I wanted to send my best wishes everyone celebrating the holiday today. This is a difficult holiday for many due to missing members due to quarantines or, most tragically, loss of loved ones to the coronavirus. That is the case with my family but that does not mean that this Easter is a bitter one. Indeed, I will be having a special dinner with women who embody what this holiday is really about in celebrating hope even in what can seem hopeless times.
This is a terrible time for many families who have lost family members or have family in intensive care. Many families cannot hold their traditional dinners with large groups of family and friends. Like so many, our family is fractured this holiday in a way that we never imagined. We have not seen my son Benjamin for weeks because he has continued to work at D.C.’s only psychiatric hospital and does not want to expose us to the virus. Unfortunately, the decline in my mother’s health in Chicago led me to drive here a few days ago to help in her care. The rest of my family will be having Easter together in Virginia.
My mother is being cared for by four women who have refused to let the pandemic keep them from her side. Soon to be 93, my mother is now in hospice at the house. She has refused to leave her home. Growing up the daughter of a Sicilian coal miner in Ohio through difficult times from the depression to her father’s black lung, this house embodied her dreams for her family. So here she remains.
Around my mother, Angela Turley, are some of the most incredible women I have ever met: Chantia Aubert, Dawn Jones, Sharon Lester, and Laconja Welch. Every day, two leave their homes to come to help in the midst of a pandemic. Connie and her daughter Chantia decided that they would not let Easter pass uncelebrated for my mother who is a devout Catholic. They began cooking on Saturday. They created a full Easter dinner.
I doubt any dinner could hold more significance for my Mom and myself. As bad that these times have been, there are reminders of how strong and loving people can come together in a ways, great and small. Celebrating this Easter will remain one of the most memorable and meaningful holidays of my life. It shows how we can all still bring a sense of hope to each other regardless of what comes. It is the type of hope that emerges from the joining of people to celebrate the simple fact of being here, together at this moment.
Happy Easter to everyone and here is to Spring and what it brings.
On Easter Sunday, Dr. Fauci Says Faith Plays An ‘Important Role’ In Addressing Coronavirus Pandemic
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading immunologist and a key member of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response team, did have some comforting words for those celebrating Easter on Sunday: faith is a key element in confronting and addressing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the Washington Examiner.
In a wide-ranging interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that included some harsh words for the Trump administration, particularly with regards to the timeline for instituting stay-at-home orders designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Fauci admitted that his own faith has given him hope in a time of crisis.
“I think faith means different things to different people. People with a strong foundation in faith, I think it’s very, very important when you go through serious, really terrible ordeals that the country is going through, I think faith helps people through this,” Fauci said.
Fauci called his father “a man of deep, deep faith” — Fauci was raised a Catholic, but did not note whether he is still practicing — and told Tapper that his father’s faith was an inspiration.
“His faith was just extraordinary. I was always in awe of him. I think that there are many, many people that way,” Fauci said. “So, faith is a good thing.”
Faith is particularly helpful in handling the stress brought on by the pandemic, Fauci told Tapper, and maintaining hope that the country will return to normal.
Washington Examiner
Dr. Fauci is a Hillary sycophant. He cannot be trusted; he is a political operator. There are fawning emails he wrote to Hillary, in his professional capacity, saying things like, “tell her I love her more than ever” and signing off with “from your doctor admirer.” Plus, Fauci’s wife is a Hillary sycophant to the extreme. Enough said.
Dr. Fauci was prominent in the medical research establishment before anyone outside of Little Rock had ever heard of Hellary.
The fact that Dr. Fauci is a Hillary sycophant who would actually send multiple fawning love letter emails to Hillary (‘tell her I love her more than ever!’) are just gag worthy and suggests that something is wrong with Dr. Fauci’s judgment. I mean, really.
https://phys.org/news/2020-04-brown-hares-chickens-gods-food.html
In Britain hares and chickens were imports.
🐰 🐣🐔🐓
T, The goodness of your soul is a lasting tribute to your parents. God bless.
Happy Easter, Professor, to you, your mother, and those kind ladies. Peace be with you all.
I have never made a comment here before, only read them. As usual Mespo said it better than I ever could. However, this blog post compelled me to remark. This reminded of my late Sicilian grandmother. Moreover, He Is Risen! God Bless Mrs. Turley, those selfless ladies, Professor Turley, the rest of the Turley family and all of us on this Easter Sunday. I came upon this blog years ago out of my interest in jurisprudence. However, the real gravity that has continued to draw me here daily is our host’s penchant for including posts showing, regardless of our differences, our common humanity, especially as Americans. Thank you Professor!
Just Brian………..Well said.
Thanks, Just Brian, you are too kind. Especially so, since this was an easy description. Being of Italian descent on both sides ( Straccionis over Espositos) and even though I have never laid eyes on Angela Turley, I’ve seen her a thousand times.
Mr Turley, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. My heart goes out to you. My sisters and I have been unable to see our mom, who is in assisted living, for over a month now, as NYS is preventing any visits to family members in such centers and nursing homes. I got to talk to her for about 5 minutes today. She has moderate-to-severe dementia. My hope is that she will still remember us once the state of emergency is lifted.
Again, I know you and your family are going through a rough time. It seems your mom is in good hands. God give you comfort and strength during these trying times. –john
Happy Easter to everyone.
Jonathan, Happy Easter to you and your family. I wish your mother the greatest peace and her friends the greatest thanks.
Can anyone deny that the flooding of every white nations and only white nations with tens of millions of non-whites then forcing the entire white population to integrate/assimilate is white genocide? Diversity means chasing down the last white person.
Get lost.
Let’s look at the facts.
The communists are not “flooding,” they’re populating. The 19th Dumbmendment masculated women, served as a death warrant for America, ended the production of Americans and put the fertility rate of the United States in a “death spiral” (babies became persona non grata in ALL Whitestern countries – women became “men”). The communists promoted the idea of Zero Population Growth (ZPG) to Americans in 1960 because overpopulation was ostensibly “destructive and unsustainable” (simultaneously, the communists redistributed the American economy and jobs around the world requiring American women to work outside the home). Immediately after that propagandist lie, they started importing the population to generate economic growth and revenue for the Internal Revenue Service and the communist “big spenders” in Washington, D.C. See? It’s all good.
Haha, as I informed you years ago, your antediluvian ideals of the American population and polity have been resoundingly rejected by a majority of normal Americans through the mechanism established by the Founding Fathers; the vote. So sorry for your loss, thanks for playing. On the upside, based on the lack of popular support for your ridiculous nonsense, when you die out, you make take your laughable theories with you entirely.
to “I coulda been a great overseer on a nice plantation” georgie – paulie
Thanks for reading…again.
Did you conflate “plantation” with “compassionate repatriation?” Washington’s army numbered 48,000 at any one time. Karl Marx’s finest student, “Crazy Abe” Lincoln, was an anomaly of corruption and brutality which seized power, nullified fundamental law and original intent, and imposed-by-force the beginnings of American communism. Only time will tell if American freedom is truly dead – truly immune from resuscitation.
The 21st repealed the 18th.
I rejoice in your horror of those who don’t look like you and me. Please keep us updated on your continuing concerns with how fast progress, and the world moves.
this is to “maybe hitler wasn’t wrong” larkie
Mrka
Beautifully written, Jonathan. I will pray for your family – most especially for your mother. Happy Easter. Mike
“Unfortunately, the decline in my mother’s health in Chicago led me to drive here a few days ago to help in her care. The rest of my family will be having Easter together in Virginia.
My mother is being cared for by four women who have refused to let the pandemic keep them from her side. Soon to be 93, my mother is now in hospice at the house. She has refused to leave her home. Growing up the daughter of a Sicilian coal miner in Ohio through difficult times from the depression to her father’s black lung, this house embodied her dreams for her family. So here she remains.”
**************************
I’ll summarize for those not of the persuasion: She’s tough – incredibly so; she’s unafraid of anything this world can dish out; she inspires the same in others; she loves her family more than herself; she’s an American with rich Italian blood coursing through her and she’s earned her reward.
Le nostre più sentite condoglianze — ma non si sa mai.
One of the last of the generation dubbed the greatest. They’ll soon all be gone. “Greatest” or not, give them their due for keeping on and prevailing.
PS And for raising many of us. Maybe they spoiled us too, happy to provide plenty of what was scarce in their youth. Like most parents, they tried to do their best.
I was never quite sure what Easter is about. And what is the role of eggs or bunnies?
Liberty….. the Easter tradition of eggs and bunnies began in Germany, I was told?? I say google or bing it.
Spring Equinox, old fertility cults from our pre-Christian roots. Christmas similarly scheduled near the Winter Solstice.
The exact origins of the Easter bunny are clouded in mystery. One theory is that the symbol of the rabbit stems from pagan tradition, specifically the festival of Eostre—a goddess of fertility whose animal symbol was a bunny. Rabbits, known for their energetic breeding, have traditionally symbolized fertility.
Be careful with “Eostre.” The name is mentioned once by the Venerable Bede, a Benedictine monk who lived in the 7th – 8th centuries AD. It’s not clear if he meant a goddess or a season. There is no evidence of a pagan cult. In Italian, the name of the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ is Pasqua.
Thank you, Professor Turley for your moving meditation. God bless you and all your family.
Be careful with “Eostre.” The name was mentioned once by the Venerable Bede, a Benedictine monk who lived in the 7th-8th centuries AD. It’s not clear if he meant a goddess or a season. There is no evidence of a widespread cult. In any event, the name for the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ in Italy is Pasqua.
Thank you, Professor Turley, for your moving meditation. God bless you and all your family.
Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Christ. She carried this news to the other apostles, and then she goes to deliver the message to Emperor Caesar. In front of Caesar she held out an egg and proclaimed “Christ is risen!” The emperor laughed and mocked Mary Magdalene saying that Jesus had no more risen than the egg in her hand is red. And then the egg turns RED! The egg is also a symbol of new birth, new concepts, new thought.
Happy Easter JT. I think can relate in a small way to your thankfulness for what is so very right about your mother’s probably last days. My mother passed at 93 surrounded by those who loved her and after a rich if sometimes painful life. We can’t wish for much more.
Happy Easter and God Bless.
Feliz Pascual
A wonderfully stated depiction of your Easter and a memorable message for us! Blessings
Numbers 6: 24-26
“they would not let Easter pass uncelebrated for my mother who is a devout Catholic. They began cooking on Saturday. They created a full Easter dinner.”
I could not think of a better way to pass my last days on earth. This is what being human is all about.
I want to point to an article, not to create sadness, but to demonstrate that people all over the world will believe certain good things to the end and that is something we should consider and appreciate in this holiday season no matter what faith a person has or what obstacals they face.
—
“Jihadists Martyred Him for Refusing to Renounce Jesus Christ”: The Persecution of Christians, February 2020
by Raymond Ibrahim
April 12, 2020 at 5:00 am
Saleem Masih, a 22-year-old Christian farmhand, was tortured and killed for using his Muslim employer’s water well…. The employer later insisted that he had committed no crime; it was the murdered Christian who had “committed a crime by dirtying” their water, his murderer insisted, and therefore his punishment — torture and death — was “justified.” — CLAAS, February 28, Pakistan.
“Are we to deny the evidence before us, of kidnappers separating Muslims from infidels or compelling Christians to convert or die?” — Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Zenit.org, February 12, 2020, Nigeria.
“Christians are losing everything they own without an actual legal basis. They are losing everything Christians have worked for over the course of history.” — Fr. Slavomir Dadas, Aid to the Church in Need, February 6, 2020, Turkey.
“Another Christian girl aged 14 was recently abducted and gang-raped by some Muslim youths… The abductors not only raped her but also obtained her signatures and thumb impressions on some papers.” Although police recovered her, the rights activist “fears the suspects will use her signed documents to produce a fake marriage certificate and religion conversion letter in a bid to escape abduction and rape charges,” which, he said, “is common modus operandi of Muslims to confuse the court and avoid justice.” — Napoleon Qayyum, executive director of the Pakistan Center of Law of Justice, Morningstar News, February 12, 2020, Pakistan.
The Slaughter of Christians
Burkina Faso: On Sunday, February 16, Islamic gunmen raided a church during service and slaughtered 24 worshippers, including their pastor; 18 other congregants were injured and several others kidnapped. The terrorists torched the church building before leaving.
In a separate incident on February 10, militant Muslims abducted and slaughtered a church pastor, his son, two nephews, and another Christian clergyman. According to yet another report on February 3:
“Jihadists, claiming to be killing ‘in the name of Allah,’ returned to the scene of a previous atrocity … and murdered at least ten Christian men in a village market place; some estimates have put the death toll as high as 50.”
The attack took place in the same small town “where Boko Haram extremists began their murderous rampage last year on 28 April 2019, shooting the pastor, his son and four members of the congregation.” Then, as in other instances, the Islamic gunmen “threatened to kill anyone who would not convert to Islam.”
“Christians say they are in a fight for survival,” another report declared:
“Dozens of Catholic priests have been killed; Protestant pastors and their families have been killed or kidnapped by violent Islamic militants. Villagers wearing Christian symbols are singled out and killed on the spot. Jihadists replace schools with what locals call ‘Arab’ schools; churches, shops and health centers are burned down.”
Democratic Republic of Congo: During several orchestrated raids, militant
More Countries Continued at:
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15878/persecution-of-christians-february
For Alias Paulie. when replying to activate my joining of this particular thread I immediately noted that I mispelled the word ‘obstacle’. I figured I would correct it and save you the time.
Professor: Your family’s humble beginnings reveal much about your humanity. Thank you. Yours is one of few blogs I never delete.
Professor…….You have a gift in that you’ve turned a tragic, sad time into a joyous event for your mother.
Easter blessings to you and family.