Susan's Corner Basket Studio, Highlands, Louisville, KY (2026)

11/15/2025

Thank you for speaking out on immigration!

BREAKING: Catholic bishops release a stunning video denouncing Trump and Vance's brutal ICE raids and it's spreading like wildfire in what's being called the "most viral Catholic message in U.S. history."

MAGA "Christianity" just got blown out of the water...

"As pastors, we the bishops of the United States are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement," stated the first bishop in the clip, addressing the camera directly.

The video is edited together from footage of several bishops reading passionately from the historic written "Special Message" released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops earlier this week. Christopher Hale of the "Letters from Leo" Substack reports that the video has already been viewed over 5 million times. He added that it's perhaps the "most-watched Catholic video ever in America."

"We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care," the bishops continued.

"We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status. We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools."

"We grieve when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school or when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones."

"Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation. We as Catholic bishops love our country and pray for its peace and prosperity."

"For this very reason, we feel compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity."

"Catholic teaching exhorts nations to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants. We bishops advocate for a meaningful reform of our nation's immigration laws and procedures."

"Human dignity and national security are not in conflict. Both are possible if people of good will work together."

"We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good."

"Without such processes, immigrants face the risk of trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Safe and legal pathways serve as an antidote to such risks."

"The church’s teaching rests on the foundational concern for the human person as created in the image and likeness of God. As pastors, we look to the sacred scripture and the example of the Lord himself where we find the wisdom of God’s compassion. The priority of the Lord, as the prophet reminds us, is for those who are most vulnerable, the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger."

"In the Lord Jesus, we see the one who became poor for our sake. We see the good Samaritan who lifts us from the dust. And we see the one who is found in the least of these. The church's concern for neighbor and our concern here for immigrants as a response to the Lord's command to love as He has loved us."

"To our immigrant brothers and sisters, we stand with you in your suffering, since when one member suffers, all suffer. You are not alone."

"We note with gratitude that so many of our clergy consecrated religious and lay faithful already accompany and assist immigrants in meeting their basic human needs. We urge all people of goodwill to continue and expand such efforts."

"We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement."

"We pray that the Lord may guide the leaders of our nation, and we are grateful for past and present opportunities to dialogue with public and elected officials."

"In this dialogue, we will continue to advocate for meaningful immigration reform. As disciples of the Lord, we remain men and women of hope, and hope does not disappoint."

"May the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe enfold us all in her maternal and loving care and draw us ever closer to the heart of Christ," the final bishop concludes.

The written statement and the subsequent video are a direct result of Pope Leo XIV's relentless advocacy on behalf of migrants. He called on American bishops to speak out forcefully against the Trump administration's "inhuman treatment" of immigrants and they have powerfully answered the call.

This messaging is especially important given the fact that J.D. Vance — a craven fascist willing to endorse every imaginable cruelty in his pursuit of political power — claims to be a Catholic. In reality, he likes the aesthetic trappings of Catholicism but cares little for the teachings of compassion and selflessness that Jesus Christ espoused.

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11/11/2025

One of my most favorite Christmas movies!

He wasn’t supposed to become Santa Claus. He was just an aging British actor with a twinkle in his eye and a gentle laugh that could melt December frost. But when Edward Gwenn put on that red suit in 1946, something extraordinary happened—he didn’t just play Santa. He became him.
It began with rejection. Twentieth Century-Fox was preparing a modest film called Miracle on 34th Street, about a kindly old man who insists he’s the real Kris Kringle. They first offered the role to Cecil Kellaway, a respected character actor. He read the script, chuckled, and said, “Americans don’t like whimsy.”
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
So Fox turned to Kellaway’s cousin—Edward Gwenn. Seventy-one years old, courteous, warm, a man who had spent decades in supporting roles but never quite touched immortality. When he read the script, he didn’t hesitate. “I’ll do it,” he said. “But I must do it properly.”
That meant becoming Santa from head to belly.
He gained 30 pounds for the role, refusing to wear padding. “Too artificial,” he said. “If I’m to be Santa, I must be Santa.” His friends laughed. His doctor warned him. But Gwenn went ahead, adding five inches to his waistline and a lifetime of joy to his face.
When filming began, something miraculous unfolded. On set, Gwenn carried himself with such calm kindness that everyone—from the cameraman to the director—started treating him as if he truly were Kris Kringle.
And then there was Natalie Wood.
Just eight years old, bright-eyed, and serious beyond her years. She played Susan, the little girl who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus. But on set, belief came easily—because she was sure Edward Gwenn was real.
“She thought I was Santa,” Gwenn later said, smiling. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her otherwise.”
Maureen O’Hara remembered, “We all believed. Even the crew. By the time we were halfway through filming, Edmund wasn’t acting anymore.”
That sincerity—quiet, unwavering, profoundly human—was what made Miracle on 34th Street more than a Christmas story. Gwenn didn’t play Santa as a fantasy. He played him as truth. He believed in the goodness he portrayed, and that belief radiated from him like light through snow.
The film was released not at Christmas, but in May 1947. The studio had no faith in a “Santa film” during summer. Yet when audiences watched Edward Gwenn smile, wink, and whisper “Ho-ho-ho” with perfect, unforced warmth, they believed in something larger than the season. They believed in kindness again.
At the Academy Awards the next year, Edward Gwenn—72, round, beaming, humble—walked onto the stage to accept the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He looked out at the audience, paused, and said softly:
“Now I know there is a Santa Claus.”
It wasn’t a speech. It was a benediction.
After Miracle, Gwenn never shed the weight he gained. “I’ve been stocky all my life,” he joked, “but now I must accept that I’m fat.” He carried that shape, that laughter, that spirit, to his final roles—in Mister 880, The Trouble with Harry, and The Student Prince. He made every part feel like a gentle reminder that decency was not out of style.
He passed away in 1959 at the age of 81. But every December, he comes back. Every time Miracle on 34th Street plays, a new generation meets him for the first time.
Natalie Wood, long grown by then, once said in an interview:
“When I think of Santa Claus, I still see Edmund Gwenn’s face.”
It’s been nearly eighty years. The film still glows with the same warmth, the same unpretentious magic. Because Gwenn understood something his cousin never did—Americans didn’t want less whimsy. They wanted more heart.
And that’s what he gave them.
He didn’t just make people believe in Santa.
He made them believe in belief itself.
And that is why, long after the snow melts and the credits fade, Edward Gwenn remains what he always was—
the truest Santa Claus who ever lived.