Blumudus

Pseudo-Homilies From a Layman -3- Palm Sunday

In this third article I will dip my foot in the heart of the Holy Week which is about to begin, but only momentarily, then I’ll steer to a different takeaway message. PALM SUNDAY: PASSION OF THE LORD – YEAR A Today I want to focus only on the introductory reading for this festivity, leaving for another day the magnificent account of the Passion, so full of ideas and inspiration. People acclaim Jesus as a great prophet; while he’s entering Jerusalem the crowd prepares the way for him by spreading tree branches on the street (hence our traditional use of palms and olive trees for the celebration). Many…

Pseudo-Homilies From a Layman -2- Lazarus

A second installment of my experiment: a commentary on the Sunday readings from a different perspective. Nonetheless I reiterate my opposition to giving space to the laity in Mass or the possibility to hold a sermon. That’s to be reserved to priests, despite the current state of affairs, where conformism and selling out to the enemy are common sights in homilies. As was the case last Sunday, this fifth of Lent presents us with a detailed and sensational story from the Gospel of John, the last one in chronological order. 5TH SUNDAY OF LENT – YEAR A A most extraordinary miracle: a poor sap who’s been dead for days…

Pseudo-Homilies From a Layman -1- The Blind Born Man

Introduction I came up with this reckless idea: introducing my take on the readings for the Sunday masses, a quasi-homily if you will. Particularly questionable because I’m verbose, while the goal of homilies should be clarity and conciseness. Furthermore I don’t have much time and I’m a procrastinator. We’ll see. Why the Pseudo-Homilies From a Layman? While I am strongly against allowing lay people to preach during Mass, I do hope I have something meaningful to say in these pages, which represent an entirely different context. At any rate, this will be an interesting personal journey. It’s hard to do worse than those priests who regularly inflict some 20-minute tirades…

Disturbances in the Force

A teeny weeny incident from last Sunday Mass. I won’t reveal the nickname I gave to this modern, ugly church, since I hope the fate implied in the name itself won’t materialize, eventually. It’s a hot August day. The front door is wide open, to give some relief to the faithful sitting in the pews. Most women are shaking the ventagli (fans) in their hands, since proper electric fans are banned due to Covid-19 (risks associated to air circulation are quite erratic and subjective, these days). Side note: in Italy there’s a document, called Green Pass for some reason, that is required in order to access a certain number of…

A Christmas for crucifixes

Getting tired of same ol’ same ol’? Looking for something unique to decorate your Christmas living room? There you go: A rotated Nagorno-Karabakh flag, morphed into an impromptu Christmas tree. OK, that’s a stretch. Also… A bit off topic? Perhaps you’d feel more comfortable around the classic iconography, which includes Coke Santas, coniferous trees covered with strings of Chinese LED lights and multicolored balls, the whole shebang drenched in red and green hues… The Republic of Artsakh, as it is called, is one of those states that don’t exist; more precisely, it doesn’t exist since 1991, when they voted in favor of their independence. The corresponding mountainous region…

Trump vs. Biden: is the incumbent underdog gonna make it, again?

I believe Trump’s gonna win the re-election, polls notwithstanding. A quick recap: last time around, I was one of the first few people to anticipate Trump’s victory, just days after he entered the 2015 Primary race. Being Italian I couldn’t vote, but -next best thing- I at least bet on the outcome (they had to pay my bet 31-to-1). I gave some of the reasons in advance, although I postponed indefinitely explaining the real, deepest motivation for my conviction. This time I’m really not 100% convinced: I still have some limited respect for the sense of decency of some of the mainstream pollsters, despite the fact that after the 2016…

Biden vs. Trump: a reality check

Check your premises. Let’s examine the issues methodically, focusing on something simple, verifiable and straightforward, then considering the ramifications. I’m an outsider, living in Europe, and I believe looking at things from a distance may help. Scene from the last Presidential Debate: Biden shouts confidently: “I never said I oppose fracking.” Trump complains and says that’s on tape. Biden challenges him to show the alleged tape. After the debate, of course the Trump campaign obliges. Case closed, right? This reminds me of what David Wood says about Muslim apologists: they make up stuff that sounds ludicrous to anyone in the know, but their astounding confidence is the only thing that…

Toxic feminism, just a random specimen among many

The Medium platform still pushes one-sided content in my email. I now mostly ignore it, after I wrote https://blumudus.com/2018/medium-sucks/ … But today I decided to give it a chance. This time the first article that they promoted was titled: “Why as a Liberal I Read Fox News to Know Who’s Actually Going to Win in November” and it piqued my interest. The incipit of the article: “Remember how bad it felt on election night 2016 when we all realized Hillary had lost?” LOL!!! Anyway, the photo of the author seemed crazily stereotypical, so I clicked to see what else she wrote. The list is hilariously bad, confirming every cliché about…

Striking discovery: eating lardo effective against Coronavirus

The newest and most unexpected superfood! Gluttons rejoice! A new, rigorous study published on MedXriv seems to indicate a clear protective effect against Coronavirus Covid-19 for patients that assume even limited quantities of quality lardo (which is a form of cured pig fat), both in terms of prevention and remission of the pulmonary illness. Lardo is not to be confused with lard: the former is obtained only from the fatback, which is cured with salt and herbs, then cut and consumed in strips; think of a fatty cousin of bacon. And now it’s bound to become your best hope in fighting the present pandemic. But before you run to the…

The most heartbreaking word: Triage. #Coronavirus

They say Winston Churchill won WWII because, unlike other statesmen, he suffered of depression and was prone to pessimism. Consider by contrast the occasional video footage from real life tragic events: a surreal atmosphere of thoughtlessness pervades the scene just moments before the inevitable. Nothing like in the movies, where actors do everything they can to portray memorable, emotional reactions and the soundtrack creates suspense. Oh no, reality is subtler than that. Here comes the tsunami. Bystanders move a little further: look, here comes a wave. The scene seems ordinary and inconsequential. But then the wave continues. After only a few seconds it’s already sweeping away debris, cars and tree…

Never underestimate a dumpster fire

You can’t spell doom without BS, and BS is bound to become the Democrat nominee for President. But wait, it gets worse. Yes, this time Bernie Sanders has a real shot at becoming the next President of the United States. Despite the spectacular Trump performance so far, but thanks to Coronavirus Covid-19. First of all, the nomination. The Democrat camp looks like a train wreckage engulfed in a dumpster fire surrounded by diseased hyenas gloomily laughing at the whole spectacle (I don’t do drugs, BTW). Briefly, here’s my assessment, as seen from the point of view of a total outsider, considering the main contenders: – Joe Biden: a pathological liar,…

Progressives vs. Saint Paul, statism vs. realism

Some food for thought, an inspiration coming from last Sunday’s Mass reading. I promise: if you’re not Catholic (heck, even if you’re an atheist) you can find this article worth reading, since the following Bible verse is just a starting point. Let’s see then. From Philemon 1, 14: but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. In this letter Saint Paul tells his friend Philemon that he’s sending back to him a slave named Onesimus, converted by Paul to Christianity but still technically a property of his master Philemon. Paul explicitly asks him to…