Pope Francis’s recent condemnation of “the movement” associated with the tragic events at the U.S. Capitol should come as no surprise to faithful Catholics who have seen him condemn even the mildest and most faithful members of his supposed spiritual flock.

“Thank God,” he said, “that this has burst into the open and is clear to see well.”

Since the first Pentecost, there have been few years that have seen worldwide transformations of the scale and magnitude we have seen since last Christmas. Almost all aspects of our lives have been upended, and many things that seemed most stable have now seemingly changed forever.

Are we worse off now than we were on Thanksgiving Day of 2019? Since then, we have encountered COVID-19 with the associated lockdowns and other anti-health measures, the BLM/ANTIFA riots, a stunning increase in media dishonesty and censorship, an apparently fraudulent presidential election, the threat of a Global Reset, child exploitation passed off as popular entertainment, and ever more heartbreakingly anti-Catholic actions and pronouncements from the Catholic hierarchy. By almost every measure, we are much worse off now than we were in 2019.

And yet, if we step back and reflect on where we are, there are reasons why we should consider this our greatest Thanksgiving.