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India's 'monster rocket,' the GSLV Mark III, successfully put the GSAT-19 E satellite in orbit this week. BBC News called some coverage of ISRO's launch "euphoric." That's understandable. India is like America in the late 20th century, where spaceflight is involved: and is rapidly catching up. I'm not euphoric, quite, but I see what's happening as very good news for everyone. Rocket Lab's Electron test launch wasn't entirely successful. But the company thinks they can get the system working, and plan to start commercial launches later this year. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

This is bad, but could have been much worse. Yesterday evening, starting around 10:00, three people in a van drove across London Bridge, deliberately running down pedestrians. 1 After crossing the bridge, they left the van and attacked folks out for an evening with friends and family near Borough Market. A few minutes later, they were dead; shot by police. They had killed seven folks by then, 48, were taken to hospitals, 36 are still hospitalized, 21 in critical condition, as I write this.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

"Folks have thought truth is important for quite a while... "...I think truth is important, too. As a Christian, I'd better...." More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I take God very seriously. I also think people matter. I care deeply about truth and love. By some standards this isn't a particularly "religious" blog. For one thing, I keep saying that loving my neighbor and seeing everybody as my neighbor is a good idea. I'll get back to that. For another, I write about science each Friday; real science. And I don't see it as a threat. I don't 'believe in' science, in the sense that I expect it to replace God. That would be as silly as trying to find life's meaning in the second law of thermodynamics . It would also be a very bad idea.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists used new DNA screening tech to study caves in Belgium, Croatia, France, Russia, and Spain. What they found wasn't a big surprise. What's exciting about the news is that we now have another tool for unraveling our family history. We've been pretty sure that nobody lived in North America until about two dozen millennia back. That may change, if scientists who say they found 130,000-year-old tools in San Diego County, California. Quite a few other scientists are dubious, understandably. I took a longer look at what we've been learning about Homo naledi. They're folks who don't look like humanity's current model. We found their remains in a cave they probably used as a crypt. Since you may be reading my stuff for the first time, I'll review why I think truth is important. All truth, not just the bits I grew up knowing about. Also why I take the Bible seriously, but not 'creation science.'... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I'll be talking about scientific research that may not be "fake:" but isn't reliable, either. The good news is that many scientists want to fix the problem. I'll also take a look at truth, beauty, Copernicus, and how a science editor sees faith and science. Faith and science Truth and Beauty "...There Will be Babblers...." Being Scientific News and views... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

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We haven't found life on — or in — Enceladus. But we've found organic compounds in the Saturnian moon's salt-water geysers. Scientists detected an atmosphere around Gliese 1132 b, a planet about 39 light-years away. It's Earth-like, in terms of size; but too hot for life as we know it. We'll almost certainly learn a great deal, though, by studying its atmosphere.... ...Abraham, Moses, and Minnesota I take the Bible, Sacred Scripture, very seriously. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 101 - 133 ) I don't, however, insist on believing only what I find in the Bible. That's just as well, since I live near the center of North America. I'm pretty sure that Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Saint Peter, and the rest, didn't know that the land I live on exists. But I'm quite sure that the State of Minnesota is real: even if it's not "Biblical."... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Today’s Gospel reading from Luke 24:13-35 speaks to us of Jesus’ walk with two men on the Road to Emmaus. We begin with two men departing Jerusalem, saddened in the realization that Jesus was not who they thought him to be. They were disappointed, for they thought He was their savior; yet He died. So much for being a savior! How often can we say that we are like the two men on the Road to Emmaus? Do we give up on Jesus when He does not do what we wish, or what we think is right?  These men wanted Jesus to rise to the level of King, but He died, and with that their belief in Him. Road to Emmaus: Signs of Faith As the men were walking, Jesus approached them. However, Jesus disguised Himself, disabling them to “see” Jesus as the Risen Lord. While walking with the men, Jesus asked them what they were discussing. The two men informed Jesus about the events of recent days: Jesus’ arrest, humiliation, crucifixion and death. They had hoped that “ he would be the one to redeem Israel ” (

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Many of us look at this period on the Church calendar as a time of suffering and deprivation. Lent has historically been synonymous with a desert experience of dryness; a sense of loneliness, as if God is on vacation somewhere else. This connotes a sense of negativity. Yet, Lent affords us so much more, if we are willing to open our minds, hearts and souls to the various opportunities that make the Lenten season special in a positive way. Lent, a Season of Faith, Hope and Love Lent can be a time of renewal and personal growth; a time for getting to know Our Savior much better by... Read more... 

I'll be eating oatmeal for breakfast during Lent, and walking around more. If I was in England, I'd probably call it porridge, and that's another topic. It'll be be good for my health, and I'm sure that's one reason my wife suggested it. But that's not the only, or the main, reason. Lent isn't about me.... ...Lent is when we join Jesus in the desert. Sort of.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I tried — briefly — bargaining with God when we lost Elizabeth, our youngest child. ( October 9, 2016 ) When the somewhat one-sided conversation was over, I was accepting the unpleasant realities, and asking for help dealing with them: so I don't feel particularly guilty. I suspect that some folks say bargaining with God is always wrong because they see it as trying to manipulate God. That's a bad idea: also impossible. The Almighty is just that. I can't make God do anything.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft." ( Psalms 19:2 ) Okay, so who is this message proclaimed to? Us, apparently. One of the ways we can learn about God is by noticing order and beauty in the universe. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 31 - 32 , 319 ) St. Bonaventure said that the universe communicates God's glory, St. Thomas Aquinas said that the Almighty creates because God is good and loving. (Catechism, 293 ) I think they're right. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Today's reading from the Gospels, Matthew 3:1 - 12 , doesn't seem particularly Christmassy. Not in the 'presents wrapped under the tree' sense. " 1 2 In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea. "(and) saying, 'Repent, 3 for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!' ... "...When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees 7 coming to his baptism, he said to them, 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? "Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance....." ( Matthew 3:1 - 2 , 7 - 8 ) More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Spare a moment and a prayer for the political types, please and thank you. I’m one of them. The bitter election-year exchanges on every platform are part of my daily life. Whether on television on online, shutting them down altogether is not an option, appealing though it may be. Politics is part of my vocation. Times like these, I’m tempted to wish it were otherwise. This is a plague-on-both-your-houses year, looking at the major parties’ candidates for president. I am reading  C.S. Lewis’s   Mere Christianity  this month, and something he wrote in there captures my attitude. I feel a strong desire to tell you – and I expect you feel a strong desire to tell me – which of these two errors is the worse. That is the devil getting at us. He always sends errors into the world in pairs – pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse. You see why, of course? He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually

Although most respectable members of our parishes try to  look  healthy and content in public, mental illness is as common and invisible among the faithful as it is in secular circles. I would wager that mental health issues are especially prevalent among the devout who are serious about their inner life; when people tackle deep inner issues which prevent God from working in their lives, their inner equilibrium is upset by stress, anxiety, and depression.  This probably explains why most saints experienced profound periods of depression when they finally looked beneath their pious actions to face the reality of their own ingrained sin and subsequent need for inner purification. God offers His children the means to become free from sin, bad habits and mental illness through the Church, prayer, confession but also through therapy. Let's bring mental illness out of the shadows of shame and into the Light of Christ. continue

We continue with the fifth installment of our seven-part series on the seven deadly sins. Today we discuss Greed. Greed, also known as avarice, will debilitate you because you’re dealing with a bottomless pit; an abyss. The unending desire for more money, power or fame, leaves a person feeling empty, insecure and unfulfilled no matter how much one tries to garner. There is no amount of money that guarantees security, for the fear of losing it all is ever-present. No amount of power garners confidence and self-assuredness, for the fear of losing control is ever-present. No amount of fame makes one feel like he/she “has arrived,” for the fear of being discounted and dismissed never goes away. Anyone who seeks more money, power or fame, for the purpose of filling a void, fights a losing battle. Read more...

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2016: Habakkuk 1:2 – 3 , 2:2 – 4 2 Timothy 1:6 - 8 , 13 - 14 Luke 17:5 - 10 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2016 By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas October 2, 2016 I'm sure we are all saddened to hear that by this time Father Tom is back home. ... He will be missed! There is one word that is repeated in all of the readings for this day. That word is Faith.... ...Now we can't just let this word Faith hang out there alone without some support.... ...If now we should take our Catechism and referred to paragraphs 142 through 165 we get a far more complete explanation of Obedience and Faith.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Mother Teresa of Kolkata /Calcutta gets canonized today. Here's how she described herself: "By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus." (" Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), ," vatican.va ) She established the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and died in 1997, but the Missionaries of Charity are still around: giving “ wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor ." Their facilities don't look much like Mayo Clinic here in Minnesota, or Bumrungrad International Hospital in Thailand; and that's another topic. One of these days I'll probably ramble on about Saints, miracles, and canonization. But today I'll say that a Saint is someone recognized by the Church as someone who practiced heroic virtue and is currently dead, and leave it at that. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 828 , and s

My brother-in-law passed away on June 27--at home, peacefully, with his wife and two other loved ones by his side and the local parish priest (who'd just administered Last Rites) singing softly in his ear.  He had recently converted to Catholicism and received First Holy Communion just before the cancer that had ravaged his body made it impossible for him to swallow solid food. Shortly before he left this world, I wrote about how he was teaching all of us how to face death with courage, grace, and true dignity.  If you'd like to read that full String of Pearls post, click here .