If your boss directs you to complete a task, and you refuse, should you be fired?

What if you like your job, but then the boss directs you to complete an "unpleasant" task, and you refuse, should you be fired, keeping in mind that the task is critical to the success and the survival of the business?

What does common sense tell you?

It tells me that your job, or mine, would -- and should -- be in jeopardy for refusing to do, or complete that critical task.

And what if it's not only your job that would be at risk, but also the jobs of your coworkers?  Remember, you and your coworkers have families to support and mortgages to pay, etc.  Without that steady job, those families might not survive, or at least they might have to depend on the largess of the government to "save" them.  Not a pretty situation to be in, for sure.

So now, let's take this same situation and replace your boss with our Boss, God.

If God requires us to do certain things in order to see Him in the Face in the Beatific vision, and we refuse out of pride -- we will not serve! -- should God "fire" us?

If one of those requirements is to obey the Ten Commandments, and we decide which of the those to obey based on what we think is right, and which ones we are "able" to obey, should we be "fired"?   After all, He would be justified in "firing" us because the Ten Commandments are not the ten suggestions.

God is our creator; our Boss!   If we disobey Him, we must accept the consequences.

Sure, there are those that say we have free-will, and they're right, but if we use that free-will to disobey the laws and doctrines of God Almighty, then we will get what we deserve.

In that situation, isn't God justified in "firing" us?

I think so.

But here is the rub: if we disobey God Almighty and refuse to do that which will get us to Heaven, we're not going to lose our "job," we'll be using our free-will to send ourselves to hell.  Not a very good prospect.

And to those who think that God is so merciful that He wouldn't ever think of sending someone to hell, think again.  Along with His great mercy, He demands JUSTICE for our actions or inactions.  That's only fair; wouldn't you agree?

Pray for discernment, and pray for our country.

Gene DeLalla

Cutting through the very thick smog of confusion...

Back in 1971, I was invited to be one of two(!) best men at my friend's wedding in Southern Cal.

I flew from New Jersey, and arrived at LAX on that Fall, October day.

I stayed at my friend's house with his mom.  After a nights sleep, I got up and took a short walk down the sidewalks of Norwalk -- a pretty tough neighborhood in those days.

One of the first things that "hit" me was that I could see, smell and taste the air I was about to breath!!  Smog!!

I had never experienced that before, so all this was new to me, but not to the natives of So. Cal., especially my friend; he kind of chuckled when I mentioned that my eyes were burning too!

That was the lousy experience, but there were good experiences too.  The Chicano lifestyle, for better or worse, was interesting to say the least.  I was matched-up with a beautiful Mex-Amer. girl as my companion for the ride to the Church.  The "low-rider" was all dolled-up with tons of fur and fuzz balls; a steering wheel about the size of bottle cap, and special shocks that allowed the driver to raise the '67 Chevy up or down as we were riding!  Actually, it was more like bouncing up and down!

Pretty cool stuff for a boy from the Bronx...

After the wedding, we drove to the reception hall, and I have to tell the readers that there must have been 500 guests, or more!  The place was packed.

For the next few days, we drove up the eastern spine of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, eventually arriving at the incredibly beautiful, Lake Tahoe, then San Francisco, down highway 101, and back home.  Not bad...

I titled this article: cutting through the very thick smog of confusion, because you can just about smell and taste the "smog" that has infected our American culture, what's left of it.

This "smog" is annoying, but it also can be deadly to the soul, that is, if one is not strong in their faith.  And there lies the problem: it has blinded the eyes of some in the American Catholic Church.

During the reign of Pope Leo XIII, he praised America for the freedom of religion, rare among nations of that time, but he also condemned -- yes condemned -- AmericanISM.  

Basically, that meant the watering down of Catholic doctrine so as not to offend non-Catholics.  What a mistake.  We are still paying for it now.  It did not start with the Second Vatican Council, but that unnecessary council just poured gasoline on the fire, so to speak.  As you can imagine, it has only gotten worse, not better.

So, today we have Catholics who ignore authentic Church teaching, and have itching ears for false doctrine.  This is so widespread that many married Catholic women see nothing wrong with either contraception -- bad enough, and, yes, even the morally damning, soul killing abortion.  Incredible...

We must adhere to basic Catechism 101: why are we here on earth?  To know, love and serve God in this life, and be happy with Him in the next.  Simple...

Pray for discernment, and pray for our country.

Gene DeLalla

Shock: I'm all for sanctuary towns, cities or states!!

That's right!  Like it or lump it!  Too bad!

I'm all on-board for sanctuary for -------------------------------------------------------------------- us!  Not illegal alien felons!

See the titanic difference?

If the hard left, radical Demoncrats who released that monster illegal alien that killed Kate while walking with her father in San Francisco, or the other monster that recently raped a five-year old girl in PA after briefly being held in custody, had any sense of right and wrong, they would resign from office, and go live in a cave somewhere away from civilization; a civilization they couldn't manage to govern.

Instead of the law abiding citizen being able to take a leisurely stroll along Main Street, USA with his family, he has to worry about the aliens running wild, preying on the innocent, and threatening their very existence.

These politicians have absolutely lost any sense of the moral order, or God-given common sense.

What do they expect to gain from these rogue aliens?  A vote in the upcoming election?   Good luck with that.

I pray that these liberals either repent, or are completely politically castrated and removed from office.

God have mercy on us!

Gene DeLalla

 

Is a sewage treatment plant really necessary?

I think so...isn't it?

Let's not get too gross here, but what would happen if there were no sewage treatment plants in the U.S., or more specifically, in the town or city where you live?  It could be down right dangerous to human health and well-being; disease and even plague might follow.

So, there is a need to filter out the bad stuff, in order to transform the remaining materials into the good stuff that can then be safely disposed of, with whatever means available to protect the residents of that town or city.

Let's face it, like it or not, people have to spend the appropriate amounts of money to have efficient and reliable sewage treatment plants in order to process human waste 24/7, 365 days a year.

When we wake up in the morning, who thinks about the sewage treatment plant processing the stuff we flush down the toilet after that first trip to the bathroom?

Okay, I said that I wouldn't get too gross here, so let's leave the sewage treatment plant, and head back to some restaurant, or coffee shop and discuss politics, or maybe even religion (heaven forbid!)…

Still, there is a need for a real "sewage treatment plant" to filter out the lies, malice and hate, directed at those altruistic Americans by the hard left "news" outlets, including the Internet.  Specifically, aimed at news sources that have differing opinions -- read: facts -- from the standard playbook words and phrases used by most "news" sources on a daily basis to smear those seeking the truth.

This constant battle can get weary, but we must persevere in order to counter the brainwashing of John Q. Public by the mainstream media attacking our president, our country, our culture, our very way of life.

America is not perfect, not by a longshot, but it does no good to tear her down from within; we have enough enemies from without to worry about.  Sure, we must clean our own house before we can clean the houses of other countries.  If it's any of our business in the first place!

As I always say, we must pray for our country that, as a nation, we turn away from the culture of death, and embrace the culture of life, especially recognizing the sanctity of all human life.  A great place to start, is to protect and defend the living, developing baby in the womb of her mother, and pray for an end to the scourge of abortion.

Pray for discernment to acknowledge the Natural Law (as an extension of  of God's law).

Gene DeLalla

Is it okay to hate?

No.  At least that's what modern, politically correct society tells us these days.

But to tell the truth -- a rare commodity these days! -- we must hate, and discriminate!

If one is a Christian, wouldn't hate and discrimination be a direct contradiction to the followers of Christ and what He taught?

Again, the answer is no.

So, what's the deal?

The plain and simple answer: we must hate sin, and we must discriminate against sin, and be for good.

We cannot -- and it would make no sense -- to say we are Christian, that we love what is good, and, at the same time, accept what is sinful, as if we have no choice in the matter.

We do have a choice, and that's what separates us -- Christians -- from those who love sin and evil.

The problem arises when we cannot discern what is sin and evil, from what is good.  This confusion is the result of many elements, namely, poor catechesis from a more progressive slant regarding what the Church teaches, over the last 60-70 years or so.  This has affected, not only Catholics, but non-Catholics as well.  Non-Catholics, who once looked to the Church as a beacon of hope and direction in a world gone morally crazy.

It is rather rare to hear pastors preach on sin and evil, along with the consequences of same: hell, versus heaven.

Unfortunately, many Christians assume that God's mercy is endless; it will always be there no matter how we live our lives.  That in the end, we will be saved because of that "endless" mercy.  We can easily forget that along with mercy, there is justice to be paid for our actions or inactions.    

That fact alone should keep us on the straight and narrow.

But does it?

Pray for discernment, and pray for our country.

Gene DeLalla

Walking in the rounds...

Fifty-one years ago this coming December, I arrived in Vietnam.

The next month, January, began the 1968 Tet Offensive.

I remember being in an Oscar tower (observation tower) with a "short-timer."  (A short-timer had less than 30 days to go before he returned to "the world" --  the U.S. of A.)  From our position, we could see into the valley to the south and west of us.  The tower was equipped with a huge Starlight scope, allowing us to see the slightest light or flash, even from a cigarette lighter, many miles in the distance.

Just before the Tet Offensive began, the Vietnamese were ringing the new year (Tet); we could see in the distance tracer rounds being fired into the air; red and green flares filling the sky in a continuing celebration.

But then, something changed...

As we were observing the festivities, the direction of those tracer rounds went from vertical to horizontal -- into each other.  This grabbed our attention.  My short-timer brother called in the unusual events into our combat control center.  From this point on, things went downhill, and quickly.

Reports started to filter in that some of our air bases, fire bases and villages were under attack on a massive scale; we were next.

Of all the posts that we were assigned to on the perimeter, only certain ones allowed us to have the big M-60 machine gun, but I had been granted permission from our flight commander to carry the M-60 with me no matter what post I pulled.  I was grateful for that.  I didn't mind lugging around the extra ammo, usually about four cans.  We're talking another 30 + pounds, not including the 24-pound machine gun.  It was a chore just getting all my weapons and other gear up the latter, through the trap door, and into the tower cubicle.  The walls of the tower were about three feet thick, filled with sand to absorb any rounds or "small" rockets fired at us from the bad guys.

As the night progressed, things got a little dicey...

I had set up the M-60 with two, one-hundred round belts attached ready to send the VC (Viet Cong) to their Maker, if the need arose.

At this point, my short-timer brother turned to me and said: DeLalla, I sure am glad you brought that "60" up here tonight.  Me too, I replied.

I expect to go home in 27 days, he said...   I told him that I intended to follow in eleven months...

In short order, we could see the tracers from the bad guys overwhelming the Vietnamese soldiers on the battlefield.  Additional fire-power was called in, in the form of 105 Howitzer canon rounds from the ROK (South Korean) fire-base way out in the valley, to help turn the tide of this first big engagement.

If I remember correctly, I said some prayers, and zipped-up my flack jacket, locked and loaded my weapons, and waited to see if the enemy forces would make it all the way to our perimeter.

The ROKs were good at their job...  As we watched the activity continually unfold in front of us, the 105 rounds got closer and closer; walking in two and three with each volley.  At first, the explosions were way out to our southwest.  We could see the dirt, trees, and grasses being blown to smithereens.

The volleys continued their inexorable march to the air base; shock waves now hit the tower -- and us!

The idea here was to trap and annihilate the VC as they made haste toward the perimeter.  The blasts tore up the landscape, and the north-south highway in front of us, along with anyone caught in the mayhem.

To find out what happened next, you can order my story from Amazon.  Title: The Battle For Oscar Six.  

Gene DeLalla 

 



 



 

The attacks on Christianity continue...

The unrelenting attacks on Christianity, and the Catholic Church in particular, continue at breakneck speed.

Very sadly, some of the most vicious attacks are coming from fallen-away Catholics who have lost the reason for their existence: to know, love and SERVE God in this life, and to be happy with Him in the next.  This is basic catechism 101.  There is little wiggle room here.  

Further, not only is the radical left attempting to shut down our First Amendment right to the free exercise of our religion, this tactic has expanded to include the almost complete exclusion of God out of the public sphere -- out of the schools, and relegated to "private" worship behind closed doors, so to speak.  Just try to pray on the field after a ballgame and see what happens.  The atheists go wild; lawsuits are sure to follow; these people have lost their minds.

These attacks cannot be tolerated.

If we do not recognize that our rights, as humans, come from God, not from government, we will be forever mired in trying to elect those people that are pro-First and Second Amendment to be our representatives; our saviors.  But that is the wrong way to look at this.

The Bill of Rights are there, not for the GRANTING of our rights, but to protect those rights FROM the multi-tentacled, behemoth, out-of-control central government.

I think it is safe to say that if we do nothing, and just sit back, we will lose our rights that come from God under the Natural Law, not from the vote of the majority.

One way to get the truth is to stop listening to the "6 o'clock news", and to seek out alternative sources for real news, if we don't, we will all become part of the brainwashed masses.

Pray for our country.

Gene DeLalla