Last time I urged the reader to prayer with my list of the “big three” bad events I hope we don’t undergo in 2018. So it only makes sense to start by listing my hope that none of those catastrophes happen. Instead, I hope and pray that:

• We avoid war with North Korea, and that its wicked leader is ousted by some patriotic general who values his countrymen’s lives over the idolatrous cult of Juche. He can start a process of “reform” which will sooner rather than later bring down that regime. The union of the two Koreas will be much more painful and expensive than the reunion of the Germanies. But it will rescue millions from tyranny and the brink of starvation — and let the Gospel free in that tortured land.
• Donald Trump rejects amnesty for DACA recipients and “DREAMer” illegals, and shepherds Tom Cotton’s sensible RAISE Act into law. Then I hope he hires people from the former East Germany to make our border wall nice and high.
• European governments rebuff the threats, bullying, and sly promises of the European Union. Let Poland and its allies in central Europe call the EU Commission’s bluff. Better to give up those subsidies from the center than surrender control over borders, abortion, the judiciary, and other crucial policy areas. I pray that a British government be formed that will manage a swift and irrevocable Brexit.

Okay, but what else should we hope and pray for in 2018? I can’t speak for all Stream readers, and won’t pretend to try. But the following is my personal wish list for the next 12 months. It’s not complete, nor are my reasons for each unpacked in comprehensive detail. But these are the things I’ll be “praying on” for the next twelve months. Feel free to join me!

Congress Will Defund Planned Parenthood

President Trump promised this, and tried. Republicans in Congress tried, but not hard enough. This really should be a no-brainer. Citizens paying attention now realize that Planned Parenthood provides few actual health services for women. Most clinics don’t even offer mammograms. For all its PR that counts every pamphlet they hand women as a “service” apart from abortion, the numbers tell the story: By some estimates, 55% of Planned Parenthood’s revenue comes from abortions. Given the organization’s racist roots, and its documented sale of baby parts for profit (the FBI is now investigating), it’s a profound failure of leadership on the GOP’s part that this anti-social, anti-human group will receive $450 million from the taxpayer in 2018. Next time we must make this a deal-breaker.

One or More Liberal Supreme Court Justices Will Retire

I expect that the older liberal justices on the court will be clinging to their seats in the hope that they can outlast Donald Trump. Liberals long ago gave up on Constitutional amendments. Now they use the Supreme Court as a sitting, permanent Constitutional convention. Still, we can hope that God moves at least one of the judicial activists on the court to turn in his or her robe. Then we should gird our loins for the PR and Senate battle of the century, as the left clutches at any argument to retain its power to rule by decree. The future of life, religious liberty, and Second Amendment issues — the question of whether voters will have any say on them — rests on the next one or two Supreme Court appointments. We have to get this right.

Pope Francis Repents or Else Resigns

Pope Francis has done more to divide Catholics than any pope in 150 years. He has clouded the Church’s teaching on marriage and sexuality. Francis has thrown out the clear, recent teaching of two of his immediate predecessors — which echoed Church practice and preaching for 2000 years. He has politicized the papacy, using its bully pulpit to further crudely crafted left-wing talking points on everything from the economy to immigration to climate science. He has marginalized and punished his critics, to the point that a new book calls him the “Dictator Pope.” Now he’s defending his handpicked lieutenant, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga. That Honduran leftist (and anti-Semite) is accused of massive corruption that benefited him personally, to the tune of $40,000 per month. Other favorites of Pope Francis include the disgraced Belgian Cardinal Wilfrid Daneels — who was caught on tape trying to silence a sex abuse victim — and LGBT advocate Fr. James Martin, SJ.

In the best case scenario, Pope Francis will see the error of his ways, and spend the rest of his pontificate undoing the damage he’s wrought. Failing that, he should imitate the example of Pope Benedict XVI and admit that he can no longer lead the Church. He should resign, and open a political institute based in Buenos Aires. Something tells me George Soros would fund it.

Eduardo Verastegui Becomes President of Mexico

This dashing heartthrob actor might run for president of our neighbor to the south. He is also a devout Catholic and prolife activist. (He starred in the pro-life classic Bella.) Verastegui has shown that he’s willing to confront taboo subjects such as human trafficking and Mexico’s crippling crime wave. He’s great before a camera, and a deeply thoughtful man. While as a patriotic Mexican, he will differ with the U.S. on details of our immigration policy, Verastegui is far from the populist extremism that we’ve seen among recent Mexican presidents. His election would be good news for both countries, and for the vital relationship between them.

White Nationalists Will Repent

Yes, there are vicious people out there who have made a pagan idol out of their race. And increasingly, some of them are white. Some of them, such as Richard Spencer and David Duke, seem to be beyond redemption. (Apart of course from some miracle of grace, which we shouldn’t discount.)

But I suspect that many of them are sane people now embittered, but still amenable to reason. Some are reacting defensively to the way that white people are talked about and treated in academia. (Increasingly, as a disease.) They’re reacting wrongly, imitating the worst vices of the left. I’ve written here at length on why white nationalism is an ugly and self-destructive movement which all should reject. I made sure that Paul Nehlen saw it. He’s the man who ran against Paul Ryan for the GOP nomination in 2016. I rooted for him, at the time — and even defended him in print. Since then, Nehlen has shown more and more evidence that he has caught the racialist bug. That’s a shame. I wrote him on Twitter Wednesday, pleading with him to reconsider.

@pnehlen, I backed you vs. Paul Ryan. Please, as a Christmas favor, read these 2 short essays on why white ID politics is self-destructive & wrong. Please. Will take 15 minutes, max. Thanks. https://t.co/7XboDbngsq AND https://t.co/541wi1QJks Lord have mercy on us all.

— John Zmirak (@JZmirak) December 27, 2017

Please include him and anyone tempted by this movement in your prayers.

Mozilla Will Fix Firefox So It Stops Crashing After I Open Three Tabs.

Nah, just kidding. I know better than to ask for the impossible.

A blessed and hopeful 2018 to you all!