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A helicopter carrying two pilots, a flight technician, and at least five other folks crashed yesterday. They’re all dead. One of them was Iran’s president: which made the aviation accident international news. News “ Iran’s president and foreign minister die in helicopter crash at moment of high tensions in Mideast ” Jon Gambrell, AP (May 20, 2024) “ Iran declares five days of mourning for president ” Michael Sheils McNamee, BBC News (May 20, 2024) Wikipedia 2024 Varzaqan helicopter crash Ebrahim Raisi I am not happy that at least eight people died in that helicopter. I am particularly troubled, because at least one of those deaths may make life difficult for a great many other folks. All of which may take a little explaining.... But not all that much: more at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Ebrahim Raisi was President of Iran. Now he is dead. So are at least seven other folks. I respond to that, very briefly.)

Suicide was in the news, briefly, this weekend. Euthanasia, actually. Or assisted death. Whatever folks call the process, it's arranging for someone to die. Or, being impolite in my choice of words, killing someone. For thoroughly nice motives. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Canada has helped the terminally ill die since 2016. Euthanasia services are now offered to more sick and mentally ill citizens. Some doctors wonder if it is a good idea.)

Benedict XVI, Zagreb, Croatia, 5 June 2011 [ Wikipedia ;  photo ] One of the most beautiful passages on death that I have ever read is from Pope Benedict's encyclical letter on hope,  Spe Salvi , No 48. I have often quoted from this passage at funerals. Spe Salvi, 48. Pope Benedict In hope we were saved (Romans, 8:24). The belief that love can reach into the afterlife, that reciprocal giving and receiving is possible, in which our affection for one another continues beyond the limits of death—this has been a fundamental conviction of Christianity throughout the ages and it remains a source of comfort today. Who would not feel the need to convey to their departed loved ones a sign of kindness, a gesture of gratitude or even a request for pardon? . . . We should recall that no man is an island, entire of itself. Our lives are involved with one another . . . The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills ...

It hasn't been quite four years since a small patch on my tongue's underside went numb. My wife said I should call our town's emergency room, so I did. I'd long since learned that she's got common sense.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . A checkup and changing plans: atrial septal aneurysm and other medical terms, mostly good news from the scan. And a happy musical memory from 1963.

Sunday's rain dampened Sauk Centre's streets, but delivered under four tenths of an inch. That's been good for our weeds, and for grass next to sidewalks. But it's nowhere near the two or three inches we need to get back to adequate soil moisture in these parts. Medical issues have been distracting me. I took one of the kids to an unscheduled clinic checkup with follow-up lab work. Then another enjoyed, if that's the word, a day or so in the hospital. Not Sauk Centre's hospital. One up in North Dakota, near where she lives. On the 'up' side, I've been okay this week, which left me free for chauffeur duty. I'm hoping the next week here will be less eventful. But, quoting an old Minnesota saying, it could be worse. I woke up Thursday morning. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Instead of writing about Halloween, I'll share a seasonally-appropriate story and talk about science, death being human: Waiting on a Dead World Inspiration and Stellar Evolution Still Seeking a Solar System Analog Metaphors and the Lives of Stars Sirius, Procyon and Weighing Stars "Vastness" and Questions Embracing Truth Philosophers and Models Earth, Eons and New Puzzles Faith, Reason and Me Life, Death and Dante's Wood of the Suicides Neuroimaging and Pickled Brains, Altruists and Lab Rats Dante's Hell: Seventh Circle, Second Ring "Here Shall They Hang" — Wood of the Suicides and Clueless Critics Being Human: Body and Soul Avoiding Suicide: Help is Available Art and Being Able to Smell Roses "In the Image of God:" Creativity Included Science Fiction and Attitudes It's Alive! — Oh, ICK!! Kidnapping and Murder, Rules and Principles ...

Daniel Lewis Lee died this morning. That's unremarkable, by itself. Roughly 150,000 people die every day. Cause of death varies. Diseases kill some of us. Others die in accidents. Civil authorities kill those who deserve death. In their government's opinion.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The Last Supper Rubens [ Web Gallery of Art ] John 13:1-17:26 Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)             Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   John 14:15-21 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada) Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever.  This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. ‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.  In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.  On that day you will know that I a...

Exactly six years ago, I finally became cognizant of how thin the line between life and death really is when I nearly lost one of my daughters as she struggled to give birth. During labour, she almost bled out when she lost a litre of blood in mere seconds after an emergency C-section, the result of a series of unforeseen complications, a one-in-ten-thousand chance. read more

St Francis and Brother Leo Meditating on Death El Greco  [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, SouthAfrica) Gospel   Luke 12:32-48 [or 35-40] ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)     Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  ‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;   be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes a...

Just when you thought it was safe to grow up — Folks in their 20s may afoul of a quarter-life crisis: the doubt and disappointment of student loans, dull careers and iffy relationships. Others learn that they're terminally ill. I learned about Michelle Pittman at Mass last Sunday. An inoperable brain tumor will kill her. She and her family have unexpected expenses. That's why a Michelle Pittman Benefit fund was set up at a local bank: Michelle Pittman Benefit c/o MN National Bank PO Box 306 Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Michelle Pittman's situation and the benefit fund are the important part of this post. I'd planned on writing about assorted crises, including terminal illness. 1 That started me thinking about life, death and not having all the answers.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .