Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Dunseith, North Dakota, Frontage Road SW My memory, like my father's, is occasionally creative. I remembered a someone writing that England's public schools were dedicated to the idea "...that Tennyson would never happen again...." Then, recently, I started re-reading a Wodehouse book. "...It was almost as if these [English public] schools, founded in the 1830s, had it for their main objective that Shelley and Byron would never happen again...." (Introduction by Wilfred Sheed (1975) to "Leave in to Psmith", P. G. Wodehouse (1924)) That both corrected my memory of the passage and, along with something my oldest daughter showed me, started me writing this post. I'll get to that, after a clarification or three. "Public" Schools, Puritans, Progressives, and Attitudes My Year as a Teacher The Curious Case of the Vanishing Counselor A Student Newspaper and 'Problem' Students Making a Difference ... More at A Cath...

Mary Ann Glendon, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Receiving the Gaudium et Spes Award, States Dinner, (August 5 2025) I'm not comfortable with the way today's America works, but I think this is a good time to be an American and a Catholic. That's because part of my job is easier now, than it would have been in my youth. Granted, experiencing "increasing opposition" from The Establishment 1 isn't comfortable. But honestly: why would I want their approval? Vatican II and Making Sense "...The End of Christendom ... Not a Gloomy Picture..." An Assumption and "The Apotheosis of Washington" "...Great and Wonderful Days in Which to be Alive...." Goals, and the Best News Humanity's Ever Had Justice, Charity, Respect: Sounds Good to Me ... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (I think Fulton Sheen was right. The end of Christendom is not a gloomy picture. These are great days to be alive, and we have a jo...

Kids started going back to school here in Sauk Centre on Wednesday. No shots rang out, and nobody got killed. That, happily, is routine. But sometimes bad things happen. Classes started last week at the Church of the Annunciation's school in Minneapolis. Since it's a Catholic school, they started the day with Mass at the church next door. Then somebody killed two of the students and injured many other folks before killing himself. The priest who was celebrating Mass made some good points in the following Sunday's homily. I'll be talking about that, and somewhat-related topics: Church of the Annunciation: After the Killings Remembering Who's In Charge Repairing the Damage Cleanup Procedures Heroes, Hope, and Prayer America: Death, Changing Attitudes, and Good News ... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (After killings at the Church of the Annunciation: what their priest said, an Archbishop Hebda video, how I see student actions, changing Americ...

When I asked our oldest daughter what she'd like me to write about this week, she suggested "stories about when each of us was born". The birth of each child was an important event, at least for me and my wife, so I figured it'd be a matter of deciding which memories to pick. Then I started poking around the labyrinthine interior of my mind. Turns out I've got a few vivid snapshots, but not nearly as many details as I thought there'd be. I've got a pretty good memory; apart from things like appointment times, anniversaries — fact is, I'll be asking my wife for help with this post. It's been decades since the mental machinery filed away those experiences. Meanwhile, I'll start talking about our oldest child's birth, and see what happens. Birth: The First Time Changes: Delivery Rooms and Fainting Fathers Focused New Experiences and Evaporative Cooling A Couple Details Baptism of Desire, Uncertainty, and Hope ... More at A C...

My oldest daughter suggested that I start telling 'family stories' about eight months back: which struck me as a good idea. This week's, involving a door and — I think — showing where I get some of my attitudes and priorities, got me started looking for places in one of my ancestral homelands. I'll be talking about that; and, eventually, what happened when a husband's idea of what's good enough didn't line up with his wife's. Surnames and Ancestry, Mostly A Place in Ottertail County: Scenic, But Not Practical Names, Language, Accents, and Legacies Changes — or — Seeking Lost Branting and Beridalen "An Interesting Pattern" Priorities and a Door Family, Names, and Links More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Another family story: this one involving a pioneer couple, a first home, and a door. Also surnames, ancestry, and what's changed in an ancestral homeland.)

I wrote this paper in 1972 for Dr. K. Smemo's History 349, The Scandinavians in America. I'm planning to share a 'family story' or two about this side of the family in Saturday's post: which will be both shorter, and easier to read than this. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (A paper I wrote in 1972, following part of my mother's family back to a gaard in Norway, and touching on how we adopted American language and customs.)

I've had memorable instructors. Most of them were memorable in good ways. Like Dr. Hong, 1 who taught Moorhead State's ancient history classes in the early 1970s. By the time I graduated, I think I'd taken every 'ancient history' class the History Department offered. One reason I liked, and like, that subset of humanity's long story is that we know a fair amount about it: and it's a part of the story that's now complete. As I see it, pretty much all the "history" since then is still in progress. Studying it is interesting. But it's a bit like reading a mystery story, where the last few chapters are missing. Most students very likely didn't see ancient history that way, since Dr. Hong's classes seldom had more than maybe a half-dozen students. That's probably why they were in what I'm guessing was a conference room in MacLean Hall. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Remembering a favorite college professor; review...

Things keep changing. That's hardly a new idea. "Everything changes and nothing stands still" ("πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει", quoted by Plato in " Cratylus " ) ( Heraclitus , Wikiquote) I'll be talking about the new mural in my town's Walmart, how this isn't the America I grew up in, changes that have been for the better, and why the latest thing in looming dooms — looks both familiar, and not all that distressing. Sauk Centre's Walmart Still Here: So is Downtown Sauk Centre A Marvelous Mural, Mainly America Has Changed: Good News, Actually Good Ideas and Perspective Crises du Jour, Doing Our Job ... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (A new mural in a store that was new two decades back. Changes and constants in America, a crisis of yesteryear, good ideas, and doing our job.)

Growing up, my folks and I would go to Itasca State Park, north of Park Rapids, in Minnesota's lake country. The place has changed since then, a little. The place I remember as a parking area, a little north of the Mississippi headwaters, where the river officially starts, isn't there any more. It was about a thousand feet east of the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center. Google Maps says that spot is the "Headwaters Concession Ruins".... ...New buildings. A place I remember labeled as a ruins. Change happens.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Remembering the time my father found the perfect spot for taking a picture: the middle of a poison ivy patch.)

About a week ago, in a discussion of what's been happening in Vatican City, someone referred to the late Pope Francis as a "commie in a cassock". I hadn't run into that particular phrase, but I'm all too familiar with the attitude. The "commie in a cassock" remark reminded me of the "communist crucifix" incident and material I'd put together, back in 2015, focusing mostly on a "corn altar" in Paraguay. Then another non-crisis popped up, which I'll talk about first. Social Media Highbrow Hijinks?? Nonsense and Perspective The Curious Case of the Communist Crucifix Bolivia, a Superficially Cursory Overview The "Communist Crucifix", "Commie in a Cassock": Really?? Recognizing Realities How I See Diplomatic Gifts Altar de Maiz: Corny? Yes! — Appealing? To Me, Yes!! Photos: Views of the "Altar of Corn" It's Art, It's Sculpture, and Now It's Recycled Pope Leo XIV: ...

More than 130 Cardinals will start voting on who gets Simon Peter's job — the job he had before becoming St. Peter — after Pope Francis, starting next Monday.... Viewpoints and Background Expectations Cardinals: Not Just European The Catholic Church: Unchanging Basics, Changing Details A Millennium of Cardinals: Very Briefly The Last Supper: da Vinci, Dali, and Me Newfangled Architecture, Old-Fashioned Attitudes — — and a Reasonable Request More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (The College of Cardinals, 1050 to now. Paintings by da Vinci and Dali, newfangled architecture. Something I like about being Catholic. A prayer request.)

[posted Thursday, April 24, 2025. It's been an eventful week] Most headlines in my news feed don't involve the death of Pope Francis, or what's happening in Vatican City, now that we're in the process of mourning one pope and selecting another. That's fine by me, since a number of headlines I did notice a number that were (over-) dramatic. Others, apparently linking to op-eds, struck me as reflecting a — limited — view of the Catholic Church. I'll leave it at that. A few, from yesterday evening and this morning (Thursday, April 24, 2025), involved how cardinals — specifically, the College of Cardinals — are selecting our new pope. As I said the other day, we've been doing this for two millennia now.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (The College of Cardinals is choosing our next pope. I've got my views. More important, I posted a link to and excerpt from an overview of the process.)

This isn't unexpected: " Pope Francis has died on Easter Monday aged 88 " Devin Watkins, Vatican News (April 21, 2025) "At 9:45 AM, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, announced the death of Pope Francis from the Casa Santa Marta with these words:... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Pope Francis died Monday morning, April 21, 2025. I take a very quick look at what Vatican News said, and a quicker look at how I feel.)

I'm a huge fan of science, but by training I'm an historian. Or a historian. Either way, as it turned out, the closest I came to being a professional historian was working as a researcher/reporter for a regional historical society in the 1970s. For a few months. And that's another topic. My background and interests help me appreciate the excitement experienced by a grad student who was focusing on the history of science.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (A student found the first of two scrapbooks from the 1883 American Astronomical Society. My take on professionals, amateurs, and attitudes.)

The Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, and Meteor Crater aren't on the obvious and shortest route from San Francisco to the Upper Midwest. But in 1979, with no reason for staying in San Francisco — that's another topic, for another time — and good reasons for returning to Minnesota, going out of my way to see them seemed like a good idea.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Two Thai tourists at the Grand Canyon. A military jet in the Petrified Forest. Two popes, two poems, and the civilization of love: a very long-haul project.)

I remember when the Case building on NP (Northern Pacific) Avenue in Fargo looked the way it did in that photo. I'd better explain. I'm old, but I'm not that old. The F. O. E. (Fraternal Order of Eagles) parade on NP Avenue was in the summer of 1910. I wasn't born until the fall of 1951. Besides, the building I remember didn't look exactly like the one in the photo.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Another dad moment, this one involving a freight elevator. The Case building in Fargo. A globe-and-eagle logo that disappeared. Family and a few good ideas.)

A happy memory from our time on Buford Avenue in the early 1960s — I talked about that a couple weeks back 1 — is planting an acorn from one of the oaks there. An Acorn and Memories Among the many things I don't remember from that time is when we planted it. I suspect it was in the fall, since that's apparently a good season for starting an oak seedling. 2 And by spring; well, life was getting interesting, and that's another topic. Now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure we planted the acorn after we returned to Moorhead. Seasons Whatever season it was, I remember being happy when the acorn sprouted: and impressed at the size of the leaf. A full-size oak leaf on a tiny stem. My oak flourished in the back yard of 818. 3 Time passed.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Happy memories involving an acorn, two trees, three homes, and a library. Legacies and a few thoughts about trees, the Sixties, and all that.)

I Googled Sauk Centre history this week. I learned that the Minnesota Historical Society's website has back issues of our town's Sauk Centre Herald — and an impressive set of records connected with the Sauk Centre Home School for Girls, AKA Minnesota Correctional Facility-Sauk Centre. Focusing on conventional publications, government officials, and their institutions, has some merit. But so does remembering what happened when schoolkids found a skunk in a woodpile. A literal skunk in an actual woodpile.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Bringing explosives to school: cultural and historical context. Or: what happened when kids found a skunk in a woodpile.)

San Francisco's BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system wasn't the world's first automated transit system, or even the first in this country. But it was among the first all-new American rapid transit systems designed in the 20th century. BART was also, I gather, among the first with trains that didn't need drivers. Or, rather, didn't need a human at the controls. An Automatic Train Control (ATC) system ran each train, and the network as a whole. 1 Today I'll be taking a quick look at how news media covered a BART accident that wasn't particularly serious, and talk about what happened when a train and its driver didn't communicate — plus whatever else comes to mind. The Fleetingly Famous Fremont Flyer ROBOT TRAIN RUNS AMOK! CHAOS RIDES THE RAILS! The Train That Left Its Human Behind Daft Kids and Open Doors WAIT FOR ME! Seriously? Humans: A Brief Meditation on Kids, Commuters, and Molten Ice Cream More at A Catholic Citizen in America ....

I can't claim Abraham as an ancestor. My ancestors very likely hadn't even heard of Abraham and Isaac until missionaries arrived, and I've mentioned that before. I have, however, learned a bit about our Lord's family history. That brings me to the Elijah cup my wife and I bought, some years back. Make that decades. My wife and I got it while in Minnesota's Twin Cities, for a brother-in-law's wedding, which puts it in the 1990s. Elijah's Cup in Context "Remember This Day...." Moses, Pharaoh — — The Late Bronze Age Collapse, George Washington, and Me Overheard While Getting Our Elijah's Cup Taking Traditions Seriously (More at A Catholic Citizen in America .) (How and why the Passover Seder began, What I think about Moses, academic fashions, and buying either a properly-prepared item or a cheap imitation.) (I know: this topic is related to Lent, not Advent. But it's what I came up with this week.)