Good Friday (April 3) and Easter Sunday (April 5) are fast approaching.  The reality that attendance at church is no longer thought of as an obligation is sad.  There is no sin that our loving Lord will not forgive.  The only sin that is not forgiven is the one not confessed.  There is nothing sadder than growing old without a relationship with God that sustains one through old age and eventual death.  To assure oneself that a relationship is possible divorced from your church is self delusional. It will not sustain you through your last days.  Satan tells us that a church is not necessary, that it is only full of hypocrites and corruption.  But when we come to our death, as we all do, he is the one who torments us with our failings.

As Catholics we do not go to Mass and frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation to judge the worth of fellow parishioners. We go to Mass because Christ is present.  Mass is a time of union with our Lord and to praise and thank Him together with our brothers and sisters for the tremendous sacrifice He made to allow access to an eternity with Him.

Why did God make me?  Our old answer was, "To know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him and to be happy with Him through all eternity"  The first commandment demands, "You will have no gods before me." That simply means He wants to be first in your life.  Money, achievements, acquisition of worldly goods, and personal pleasures can become "other gods." What in your life is more important than giving  to God what is God’s?

Make this Easter the time you come home. St. Ann's Basilica in Scranton has hours of Confession available daily for those who have been away for years and need help coming home.  Any priest would be very happy to help you.

Sincerely,

Annette Corrigan

Jackson, PA

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans issued in 1977 are very clear. Avoid fatty foods like the plague, because they are a plague. Foods containing fats are heart attacks via knife and fork. Every year 740,000 Americans die from heart attacks or strokes. That's more than 2.5 times as many Americans who were killed in WW II. But this time the enemy is fat.

Chief among the culprits in this rogue's gallery of fat-flushed foods were eggs. The yokes gummed-up arteries better than Elmer's Glue. Butter guaranteed your entrance into a cardiologist's waiting room. And meat was red flagged along with nuts and seeds. More dangerous still were tropical oils like palm oil or coconut oil; they were kitchen killers.

Fortunately, substitutes were available. Eggs could be replaced by a liquid that was yellow just like eggs. For butter there was margarine, a semi-solid block of vegetable oil. And meat? Ersatz burgers made with tofu were better. And tropical oils gave way to vegetable oils, which were good for you.

Responding to the low-fat fervor were low-fat and non-fat dairy products, that included yogurt, milk, and cheese. There was even a substitute for fat called Olestra, which was fat-less.

The FDA , in coordination with the 1977 guidelines, constructed a food pyramid to guide Americans through the food revolution. At the base of the pyramid were foods that were recommended to be consumed the most. Highly processed, sugary carbohydrates like bread, cereal, crackers, rice, and pasta, were the backbone of the new diet.

Near the top of the pyramid were foods that were to be consumed sparingly such as full-fat products like milk, yogurt, and natural cheese. Meats, eggs, nuts, and seeds also joined the FDA's most unwanted list.

The public dutifully followed the U.S. dietary guidelines and the FDA's food pyramid. Fat consumption shrink by a healthy 40 percent. The result was staggeringly unexpected.

The New England Journal of Medicine did a ten-year study. The results, published in 1998, showed no decline in cardiovascular disease.

This year the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported the results of a meta-analysis that examined 21 studies involving 350,000 people followed over a period of 14 years. It also found no relationship between consumption of saturated fat and the incidence of heart disease or stroke.

Now, the forthcoming 2015 government revised guidelines admits to an oops moment; we got it all backwards in '77. Sorry 'bout that folks.

The 1977 dietary guidelines and the FDA's food pyramid were not only backwards they were harmful. Foods that were to be eaten with restraint should form the major part of one's diet, and foods recommended to be consumed the most should be consumed the least. And the FDA's pyramid should be turned upside-down.

As for those food replacements, they were industrial frankenfoods. Egg substitutes, margarine, tofu ”meat,” and supermarket oils are loaded with trans fats, artificial colors, coal tar flavoring, preservatives and other chemicals. These stitched together monstrosities stripped of their nutritive value were in desperate need of a transfusion of real food. As for those condemned oils, like coconut oil, they are among the most healthful.

For the past 37 years the public has been massively misled by shoddy research, agricultural interests and dishonest scientists. One such scientist was Ancel Keys. Keys was a key player in the makeover of the national diet. Unfortunately, that makeover was largely supported by data that Keys falsified.

The dietary debacle succeeded in creating an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and, yes, cardiovascular disease. How many lives were cut short because of the no-fat craze we shall never know. But really, we should never have gone along with the fad.

Our forebears survived and thrived for thousands of years on all the foods forbidden by the government guidelines. Now we can do better.

For the first time, we have within our grasp the ability to extend the limit of our lifespan and our health-span. The invention and widespread use of refrigerated boxcars and refrigerated trucks have made the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables a year-round fare. Home ice boxes were replaced by refrigerators. And mom-and-pop grocery stores gave way to supermarkets with an astonishing variety of foods.

All we have to do to enjoy a long and healthy life is to eat what the government told us not to eat, stand the food pyramid on its capstone and eat like our ancestors.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA