I was struck by the Old Testament reading (below) from mass tonight. The justice and yes anger of God toward those taking advantage of the vulnerable. A few days ago I saw Senator Hawley questioning a DHS administrator about 80,000 children that they had lost track of in the US that went through our border. They are being used for work and it is likely sex, unthinkably. Of course my mind went to this after hearing the verse below. Then the Lord states His hatred of interest and taking advantage of the poor. My mind went to the hidden tax of inflation on all of us, but especially the poor. Then bitcoin, which maybe can help fix some of these issues, God willing. Just a few thoughts! Blessings this evening! Sunday 29 October 2023 ________ First reading Exodus 22:20–26 If you wrong the widow and the orphan, my wrath will flare up against you. Thus says the LORD: “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans. “If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.” Gospel Matthew 22:34–40 You shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself. When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”