Fr. Stephen Jones

Catholic priest (Dio Jeff City), Cathedral Rector, hubby & dad (it can happen!). Enjoyer of TCU football, Tex-Mex, Whataburger, & MMA!

[Stan Collymore @StanCollymore]

Why the USA will never be a football superpower.

Pay to play.

In England, from 10 to 16 I payed junior football. The teams were mostly started by a parent who wanted, for free, to give kids a team to play in. Those teams then joined FA sanctioned leagues ( Lichfield league, Walsall league in my case). Subs were about 50p a game ( subs are a fee for admin, pitch hire, referee).

The model in England hasn't changed much, save for the fact there's fewer teams and fewer leagues. But the cheap to play model, meaning the poor and rich can play equally, holds.

I'm staying with one of my best mates in Miami. Had a late night conversation 2 nights ago. 2 kids that play football.

$4000 per season, per child to play for a team.

Why?

US junior leagues are private enterprises (shock). The US equivalent of the Football Association offers no grassroots football, no level 1 to 3 cheap badges for Moms or Dads to take so they can coach the basics, no structure locally or nationally of organised leagues, just profiteers who start up a league, charge a fortune, and if you're a poor Messi-esque talent from the wrong part of Miami, sure you can buy a ball and play on a patch of grass, but forget organised football, you can't afford it.

So imagine, in a nation of 350 million, how many kids they're missing out on and will continue to after this successful World Cup for them.

Money, greed, pay to play.

99.9% of greats to play the game wouldn't have made it in America. Because they couldn't afford $4000 ( plus) to play. In subs my Mom probably paid £200 total over 6 or 7 years of junior football.

America, it's not all about money you know, it's about opportunity for all too. And you're pricing generation after generation out of the chance to be a part of this incredible sport you've seen first hand.

To the US Federation. Do fucking better. Organise local and national junior leagues, van profiteering, offer cheap coaching badges for parents who want to give their time for free to America's kids.

Football. Accessible to all.

[Fr. Stephen Jones @FrJonesey]

Same with me. My dad was born in 1930, career military…and if I heard him say “damn” (which I may’ve heard him say two or three times), I knew things were serious.

[Charles Murray @charlesmurray]

My father grew up working class and only later became a manager. I never heard him or any of his friends say anything stronger than "damn." I can't vouch for how they talked in private, but it must be hard for Gen Z, or even late-born Boomers, to imagine never hearing anything stronger than "damn" from their parents, their parents' friends, on television, on the radio, or in films. But I'm not making it up. Mine was a common experience growing up in the 1950s.

[Charles Murray @charlesmurray]

My father grew up working class and only later became a manager. I never heard him or any of his friends say anything stronger than "damn." I can't vouch for how they talked in private, but it must be hard for Gen Z, or even late-born Boomers, to imagine never hearing anything stronger than "damn" from their parents, their parents' friends, on television, on the radio, or in films. But I'm not making it up. Mine was a common experience growing up in the 1950s.

[Rorate Caeli @RorateCaeli]

Bishop of Oslo on SSPX Consecrations: I understand you the faithful want the Latin Mass, I will expand its availability

https://t.co/gS3f5Lerxm

[Fr. Stephen Jones @FrJonesey]

Roasted!!!

[Merriam-Webster @MerriamWebster]

Why is it ‘cancelled’ in the U.K. but ‘canceled’ in the U.S.?

Because we gave them that L in 1776.

[Othonia Inc @OthoniaInc]

“Direct observation of the Shroud shows that it was subjected to very steep
thermal gradients […] Those parts of the image that intersect scorches were observed to have identical color tone and density as the image areas at the farthest distance from scorches.
- SCHWALBE 1978

[Fr. Stephen Jones @FrJonesey]

Simple Share Buttons https://t.co/1y4sMiG7qH #simplesharebuttons

[Fr. Stephen Jones @FrJonesey]

Love me the Scots!

[Fr. Stephen Jones @FrJonesey]

This video reminds me of the German exchange student I hosted in the spring of 1989. He was blown away by so many things, but especially the food. His 1st night with us, we ate at Chili’s and he had 2 cheese burgers and 2 fries and drank about 12 cokes.

[Sensurround @ShamashAran]

https://t.co/8xorv6FtwK

[Fr. Stephen Jones @FrJonesey]

For those of us who came of age in the 70s and 80s.

[Johnny Midnight ⚡️ @its_The_Dr]

If you want to know why your Knees and Back Hurts this may help you understand! 🤣

[Nature Unedited @NatureUnedited]

There are two types of dogs: those who love water and those who don't

[Fr. Stephen Jones @FrJonesey]

Best tweet of the day!
Not gonna lie, though, I am enjoying all the comments and “first impressions” of our guests from around the world!

[Patrick Ruffini @PatrickRuffini]

The World Cup tourists have discovered Buc’ees

[Paulina Guzik @Guzik_Paulina]

In what will certainly become one of the most fundamental speeches of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV told the Spanish Parliament, before receiving a 7-minute standing ovation: "The defense of human life is neither a partisan issue nor a confessional interest: it is a goal of civilization."

"If life ceases to be recognized as a fundamental value, what future can our societies have?" he said, speaking to a gathering of politicians, many supporting abortion and euthanasia.

"Can a community that casts into the shadows the unborn child, the elderly, the sick, those who suffer in silence, or those who depend entirely on the care of others be called fully just?"

"Every human life must be recognized and safeguarded from conception to its natural end, in every circumstance of its existence. When this certainty is obscured, the most vulnerable are the first victims, and the law loses its deepest meaning: to serve and protect every person."

"For this reason, the moral greatness of a nation is manifested, above all, in its capacity to accompany, protect and love those lives that are most fragile," he said, repeating what John Paul II emphasized decades ago.

Starting his speech he commented that Church's is the "message offered in the spirit of service to the human person."

"When the Church addresses anything concerning public life, she does so while respecting the proper mission of institutions and the legitimate responsibility of those who have received the mandate to legislate," Pope Leo said, emphasizing "the Church offers a reflection born of the desire to serve the common good."

He hailed Spain as country that "has known how to view the human being as more than just a cog in the social, economic or political order. It has recognized the human being as a creature open to truth, endowed with freedom, and driven by a thirst for eternity that no temporal reality can quench -- in a word, as someone whose dignity takes precedence over all utility and to whose service legislative action is subject."

He said it was Catholic orders that "helped to shape a legal and moral consciousness capable of remembering that authority always entails responsibility and that every human being must be recognized as a subject of rights and duties."

"That aspiration continues to resonate today: that dignity, justice and the common good should be the measure of social relations, both at the national and international levels."

Referring multiple times to his "Magnifica Humanitas" encyclical, he said: "When the common good ceases to be a shared horizon, public action runs the risk of fragmenting into partial interests, incapable of safeguarding what belongs to all."

"In this context, the family — the primary human reality and the natural foundation of the community — takes on particular importance," Pope Leo said.

"The family will always be the first school of humanity, where one learns, before anywhere else, the basic grammar of living together: welcoming life, caring for others, forgiving, serving and belonging."

"Human life can never be treated as a commodity," the pope said.

"A law does not attain its true greatness merely by having been formally enacted; it attains it when, in addition to being valid in form, it can stand before the dignity of the person and pass that test without shame."

"I invite you, then, to lift your gaze to the world around you, not to turn away from reality, but to remember that every decision by public authorities affects real people, especially those who have less power to make their voices heard."

"The expanse of one’s vision consists precisely in looking more deeply at what is at stake in every public decision. This is why, alongside technical solutions and legal reforms, a moral renewal is also needed."

Video: Vatican Media
(fragment of speech follows)

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Unless you become the media, you will never know the truth

[toadz @GMFP__]

B2A‼️ @svnvzncreative @AaronGreen22

[Fr. Stephen Jones @FrJonesey]

Excited and nervous to undertake this new assignment. I ask your prayers for both Fr. Greg and me!

[James Anderson White @jamesawhiite]

It’s imperative that we revert to STANDARD, not Daylight time, for two reasons, one of which you may have never considered.

You know the first: solar noon is closest to 12 o’clock all year. That means an equal number of hours before and after noon each day.

This also means earlier sunrises which are significantly better for establishing a healthy circadian rhythm.

The second reason is that nearly ONE THIRD of US counties are in the wrong timezone.

A significant swath of the country isn’t only an artificial hour ahead because of daylight time… but TWO HOURS ahead of true solar time.

Year-round daylight time, especially without recalibrating time zones, would establish this error permanently, affecting millions of Americans.

We should be letting the Sun dictate the day the way God made it. Arbitrary, artificial tampering would be worse for us all.

Fix the time zones and affix standard time.