Take a pilgrimage with Steve and Janet Ray!

Care for Family and Country First – then others. Was JD Vance correct?

Yes, JD Vance was correct, very biblical and Catholic in his common sense assertion that a person should love family first, then his church/community, then his country and THEN others in the wider world. This is the principle foundation when considering immigration and care for others.

What does St. Paul say in 1 Timothy 5:8:

“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

JD Vance told the media and nay-sayers that the old Christian adage Ordo Amoris (The Sacred Order of Love) applied as the foundational consideration when discussing a countries borders and immigration.

For a good article on this, and what Thomas Aquinas has to say in confirmation, read HERE. It starts out,

The vice president was being interviewed by Fox, and he made a straightforward observation: There is an order or hierarchy of loves—what is classically called an ordo amoris. We should love our family first, then our neighbors, then love our community, then our country, and only then consider the interests of the rest of the world. Vance called this a Christian view.

Some reacted with horror. To be Christian is to be universal and impartial, they said! Vance is endorsing an anti-Christian nativism! But Vance is correct. The Christian tradition has a consistent teaching that we are to love those near with a greater fervor than those far away….

(Click here for the whole article. Another two are here and here.)

Great Saturday in Baton Rouge

Great time speaking for Sister Dulce Maria at the Cyprus Springs Mercedarian Prayer Center in Baton Rouge Louisiana. Three talks today. Lovely folks and great Cajun food.

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Grandson Joshua Ray is married!
Our family of 32 minus one son-in-law
Men in Black - my son Jesse's 5 boys
Janet and I with our 5 children
Pilgrimage Clergy for our St. Paul Cruise
Our group in Ephesus
Join us in Poland
With friend Michael Dauphinais at Ave Maris University
20 Year Anniversary of leading pilgrimages
Saints & Shrines of Italy
In Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
Mass at Eucharistic Miracle at Lanciano
Having fun leading our group in Italy, Greece and Turkey
Our group in Lourdes (going again in 2026)
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Check out Catholic Bible Study Software
Steve's new book on Genesis
Last night in Dublin
Our cruise group in Ephesus
Tour Catacombs in Rome
Mass in Philippi at river where Paul baptized Lydia
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