I don’t often check the stats on my website views but for some reason I did last week. I write this blog because I have a love for Our Lord Jesus Christ and his Church and because I need to express this and writing is a way I can do it. I don’t do it for views or likes, or for influence and/or for money. But I guess I have an ego like everyone else that wants a little stroke every now and then, so I have a peek every so often to see if I’m being read or not. I like to think of myself as a modern day St. Anthony of Padua, who went to preach to the fish of the sea off the coast of Rimini, because people didn’t listen to him. I like to think that it doesn’t matter who hears me as long as I am proclaiming the love of God. Yet I still feel the need to peek – so I did.

Wow! I thought. 34 views in a week. Then I looked a little closer…2 were from Ireland, 1 was from Thailand…and 31 were from China! I was about to get excited about having all these new Chinese fans when my professional techie son reminded me that these were most likely all Bots. For those of you, who like me are from the dinosaur age and don’t know what a ‘Bot’ is, it is basically short for Robot. A Bot is ‘ an automated computer program that performs repetitive, pre-defined tasks much faster than a human’ (Google definition) So why are my Chinese robot friends so interested in brotheralberic.com? More than likely they are ‘web crawlers’ who may or may not be farming my content to feed their search engines or AI servers. Should I be concerned – yes. Should I be worried – definitely not! To quote one St. Pio of Pietrelcina, “pray, hope and don’t worry.”
I must assume everything is being stolen. Why worry then when a greater dissemination of the message of the saving power of Jesus Christ could be inadvertently spread far and wide by communists? Well it could be being distorted and used against me and against the church. But when has it not been thus? Before the printing press was ever invented the words of Christians were being distorted, taken out of context and used against them. Anyone who proclaims the saving power of Christ is liable to ridicule and rejection by a world that puts the power of mankind before all else. Thus communism (and its materialist associates) has become our epoch’s distortion of the the message of Christ. The Chinese government’s attempt at micro-managing their people’s social behaviour (re. The Chinese social credit system) can only lead to more and more state intervention and control, as societies lack more and more social cohesion.

Am I worried? No, because my trust is in God and him alone. Maybe I should be more of a disciple of St Anthony and give up on preaching to men? But then there is no evidence that St. Anthony gave up on preaching to men…maybe he just took a break to engage with the fish. The fish know that they are fish. People have stopped believing that they are people and think that they can be whatever they want! Maybe it is time to hang out with the fish more often and spend less time in a man-made space that is open to man-made vices. Compliments are nice but I just need to be who I am made to be, with or without them.

St Anthony began to preach to them most solemnly, saying: “My brothers the fishes, you are bound, as much as is in your power, to return thanks to your Creator, who has given you so noble an element for your dwelling; for you have at your choice both sweet water and salt; you have many places of refuge from the tempest; you have likewise a pure and transparent element for your nourishment. God, your bountiful and kind Creator, when he made you, ordered you to increase and multiply, and gave you his blessing. In the universal deluge, all other creatures perished; you alone did God preserve from all harm. He has given you fins to enable you to go where you will. To you was it granted, according to the commandment of God, to keep the prophet Jonas, and after three days to throw him safe and sound on dry land. You it was who gave the tribute-money to our Saviour Jesus Christ, when, through his poverty, he had not wherewith to pay. By a singular mystery you were the nourishment of the eternal King, Jesus Christ, before and after his resurrection. Because of all these things you are bound to praise and bless the Lord, who has given you blessings so many and so much greater than to other creatures.” At these words the fish began to open their mouths, and bow their heads, endeavouring as much as was in their power to express their reverence and show forth their praise. St Anthony, seeing the reverence of the fish towards their Creator, rejoiced greatly in spirit. Of the miracle which God performed when St Anthony, being at… and said with a loud voice: “Blessed be the eternal God; for the fishes of the sea honour him more than men without faith, and animals without reason listen to his word with greater attention than sinful heretics.” And whilst St Anthony was preaching, the number of fishes increased, and none of them left the place that he had chosen. And the people of the city hearing of the miracle, made haste to go and witness it. With them also came the heretics of whom we have spoken above, who, seeing so wonderful and manifest a miracle, were touched in their hearts; and threw themselves at the feet of St Anthony to hear his words. The saint then began to expound to them the Catholic faith.

The Little Flowers of St Francis of Assisi (Chapter 40)

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/u/ugolino/flowers/cache/flowers.pdf