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I still see the occasional "REPENT, THOU WRETCHED SINNER" stuff in my social media feeds. But I very strongly suspect that fire and brimstone fundraisers are passé, and have been for decades. Maybe I'd get more attention if I ranted, raved and seethed with (self?) righteous anger about those sinners over there. You know the ones I mean: reprobates, rogues and rascals who aren't like me. Yeah. Maybe I could. And it would be a bad idea. I'm pretty sure the attention I'd get isn't the sort I'd like. Not in the long run. And I'm quite sure that God wouldn't appreciate my marketing efforts.... ...Something else I haven't noticed on MeWe is folks saying they're giving up social media for Lent. Or Advent. Or whatever. Maybe they have, and I didn't notice. Or maybe more non-crackpot Catholics are paying attention to advice like this.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

This is the season of jingle bells and mistletoe, cyber sales and glitter bows. Evergreen festoons and plastic reindeer strung above our streets remind us that Christmas is coming. America's holiday season is in session.... ...I'm still working on my 'starting Advent' post. It's somewhat serious. What I'm doing here isn't.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

"This year's Thanksgiving is the first one affected by COVID-19. "Mainly because SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, didn't exist a year ago. Or hadn't spread to humans. Or was spreading to humans without anyone noticing it...." More at A Catholic Citizen in America : Conspiracy theories. Journalism's "unprecedented" precedent. News from the 1918 pandemic. Family, health and holiday plans. COVID-19 and Sauk Centre's hospital. Being thankful, anyway.

...The Osakis Chamber of Commerce parade sounds like a good idea. Provided that they take pandemic-related precautions to keep folks comparatively safe. I'm guessing that this year's sidewalk watchers will be spread out more, and wearing face masks. But I won't be going. Even though Osakis is only 20 minutes down the road. Standing on a central Minnesota sidewalk after sundown in early December isn't my idea of a good time. The COVID-19 pandemic is still around, and making a difference. Maybe that's this post's unifying idea: Macy's Parade News: Good and Sort-of-Good Rampantly Raging Death and Dramatic Drumbeats Monday's Death Toll in Rural Minnesota Speculation and a Serious Subject Streaming Together for Thanksgiving Sound, Fury and the Usual Paranoia More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

November 11 is Veterans Day. It's also called Armistice Day, Poppy Day and Remembrance Day. The Armistice Day Moniker made sense in 1919, a year after Ferdinand Foch signed the Armistice of Compiègne. A year without appalling body counts was reason to celebrate. So was the Treaty of Versailles, at least for folks who blamed Germany for the war. 1 I'll be talking about that, among other things. It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time Prohibition, Propriety and Good Intentions Crashes, Dust and Passing the Buck Events and Principles War and Preferences Valuing Human Life More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

("It's the best I could do on short notice." ("Cinderella's Halloween") ;) ) Halloween will be different this year. Mostly because we're still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. I don't know what it'll look like here in Sauk Centre. Safer Trick-or-Treating 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

My Fourth of July plans include watching an episode or two of Marvel Ultimate Spider-Man, contemplating the whichness of what while sitting on the front stoop, relaxing and getting a few chores done. And enjoying a virtual fireworks show. Probably one of these.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

This Saturday is the Fourth of July: America's Independence Day. It's a day for picnics and parades, barbecues and ice cream. We celebrate with fireworks and carnivals, picnics and concerts, fairs and baseball games. Usually. This year will be different. Plans and Parade Permits Blow Hot, Blow Cold Fireworks Parade Permit Perplexity Street Legal Vehicles and Skimmed News Vanilla Ice and Common Sense Patriotic? Me?! Definitions Viewpoints and Obligations Big Country, Small World Living in Small Town Minnesota, and Loving It "...My Family Celebrating!" Remembering And In Conclusion More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The American holiday and Christmas seasons overlap, with fuzzy terminuses. Termini. Beginnings and endings. For some, Christmas starts with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. That fine old American tradition has been joined by Cyber Monday. Oddly enough, I haven't noticed anguished laments over that newfangled technology and Macy's inflated cartoon characters.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

We relive events from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday in close to real time. Our Lord was arrested Thursday night. The Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod had questioned Jesus by Friday morning.... ...By Friday evening, Jesus was dead.... (More at A Catholic Citizen in America )

Our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem was like a ticker tape parade. The original one, in 1886, an impromptu celebration. Jesus had grassroots support that few celebrities or politicos achieve. Our Lord could have written his own ticket. All he had to do was keep that enthusiasm going. (More at A Catholic Citizen in America )

Seeing Jesus as a charismatic wannabe revolutionary is possible. So is assuming that he was politically inept or stark raving mad. Maybe both. Another option is seeing Jesus as a great teacher, one of the world's best: in the same league as Socrates, Kapila and Confucius. The 'up' side of the 'great teacher' view is that it acknowledges our Lord as someone who talked about ethics and made sense. The 'down' side, and it's a big one, is that Jesus of Nazareth said this.... (More, at A Catholic Citizen in America> )

Lent starts March 6 this year. It's a time for abstinence, prayer and penance, among other things, which is why we've got rules about Fridays and fish. Following "fish" rules to the letter, I could splurge on lobster thermidor each Friday. I won't. The household can't afford it, for one thing. For another, gourmet dining isn't what Lent is about. I'll talk about fish, fasting and my goals for Lent. Briefly. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

While writing about Epiphany, I meandered past Gothic cathedrals, kings and chancellors, and some of what's happened over the last two millennia. The magi, too: the first of many from all nations who recognized and welcomed the good news our Lord brings. That's in the day's Gospel reading this year, Matthew 2:1 - 12 . (More at A Catholic Citizen in America )

We remembered our Lord's execution on Friday. After Jesus was dead, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body. He and another man wrapped the body of Jesus in a burial cloth and spices, placing it in a nearby tomb. The next day was a solemn sabbath, so they were pressed for time.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

This year's Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day were the same day. Folks exchanged greeting cards. Many got their foreheads marked with ashes. And 17 were killed at a high school. Someone's already called last Wednesday's mass murder the 'Valentine's Day Massacre of 2018.' The famous Valentine's Day Massacre was in 1929 . It happened when a Chicago gang tried resolving a disagreement over bootleg booze. It didn't succeed. Not quite.... ...I'm quite sure the 17 folks killed at Stoneman Douglas High School will be missed by their families, friends, and acquaintances.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Quite a bit happened this week. We started Lent's 40-day stay with our Lord in the desert. Not literally. That's mentioned in today's Gospel: Mark 1:12 - 15 . I've talked about deserts and Deuteronomy, penance and porridge, before. ( February 11, 2018 ; February 26, 2017 ) There's a more technical — and more useful, probably — discussion in Catechism of the Catholic Church 538 - 540 .... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Lent is fast approaching. How I see it and what I do is up to me. Ash Wednesday is next week, so I don't have much time to decide. Christians, Catholic and otherwise, in my culture generally change what we eat for this season. I'm a Catholic, so I've got rules. But not all that many. Mostly they're guidelines. I put a link to my territory's rules about diet under ' Fast & Abstinence ' near the end of this post.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

4th Sunday of Advent, 2017 By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas December 24, 2017 Good! Now try to imagine yourself describing the scene in which the Angel Gabriel seeks and speaks to Mary as one that could be played out spectacularly on film or a TV program, it would begin with the panoramic vision or an overall view of the world that solemnly zooms in and spotlights in one tiny little place. We could imagine the overview from the film score to the mission behind Google Earth.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .