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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died this morning — Saturday, December 31, 2022. His death is international news, but I don't have much to say at the moment. Headlines included the all-too-predictable political spins and 'hidden meanings.' And, happily, I saw the following articles: one from BBC News, the other from Vatican News; both giving a pretty good overview of our former pope. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Remembering Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. Excerpts from BBC News, Vatican News.)

While doing dishes one night, we got kind of silly and started going on about old commercials, like Slim Chipley from Paramount potato chips (here's a medley ; not the original.  Just click the arrow), the Frito Bandito song and the Oscar Mayer Weiner song .   Amazing!  After 50 years my husband and I could sing quite a few of them.  Our oldest daughter pointed out how long those early commercials were and how verbose their jingles were compared to today. It was some good marketing, that's for sure, if we can recall them so many years later. That got me to thinking . . . maybe we need a commercial for God and the gospel, the "Good News."  A nice catchy tune that would stick in your head.  I'm just following what the Lord says through the prophet Isaiah (59:32): “. . . my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says...

I'd been planning on writing about chimps, strength, muscles, and assumptions this week. Then, a few hours later, I noticed that I'd been talking about horses, digestion, etymology, cephalic index and other assumptions. Which, for me, is about par for the course. Eventually, I got back to what we've been learning about chimps and muscles. Horses Aren't Human Scientists, Science, and Assumptions: Old and New Phrenology and the Superiority of 'Folks Like Me' Scientific Scientists: An Etymological Excursion Cephalic Index: Numbers, Notions and Aryan Angst Assumptions, Attitudes and an Opportunistic Omnivore More Assumptions and Attitudes Using Our Brains, Seeking (and Accepting) Truth Making Sense and Other Options Chimpanzee Sort-of-Super Strength: It's the Muscles Reviewing the Evidence Twitchy Chimps And Finally, Malu Malu: the Slow Loris More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (How ho...

Noted, in today's news:... ...Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has been living in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, about a hundred yards northwest of St. Peter’s in Vatican city. He’s still there, in serious but stable condition; with medicos on hand. At age 95 — his age, not mine — hearing that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had a good night's sleep and is "absolutely lucid and alert" is good news. And Pope Francis renewing his invitation to pray for Benedict XVI makes sense.... A liitle more at A Catholic Citizen in America .

 28th Dec A Very Happy Christmas to You   In our family we continue to celebrate Christmas, so I wish you the Peace, Joy and Love of the Christ Child this 4th day of Christmas.       We have a Christmas party tomorrow with families from our ParisIh and the next day my daughter will host another family Christmas Day. There will be others, but more impropmtu, like a meet up for the Ist Jan, when we remember Mary as the Mother of God, before we finish with a party for the Feast of the Kings on the 6th Jan.         I will continue to wish people Happy Christmas, even though they might think I'm mad and shout back at me, "You mean Happy New Year , Love!" No I don't , I try and explain, but they've usually moved off by then. Even in the Church people look at me askance, as if to say, "hey, Christmas is over, thank goodness." What a shame. I also still have some Christmas Cards that I intend to give out at the party tomorrow.  What do you ...

  Joseph's Dream Rembrandt [ Web Gallery of Art ] An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt (Mt 2:13) . Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs 28 December Gospel   Matthew 2:13-18 ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India) Now when the wise men had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”   And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt   and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or un...

Merry Christmas and thank you for all of the warm Christmas greetings!  I hope you continue to enjoy the season! I have really enjoyed all of the family pictures on social media over the last couple of days. It occurred to me, since I know that behind several of the gatherings and smiles, many of you were missing parents, children and spouses, you still found ways to laugh and smile and enjoy the people you were with.  That's wonderful! I think you are living proof that we can rise above our hardships and grief and that it is okay to still laugh and celebrate, because Jesus is born !  Because of circumstances, our Christmas was "weird" this year as plans unexpectedly changed for various reasons out of our control, but we, too, still managed to figure out a way to mostly make it work. We will have to celebrate with the grandkids later in the week, but it is completely understandable. We couldn't make it to church because we were exposed to Covid and wanted...

We're celebrating a very special birthday. (A little) more at A Catholic Citizen in America . (John 1:14. It's a big deal. Merry Christmas!)

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    I am so thankful to be arriving at Christmas, for many reasons, but one you might not expect--no longer will I have to drive past the extremely depressing, deflated blow-up Christmas yard displays! I don't use them and admittedly, I don't know how they work, except I surmise there is some sort of air pump, but honestly, if you are going to have them, please, please either keep them blown up or take them away.  It's so sad to drive past your yard and see a bunch of "dead" reindeer, Santas, and Christmas trees all lying around like some sort of Christmas cemetery--and just before Christmas! Sorry, that sounded mean; it's just an observation, but admittedly they can get pretty bad (like the above picture I found online.) When you have them inflated, I really do appreciate them, so I guess that's something nice I can say! Years ago my friend commented about people having statues of Mary in their yard and she called them "Mary in a batht...

I'll be sharing some very odd 19th century Christmas cards today. And rambling a bit about holidays, history and whatever else comes to mind. Briefly, for me. Christmas and New Year's Eve: a Double-Header Solstice Celebration Many if not all folks who experience non-equatorial seasons where they live have some sort of winter solstice celebration. My native culture has two: Christmas and New Year's Eve. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (My winter solstice celebrations, holiday greetings from the ISS, strange Victorian greeting cards and the first Christmas card.)

I've decided that the best time to be sick is when there are back to back episodes of the West Wing running 24 hours a day.  I'm just sayin'. Seriously, though, there really isn't any good time to be sick, but if you are rather holy, you are able to be conscientious enough to offer up your suffering for others, and if you are really saintly, you will be grateful for the opportunity to do so. Sadly, I cannot hold claim to either of those positions when I am at my worst.  I wonder if the greater your suffering, the more valuable your offering.  For ordinary, every day stuff, I can offer it up, but I must say, dealing with real sickness mostly solicits from me a promise to live life with extreme gratitude when I get better. But, naturally, that typically lasts a few days beyond the sickness. And the truth is, whenever I feel rotten and whining becomes my default, I always come across someone who is not only sicker, but definitely more saintly than me. I am alw...

When I saw "Vatican" and "elegant demon" in my news feeds, I cringed. Just a little. But not because I feared that the four horsemen of the Apocalypse were saddling up and the Antichrist was running rampant.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Finding a summary of what the Pope said.)

  Adoration of the Shepherds Murillo, painted 1646-50 [ Web Gallery of Art ] And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger  (Luke 2:12; Gospel). The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord  has four different Mass formularies, each with its own prayers and readings. Any of the four fulfils our obligation to attend Mass. These are: Vigil Mass , celebrated 'either before or after First Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the Nativity'; that means starting between 5pm and 7pm. Mass During the Night , known before as 'Midnight Mass'. Mass at Dawn . Mass During the Day . The readings from the Jerusalem Bible for the four Masses are all on one page but with links to each individual Mass. When you click on 'Readings' below from the New American Bible you will find links to the readings for each of the four Masses.   Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scot...

My culture's Christmas season begins with Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Our traditionally-frenzied holiday shopping season does, at any rate. That's not a particularly good thing, considering what stress can do to folks. On the other hand, America's shopping frenzy inspired "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas." I'll be talking about that, more-or-less-recent news, and events we're still celebrating, two millennia later.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Recent news, holiday stress and a hipster nativity. Yogi Yorgesson and C. S. Lewis: views regarding Christmas. Joseph, Mary and decisions.)

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A tip of the hat to Anthony Stevens, whose recent op-ed started me thinking about this week's topics. " NoMoNASA " Anthony Stevens, Anthony Stevens' Weblog (November 25, 2022) I'll be talking about ideas that didn't work out, or haven't yet; three cool single-stage-to-orbit vehicles, including one that flew; and, finally, looking back and ahead. Or, rather, the other way around. Plus, I've included short videos showing Skylon, the VentureStar, and a test flight of the McDonnell Douglas DC-X Delta Clipper prototype. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . Spaceplanes, from Max Valier to Skylon. DC-X: a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle that was canceled. Historical perspective and the Kardashians.

  The Dream of St Joseph Georges de La Tour [ Web Gallery of Art ] An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife ’   (Matthew 1:24). Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Matthew 1:18-24 ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India) Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.   And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.   But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that wh...

  Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie Arranged by Jim Clements Sung by Voces8 My Auntie Madge (Margaret Collins) would have been ten or eleven when this song first appeared in 1934. But she never heard the marvellous arrangement above of the song that has just been issued by Voces8, the British choir that I have often used in  Sunday Reflections , singing a different kind of music. Auntie Madge was the youngest of my mother's six sisters Jennie, Nan, Neita, Bridie, Eileen and Madge. I'm not sure where Bridie, who died in infancy, came in the sequence but I often heard my mother, Mary, talking about her. Three boys, Mick, Paddy and Jack, completed the family of my maternal grandparents, William Patrick Collins and Annie Dowd. My grandfather died early in 1945 when I was nearly two but I don't have any memories of him, though I am happy that he knew me, his third grandchild, and that he held me. He was only 59 when he died of lung cancer...

  Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day: 12 December Patroness of the Americas ,  of Mexico,  of Unborn Children  and Secondary Patroness of the Philippines The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe Please continue at Bangor to Bobbio .

  St John the Baptist in Prison Juan Fernández de Navarrete [ Web Gallery of Art ] Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  (Matthew 11:2-3; Gospel). Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Matthew 11:2-11 ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India) Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and...