100 days until the Return to Racing at Belmont Park!
Go behind the scenes with @samanthagperry for a closer look at the racing surfaces taking shape ahead of September 18. ⤵️
Imagine this 19 year old kid hitting the beach and wading through the hell on Earth that was Iwo Jima, not knowing if he'd live another second. But he's made it to 2026 and his nation's 250th. And still a badass.
So the Pope met with David Axelrod last week. David Axelrod. Obama's campaign architect. A man who is not Catholic, has never met a pope before, and whose entire career has been engineering political narratives for the American left.
And then, by pure coincidence, the Pope immediately started lobbing shots at the Trump administration, and three US Cardinals popped up on 60 Minutes doing the same thing.
All organically, I'm sure.
I'm a practicing Catholic. I need you to understand that part. But in my opinion, Trump has all the right to lash out at him. Maybe you'll disagree, but in the end, Trump talks like Trump. Water is wet. I'm talking about MY Church being run like a DNC satellite office but with a golden throne.
This is the same Vatican that watched governments padlock churches during COVID and said nothing. That let Biden take communion while funding abortion and said nothing. That fired Bishop Strickland for defending actual Church doctrine. That removed Bishop Fernández in Puerto Rico for defending religious exemptions THE CATECHISM ITSELF supports.
But somehow Trump is the threat to human dignity.
Pope Francis was bad. Leo has turned out to be worse. Francis at least was vague about his politics. Leo went and hired the consulting firm.
The man has ignored the slaughter of Christians across Nigeria, the Sahel, India, Syria, Bangladesh, Pakistan. Hundreds of believers murdered, churches burned, pastors kidnapped. His response? Platitudes about dialogue.
OF COURSE he won't even name who's doing the killing.
But he'll fly across continents to make interfaith gestures the week after his people coordinated a media hit on a sitting US president.
The weaponization of belief is obvious. You get the Pope to pick a fight with Trump, and suddenly millions of conservative Catholics have to choose between their faith and their vote.
The Bethlehem manger wasn't random; it was prophetic.
A lot of folks don't realize that when the Bible talks about Jesus being laid in a manger, the Greek word for it is "phatne," which just means a feeding trough. In Bethlehem back then, these were often carved from stone.
What's really striking about this is the shepherds around there. They raised lambs specifically for Temple sacrifices. Right after birth, they'd check each lamb for any flaws and put the perfect ones in a manger to keep them safe from getting hurt, since only spotless lambs could be used in offerings to God.
So here comes the Lamb of God himself, placed in the exact spot where those sacrificial lambs were protected.
And who do the angels tell about his birth? Not rulers or religious leaders, but these shepherds, guys who knew all about sacrifice, blood, purity, and flawless lambs.
When the angels said, "You'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12), it clicked for them right away.
This wasn't some ordinary child. He was the ultimate Lamb, the one who'd remove the world's sin. From day one, Jesus was set apart for sacrifice, not by people, but by God.
"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)
*Jesus is the reason for the season.
Merry Christmas!
@mcewenba@ThatJewishLady @TaraBull808 Thanks for explaining this! My husband paid into SS for many years BEFORE he became a firefighter…. When he retired from fire dept, and got on SS he was only being paid 20% of the SS benefits that he earned at his pre-Fire Department job…… 🤷🏼♀️ he’s not getting EXTRA SS now.