Tim does Santa

by

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?

Kayak has arrived

by

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.

Note to Msgr. Shelley, my A.P. history teacher

by

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. Benedict Groeschel on Religious life

by

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

Extensive article on a father seeking cancer cure for his son on the “edge of medicine”

by

The past weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal had a long front page article about a family working with many physicians to extendthe life of their son. It’s really a great article, which unfortunately is not available unless you are a Wall Street Journal subscriber. I am putting the link in, because sometimes these … Read more

Darfur Update

by

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

The NY Times Travel section does Tikal

by

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

Two quite different visions of Catholic Faith

by

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

Noonan eviscerates Huckabee and the Clintons

by

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