Thought For The Day

Just went to the Yad Vashem website to read more about the Ulmas.

Apparently, after the war investigators searched for the identity of the person who betrayed the Ulmas and the Jews they were hiding to the gestapo. They decided it was likely a policeman from a neighboring town who, for a price, had helped the Jews flee 20 months before. The Jewish family had left valuables with the policeman and it appears they had asked for their belongings, and the policeman decided to turn them in and keep the goods for himself. He had to have known that the Ulmas had small children— the oldest was only 8— and that the nazis would kill everyone they found, and yet he did what he did…

In an additional, horrifying epilogue, after the Ulmas and the people they were sheltering were murdered, other villagers who were also harboring Jews panicked and themselves killed the people they were hiding. When nazis conducted a sweep of the village days after the Ulmas execution, they discovered the bodies of 24 Jews left in a field.

I’m so moved by the story of the Ulmas, and horrified by the brutality that engulfed them. It’s inspiring to reflect on their heroism— would I be as brave if I were in their shoes?

It’s also sobering to reflect on the cascade of barbarism and death caused by one man’s greed and cowardice. Upwards of 40 people died because of one man’s decision to sin…

I wish I could agree with you Tito but I think fear is not the obstacle the bishops find themselves against in calling out Fr. James Martin. It’s always as they say: follow the money. Bishops get Fed money for immigrants coming over the border legal or not. It’s a cash cow. Not all bishops go along but most either do or turn their heads. Martin and LGBT? I don’t see how it’s any different with this group. I’ll bet you money is involved here also. I hate saying all that about our bishops.