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Today's first Bible reading doesn't include the last part of Micah 5:4.... ...I'm guessing that's because we see these verses mostly as they relate to our Lord's birth, about seven centuries later. Folks in Micah's day had more immediate concerns: " 3 he shall be peace. If Assyria invades our country and treads upon our land, We shall raise against it seven shepherds, eight men of royal rank; " 4 And they shall tend the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword; And we shall be delivered from Assyria, if it invades our land and treads upon our borders. " ( Micah 5:4 - 5 ) Micah lived around Isaiah 's time, a bit over 27 centuries back. Assyria's leaders were trying to unite the (western) world into a single empire, and succeeding: for the moment.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The Year of Mercy/Jubilee of Mercy started on Tuesday, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. 1 In my home parish, it's also when we started receiving the Eucharist under both forms: our Lord's body and blood. If you think that's sounds gory and repulsive, you're not alone. Following our Lord has involved public relations issues from day one ... ...We'll be using Latin for parts of Mass during Advent, too: which is fine with me. I like Latin. I can even understand a little of the language. Mercifully, though, most of the Mass is in my native tongue. 3 — Which brings me back to the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis, and getting a grip.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

On Wednesday, December 2, 2015, at about 6:59 p.m. UTC, 10:59 a.m. PST, two people killed 14 others at a holiday office party in San Bernardino, California. The killers were located and stopped a few hours later, and died during an armed confrontation with law enforcement. I put names of the dead, and a few links, at the end of this post. 1 I'm still experiencing anger, disgust, and several other emotions in connection with this latest mass murder. It's an unpleasant sensation, but I'd probably be more concerned if I didn't notice any emotional response. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

It's been nearly a week since I've seen someone's announcement that the end of days is upon us. False alarms are nothing new. It's been about 18 centuries since St. Hippolytus of Rome figured the Second Coming would happen in the year 500. Swedenborg speculated, in 1758, that the Last Judgment happened in the previous year — I give him points for originality — and Harold Camping got it wrong twice. ( January 25, 2015 ; April 19, 2015 ) Me? I believe what our Lord said: including what's recorded in Mark 13:32 - 37 , which ties in with today's Gospel reading.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Pontius Pīlātus was the fifth prefect of the Roman Province of Judea . That sounds important, but Pilate was one of the Equites : Roman aristocrats, but ranking below Patricians . Think of him as 'middle management.' Judea was a strategically important border province, giving the empire access to Egypt's agricultural resources, and a measure of protection from the Parthian Empire . More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From BBC News, used w/o permission.) (" The names of victims have started to emerge. Top left to right: Nohemi Gonzalez, Marie Mosser, Djamila Houd. Middle left to right: Juan Alberto Gonzalez, Guillaume Decherf, Nick Alexander. Bottom left to right: Mathieu Hoche, Thomas Ayed, Valentin Ribet " (BBC News)).... ...Another article tells about efforts to find folks who are still missing: either dead, or hospitalized and not able to say who they are. I'll get back to that.... ...A few names from that BBC News article — "Dado," the nickname of a man killed at the Bataclan. Hugo Sarrade, Cedric Mauduit, Mathieu Hoche, Quentin Boulanger, Guillaume B Decherf, Marie Lausch, Mathias Dymarski, and Lola Salines, had been at the Bataclan, too. No pressure, and this is just a suggestion: but praying for everyone involved couldn't hurt.... More, at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From Anne Sophie Chaisemartin/AP, via New York Daily News, used w/o permission.) (" Victims of a shooting attack lay on the pavement outside La Belle Equipe restaurant in Paris Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. Well over 100 people were killed in Paris on Friday night in a series of shooting, explosions. " (New York Daily News)) I've read that Friday's attacks in Paris are the fault of right-wing hate-mongers, that America's president is to blame — — — and the American election is still nearly a year off. I am not looking forward to the usual self-serving balderdash.... ...I am pretty sure that Muslims who blame France, America, and Western civilization for their problems are sincere, too. But the grand imam of Al-Azhar called Friday's attack "odious," Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb said it was "heinous," and Saudi King Salman called it "repugnant." 1 ... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From Starbucks, via AP/KOMONews.com, used w/o permission.) America's presidential campaigns may explain some of this week's sturm und drang : 1 " Outcry, pushback escalate over Starbucks holiday cup flap " Mae Anderson, AP Business Writer, via KOMONews.com (November 10, 2015) " Is Starbucks Waging 'War on Christmas'? Red Cup Stirs Controversy " Sarah Whitten, CNBC (November 10, 2015) " Starbucks red cup controversy: The view from Chicago " Greg Trotter, Chicago Tribune (November 10, 2015) I put a mercifully-brief excerpt from each of those items at the end of this post. 2 Hats off to the Chicago Tribune's Greg Trotter, for his "extremely unscientific survey" regarding the latest looming crisis. Tongue in cheek is, I think, a reasonable attitude toward the Starbuck's holiday coffee cups "controversy." Interestingly, I haven't heard a peep about the Starbucks Veteran's Day cup, which rese

Why do Catholics pray "unto an idol of wood, metal, stone, and the like?" I'm pretty sure that was what a chap meant by "is this stones and wood true?" " is this stones and wood true ? " ... #TheTruthCaster: ... praying, gazing unto an idol of wood, metal, stone, and the like. " ( Response to a Twitter post) As a convert to Catholicism, I can see why some non-Catholics sincerely believe that we're idol-worshipers. We're not idolaters, but I've long since stopped trying to convince zealots that their preferred reality isn't entirely accurate. On the other hand, those comments started me thinking about Catholic churches and art, and reminded me that I haven't talked about art and idolatry for a while. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

You might recognize this as lyrics from Carly Simon 's Have You Seen Me Lately album: the fourth track. " ...And life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon, and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.... " (Quite a few folks) I ran into it as part of a prayer by Fr. Bede Jarrett , who had said he was repeating something William Penn wrote. Rossiter W. Raymond wrote the lines into his " Death is Only an Horizon " poem. I'll get back to a longer excerpt from Fr. Jarrett's prayer: after talking about death, life, love, and all that. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

" The New Evangelization calls each of us to deepen our faith, believe in the Gospel message and go forth to proclaim the Gospel. The focus of the New Evangelization calls all Catholics to be evangelized and then go forth to evangelize.... " (" New Evangelization ," USCCB 1 ) In a way, the "new" evangelization isn't new. Matthew 28:19 means the same thing now that it did two millennia ago. But it isn't the first, or the 11th, century any more. We're in the 21st, and the world is changing. This isn't a new situation: " ...the world is on fire. Men try to condemn Christ once again, as it were, for they bring a thousand false witnesses against him. They would raze his Church to the ground.... No, my sisters, this is no time to treat with God for things of little importance.... " (Camino de perfección, 1, 5; St. Teresa of Avila; quoted by Benedict XVI on July 16, 2012) 1 ) St. Teresa of Avila wrote Camino de perfección

My wife gave me a familiar 'did you really say that?' look a few days ago, after I said I didn't understand why so many folks are upset about current events. She had, as usual, reason on her side. I've gotten upset, a lot. I'm pretty much the opposite of phlegmatic . But I don't see much point in contemplating cracked mirrors, or taking my cue from Yeats: " ...The mirror crack'd from side to side; 'The curse is come upon me,' cried The Lady of Shalott.... " (" The Lady of Shalott ," Tennyson (1842)) " ...Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. " Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand.... " (" The Second Coming ," William Butler Yeats (1920)) ...Like quite a few other folks at the time, Yeats w

Nine people died last Thursday, at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. A little while later, their killer also died: Lucero Alcaraz, 19 Treven Taylor Anspach, 20 Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18 Quinn Glen Cooper, 18 Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59 Lucas Eibel, 18 Jason Dale Johnson, 33 Lawrence Levine, 67 (teacher) Sarena Dawn Moore, 44 the killer, 26 ( CNN ) Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said that he was not going to use the killer's name, since one of the killer's goals was almost certainly to gain notoriety. ( BBC News ) I think that is probably a good idea. What I have to say doesn't require the killer's name. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I'll be quoting Pope Francis quite a bit today, starting with this bit from the news: " ...Speaking on Sunday (Sept. 13) to the Argentine radio station, FM Milenium, Francis lamented those who posed as his friends to exploit him, and decried religious fundamentalism. " And speaking to Portugal's Radio Renascenca in an interview that aired on Monday, Francis put his own popularity into perspective: 'Jesus also, for a certain time, was very popular, and look at how that turned out.'... " (" Pope Francis: 'Jesus was popular and look how that turned out' ," David Gibson, Religion News Service (September 14, 2015)) David Gibson apparently paid attention to what Pope Francis said. Some other headlines, from derivative stories are — imaginative. Others perhaps show a better understanding of the Pope than displayed by the occasional outraged Catholic.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From Libreria Editrice Vaticana, used w/o permission.) Pope Francis arrived in Havana, Cuba, yesterday. It's his first stop on the latest apostolic journey.... ...Getting back to the Pope's visit to Cuba and the United States, the Philadelphia Phillies have been giving away Pope Francis Rookie Cards.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I was surprised and flattered when two tourists from Thailand asked me if I was Jewish. That was about four decades back, at Grand Canyon National Park, near the visitor center. I'd brought a big topographic map of that massive gulch, spreading it out at intervals to see what I was looking at, and taking photos. That's not mine, by the way: it's from Tom Bernard Anyz . I think the Thai tourists had noticed that I had a full beard and never took my cap off. Quite a few gentiles in America wore caps indoors and out at the time, and still do: but not many American men grow a 'haven't shaved in years' beard. The plain black jacket I wore probably helped, too. I enjoyed being mistaken for one of our Lord's relatives, but my ancestors are about as gentile as it gets, west of the Urals. They probably hadn't even heard of Abraham or Isaac until missionaries arrived, and that's another topic. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I ran into a familiar sentiment on Twitter: " Sometimes I wish I was religious so I could have an excuse for hating people. " Instead of seething with anger, I did a quick Google search. The phrase, with exactly those words, showed up about 60 times. The earliest example I found was posted by a bot on reddit.com , December 28, 2011. Without the quotes, I got roughly 35,200,000 matches. That's a lot of folks talking about religion and hate. Some agreed with the "excuse for hating people" quote, some didn't, and some were talking about something completely different. The "excuse for hating" quote hadn't been directed at me, and came from an account that Tweets a lot of platitudes and quotations. Instead of firing back a response, I started writing this post. That was on Monday of this week.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

As a Christian, and a Catholic, I should be 'in the world but not of the world.' That idea shows up in John 15:18 - 19 and 17:14 - 16 , and Romans 12:2 . Joining a cloistered outfit like the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( Trappists ) is one option: they're part of the Benedictine family, contemplative monks and nuns. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists created "super-intelligent mice" — but this isn't a cartoon, so the mice aren't hatching plans for world domination. The research may lead, eventually, to treatments for Posttraumatic stress disorder , schizophrenia , and Alzheimer's disease . Other scientists found hand bones shaped pretty much like ours: from at least 1,840,000 years back.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I took an unexpected trip to North Dakota Friday, delivering parts my son had been working on: and enjoying a few hours with family there, including our granddaughter. On the way out, I stopped off at Fergus Falls for gas: and discovered that Debbie's Home Style Kitchen isn't there any more. That's what it looked like, back in 2010. I found a partial explanation on a Fargo, North Dakota, station's website.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .