Some views of Christmas trees world-wide. Thank you Bernadette for sending me these. Rockefeller Center in NY city – Trafalgar Square. The tree is a gift from Norway – they’ve been sending a Christmas tree as a gift since 1947 as a token of thanks for Britain’s aid in World War II In Tokyo And … Read more
Catholics only make up about 10% of the population in Great Britain. A distinct minority. However, in terms of Church pracitise, they are now the largest. Britain has become a ‘Catholic country’ – Telegraph Last night, leading figures gave warning that the Church of England could become a minority faith and that the findings should … Read more
Here’s some shots of Tim in his Santa outfit, as he headed to school this morning. I think he’s a dead ringer for Santa, although perhaps Santa with a tan?
Brigid’s big birthday present finally arrived (please ignore the rest of the garage!) yesterday – eight days late. Here’s what it looks like, wrapped up in it’s shipping mummy. Will unpack it over the weekend.
On Tuesday the local Gannett newspaper had a nice feature story on one of my former high school teachers, now Monsignor Thomas Shelley. the article was about his just-published history of the NY Archdiocese. It’s a good article – A new history of the Archdiocese of NY tells the Catholic story of the last 200 … Read more
Fr. Groeschel is kind of the Faranda Family Guru. Brigid and I have known him since about 1990, Tom Faranda’s Folly: The official Guru of the Faranda family, featured in NY Times article although we’ve only seen him a few times since his near-fatal accident a number of years ago. We were involved in a … Read more
The Washington Post has an editorial today, highlighting the intransigence of Sudanese Dictator Bashir, and the failures of Europe and NATO in the situation. Stuck on Darfur – washingtonpost.com WHEN THE United Nations Security Council approved an expanded peacekeeping force for the Darfur region of Sudan last summer, some Western politicians may have concluded — … Read more
Tikal is the ancient Mayan city in northern Guatemala. abandoned by the Mayans around 900 AD, it was more or less re-discovered in the mid 19th century. In 1978 while I was living and teaching in Jamaica, I spent my Easter break on a trip to Panama and Guatemala. I visited my brother Jim, who … Read more
One is from a recent article in the Washington Post, the other a recent editorial in the independent National Catholic Reporter. Which vision will last? I Report you Decide. Here’s the two thousand year vision – Buzzworthy Sisters in Habits Headed to Va. School – washingtonpost.com She is Sister Mary Jordan Hoover, principal of Northern … Read more
Another fine Friday column by Peggy Noonan (whether you agree or not is a different matter) in the WSJ. The Pulpit and the Potemkin Village OpinionJournal – Peggy Noonan … In my lifetime faith has been a significant issue in presidential politics, but not the sole determinative one. Is that changing? If it is, it … Read more