Cheap Seats 2024 By Rich Trzupek

Larceny - 04/03

By Rich Trzupek
  The law distinguishes grand larceny, which is thievery well planned that involves items of great value, and petty larceny, which is more of a spur of the moment crime involving items of small intrinsic value. President Biden – or more precisely whomever approves the scripts that Joe reads via teleprompter – engaged in the latter form of theft when choosing to honor Sunday, March 31, 2024 as the national “transgender day of visibility” in lieu of celebrating the most important and sacred day on every Christian’s calendar: Easter Sunday.
  Ole Joe claims to be Catholic, but then he also claims to have faced down some gang-banger supposedly named “Corn Pop.” We can only speculate how he would have handled the situation had he crossed paths with “Rice Krispie” or “Froot Loop.”
  OK, President Dementia gets to call himself Catholic, as does former Speaker Nancy “we’ve got to pass the bill to understand what’s in it” Pelosi. One of the key tenants of Catholicism is that we recognize that we are, by definition, a congregation of sinners. For most of the faithful, abortion is a sin and therefore supporting the institution of abortion – through direct measures or official indifference – is also a sin. It’s a sin that both Biden and Pelosi appear to have committed time and again, but final judgement is not mine, it’s Thine.
  Anyway, if you’re not a Christian who believes that Jesus of Nazareth was born in a tiny town in the Middle East over 2,000 years ago; was both Divine and human; shared remarkable ideas that shook the ancient world; was persecuted and ultimately executed for doing so; and rose from the dead after his crucifixion, then you’re really not fully a Christian. Or, at least, I don’t think so. You’re more like a Christian in training. Still, I think that’s okay. We need recruits as much as we do seasoned vets.
  No, I’m not judging you if you disagree. That’s not my role in life. I get to disagree, as do you, but neither of us is ultimately the Judge. That job is above your and my pay grade. What we both get to do is offer our opinions, hopefully for the advancement and betterment of all. From my personal point of view, I’m immensely grateful that Christianity in general, and the Catholic faith in particular, does not presume to judge, because I am as much of a sinner as anyone. Jesus made a statement for the ages when he reached out to Mary of Magdalene, a message of forgiveness that I both cherish and need.
  Believe or don’t believe in Jesus’ ministry as you will. There are few people who could read the Gospels, or Acts or the Epistles and not walk away with new-found wisdom. Is that wisdom Divine? Or is that wisdom the musings of an earthly philosopher, perhaps one particularly talented like Confucius, Buddha or Rosseau? Secularist advocates believe that existence can be explained though a series of random occurrences that involve no intelligent creative force and that life ultimately concludes with meaningless, eternal disappearance from existence.
  Secularist advocates might be right. I don’t think they are. I pray they’re not. But I don’t have the personal knowledge about the supernational needed to make an overwhelming argument. What I am is one of more than a billion people who believe that Creation involves a Creator, whom we are not able to fully understand or comprehend.
  We further believe that our Creator chose to send a message to His creations, a message that would ultimately culminate in a miracle designed to provide hope throughout the world, throughout its existence. That message was sent, deliberately, at a time before cell phones could record the events, before tape recorders could capture the words, before primitive cameras could capture shadowy images. The message asked for faith. The very act of accepting it demanded faith to begin with.
  And it was upon that message that humankind has grown in knowledge, spirit and charity. As flawed as we are, we have made many, many mistakes. We have sinned horribly, sometimes in the name of religion, more often in the service of selfish secularism. But it is that message that still echoes over the millennia. A message of hope. A message from the beyond. A message that starts and is symbolized by an empty tomb. No believer ought belittle it.
  Email: richtrzupek@gmail.com