Texas passed House Bill 900 in 2023, aimed at keeping sexually explicit content off of school bookshelves. State Senator Angela Paxton said last month that children should not be exposed to “inappropriate, harmful material,” adding that “young brains cannot unsee what they see.”

OBEDIENS USQUE AD MORTEM

Meditation on Good Friday
in Passione et Morte Domini

Christus factus est pro nobis
obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis:
propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum,
et dedit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen;
ut in nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur
cœlestium, terrestrium et infernorum,
et omnis lingua confiteatur,
quia Dominus Jesus Christus
in gloria est Dei Patris.

Phil 2: 8-11

Ecce lignum Crucis, in quo salus mundi pependit. An ancient melody, in three ascending tones, accompanies the unveiling of the Holy Cross during the rites of Good Friday. It is a cry, a warning, an invitation to conversion and penance: Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the salvation of the world. But the world does not want salvation from Christ. It does not want the Cross. It does not want to recognize itself as a sinner, in its mad pride of being able to do without God and His Holy Law. For the world there is no sin, except in doing good; there is no vice, except in practicing virtue; there is no paradise, except on earth and for sale to those who can afford it; there is no hell, except for the rigid and backward. In this upside-down world, where the infernal Masonic tyranny reigns supreme, sovereignty does not belong to God or to His temporal and spiritual vicars, because the hated symbol of Redemption, the Cross on which Jesus Christ, King and High Priest, has recapitulated all things in Himself, stands out on the crowns of Kings and Popes. 

The splendid antiphon that we sing during the Triduum at the end of the Canonical Hours reminds us with Saint Paul that this Redemption was accomplished in obedience: in obedience unto death, death on the Cross. But it also admonishes us that the obedience of the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity to the Eternal Father merits the Son to be exalted, so that at His Name every knee should bend, in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:10-11).

We preach Christ crucified, a scandal to the Jews, foolishness to the pagans (1 Cor 1:23). Because it is in self-humiliation and in obedience to the Divine Will that we obtain the crown of victory. And there is no Resurrection without the Passion, no reward without trial, no prize without competition. Let us not forget that the Cross is the destiny of each of us and of the Church as a whole. She, as the Mystical Body, must follow Her Master in the passio Ecclesiæ. We, as living members of the Church, must do the same in daily self-denial and in the sequela Christi.

Alter alterius onera portate (Gal 6:2), Saint Paul exhorts us: carry each other’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ. And it is precisely Our Lord who gives us the example: in having carried the Cross that each of us would have deserved a thousand times; and in carrying our cross with us, when we would like to be the ones to choose it. If we ever deluded ourselves into thinking we could decide with which cross we should have to merit Heaven, we would soon realize that we are not capable, with our miserable strength, of facing even the most insignificant annoyance, and certainly not the trials that could await us in these troubled times. On the contrary, the cross that the Lord has chosen for us, however burdensome and difficult to carry, will always see the Divine Cyrenean at our side to help us with His Grace.

May the hour of darkness that is approaching spur us to consider the tribulations and trials that we will have to face as a crucible, from which the gold of our sanctity will emerge purified and in which the stains of our misery will be consumed. Let us therefore embrace this Holy Cross, so that it may be our sole point of reference, while the world sinks under the rubble of its deceptions. Stat Crux, dum volvitur orbis. And so may it be.

+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop

April 18, 2025
Feria VI in Parasceve

EU states are “hesitant to admit” failure in Ukraine, while the US is in a better position due to Donald Trump’s policies, the Hungarian PM has said

The West has waged a “proxy war” against Russia via Ukraine and lost it, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

Hungary, a member of the EU, has repeatedly criticized the bloc’s policies on the Ukraine conflict, particularly its sanctions on Moscow and weapons deliveries to Kiev.

In an interview with OT YouTube channel published on Thursday, Orban said the whole “Western world” has thrown its weight behind Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, which he described as a “proxy war.”

His assessment echoed that of Moscow, which has long characterized the hostilities as a de facto conflict with the West.

According to the Hungarian prime minister, the West has lost but “European leaders are hesitant to admit” failure. He argued that this outcome will have a big impact on the entire West, as “losing a war is a serious thing.”

Orban went on to say that European leaders are “offering Ukraine to continue the war and in return receive European Union membership.” He argued that this would be problematic as Ukraine is no longer sovereign and cannot support itself.

Regarding the US, the Hungarian prime minister said Washington is in a better position thanks to President Donald Trump’s approach, having broken with the Ukraine policies pursued by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

According to Orban, Trump “saved the US from a serious defeat.”

Speaking to Hungary’s Kossuth Radio last month, Orban described the EU’s policies on Ukraine as “rudderless.” He warned that Brussels, with its hardline position, risks becoming irrelevant as Trump actively works toward securing a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Earlier in March, Orban told the YouTube channel Patriota that the EU was feeding Kiev “empty promises” as it “doesn’t have a single penny left… [to] continue arming Ukraine, maintaining the Ukrainian army, and funding the functioning of the Ukrainian state.”

His comments came after Budapest refused to endorse a joint EU communique calling for an increase in military aid to Kiev.

 On April 18, 1995, Bishop J. Kevin Boland was consecrated and installed as the thirteenth Bishop of the Diocese of Savannah. He served as bishop until his retirement in 2011. Happy anniversary, Bishop Boland!

Jesus was arrested late Thursday evening. The Scriptures recount,

They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together (Mark 14:53).

According to Mark’s chronology there was a sham of a trial, based on false evidence and distortions of Jesus’ teachings.

Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but they did not find any. For many bore false witness against Jesus, but their testimony was inconsistent. Then some men stood up and testified falsely against Him: “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple, and in three days I will build another that is made without hands.’” But even their testimony was inconsistent.

So the high priest stood up before them and questioned Jesus, “Have You no answer? What is it these men are testifying against You?” But Jesus remained silent and made no reply. Again the high priest questioned Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”

“I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “Why do we need any more witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What is your verdict?” And they all condemned Him as deserving of death. Then some of them began to spit on Him. They blindfolded Him, struck Him with their fists, and said to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in His face (Mark 14:53-65).

According to tradition, Jesus spent the rest of the night in the dungeon under the House of Caiaphas. It had doubled as a kind of cistern for holding rainwater.

The events of this early Friday morning are tightly packed. In the space of three or four hours, Jesus is sent to Pilate, then to Herod, then back to Pilate, questioned, condemned to die, and led out to be crucified by 9:00 AM.

The events begin around 6:00 AM:

Early in the morning, the chief priests, elders, scribes, and the whole Sanhedrin devised a plan. They bound Jesus, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate (Mark 15:1).

Pilate is less than enthusiastic to be saddled with this interrogation, but fearing a riot if he does not, he enters into the fray. Pilate’s behavior is a portrait in vacillation. According to Luke, he first seeks to transfer the case to Herod, who is nearby in Jerusalem (See Luke 23:6-12). However, Jesus says not a word to Herod. So after making sport of Jesus, Herod sends Him right back to Pilate. In another attempt to placate the crowd and evade making a decision, Pilate presents to them what amounts to a fake Messiah, aptly named “Barabbas” (which means “son of the father”). Can Barabbas save the day? He cannot, for he is not the true “Son of the Father.” Only Jesus can deliver Pilate—or any of us, for that matter.

I will not be treating the whole trial before Pilate in today’s post. (I’ve written about it in more detail here: The Trial Before Pilate.) In the end, though Pilate concludes that Jesus is innocent of the charges, he hands Him over to be crucified. In so doing, he is likely trying to save his own career. He will not take a stand for Jesus. Rather, he sits upon the judgment seat, violates his own conscience, and condemns Jesus to death. It is about the third hour (9:00 AM).

There is some debate about the specific time of day in the various biblical accounts. Mark 15:25 says that Jesus is crucified at the third hour (9:00 AM). In John 19:14 the crucifixion is set at the sixth hour (Noon). Both Matthew 27:45 and Luke 23:44 hint at a time closer to noon in their reference to a darkness coming over the land from noon until 3:00 PM.

In considering these “issues” of the exact time of day, we ought to remember that the people of Jesus’ era did not have clocks and watches. They did not speak or think of time in the precise ways that we modern Westerners do. Time was spoken of in general ways; the mention of the third hour, or the sixth hour, or the ninth hour could include a broader swath of time relatively near that declared hour. It is a little bit like our terms “mid-morning” or “mid-afternoon,” which can refer to a period of several hours. Mark does not necessarily mean precisely at 9:00 AM nor does John mean precisely at noon.

There is a lot of overlap in references to the third hour, the sixth hour, and the ninth hour, softening the possible conflict between the accounts. The need to nail down the exact times of day of the various events says more about our modern obsession with time than it does about accounts that are close, even if not precise, descriptions of the events.

Comparing all the texts leads to a general time frame. Thus, it would seem that Jesus undergoes trials before Pilate and Herod in the early morning (somewhere between 6:00 and 9:00 AM). He is sentenced by Pilate to crucifixion somewhere in mid-morning. He is mocked and led out to be crucified in the late morning. Near noon, He is stripped of His outer garments and hung on the cross. From about noon through the early afternoon a darkness comes over the land and Jesus hangs on the cross. He dies in the midafternoon, at around 3:00 PM.

What of this darkness of some three hours? In Luke 23:44, we read, It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour (i.e., from noon until 3:00 PM).

Although this seems to describe a solar eclipse, it isn’t appropriate to insist that it was an eclipse (at least as we define the term today). Matthew, Mark, and Luke all speak to the darkness of that day using the Greek term σκότος (skotos), meaning simply “darkness.” Only Luke went on to state the reason for the darkness: the sun was darkened (Luke 23:45). He even used the Greek word ἐκλιπόντος (eklipontos), from which the word “eclipse” was derived. In Greek, however, the word eklipontos simply means “darkened,” whereas our word “eclipse” refers to a darkening as a result of the moon blocking the light of the sun. However, that is not necessarily (or even likely) what Luke meant here.

As a general rule, one should avoid applying a scientific explanation to a text when that may not have been the author’s intention. That there was darkness over the land from about noon until three is certainly attested to in the sacred texts, but the cause of that darkness is not definitively stated to be an eclipse, at least not as we use the term today. Perhaps God made use of other natural causes, such as very heavy clouds, to cause the light of the sun to dim. It is also possible that the darkness was of purely supernatural origin and was experienced only by some of those present.

Trying to explain the darkness in terms of the laws of science risks doing a disservice to the text by missing its deeper meaning: that the darkness of sin had reached its zenith. Whatever the physical mechanism of the darkness, its deepest cause was sin and evil.

Jesus said elsewhere, “This is the judgment: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (Jn 3:19). Referring to His passion, He also said, “Night is coming, when no one can work” (Jn 9:4). When Judas left the Last Supper to betray Jesus, John observed simply and profoundly, And it was night (Jn 13:30). Yes, a deep darkness had come upon the world.

It is simply not possible here to fully comment on all the details of the crucifixion. While they are historical incidents, they are also of deep spiritual significance. I leave the consideration of most of those details to other posts and to your reflection. Jesus speaks seven times while on the cross: He asks the Father to forgive us. He bestows mercy on the repentant thief. He gives us His mother and asks us to take her into the home of our hearts. He expresses his feelings of abandonment. He voices his thirst. He announces the completion of His mission. He commends His spirit to the Father and gives up His spirit.

The earth shakes. While earthquakes were common in the region, interpreting the quake merely in scientific terms misses its theological significance. Christ has rent the earth and descended to Sheol, there to preach to the dead. The veil in the Temple has been torn from top to bottom, giving us access to the Father. He has rent our hearts and laid bare our thoughts. This also prefigures the Last Judgment:

Death is struck, and nature quaking,
all creation is awaking,
to its judge and answer making (from the Dies Irae).

It is three o’clock in the afternoon; a great silence is upon the earth. The Word of God has died in the flesh. He has gone among the dead to awaken them.

The post What Happened With The Lord on Good Friday? appeared first on Community in Mission.

According to the Synoptic Gospels, sundown of Holy Thursday ushered in the Passover. Later on this evening, the Lord will celebrate the Passover meal with His disciples. We ought to be mindful that the unleavened bread Jesus will take in His hands is called “the bread of affliction.” Scripture says, You shall eat [the Passover] with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt (Dt 16:3).

Indeed, this is an evening of affliction for Jesus. Much transpires at the Last Supper that is emblematic of our human foibles and sinful tendencies, but thanks be to God, He takes this “bread of affliction” we dish out to Him and lifts it to the glory of the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.

Before being too critical of the Twelve, remember that we can be like them in many ways. Keep that in mind as you read through the commentary below; A large part of what I’ve written about the apostles applies to us as well. Indeed, they are we and we are they; and the Lord loved all of us to the end.

So on Holy Thursday let’s examine the sequence of events. It illustrates pretty well why the Lord had to die for us. We will see how earnest the Lord is about this Last Supper, how He enters it with an intense love for His disciples and a desire that they heed what He is trying to teach them. We shall also see, however, that they show forth a disastrous inattentiveness and a terrible lack of concern for the Lord.

COMING CLOUDS – Jesus knows that His hour has come; this will be His last meal. Judas has already conspired and been paid to hand Him over. Scripture says, Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come. He always loved those who were his own, and now he would show them the depths of his love. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over (John 13:1). Thus, in the gathering storm Jesus plans His last meal, which will also be the first Holy Mass. He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the householder, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us” (Mark 14:13-15).

CARING CONCERN – This last supper is obviously important to Jesus. Luke records these heartfelt words: And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:15-16). Yes, this will be a very special moment for Jesus. 

COLLABORATIVE CONDESCENSION – During the meal Jesus rises and then stoops to wash the disciples’ feet. He instructs them to see in this action a model for those who would collaborate with Him in any future ministry. John records it this way: He rose from the supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded (John 13:5).

Jesus then teaches the disciples: Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you (John 13:12-15). Just moments from now, we will see them demonstrate a complete disregard for what Jesus has just tried to teach them.

COSTLY COMMUNION – Jesus, reclining at table, will now celebrate the Holy Eucharist for the first time—but it is to be a costly communion. He has already lost many disciples because of what He taught on the Eucharist (cf John 6:50ff). After the consecration at this Last Supper/first Mass, Jesus looks into the cup at His own blood, soon to be shed, and distributes His own body, soon to be handed over. This is no mere ritual for Him. Every priest before Jesus has offered a sacrifice distinct from himself (usually an animal, sometimes a libation), but Jesus the great High Priest will offer Himself.

CALLOUS CRIME – Back at table after having taught them that they must wash one another’s feet, Jesus suddenly becomes troubled in spirit and says, I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me (John 13:21). This causes a commotion among the apostles, who begin to ask, “Who can it be?” As the anxiety builds, Simon Peter motions to John and says, “Ask Him which one He means.” Leaning back against Jesus, John asks Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus responds, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. “What you are about to do, do quickly” Jesus told him (John 13:24-30).

CONFOUNDING COMPETITION – As Judas takes the morsel of bread and heads out into the night, no one even tries to stop him! Despite the fact that Jesus has clearly identified His betrayer, no one rises to block the door or even utters a word of protest. Why not? Luke supplies the answer: A dispute arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest (Luke 22:24). They should be concerned about Jesus’ welfare but instead they argue about which of them is the greatest.

How confounding! How awful! Yet is that not our history? Too often we are more concerned with our own welfare or status than with any suffering in the Body of Christ. So much that is critical remains unattended to because of this. Jesus has just finished teaching the apostles to wash one another’s feet, and the next thing you know, they’re arguing as to who among them is the greatest. Jesus patiently reminds them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For which is the greater, one who sits at table, or one who serves? Is it not the one who sits at table? But I am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:25-27). Meanwhile, due to their egotistical response, Judas has escaped into the night.

CAUSTIC CONTENTIOUSNESS – Jesus continues to teach at the Last Supper. He surely wants to impress upon them His final instruction. How He must long for them to listen carefully and to internalize what He is teaching! Instead, all He gets are arguments. Both Thomas and Phillip rebuke Him. John records this outrage:

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” But Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him (Jn 14:1-8).

Thomas rebukes the Lord by saying, in effect, “We have no idea where you’re going; when will you show us the way?” Jesus answers, but Philip will have none of this promise to see the Father and boldly says, “Lord, show us the Father, and then we shall be satisfied.” Jesus, likely saddened by this, says to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14:8-9) Jesus’ own apostles are being argumentative and contentious. They are caustic and seem to rebuke Him.

COMICAL CREDIBILITY GAP – Undeterred, Jesus embarks on a lengthy discourse (recorded by John) that has come to be called the priestly prayer of Jesus. At the end of it, the apostles—perhaps ironically, perhaps with sincerity—remark, Now at last you are speaking plainly, not in any figure. Now we know that you know all things, and need none to question you; by this we believe that you came from God (John 16:29-30). However, Jesus knows that their praise is hollow and will not withstand the test.

There is a quite a lack of credibility in what the apostles say; it is almost comical. Jesus replies to them, Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone (John 16:31-32). Peter protests, saying, Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away (Matthew 26:33). Here is another almost comic lack of credibility: [Jesus says to Peter,] Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times. [Still insistent, Peter replies,] “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples (Matthew 26:34-35). Well, you know the story, and you know that only John made it to the cross.

CLUELESS CATNAP – They finally reach the garden and the foot of the Mount of Olives. Jesus says to Peter, James, and John: My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me (Mat 26:38). They seem oblivious to His suffering, though, and doze off. Attempts to arouse them are unsuccessful; they sleep on.

Here we are at the pivotal moment of all human history and the first clergy of the Church are sound asleep. (Things have not changed, my friends.) Indeed, many are in a state of moral, spiritual, and emotional sleep as Christ still suffers throughout the world and is conspired against. Jesus says,

Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go. See, my betrayer is at hand” (Mat 26:45-46).

COMPASSIONATE CONSTANCY – Jesus went on and died for the likes of them and all of us. I wonder if He had this Last Supper in mind when He said to the Father, Forgive them, they know not what they do. It is almost as if He is saying, “They have absolutely no idea what they are doing or thinking, so have mercy on them, Father.”

What a grim picture the Last Supper paints of us! It’s a disaster, really, but the glory of the story and the saving grace is this: The Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross regardless. Seeing this terrible portrait, can we really doubt the Lord’s love for us?

May your Holy Thursday be blessed. Never forget what Jesus endured!

The post What was the Lord Doing on Thursday of Holy Week? appeared first on Community in Mission.

The US-led military bloc has reportedly adjusted wording related to gender and diversity, equity, and inclusion in new legislation, to appease US President Donald Trump

NATO staff are softening language related to climate, gender, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to avoid a potential backlash from the administration of US President Donald Trump, Politico has reported, citing sources familiar with the situation.

Phrases concerning climate, as well as gender diversity and security, have been reworded in new NATO legislation drafted by its committees and working groups, using language deemed more palatable to Washington, the outlet said on Thursday.

The Trump administration took sweeping action aimed at dismantling gender and DEI programs shortly after Trump assumed office in January. The new administration is working to cut funding for universities and dismantle federal programs that include DEI practices. It is also carrying out a purge within the Pentagon to eliminate these programs.

”Everyone sees on the news where the Trump admin stands; you don’t want to do anything that shoots yourself in the foot,” one NATO official told Politico.

”Green technologies” have reportedly been replaced with “innovative technologies,” while “climate” has been described as an “operational environment,” another official said.

NATO officials are steering clear of any language referencing “gender” or “women, peace, and security” in an effort to secure approval from all 32 member countries, including the US, the outlet said.

”Everyone knows that the worst thing you can do is present it as a diversity issue,” one of the officials said. “It’s not a woke agenda, it’s part of a military agenda, and now more people are pricking up their ears to make sure it is spoken about in military terms.”

The fight against “woke policies,” such as the promotion of gender reassignment treatment among minors, was a key part of Trump’s presidential campaign. He has signed multiple executive orders rolling back DEI initiatives since taking office.

Trump has also consistently criticized NATO countries, accusing them of “freeloading” on US military support. He has pushed for members to increase their defense spending target from the current 2% of GDP to 5%.

READ MORE: US takes state to court over transgender athletes

On Tuesday, the Trump administration unveiled a plan to slash the State Department’s budget by nearly 50%, a reduction that would deeply affect contributions to NATO’s internal operations, the UN, and roughly 20 other international bodies. The proposal, put forward by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, seeks to reduce combined funding for the State Department and USAID from $54.4 billion to $28.4 billion for the next fiscal year.

Among the most significant changes is the proposed elimination of financial support for nearly all international organizations, including the UN and NATO headquarters.