And the good news is …

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) -- This week is Thanksgiving, a uniquely American holiday which reflects on our Judeo-Christian heritage. Of course, over the years it has morphed into something else and lost much of its true meaning, much as Christmas has.

          So this week will be football, more football, Black Friday – followed by Cyber Monday – the start of the continual 40’s black and white movies that are supposed to get us into the Christmas season, Miracle on 42^nd Street, It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas and a slug of others that we dare not miss.

          Families, those lucky enough to have a family, will get together for turkey with all the fixins that won’t be put away until after everyone has had seconds sometime after the first football game ends. Some will offer prayers before eating, but I think most will not. Others will spend some time going over their personal and family gratitude lists, but again I think most will not. Most, I think, will just be happy they are safe and well fed.

          Of course, there will not be much thought of those who are not safe and not well fed. I doubt too many folks will pass a basket around their Thanksgiving table to collect funds for the poor, or will cart off what is left of a turkey carcass, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pie to the nearest homeless shelter.

          I’m also sure that many will react to Thanksgiving as several people I know when I told them I was writing a Thanksgiving column. “What do we have to be thankful for? The country is a mess, the Church isn’t much better, and I can’t afford my kid’s education. So just grab a good meal and pray for relief.”

          Well, unfortunately all of that is true. We are living in a time of unsettling events, topped off by a war in Israel, a rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism, the firing of a beloved bishop, and election results that bodes for a possible bad ’24.  

          That gave me a lot to think about. One of the things I do each week is to write this column and host a radio program. The topics include those matters for which we now might turn away from, being thankful and giving over to despair and discouragement. But I see it a bit better than those “gloom and doom” folks.

          I see a brightening future, especially in those areas in which Catholics are most interested.

          First to religious liberty. Every week I have the opportunity to interview people who are active in our fight. They are some of the best constitutional attorneys in the nation, many of them heading into or just coming from the U. S. Supreme Court, a state supreme court, federal appeals court, or district court. I’ve asked them questions, I’ve read their briefs, and I’ve celebrated their legal victories.

          And with or without me this is happening in every judicial district in America. Overreach by self-absorbed petty bureaucrats serving their own ideological interests are being pushed back by honest, fair minded judges that are giving back to the people what our Founding Fathers intended for them to have.

          I’ve also visited with honest journalists who are putting aside all the clutter of “political correctness” and beginning to tell the story as it should be told, as Joe Friday put it, “just the facts.”

          I’ve had fellows from some of the best known foundations in the nation who have provided research – true and objective research – about what is affecting our daily lives; from the Family Research Council and its reports on the truth behind the teen transgender phenomenon,  to the Heritage Foundation on how Marxist policies are affecting the body politic.

          As well as numerous heads of organizations fighting abortion, physician assisted suicide, and election fraud; academicians from all walks who can put the problems – and solutions – of America in simple, easy to understand terms. Of course I can’t forget the medical personnel who came to our studio to warn against drugs commonly used to facilitate abortions many times without the participation of a doctor.  And I can’t forget the FBI whistle-blower who broke the story of how the bureau was trying to infiltrate the Catholic Church because it believed we were engaged in White Supremacy.

          And we have a couple of other hopeful signs. First, as undeserved as the school closings were during the COVID pandemic, it gave us an eye into what was going on in our public schools at the behest of the teachers’ unions, which led to many states – including mine – to change policies that favored tuition aid for private and parochial schools.   

          In like manner, as bad as the pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic wave of social activism, it has turned the spotlight on what was heretofore a simmering problem that existed below the surface of polite society, and has exposed the dangers lurking on college campuses as an affront to our way of life and has many liberal commentators now turning against its dirty spawns such as DEI, CRT, and the 1619 Project.   

          Of course we still have a long way to go, but, at least from my viewpoint, things are beginning to change, the truth is beginning to seep out and people are beginning to notice. It’s going to be a long haul before we can right the ship, but this confluence of people and events have helped start the process.

          So for all those people out there who are helping expose the rotten underbelly of our society, we need be thankful. We also need to keep all of them in our prayers, asking God to grant them the strength and wisdom to keep up the good fight.

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 (You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/)