“Go, and Sin no More"-A Sunday Reflection from St. Anne’s Church

Today, as I like to do when I’m off work, I attended the Sunday Vigil Mass at St. Anne’s Church. The homily struck me deeply, not only because of the Gospel reading itself, but also because of the way the priest connected it to a very real and recent event in the life of the Church.

The Gospel reading was about the well-known story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). In today’s language, we might say she was caught “red-handed.” The Pharisees dragged her before Jesus, eager to trap Him, to force Him into choosing between the strict application of their law and the mercy for which He was known.

The priest began his homily by speaking about the late former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick who was once one of the highest-ranking officials in the American Catholic Church. In fact, he was once the head of the Diocese, Newark. McCarrick also was laicized after multiple investigations found him culpable of numerous allegations in 2018, primarily of a sexual nature. He was removed from all clerical status and spent his final days in a nursing home in Missouri, where he recently died at the age of 94.

Interestingly, the priest noted that The New York Times published an extensive obituary upon McCarrick’s death. Even though he had been stripped of his title within the Church, the secular media still referred to him as a former cardinal — a reflection, perhaps, of the enduring public weight of his story.

But what moved me most was how the priest connected this news story to the Gospel.

When the woman was brought before Jesus, her accusers stood ready to stone her, a very painful punishment at the time certain that her sins warranted death according to the law. But Jesus intervened, saying, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone.” One by one, her accusers slipped away, realizing their own sins disqualified them from passing ultimate judgment.

Then Jesus turned to the woman and asked, “Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” And Jesus responded with words that echo through the ages: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”

The priest reminded us that while the consequences of sin are real, as seen in McCarrick’s removal from ministry and the damage caused, judgment belongs ultimately to God. Justice is necessary, but so is mercy. The balance between truth and compassion is at the heart of the Gospel.

He ended the homily by challenging us not to focus so much on the sins of others, public figures or otherwise, but to turn inward and confront the sin within our own hearts. Like the woman in the Gospel, we are all in need of mercy. And like her, we are all called to hear those same liberating words from Christ:

“Go, and sin no more.”

God bless you, and have a wonderful week and be a blessing to others wherever you go.

Pal Ronnie 

Markets April 4th 2025

 

Trump ‘Gold Cards’ Sold Out in 24 Hours, Generating $5 Billion in Revenue

By Ronnie Law

So this week, the U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced Thursday that a first batch of 1,000 exclusive “Gold Cards”  a Trump administration initiative offering permanent U.S. residency — sold out in just 24 hours, generating a staggering $5 billion in federal revenue.

Each card, priced at $5 million, grants the purchaser permanent residency in the United States. While recipients can eventually apply for citizenship, Secretary Lutnick noted that many may choose not to do so, due to the burdensome global taxation requirements that come with U.S. citizenship. This nuance makes the card especially attractive to ultra-high-net-worth individuals seeking the lifestyle and privileges of U.S. residency without the full financial implications of becoming a citizen.

When this was announced, most people didn't think the president was serious. It amazing to see that this is being implemented and it's at work already. 

In more context, the concept of the Gold Card originated from a discussion between the 47th President, Donald Trump and billionaire investor John Paulson. The goal was to turn immigration into a revenue-generating enterprise by selling residency to the ultra-wealthy instead of giving it away. These people being attracted to the United States would be a big win for the nation. 

To be honest, this idea was seen as bold as it is simple: monetize one of the most desirable privileges in the world — the right to live in the United States and eventually a citizen. And it's working.

If just 1 million out of the estimated 37 million people worldwide who could afford the card actually purchase one, the initiative could theoretically generate a massive $5 trillion in revenue for Uncle Sam. Not bad for a plan once dismissed as far-fetched.

By and large, this development marks a significant shift in how residency, and by extension, immigration policy is being reimagined at the highest levels of American government with the business minded Trump in charge. Whether controversial or innovative, it’s certainly... interesting and worthy of our attention. 

God bless 

Are President Trump’s Tariffs Here to Stay?

Yesterday April 2nd, 2025, Trump dropped his big tariff on the world. Is this fair play? We won't really know, honestly. Time will tell with what he got going on. Now, he unveiled all of these tariffs, and the bottom line is: 10% for practically everybody—including Israel, the great American ally in the Middle East. They're on the list. All of these allies you’d think might have carve-outs? They’re all on the list.

So pretty much every nation on Earth is on this list. Everybody’s got a baseline of 10%. That’s what we’re going to charge you to import goods into the United States.

And then there are the rest of them—some of them are higher than 10%. Many of them, in fact. It’s reciprocal. The idea is: “Look, you’re charging us a lot—so we’re going to charge you back.” said Trump.

One example is Vietnam. Trump says they charge us 90% when we import American goods into Vietnam. So he says, “We’re going to slap a 46% tariff on Vietnamese goods.” And by the way, a lot of stuff these days is manufactured in Vietnam, no longer China. It used to be “Made in China.” But if you check a lot of stuff now, you’ll see it’s “Made in Vietnam.” So this could have a big impact on the things you buy.

Trump is saying it will be 46% on Vietnamese goods. And how could you possibly be mad? It’s half the price, right? That was some back and forth with Vietnam.

So who’s telling the truth? Who’s lying? I don’t know, honestly. There are a lot of economists on this.

What we did see was that the market took a hit today because of the tariffs. This is just market reaction. It was expected. I don’t think people should panic just yet. But it fell so hard as it did in 2020 during the covid shut down. The sad irony is that Trump was the driver of the economy back then. This is so strange and worth this piece. 

Nonetheless, it is interesting to see how this will all shake out. I understand Trump is taking a chainsaw—Javier Milei Argentina-style—to the government. There’s going to be immediate pain. Nobody likes change. That’s just fundamental to anything and everything: people don’t like change. I had a conversation with my people last week and the same was said. We all must experience this short term pain. At least some people understand this move. 

So when you make a change, people kind of panic. The average American looking at their stock portfolio today will not be thrilled, guaranteed. Trump is a deal maker first, president second. I'm sure he is watching these reactions closely. But it also might not work. The whole world is not doing well economically as evidenced by the widespread outcry of economic hardships.

No worries, most MAGA supporters are also going to feel this pain in higher prices of goods. Like they said, we will all feel the weight of this.

I'm not an economist but my limited time in those classes in high school taught me that, the tariffs paid are not directed at the nation, but on the people of that nation. 

You’re charging the American people. What you're trying to do is dissuade us from purchasing imported goods. 

Goods made in America are often naturally expensive. That is why most goods are always produced elsewhere and sold here. Labor in America is not cheap.

This is definitely a game changer no matter the outcome. 

So the economic pain on Americans? I don’t see that changing. I think the pain is coming. We’re going to have to readjust. The question is: will there be more jobs? Will the jobs pay better? Will we be able to afford the new price adjustments?

Maybe if our wages go up—or if the cost of other things that are draining us, like healthcare, college tuition, real estate—if those go down, then maybe it balances out. We’ll have to wait and see. I wanted to get a graduate degree in a medical specialty, I spoke with the university and the cost of the program for me will be $41,000.00 after all discounts. The point is that the costs of everything are off the charts. 

This is going to be a shock. This is very much shock therapy for the nation as a whole. 

So how are people going to react? How are companies going to react? We will see that fully in the next few months. 

Mega companies like Apple, are they going to bring back its entire manufacturing to the U.S.? Will they bring their hoarded cash of hundreds of billions of dollars home? What will the cost of the new iPhones be if that happens? An iPhone manufactured in America will definitely cost more by factoring in labor cost alone. 

Elon Musk is probably salivating over this thought—he’s talked about launching a Tesla phone in the past. Musk gained access to the government not by accident. He definitely wanted the wealth of data from the government. People think is generous by doing pro bono for the government. Well, if he can launch Tesla phones cheaper than Apple, when Apple brings its operations back home, that would be a win for an American company that already manufactures domestically. Competition is good. 

We are all willing to wait and see how this pans out. But I do think it’s going to be painful, and I have low confidence that prices are going to go back down. I think we’re going to see prices go up. The question is: will it level out at some point?

If we can bring American manufacturing back, it will help a lot of people with employment. From a national security and sovereignty standpoint,too, it’s not wise to rely heavily on imports like we do now. We saw that during the pandemic. It’s just not a good idea. Imagine a nation who doesn't like you is making your antibiotics and other vital basic products necessary for life. Bad idea. 

If this encourages us to buy local, buy sustainable goods, buy all American made —all of those are ultimately good things for the nation. 

So we will see how this works out. Trump said April 2nd 2025 was Liberation Day. We will see.

No matter what, we have to bring American manufacturing basw back onshore. It’s going to be painful, very much so. No matter how you slice it. We just have to ride it out and see what happens.

Are you ready? 

Stay tune and God bless 🙌 

Pal Ronnie

Today Is My Day Off

It’s my day of no work. It's also Street cleaning Thursday and that meant I had to move my car, so I ended up on Paterson Plank Road near a Dunkin’ Donuts adjacent to Tamer Pharmacy in JC. Pharmacies, liquor stores, and fast-food outlets seem to be the most common businesses wherever you go around here.  

Yesterday, I met a lady who had just arrived in the U.S. the day before from India. She has a medical background, and it was nice talking to her about health. I can talk about the subject matter until “Thy Kingdom come”. 

We had a few of those easy, meandering conversations that make you pause and reflect on life itself. I can only imagine what life must be like in India—so different, yet in some ways, the same for us all. Welcome to America, my friend.

While on Paterson Plank, I sat facing the road, doing something I used to enjoy very much: watching people and trying to understand the human condition. Sophisticated stuff. But maybe that’s too lofty a desire—trying to understand humans. We’re too complex, too layered and extraordinarily dynamic. And I’m not just talking about it at the "software level," to borrow some computer science lingo.  

Looking out there, I saw people walking by, some on scooters, others on bikes. Cars passed, buses rolled through—everyone going somewhere. The question is: Where? And why? But we don’t really need to know that. That’s the beauty of free will. We are all free to gallivant, wander and stray wherever we want. At the superficial level though, that is what it likely means to be free, IMO. Yet, some people just stood by the wayside. I wanted to look around as much as possible to see if someone wasn't on their phone. I failed miserably. I wrote what you're reading on my phone too. We are all always on our phones. We are in trouble. I wrote about this and other technology in the past.

I digress, but the overall theme is that, all of us after all, want the same things: to be loved and love, free from all forms of bondage and to have our daily needs met. Nothing more, nothing less.  

Have a wonderful day and I remain your pal, 

-Ronnie