Our state used to be first among states in this great nation. Now itis quickly becoming a hollow shell that cannot take care of itself. The citizens are voting with their feet. They are leaving! If you happen to be out of the state and want to get back to California, U Haul will gladly give you a great deal. They have all kinds of equipment leaving the state but very little coming into it. People are moving out of California and few are moving into it. If it wasn’t for immigration from foreign lands and their need to stay near family and previously established ethnic communities, the state would be shrinking. Unfortunately, most of those leaving are the high income earners, the business people, the millionaires and the retired wealthy who refuse to stay in a state which offers them little other than confiscatory tax rates, high fees, low services and ineffective government. Consider the following.

• The state of California has the highest Workers Compensation costs in the nation. Employers pay the higher premiums for these Workers Compensation costs.

• Only Michigan and Mississippi have a higher unemployment rate than California and 39 states have substantially lower rates. Employers’ unemployment insurance rates are directly affected by the rate of usage of unemployment insurance.

• California has the highest marginal tax rate for personal income on the state level, maxing out at a whopping 10.3 percent. People do consider this when they have wealth and decide where to live.

• California has the highest state sales tax at 7.25 percent and among the most inclusive of all sales taxes. This adds over $2,100 to the cost of a $30,000 car before licensing fees! New Jersey is second at 7 percent. Again, if given a choice, why not live where less of the money you spend is grabbed by the state.

• California has the highest gas prices in the continental United States due to overbearing state regulations and poor decision making by government officials, including their mandating additives that actually poisoned our public water ways, then reversing course with the costs of the refining changes being passed on to the California consumer.

• California ranks 23rd in spending on public schools but this is severely under reported as it does not include school construction costs and interest on bonds which voters regularly vote in throughout the state. Bond costs are typically added onto the cost of real estate.

• Only 66 percent of California students graduate, ranking us 29th in the nation. This affects both employers looking for a skilled work force and families worried about the environment in which they raise their family.

• We are the 10th most dangerous state in the nation to live.

This is why our neighbors in Nevada and Arizona are booming. Most of their population growth is Californians fleeing a state that has largely been without effective leadership for over twenty years. Now we find ourselves in yet another budget crisis and the first words out of the mouths of our so called leaders are “revenue enhancements” which is a polite way of saying ‘raise their taxes and increase their fees.’ It is akin to the Queen being told, “The people have no bread,” and responding, “Well then, let them eat cake.” They simply have no idea of the problem and no desire to face up to that problem.

We are already the most taxed state in the nation. Many of those taxes are hidden in fees and higher costs. When gas costs 50 cents more in California because of burdensome regulations; that is a tax on consumers. When houses costs $50,000 to $100,000 more because of government fees and regulations, that is a tax on consumers. When cars costs $1,500 more because of stricter emissions standards, that too is a tax on consumers. When you include the extra costs we incur because of government regulation, our tax rates become absolutely burdensome and confiscatory. Add the extra costs of liability insurance because we seem to all be suing each other hoping to win a chance at the “good life” that perhaps we now feel is out of our reach and the problem become worse than ever.

The City of Vallejo is a prime example of what is to come. We are becoming a nation of those with very good jobs with large firms, those who work for the government and then the lower class who fall below the radar and live in a sort of sub-culture. Those with the very good jobs or who work for government and thus can negotiate increasingly lucrative contracts do well. Those others soon realize that to have a chance to make good, they must leave the state. When the holders of good jobs have made their wealth, often including those that made it in government jobs by holding the tax payer as hostage to the services they offer, they often end up retiring out of state so as to hang on to the wealth they have acquired. (Many police and firemen regular make over $100,000 per year when the average income in California is $43,000.)

In Vallejo this outflow of productive people and wealth resulted in declining revenue until they could no longer afford the lucrative government union contracts. The result is the first major city to file bankruptcy so as to avoid unreasonable retirement payments. Nobody wins, not the worker, not the tax payer and certainly not the people depending on their retirement which no longer is what they expected. The immorality is the lack of real action by government leaders. They still don’t have a budget and the ideas they have spoken are nothing more than patches to help us limp through another year. It also lies in the, ‘Get what I can now and worry bout consequence later,’ often taken in labor negotiation, especially when negotiating with politicians more worried about the labor vote than the entity’s financial stability.

The real problem is that the tax base is eroding and that it cannot support the level of payment burden being thrust upon it. When times are good the state can tax the income of corporations and the rich to provide income but any slowdown means that this slim tax base has a sharp reduction in income and the state has an even sharper reduction in tax income. Too many Californians are in the subculture, not paying taxes because they don’t really have a piece of the pie being negotiated by the elite and the elite can’t support the benefits they elect for themselves. This cycle will not end until the fundamentals change and there seems to be no hint of real change coming out of Sacramento.

What will happen when the tax base becomes so slim and the numbers with their hands out becomes so large that the system will no longer work? Will we become the next Mississippi? When I studied Economics there was one steadfast rule. The state with the worst of anything economically was Mississippi. Perhaps California will fill that role in the future. Who has the worst unemployment rate? Why California, of course. Who has the highest poverty rate (Even while having among the highest per capita income … a sign of the inequity of the system.)? Why California, of course! Who has the highest welfare numbers? Why California of Course. Who has the most corrupt and inefficient government? We don’t have to wait for the future to answer that one! It’s California, of course!

Our governor, legislators, large city mayors and council members think that they can solve global warming, provide sanctuary for illegal immigrants, bring peace to the world and solve the world’s energy crisis but the one thing they can’t do is their job! They can’t get electricity to their citizens, build dams to provide water to our homes, provide services at reasonable rates, they can’t build roads that work without congestion, provide access roads to the forests or cut away dangerous undergrowth. They can’t provide much needed evacuation routes to save lives; they can’t give us schools that work or even a budget that makes sense or is anywhere near on time. Yet they think that only they can save the world! They just have no idea as to how it works or what their job entails. The sad part is that we keep on sending them back to that job. What kind of fool does that make us or are we part of this unholy alliance?

But here we are and slowly we are returning to normal. It is slow though and it will take a bit of time for all of us to calm down. Still, it is not quite yet paradise in Paradise just yet. The smoke and ash still linger. In an area that receives nearly 100 inches of rain annually, I never thought I would miss rain storms. I do! I can’t wait for the rain. Lots of it! Deludes of it. Anything to wash away this ash, burnt leavings and the smell of destruction. I wish it would pour inches and inches for weeks on end. No such luck though. I am afraid we are in for months of hot weather and need to be on alert. The danger is far from over.

I took in an orange tabby cat refugee from the fire. He fled into an evacuated home and was locked in for five days without food and water. He is still traumatized by the experience. He spends a lot of time under the bed. He is fine in the moments when he allows me to pet him but otherwise it’s back under the bed. I think he reflects a lot of our attitudes at this time. We are just fine as long as we don’t smell smoke, hear a siren or find some other unexpected obstacle to our day. Like this cat, now named “Harley” in honor of a perhaps overreaching dream for the future, we are all a bit on edge. The suitcases are still packed … just in case. The fire is still burning out there somewhere. It’s under control but not out. We’ve relaxed before only to be surprised and nearly overwhelmed. Too many neighbors have lost everything and too many others have had too many close calls. Where is that rain? Maybe I’ll go see how Harley is under that bed.

We should however give thanks. Thanks for the firefighters who responded from all over the state, from out of state and even from out of the country to come to one of the largest fires in our history. Thanks for all the police and volunteers who ensured that all but one got out of the way of the flames, thanks to the heroes who helped neighbors save their property and all of those unselfish people who reached into their pockets to help those who suffered losses; and thanks to God for helping us to get through this as a community and helping us to preserve the beauty of Paradise. We should give thanks that it did not spread into the town proper and did not go into the worst of all areas, Magalia which would have been a true nightmare to evacuate. Paradise was hard enough.

We should also pray for the poor soul who started the first fire which now appears to be arson. May the Lord forgive him or her this great sin which caused at least one death, uprooted thousands of families, destroyed the homes of at least five families and caused millions in damage to people’s property and cost millions more as thousands of firefighters left their families and risked their lives to get the fire under control. Many of these firefighters were injured. May the culprits find a way in their life to make up for all the damage they have caused and find a way to somehow overcome this great deficit to make some kind of positive impact on the world. To do so they have a lot of work to do.

Lord, bless our community. Help us through this summer and help us to recover from these fires. Bless those who have suffered loss and guide them to full recovery. Lead those who have caused such pain to repentance and conversion and guide us to forgiveness. Help us Lord to emerge from this ashes renewed in our faith, united in our community and full of faith and love in our Lord. Thank you Lord for your presence among us and please Lord, stay with us always. We ask this Father, filled with the Spirit in the name of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

The enemy is busy elsewhere in the state and we were force to par down our troops to support those efforts yet reports of continued activity in our area were steadily coming in. Ariel bombardments continued daily and the psychological and biological warfare is wearing us down. It is hard to breath, to see and to operate in this gloomy atmosphere. The sun, if seen at all, hangs like a dull pumpkin in the dark gray sky in a surreal landscape. Ashes cover everything and it smells like a chimney. It’s dangerous to even walk outside without a mask. We’ve already been under seize for a month and no end is in sight. Sidewalks are nearly empty and those few people seen outside are well covered and protected by life saving masks.

Now the enemy is striking from a new direction. It has completely circled around us and is attacking from the south and east. We have been forced to evacuate our medical facilities and one third of the city’s populace has fled its threat. The ashes are as bad as ever and we all wait to see how our troops will hold out against this latest onslaught. We have set up our defenses along a branch of the Feather River that gives us some advantage against their uncanny ability to leap wide spaces. Meanwhile, life as we know it has virtually come to a standstill. We wait for the results of the current battle.

How did we get to this point? Why did we give up our responsibility to responsibly manage our forest to environmental extremism? Why don’t we have timber roads that would allow firemen access to the fires? Why don’t we allow some cutting that would also bring about a clearing of undergrowth and debris? Why do we let a few people who live in cities dictate how we who live in rural areas manage our forests? Why do we give priority to every species except humans? Fire is nature’s way of clearing away debris or, we could put those forests to use for human consumption as God meant them to be and manage them so humans benefit and fires are not needed.

Well managed forests allow the best trees to grow, cut away weaker trees for consumption and clear away undergrowth as part of that operation. What’s more is that instead of costing the state money, the state actually makes money off the bids for the timber or for Christmas trees. If a fire breaks out, firefighters find easy access through the roads foresters have made and little fuel due to the clearing away of debris. That is the way we used to manage forests and it worked well until the limousine foresters got involved. Now we all suffer, people, forests and animals; while they sip self righteous cocktails in high rise cities. We let it happen. Who did it hurt? Let’s hope that last line of defense holds.

It has already been a long summer. We’ve had fires, smoke, pollution, evacuations, loss, death, power outages, heat, event cancellations, great discomfort and high anxiety. Then we have had more fires. Lord, help us. We ask you to show mercy upon this Ridge Community. Families have lost their homes, people have been frightened and millions of dollars have been lost. Our community has been brought to a standstill as we wait for the next crisis, the next evacuation or the next notice of loss. Our lungs are damaged, our spirits are beat up and we are tired of living in a large BBQ pit.

We ask you Lord for relief. Send us rain without lightening, cool days without wind and a quick end to the fires that burn around us. We pray Lord that you intervene on our behalf and bring about a change in the weather. We ask that you guide the hands of the fire and emergency personnel fighting these flames and protecting our community and that you reassure the thousands who have had to evacuate. We are tired Lord and we’ve had enough. As always it is your will that we bow to, so we can only implore that you demonstrate your divine mercy. Whatever you decide Father, you know that you have our love and loyalty but oh how we yearn for the Paradise of old and to be able to relax in our homes without having a suitcase by the door.

Your Son, Jesus Christ died so that we may live in freedom but He also told us to pray unceasingly for those things we want. Let this be part of that unceasing prayer. We need relief Lord. Please send your Spirit upon those who protect us from these fires to give them strength and wisdom. Send your Spirit as well Lord upon those who have suffered relocation and loss to give them courage and hope. And please Lord, send us some relief in the weather. We ask this Lord, guided by the Spirit, in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. May you bless Paradise, Magalia, and the entire Ridge community with your compassion and Mercy!

AMEN

Barak Obama recently chided McCain for a policy that proclaims, “We can drill our way out of the current problem.” He also criticized him for backing nuclear power without a complete solution having been achieved for nuclear waste and for proposing a tax cut on fuel as a help to consumers as too little to matter. Did you hear the thunderous silence that followed these statements? It is the silence of the alternatives he put forth. He had absolutely none!

If we can’t drill for oil or build nuclear plants, are we to start building solar panels on every square inch of American soil? Will that be faster or more practical? Perhaps we should all put windmills on the top of our houses? Then, at least on windy days, we could turn on our lights! Is that to much to ask of the people in charge? Give us some solutions people! If we can’t drill for oil because it will take too long and we can’t build nuclear because it’s not yet perfect, so what can we do? Do we go back to horses and buggies? What about the waste they produce? Do we begin producing methane gas from huge piles of horse manure in the center of New York City?

We can’t drill up to 12 miles off our shores but somehow it’s okay for other countries to do so 13 miles out or where their territory crosses ours such as off Cuba? It’s dangerous for U.S. countries to drill for oil there but okay for China, Cuba and Mexico to do so? Oh, a platform off our shores might cause an oil spill, so instead, let’s import oil in giant super oil tankers from enemies overseas and have them sale our pristine waters, right next to the garbage barges from liberal eastern cities! They won’t spill any oil and they are much safer, right? Sure they are … yeah, right.

Actually, it’s all okay because we are going to invent a new source of energy called allfornothinggogood. McCain said so because he would create thousands of Manhattan projects creating just such a miracle by offering the winner $300,000,000. I am sure you want your neighbor playing with these chemicals in his garage hoping to be the next J. Paul Getty. Oops, there goes the southern half of Magalia. Guess that new super battery just didn’t work out. I hate to break it to these Hollywood Moguls but the Manhattan project didn’t come out of nothing and was hardly a backyard project. Apple Computer may have started in a garage but it was based on finding new applications and uses from the work of NASA, IBM, and other giants. They thought outside the box, they did not invent something totally new.

We are not living in the movies. Good intentions won’t do it. We can’t swing across town on webs or leap tall buildings in a single bound and we can’t wish our way out of $4.50 a gallon gas. But there are solutions to the energy crisis. Its hard work and realistic goals set by grounded government officials depending on the private sector! Yes, we need to find alternatives and it will take billions of dollars of research and decades of work, much of which has already begun. It may be hydrogen cells; it may be an alternative fuel. It may include tidal action and it most definitely will not be corn ethanol which is the boondoggle Congress has set on the American people in two centuries.

It will probably be the following: Oil, which will remain a large portion of our energy supply for decades and which also, provides the basis for most products we use as plastic is an oil derivative. We need to drill, period! The fact is we hold more oil than Saudi Arabia. That we refuse to access it is pure insanity and national suicide. Coal will also be a part of the solution. Nobody has more coal than we do. Liquefied coal can be burned quite cleanly. It is more expensive than the raw product but quite competitive to oil. Nuclear is an absolute must. We invented nuclear and have allowed ourselves to fall far behind. Not only can nuclear power be used to provide power with zero emissions but it can be used to provide a cheap source of fresh water to coastal states. Power plants can generate electricity by day and process fresh water by night when electrical demand is low.

Solar and wind power are part of the mix but; the, oh so non Hollywood reality is that they will never be more than a minor part. The fact is that both are inefficient and unreliable. Windless or cloudy days mean unreliable power and modern society cannot be so dependent on nature for its needs. We are a scientific and machine driven society and we should realize that we need cheap sources of energy or our modern way of living and progress as a society is a thing of the past. Those that fly in private jets and are driven in private limos don’t tell you the truth that they want you to park your car and take up your bicycle but they have no intention of doing so themselves. Their houses remain at 68 degrees while they expect you to swelter in the heat, freeze in the cold, and reduce your standard of living so they can feel good about their life style.

We have been fed the biggest con of the century. We have been convinced to not seek the energy sources available and then told that the high prices for energy are to be expected in a world of scarce resources. We are told that it takes too long to go find the energy now but are given no alternatives other than higher prices and to do with less. The fact is that the elite are happy with higher prices because it puts “the masses” in our place and puts them in control where they feel they belong. They can now dictate to us how to live our lives and we are financially vulnerable because we allowed them to put us here.

The key questions in this election should be, will the candidate drill for oil? Will the candidate build refineries? Will the candidate build nuclear plants? Will the candidate provided incentives to industry to find alternative fuels? Only if they answer these four questions yes do they deserve our vote. If they don’t follow through they should be immediately impeached. If the judicial stands in the way, they should be immediately impeached. There is probably no more important decision in our lives. The fact is that democracy is dead without economic freedom and without energy there is no economy to speak about. It is not about being green and it is not about conservation. It is about having an economy that allows democracy to work. Energy is not an option. It is mother’s milk to our society.

What does this have to do with God? This is about justice and what is happening now is very unjust to a great many people, especially the poorest among us. Also, without our economy we will lose our freedom and without our freedom we will surely lose our ability to freely worship as we wish. I want to serve God, not some government elite.

Older adults are full of advice on what to do and how to do it. You, like most young people, will ignore most of this advice and make many of the same mistakes shared by previous generations. Few people are able to take advice to heart. We all think we are different and somehow immune to the problems others encountered. Those who do listen and try to avoid the same pitfalls others have experienced are blessed indeed, but perhaps it is only by making mistakes that we come to maturity. It is a passage towards humility which we must all take sooner or later and the sooner it is accomplished the better.

However, there is one bit of advice that you should all listen to and if I took a poll I am sure that 95% or more would agree with the one most important thing you should understand. It is the one thing your elders envy you for and the one reason we would like, perhaps, to change places with you. We older adults understand that being young is not easy. You are usually poor, have few assets, are going through continuous change in yourself and with those you depend on and you face many challenges. But you have one thing we all envy and that is potential. If there is one thing I wish you could understand is the potential you have at this time in your life.

Potential is the ability to accomplish goals and to remake yourself into something more than you are now. It is the ability to make a big difference, perhaps beginning now but mainly in the future. It is something that must be grasped as it exists and put to use for it become less and less potent with time. Potential lost now is gone forever and potential not utilized is soon lost. Potential is utilized when it is mixed with goals, work and determination. Together these ingredients will yield realization of becoming much more than you are now and of making a real contribution to the world.

You may feel that potential but may not understand how to put it to use. You have to have a worthwhile goal. That goal should be real and meaningful. “Making more money,” does not qualify! Not that money is bad but how will you use it? "Becoming famous," also does not qualify! What will you do with that fame? The world has plenty of rich and famous people who contribute little and perhaps cause the world to be worse that it would be. A worthy goal would always leave the world better than you found it. It should be integrated with the realization that you can not only be more than what you are today but that you are also part of something much larger than yourself. A life lived for one self is by nature, self destructive. A life lived for others can be beautiful and memorable.

This world needs young men and women of potential who see the beauty of life. It needs young people who do also see the corruption, moral decay, poverty and deceit so often found in life today and who refuse to accept it. The world needs warriors for the good life, for loving families, caring communities, and personal freedom that allows all to see and reach their potential as well. We need young men and women who are less worried about their own wealth and reputation and are more concerned with their own values, how they live out those values and how they add to the goodness of life in general.

In this high time in which you find yourself with new found freedom as well as face choices and an uncertain future, I hope and pray that you will take some quiet time to take stock of yourself and your potential. Instead of deciding now what position you want to hold someday, what type of house you want or what life style you can obtain, try deciding first what values you hold dear, what kind of person you want to be, how you want others to see you and what you want to contribute to the world in the way you live your life.

There will be many in this world who will try to beat down your ideals and tell you to “get real” but many of them will have already lost their potential. They will see your loss of values and standards of behavior as validation for their own poor behavior. Instead, why not stick to your ideals? You do not have to accept the corruption found in the world! Instead accept the good and fight the corruption. Dare to live your lives with high standards and values that make you an example for others to follow. You can be the generation that leads us to better times. You can be part of the great change that surely must come.

The world needs a caring generation that sees not just our problems but our capability as well. Your greatest potential is to be the catalyst that changes our path. We have had enough of the “me generation” that leaves so many lost and discouraged. We need a sense of community and a sense of the greater good. Your potential is to help bring about that change by adopting the positive outlook that can inspire others. Whatever you decide to do in the way of career, your greatest potential is not in what you do but in how you do it. It is not in what you accomplish but in who you are. Don’t sell yourself short. You only go through this life once. Make it count. Make yours a life of which both you and your descendants will be proud.

We will all face that last day and that last judgment far sooner than we care to contemplate. Before you know it your youth and your potential will slip away. Prepare now and be at peace with the life you will reflect on when that time comes. The only things worth earning in this life are intangibles. They cannot be carried, saved or hoarded. They can only be earned and once earned can never be lost. They begin with love and are built not only with good intentions but with good and honorable actions as well. These are the things that last forever and bind us with the one God who loves all.
Father Steven Foppiano

Since the 1980s we have made conscious decisions that have naturally led to the increase in gasoline prices. We have eliminated the opening of new oil fields in the United States. Since, unfortunately, the government is by far the majority owner of land in our country, its policies to eliminate drilling on those lands has virtually shut down the domestic exploration industry. There is enough oil to meet all our needs for at least 20 years in Alaska and Nebraska, not even counting the oil that lies off our shores. But we have chosen to place this oil off limits.

We can’t really say that we have done this for environmental reasons. What is more dangerous to the environment; a pipeline in Alaska copying proven technology that has not harmed the environment or placing our oceans at risk with the use of supertankers coming from half way across the world? Why is it better to drill for oil in the land of our enemies and ship it over dangerous tankers across the oceans rather than to pull oil from our own land in an area where the locals would welcome and have requested such activity and from which it would be transported via the relative safety of a pipeline?

We have chosen not to drill offshore because those in California and Florida are afraid of the potential for environmental damage, yet we have had large oil spills from tankers which we force onto the oceans by our lack of exploration. You cannot tell where it happened unless someone tells you because nature has cleaned up the mess far better than our human efforts. In fact, most of the human clean up activity was wasted as a little patience and allowing nature to work would have accomplished much the same thing. China and Cuba are now drilling just outside our 12 mile limit. Apparently the environmentalists think it is safer for foreigners to take our oil than for our own companies to do so. We have chosen to forgo this option as well.

We have also made the decision to set aside our leadership in nuclear energy and to virtually eliminate new nuclear power plants. Meanwhile France now draws nearly 100 percent of its electricity from clean burning and cheap nuclear sources while we pay through the nose to burn oil and coal for our electricity, thus adding to air pollution and the need for supertankers. Japan is close behind France and others are quickly following suit. Meanwhile our Navy is able to successfully and safely operate nuclear power plants in aircraft carriers and submarines with great efficiency. Current technology reuses plutonium until it is greatly reduced in power able to be safely stored but we have chose not to follow this path that we once established and which the rest of the world follows.

We have decided to mandate ethanol in fuel. This has caused all of our food prices to sky rocket and may kill millions who are now facing starvation due to a food shortage. It has done little to help fuel prices. Corn based ethanol is much less efficient than the sugar cane based ethanol of South America. If we put every inch of farmland in corn we might just contribute a net gain of 10 percent of our needed supplies. Of course, we would likely starve but the energy crisis would be slightly diminished. We could also put windmills on every hill and mountain or cover all of our open spaces with solar panels and we might get another ten percent of our needs. Of course, those same congressmen and senators who say this is the answer won’t allow such facilities near their own homes.

Neither of these last two options will help the supply problem The only actions that would; more oil, more exploration and nuclear power, have been eliminated and so the only option left is to force people out of cars, into colder winter homes and hot summer houses, and to decrease our industrial output. This we will do as gas prices get higher and higher. We are at least 20 years away from any technology that can be widely and efficiently used to replace oil so the only option left to is to reduce oil use. This is done as we downsize our cars; walk or ride bikes to work, take lesser jobs or accept unemployment as we watch millions starve. Of course such turmoil will cause more immigration, more wars and more human suffering but the environment might be a little better. This must be the plan because that is the natural result of the actions we have taken and the environmentalist think that prices are still too low.

If we don’t agree with this plan we may want to ask how we got to this place in history. The wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world decided to trade everything in for the illusion of helping the environment. I say illusion because one only has to take a look at third world countries to see real horrors of environmental damage. Poverty does not help save the environment, it helps to destroy it. As we place ourselves at a financial disadvantage and give our enemies greater power, we are also adding to the destabilization of the world and the poverty, starvation and death of millions in third world countries. Decades of real growth in these countries is about to be reversed because we listened to some extremist environmentalist instead of hard science and common sense. We may feel better about ourselves now but that won’t last long as our society begins to crumble and much of world peace with it.

If we don’t agree with the path we have been put on by our politicians and activists, then we have only one choice. We need to let our government know of our displeasure and then we need to vote out any who continue to follow this path towards self destruction. If we don’t and we continue down this path, then I fear not only for our country but for the many third world countries which are dependent upon our economy, our generosity and our cooperation. As we destroy our wealth we destroy these relationships as well. In that case may God help us all because we are headed for very bad times. The sad part is that we chose this path and will now reap what we have sown. Perhaps we can get off it while there is still time. I pray it is not already too late.

Father Steven Foppiano

For decades now we have failed to drill for new oil sources, even in those places which we know hold large deposits. We have failed to build new nuclear plants even as countries such as France have safely integrated such plants throughout their energy system and in the final irony; we have diverted thousands of acres of farm production to raising crops not for food but to turn into ethanol. The result could have been predicted by any freshman economics major. Rising fuel and food prices are now causing a world wide crisis and millions if not tens of millions have their very lives threatened.

According to the Associated Press; ‘Josette Sheeran, executive director of the U.N.'s food aid organization, ‘projects providing meals to children in Kenya, Cambodia and to poor families in Tajikistan have already been hit. There have also been reports of rice riots in Caribbean island nations. Twenty million humans are at risk and the problem could get much worse. As the crisis spreads, developed nations will be hard pressed to provide food for the poor of the world and the cost will rise dramatically.’ Decades of economic growth among the poorest of nations is now threatened and as a result, so is world peace. Prosperous growing nations that give hope to their people tend to remain peaceful. When the people are hurting, starving and dieing, you can expect national conflicts to follow.

So while Americans deny the reality of needing oil to power cars, deny the relative safety of nuclear power and deny the irresponsibility of diverting food from crops to fuel, the world at large becomes desperate and the needs of the poor are neglected. People are beginning to die so that we can feel good about ourselves. $4.00 a gallon gasoline is inconvenient for us but it is the difference between life and death for the needy. We need common sense solutions not politically motivated reactions. I hate that millions will die because we refuse to look at the issue seriously and refuse to take on our responsibility.

There is no problem with wanting clean energy sources but they have to be developed first. Until they are developed we continue to need oil. We won’t drill and pump it ourselves so we send billions to terrorists to ship it across the world to us. And millions will starve to death. We were afraid for the eggs of the bald eagles and, without proof, eliminated DDT not just from our nation but demanded that it be denied world wide. As a result millions have died and continued to die from malaria. Our response … “Lets send them nets!” How many want to walk around work and through town wearing a net in terribly hot weather? If we had allowed DDT to be produced and used in third world countries millions of people would still be alive today. If we had taken on the need to provide for our oil needs, millions of people would not be facing starvation today. Our failure to act responsibly has unleashed evil upon the world.

It is certainly nice to heat Pope Benedict talk so honestly about the affect of the abuse scandal on the Church and the chastising he gave the U.S. bishops was well deserved. What is even better though is the high regard and high expectations he expressed regarding the American Church. He acknowledged the American Catholic Church’s contribution to the Catholic effort to ease poverty and bring hope to the world and its contributions to this nation as well. As he pointed out, we are not a quiet church content to stand in the background while the secular world moves forward. We demand to be part of the secular world and to be able to live out our faith as good citizens. We do not see the faith we worship and the lives we live to be unconnected.

I think many, within and outside the Church have been pleasantly surprised at the enthusiastic reception this Pope received. From the largest gathering ever at the White House to the very large stadiums filled with the faithful to join in the Mass with their Pope, this was a welcome celebration of the Catholic faith and should give hope to Christians of all denominations. The Pope recognized the challenges we face but had enthusiastic hope that we would not only face these challenges but would overcome them and thrive in living out our faith. The naysayers were few and not well seen while the many enthusiastic faithful were clearly visible and loudly heard.

For me and many Catholics this was a welcome shot in the arm. The recent scandals have made us timid in proclaiming our faith. Now perhaps we can begin the healing and move on to the task at hand. We can get back to proclaiming the Gospel of our Lord in how we live out our lives and to seeking to influence the direction this country moves in the future. For too long our heads have been bowed due to the actions of a few and the castigation of many who also need to look to their own house. Now we can regain our mission to serve Christ and to truly be the Body of Christ in the world. Let the Kingdom of God reign wherever we are gathered.

Thank you Pope Benedict. May God bless you and protect you on your journey.

Father Steven Foppiano

Fidel warned the world that the new U.S. policy of promoting the use of ethanol would cause millions to starve. He is right. Already we have seen great increases in domestic food prices and overseas there have had riots in some countries as the price of rice and wheat rise precipitously. We have been for some time the great food basket of the world. Now, not only do we divert tens of thousands of acres of food production to the making of fuel, but we do so while paying farmers to leave much of their good farmland unused. Congress blew it. They failed to understand the basics of economics. Increase demand for a product and restrict supply and not only will prices go up but when it comes to food, the poor suffer the most.

Since congress decided to subsidize the making of ethanol to the tune of well over one dollar per gallon of our tax money, while making its use mandatory for domestic fuel, it is responsible for the suffering we see throughout the world. Any economist could have told them their actions would result in steep price increases and shortages. What’s worse is the wide spread effect of their action. They probably only thought about the price of corn going up because they failed to anticipate that grain and other crops would be diverted causing shortages in crops across the board, that feed for cattle and milk cows would go up thus causing the price of meat, milk and cheese to rise, and that many petroleum products would be devoured to produce this corn that would be turned into a substitute for oil. In effect, Congress failed to think out its policy. Instead it is debating steroid use in pro baseball as of this is a national crisis while ignoring the real crisis of $4.00 per gallon fuel prices and people going hungry because of their actions and inactions.

What makes this doubly sad is that the so called solution found in ethanol products is no solution at all. It is estimated that if every inch of farmland in the United States was changed over to produce ethanol, we would meet less than 10 percent of our national consumption. The fact is that our farmland should be used to making food, not fuel. The ironic part is that we have fuel sources. We have oil in Alaska, Nebraska and off shore that we refuse to drill for because we fear damage to the environment, damage that is always overestimated. Go to Alaska where the Exxon tanker spill was declared a disaster of mega proportions and you cannot see any lasting effects. Go to San Francisco Bay and try to find evidence of our most recent spill. You can’t. Such damage tends to be transitory and falls far short of the disaster stories we see on TV and are warned about.

Our failure to drill for our own oil is counter productive anyway. We fear what a pipeline in Alaska might do, even though we have already had experience in such pipelines and no damage to nature occurred; but we ignore the danger of supertankers carrying oil thousands of miles across our oceans and to our coastlines. We also ignore the obvious danger we create as we pay the most radical elements of the world for needed oil when much of that money ends up funding terrorist activities meant to kill Americans.

A smart policy would be to push the development of real alternative fuels but to realize that their coming onto the market in large quantities is decades away. The alternatives we have now in wind and solar power are good but very limited. In the meantime, we need oil and it makes no sense to transport that oil thousands of miles over the ocean and to buy it from our enemies when we can pay our own American brothers and sisters to find and drill for it right here on our own lands.

A good and smart policy would allow farmers to go back to growing food, would quit paying farmers to leave land fallow, would take full advantage of the oil we have in our own country and would fund the development of alternative fuels. If we let the industry drill for oil where we know it is, in the Midwest, in Alaska and off our coasts, if we build some nuclear plants and if we quit programs that divert food crops to fuel alternatives and keep good farmland from being used, we could afford to fund a great deal more research into alternative fuels. We could cut the price of food down, cut by two thirds the price of oil, and afford to have a reasonable fuel tax of say 25 cents to fund research and development.

We should also realize that big oil is quite happy with the current policies. They have failed to build a new refinery in decades because that allows them to restrict supply and keep prices up. They don’t mind shortage of supplies because they profit when oil prices shoot up. During all of our shortages oil profits only go up, as does the revenue of the government which collects a percentage off the top. We could go in and create more competition by some anti trust moves to separate the distribution of fuel from the refinery and drilling processes. Break up the big oil companies and let competition reign. It is amazing what happens when we allow capitalism to work and quite distressing as to how fouled up things can get, like now, when the government tries to control everything.

Let’s tell congress to get off its duff and give us some real energy legislation. Either that or we should vote them all out. I for one do not believe gas should be anywhere near $4.00 per gallon and I deplore that our policies will lead to the poor starving. All the while our government and big oil; as well the big farm corporations that receive most of the government handouts, all grow richer while our budgets get stretched. We deserve better government than this. Unfortunately it is the government we have given ourselves. You know something is wrong when I agree with Fidel Castro. That in itself is proof that our government had turned the world upside down.

Let’s get back to sensible decisions based on real economics. Then we can work to make this a better world. Right now we are doing more harm than good and that is a sin.

The above quotation is from prominent Hamas cleric and member of the Palestinian parliament, Yunis al-Astal, as aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV and translated by Mimri TV. This occurs as former President Jimmy Carter made his unauthorized and ill conceived visit to “talk” with Hamas. According to WorldNet Daily, at the same time a top political adviser to Hamas called Carter a "noble person." WorldNet Daily also reported that in an interview with Hamas political advisor Ahmed Yousuf, Yousuf said he believed Carter’s meeting with Hamas could hoist the group’s public image and that he believed Carter “knows what is needed to achieve peace.” What would that be, a declaration of surrender?

Meanwhile Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel, killing civilians, continues to hold three Israeli soldiers hostage, and continues to send suicide bombers across the border. This is also the group that killed over 200 marines at the bombing of the marine barracks in Beirut and is now telling women and children that it is their duty as Muslims to wear bombs to kill Jews.

Jimmy Carter started the whole mid-east crisis with his handling of the Iranian takeover of the U.S. embassy which drug out into a hostage situation that lasted nearly a year and a half, disgraced the United States for its perceived impotence and ultimately cost Carter his second term of the Presidency. The American people became fed up with his antics and overwhelmingly elected Ronald Reagan who explicitly quit calling those held in Iran “hostages” and began using the term “prisoners of war.” The Iranians got the idea. On Carter’s last day of being President and just hours before Ronald Reagan became President, all hostages were unconditionally released. Carter’s ineptitude had kept them in captivity and their nation ridiculed for 444 days. It demonstrated to the radical Muslims just what was possible when the U.S. failed to act on its principals and its leadership lacked the courage of this nation’s convictions.

Today we are in a post 9-11 world with 3,000 civilian casualties, 4,000 soldiers killed, fighting directly in two Muslim countries against those who would love to see us destroyed and are fighting indirectly the very nation Carter ushered into power, post revolutionary Iran. The radicals in that world are threatening to destroy the center of the world’s largest Christian Church as a launching point towards taking over all of Western Europe and the Americas. Westerners are regularly kidnapped and publicly decapitated, tortured and maimed by these extremists, women and children are being used by Hamas to kill innocent civilians with bombs, and this group regularly launches missiles into Israel in the hopes of killing any Jews. All of this and the man who started it all decided to jump back into the fray in an unauthorized “diplomatic” attempt to bring peace.

Jimmy Carter has already shown that he had little love for the Jewish state of Israel and has held it to be responsible for the lack of peace in the Middle East. He has even very wrongly referred to its government as one of apartheid. He is perhaps the only one to have used this term for the government of Israel as it is so far from the truth. There is no separation between Arab and European Jews, or other Jewish citizens of other faiths. Now he is embracing a very radical group of Muslims who have openly declared their hate not only for Jews and Americans but who have now set their sights on destroying the Catholic Church.

Jimmy Carter is a dangerous and delusional man with a large mean streak. Who else would use the funeral of the wife of Martin Luther King to blast the President of the United States who was seated behind him and who had and continued to treat Carter politely despite the surprise personal attack? When he ran for reelection the American people had come to realize how dangerous he was and overwhelmingly kicked him out of office. Maybe we can take a quick vote and not let him back in when he returns from the Middle East.

We would be well served if this were possible but would be guilty of great sin against the rest of the world. Unfortunately Jimmy Carter is our problem and it is a great embarrassment that we must claim him as a former leader. We should pay no attention to this latest adventure of his. It is the work of a small man with narrow thoughts and dangerous inclinations of self grandeur. Yes, I know he has done much for Habitat for Humanity and other charities but he has done far more harm in other areas. Also others have pointed out that his service to these charities comes with demands for first class airfare, hotels, and staff. It is not all altruism.

Jimmy Carter is a disgrace. He coddles murderers, works against the legitimate authorities and complicates foreign policy, all for the sake of his own overdeveloped sense of importance. He says the State Department never warned him against the trip but fails to mention that he never checked with it or the administration before announcing his plans. The President; elected by the people, in consultation with the elected Senate and to a lesser extent the elected House of Representatives, is the only lelgitimate authority in foreign agreements and negotiations for this country. The State Department reports to our elected President and the President works through the State Department. Carter does not fit into this constitutional equation. He has no authority; legally, morally or otherwise. He once did, but proved himself to be incompetent in foreign matters as our president and was fired. He has only grown worse with time.

He may think he is serving the Gospel but I see no sign of the humility of Jesus in him and certainly none of the wisdom. I do see signs of a narrow minded man, despondent at his own defeats and desperate to win back some credibility, no matter what it might cost his nation, victims of terrorism, and the nation of Israel. It is a sad matter that we have to continue to endure his antics. He should receive zero support and much condemnation. Hopefully he will return to Plains, Georgia. I pray he is a better Sunday school teacher then he is a diplomat. At least there the damage he can do is contained and localized.

We live in a world that is ruled by brute force. Nations practice diplomacy backed by powerful armies and economic power. Politicians bend to power in the legislation they pass and use it ruthlessly towards rivals. No means seems out of bounds when it comes to destroying political rivals. Policy after policy is enacted to help the poor and increase education but we continually are frustrated by an entrenched bureaucracy set on protecting its own existence. On a personal level we may find ourselves in a workplace where those with less qualifications rise in position, where favoritism reigns and the good seem to lose out. Those we look up to, especially sports heroes, may have let us down with their personal behavior. Often even our families disintegrate because of personal betrayal. The world often seems full of selfishness, meanness and betrayal.

In all of this we proclaim the very different message of Jesus Christ. He tells us that if we want to find true life we must first die to ourselves, put aside our own aspirations and desires and look to what we can do those in need. We are told to eschew the gathering of personal power and instead seek to serve. The greatest among us must make ourselves the servant to the least among us. We should look past the failings of others, find forgiveness in our hearts and love even our enemies. He does not promise us that we will then be rewarded with an easy life. In fact, he warns us that it may lead to a life of strife and suffering. But we will have these no matter how we live our lives. However in our living the life Jesus calls us to we will find that life can be peaceful and fulfilling. What’s more, it will be a life which matters for the good of the world. After giving us these life lessons, Jesus then demonstrated to us exactly what he meant.

In the weeks before Easter, during Lent, we remember that Jesus suffered willingly so that we might live. He is our God who wants for nothing but who, only for our sake and out of pure love, came to live among us to teach and demonstrate how to live out our human nature. He expressed and demonstrated God’s love for us and in His life proved the value of our human dignity and our capacity to love one another. He did this by living out His human nature to its perfection. Then, in the ultimate sacrifice, this God made man gave himself up to a painful and long death on the cross because he also recognized our human weaknesses and propensity to sin. He wanted to and did pay the price for those sins. He did this to win our freedom and to give us the ability to live in His Grace. His gift grants us true life that extends even beyond this world.

Easter is our most important celebration. For 2,000 years the Church has given testimony to this great event. We stand with the Apostles and witnesses who saw the hopelessness of the cross overcome by the victory of the Resurrection. They believed and gave their lives as testimony to the truth of that belief. Our Savior came to save us and the people put him to death with their disbelief. The One so many had put their hope in was put to death on the cross. Then, on the third day, when all hope seemed to be lost, the tomb was found empty. The witnesses came to experience the Resurrected Jesus. Because of that experience, of His victory over death, their despair turned into hope and a willingness to change their lives and even die for that hope. We continue that witness today and it comes to its climax in our Easter celebration. Not only had Jesus demonstrated how the human condition could and should be lived out but He gave us a life that spans far beyond this world. He has called us to be more than we could have dreamed on our own and has invited us to join Him in the heavenly kingdom.

Easter matters because it is what gives our lives meaning. It is what enables us to be counter cultural and to fight the brutality of the world with our loving care of each other. Because of Easter we strive faithfully in a callous world to feed the hungry, care for the sick and to raise the poor from their poverty. We minister to those who mourn and give hope to the hopeless. Because of Easter we have discovered that we don’t need to be number one; that it is okay to have less and be more and that life can be good without mindless spending on egotistical pursuits. It is not what we have but who we have loved. It is not what goods we accumulate in our life but how well we have lived it. It is not what we have accomplished for ourselves but how we have improved the world around us. It matters less how we have changed others than how we have allowed God to change us into more than we thought possible.

We find joy in the happiness of others and comfort in the feeling of the presence of the Lord and His love for all. This life is only good when we live by the unselfish principals espoused by Jesus. Sooner or later we all come to realize what Jesus continually told us. Many only understand these things at the end of their life. Others may not find the truth until it is over. Blessed are those who discover these truths early and strive to make them part of who they are. We are creatures of a loving God and we have His loving nature within us. We can be more than this world expects. We can be more than even we think possible. Even in a world filled with turmoil we can be a people of peace and love. For this reason Easter matters. Because of this Truth people have experienced a better world and because of it we always have hope for a better future. Happy Easter and may the love of our Lord Jesus Christ spring eternal in your hearts!

Father Steven Foppiano

It is revealed in published reports that these officers have been investigated several times for undue force. One Grand Juror revealed evidence of rough handling of a suspect, including the slamming of the suspect’s head against the car while handling him, without informing him he was under arrest; and ripping a phone out of the girlfriend’s hand. In a highly unlikely or at least unprofessional scenario, one of these officers claimed to have stopped to ‘check if a previous injury on a suspect in custody had been re-aggravated,’ and ended up having to leg sweep the handcuffed suspect as he tried to run away. Our town is not so big as to create a need for an officer to stop and handle a suspect before arriving at a nearby hospital or jail. Such activity opens the door to suspicion of prisoner abuse. Did the officer report he was coming to a stop and why? Is there a radio log of this communication? If within the city limits the officer would have been minutes away from help in a public place.

What worries me is that trusted friends have confided in me similar problems with one of these officers. One parishioner saw a minor incident get blown out of proportion and feels grossly manhandled by the officer as well as publicly humiliated and another feared going outside of his house as the officer demanded, for fear he was being set up for a beating. This seems to have been justified as, perhaps at the urging of their partner, the officer relented with a not so subtle warning. Neither of these people would be the type to get in trouble with the law. It may be that these reports to me are the results of the officers receiving publicity lately or misinterpreted actions but if the Chief has received similiar complaints, then when combined with the Grand Jury investigation it certainly calls for further investigation. It may be that our police force needs better training or it may be that the chief should rethink their service to the City of Paradise.

All in all, Paradise is not a violent town. We may have our problems but we do not have gang shootings and physical assault crimes are relatively infrequent. We do not need to begin fearing those who are supposed to protect us. Unfortunately, that is indeed what I have experienced with the two I talked to and information released by the Grand Juror seems to give reason for that fear. Officers of the law need to be professional and courteous at all times. They are here to serve and protect, not harass and intimidate. The officers I have met seem to be gentlemen but that does not seem to be the case for all.

Chief Carrigan is a fine man and I encourage him to look into the history and activity of these two officers and to review the policies of his department. Officers should be trained to handle the public gently, even when insulted. That is what being a professional is about. We could always hire thugs who depend on machismo and constantly react to challenges. We pay the police to be professional and courteous, to avoid conflict when possible and to always use a minimal of force. They always have the right to protect themselves and a duty to protect the public but should not be looking for a reason to show how tough they are. Where possible, handling of suspects out of the public eye should be avoided. Like the rest of us who serve the public, they should not only avoid abuse of power but even the chance to be accused of abuse. Avoiding handling those in custody when alone, regular radio logs and strict adherence to policies are not options. They are necessary to protect the public and to protect the officers from accusations.

It may be that the incident in the cemetery was fully justified but past actions are bringing doubt on these officers and on the entire force. Chief Carrigan should act to ensure that there is no cause for such suspicion in the future. He should publish police policies for handling suspects. A civilian review board would not be out of order. As in most cases, the more public and visible the department is, the more it will avoid problems and be able to serve the people of Paradise with pride and assurance.

Father Steven Foppiano

If anyone wants my vote this year they need to address some bread and butter issues. I am all for saving the planet and “green” economics, but not when it results in the ruin of our country. The fact is that gas is now near $3.50 a gallon or more. It is $4.00 a gallon for diesel which powers the trucks which bring our goods to market. This hits Americans directly in the pocket everyday. The undeniable fact is that a growing economy depends on plentiful power at a reasonable price. We have neither and until we do we can expect the economy to slow and our standard of living to stagnate.

So far the only action our government has made is to make things worse. By mandating ethanol in our fuel Congress has shifted thousands of acres of agriculture to production of gasoline additive. Not only has this move failed to reduce gas prices but it has resulted in drastically higher prices for groceries. Wheat is in less supply and more expensive, as is the food used for livestock. The result is raising prices across the board. Now we have expensive gas and expensive groceries. Also, we are pumping billions of dollars overseas with the resulting decrease in the value of the dollar. As it devalues the cost of imported goods will increase as well.

Our economy needs oil for the short and medium term. We can increase supplies and decrease prices by drilling for oil in Alaska and off the coast of our nation. We have found the oil there but environmentalists stand in the way. What is more dangerous to the environment, drilling oil in Alaska and piping it across the country or continuing to depend on supertankers crossing the ocean and docking off our coasts? Why do we fail to drill for oil up to 12 miles off our coastline when Cuba and China are drilling just outside our boundary at 13 miles? Do we think they drill safer than we do or that any oil spill will stop at the 12 mile limit?

Our country is weakening itself, reducing the living standard of its people, and reducing our ability both to defend ourselves and to help others; and we are doing it based on feelings instead of facts. We won’t build nuclear when others use it quite safely and we won’t drill for oil. We do this out of fear and as a result make the world a far more dangerous place. Not only are we dependant on vulnerable oil tankers but we are empowering our enemies and weakening our economy. We are making food more expensive, especially for the poor and reducing our ability to help feed the world. We place ourselves in more danger and do more harm to the environment because we fail to face up to the reality of the situation.

We may be able to offset some of our oil usage through conservation but a growing economy will soon outgrow our conservation efforts. We may be able to offset more with solar and wind power but it is doubtful that such renewable sources will ever account for more than 10 percent of the power used. Long term we may be able to depend on fuel cells for a large portion but this is still a dream and at least several decades away. Are we willing to dump our economy, our standard of living and our security in the meantime?

We need a balanced and realistic energy policy. We need to look not only at increased drilling but also increased refinery capacity and increased competition in the distribution of energy. Oil companies seem to be satisfied with the status quo because they are making billions. Our government needs to make them work harder for these profits, to instill more competition into the market place and to increase supply. If our economy quits growing we will not have the capital to bring forth new technology that will eventually replace oil. We will end up a third rate power and it will be all the sadder because we will have caused our own decline. We need to remember that people are our most important asset.

The only group that grew according to this poll was Christians who were unaffiliated. This group went from 8 to 16 percent, doubling its size. What is unaffiliated? Did these people suddenly have their knowledge of God plop into their head, or was it handed down by an organization of believers? Jesus Christ did not hand us a book and say go and do as you please but believe in me. He have us an organization of believers who put together the New Testament and who worked and continue to work to be faithful to the teachings of their founder, Jesus Christ, and to pass on that teaching to future generations.

People often accuse my own Catholic Church of acting for its own interests but it is not an autonomous group of people hoping to grow and profit from the faith. There are no rich stockholders. Our Pope, lives in a Vatican apartment, has no immediate family other than His Church, no personal belongings to speak of, and receives no stock options, bonuses, or extravagant salary. The same goes for the bishops of the Church and its priests. Some may have personal family wealth, but it is unrelated to their position in the Church. Church salaries for its servants, even bishops and the Pope, are very modest and much below that of the lay people they supervise.

My Church and many large denominations would tell you that their Church is made up of people who claim the title of the Body of Christ, seeking to do the work of our Lord in the world so that others may know of His presence, become enlightened by His Gospel, and themselves become Children of the Light, followers of Jesus Christ. Where we gather in His name, there too is Jesus. When we reach out to the poor and needy, there too is Jesus. When we avoid bad behavior and choose the Good, there too is Jesus at work in the world. We exist for one reason and that is to serve Jesus Christ. What competition exists is, is or should be, for the saving of souls. My own Church is the largest charitable organization in the world, not because we want to be number one, but because we do the work Jesus sent us out into the world to do, a work that reveals His presence in the love it demonstrates.

I was recently asked innocently enough, why the Church did not do something, “in light of its vast wealth.” My first reaction was to state the reality of the situation, that the Church does not have a vast amount of wealth. A large Vatican building is, in fact, both a place of worship, an office building for a world wide organization, and living quarters for many of the Vatican staff. The treasures so often pointed to are not reflective of wealth but of heritage. They are art works handed down over twenty centuries and held in trust for the world. Until recently, with licensing, these art treasures were a drain on the Vatican treasury due to upkeep costs. We are very large, and thus a ripe target for lawyers, but our riches lie in works, not things.

The more important response is to question the very concept of Church. The Church is not an “it”. It is a “we”. We are the Church. Church teaching authority flows from the Vatican to the Bishops to the parish but the works of the Church and its finances flow from the parish to the diocese to the Vatican. We are the Church. It is not a thing outside of ourselves that we attend. It is us, our faith, our works, our support, our vocations, our hope, and our help. When the world looks upon the Church, it is looking upon us.

Perhaps instead of searching for a faith that fits their life styles, Americans should ask themselves, “Am I bringing forth the light into the world? Is Jesus present in my actions?” Certainly none of us is perfect for we all have faults. This does not make us hypocrites. We are a Church full of sinners for we are human. Because of this human weakness Jesus gave himself on the cross. He makes the impossible possible. We cannot save ourselves, yet Jesus gives us the way to salvation. We may think we cannot overcome our own sinfulness and faults, but Jesus makes this possible. If we allow Jesus to work in our lives we can become something new, a new creation, one made by the blood of the cross and the hope of the Resurrection. That is something you won’t find in any trendy, feel good, and believe in yourself club.

Father Steven Foppiano