Apparently the Vatican has finally published the new document on homosexuals in the seminary. Our own Bishop Kicanas is one of the bishops designated to talk to the press. The Star has a very balanced story on it.

Check it out...

You scored as Roman Catholic. You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you. Roman Catholic 100% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 71% Neo orthodox 71% Emergent/Postmodern 54% Charismatic/Pentecostal 36% Fundamentalist 32% Modern Liberal 25% Classical Liberal 25% Reformed Evangelical 14% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Well, Thanksgiving went well. Had a nice time meeting Marie's parents and sister and uncle etc. Had a great Thanksgiving dinner. Marie and I went to see Rent on Thanksgiving evening -- it was terrific. Friday I had to watch the Wildcats lose a heartbreaker to Sata... er, ASU. *sigh*

Anyway, it was a good trip, but it's good to be home. Yea!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm off in just a bit, up to Tempe to visit my Dad and stepmom, then up to Vegas on Thursday morning for Thanksgiving with Marie and her family. This is my first time meeting Marie's family, so wish me luck!

Bwahahahahha! Okay, I know this intrastate rivalry is maybe a bit juvenile, but I had to smile when I read that UA fans painted ASU's "A' mountain red and blue. Way to go :-).

In other, stranger and sadder news... this case from Florida -- Fla. Teacher Pleads Guilty in Sex Case. Sad because she abused a 14-year old boy. Strange because the woman was a) a newlywed and b) stunningly beautiful. It's not like she couldn't have had any number of willing partners, so why a 14-year-old? And how could her marriage be so bad as for her to do this already?

I have been cleaning house and found this today:


Faith of our Fathers

The church spire silhouetted
In the lambent sunset
Thrusting to the sky its burden
Shouting to Heaven
"Credo."

I think it's from 1991.

A good article in today's Star on the importance of lay ministers in the Church today. Bishop Kicanas has headed the USCCB committee on this.

Red Rings of Wax

When I came home from work today, my copy of Marie's book was in the mailbox. Wow! It's so amazing to see this book that she has worked so hard to bring to fruition finally appearing in print. I am so proud of her, and happy for her. She's amazing.

Go buy a copy! It's only $11 and would make a great Christmas gift for the poetry-lover in your family. I do have to warn you that there are "adult themes" present -- it's not a book for children. But it is honest, and true, and heartfelt.

Here's a cool story on some good work by my company, Scientific Technologies. We've helped link Louisiana's immunization registry to our states so evacuees could have access to those records.

Hey, this is pretty cool -- Forbes and Yahoo are teaming up to form a virtual time capsule! Check it out, it's free so what's the harm? You've got until 11/30 to get your message into the time capsule.

Happy Veteran's Day!

Take a moment, if you can, to thank a vet. Their sacrifices need to be appreciated by all of us.

If I was ever in doubt that Tucson really loves the Wildcats, this excerpt from this week's Monday Memo by Bishop Kicanas should remove it:

"They Played Like Wildcats!" -- When I celebrated Confirmation at St. Thomas More Newman Center near the University of Arizona campus on Saturday evening, you could hear the crowds of people streaming from Arizona Stadium celebrating the Wildcats stunning victory against formerly unbeaten UCLA. Congratulations to Coach Mike Stoops and the players for a great victory!

Sad news -- the Paulist priests are pulling out of Tucson. They've run St. Cyril's parish for 30 years. The Diocese of Tucson has been hard-pressed for priests as it is and this won't help.

CNN reminds us it's been 30 years today since the Wreck of the Edumnd Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called ’gitche gumee’
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of november turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the edmund fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of november came early.

The ship was the pride of the american side
Coming back from some mill in wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for cleveland
And later that night when the ship’s bell rang
Could it be the north wind they’d been feelin’?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T’was the witch of november come stealin’.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of november came slashin’.
When afternoon came it was freezin’ rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin’.
Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya.
At seven p.m. a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it’s been good t’know ya
The captain wired in he had water comin’ in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the edmund fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they’d have made whitefish bay
If they’d put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
May have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake huron rolls, superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old michigan steams like a young man’s dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below lake ontario
Takes in what lake erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of november remembered.

In a musty old hall in detroit they prayed,
In the maritime sailors’ cathedral.
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the edmund fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call ’gitche gumee’.
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of november come early!

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the rest in peace.

Two short things -- first, a cool (to geeks like me anyway!) story on the new Boeing 777 attempting to set a record for longest nonstop unrefueled flight -- Hong Kong to London! That's 12,500 miles, or about 23 hours of flying time... wow! Very impressive.

The results of yesterday's Tucson City Council election are a bit surprising, at least to me -- Democrats swept the races, so Tucson now has 5 Democrats and an independent on the Council and a Republican mayor.

BWahahahaha! The Angry Twins bring us the Top Ten Changes a Catholic majority will bring to the Supreme Court. My favorite:

3) Supreme Court opinions will be deemed infallible and unreviewable by any earthly authority [Ed. - Sorry - that does not appear to be a change at all]

Thanks to Catholic Light for the link!

Whoa! Yale School of Music has received a $100 million donation that will enable them to make grad school tuition-free! That's terrific!

Wow, check this out -- Anne Rice has returned to the Church! God works in mysterious ways...

Today was our first Collegium Musicum concert of the year, a lecture recital by Lani Johnson. We performed Heinrich Schutz's Weihnacts-historie. This is a 17th century piece in German, an early oratorio-style piece. It was very cool! Besides singing in the choir I had a part in a bass quartet singing the high priests' parts. I did fine and was actually pleased with how I did.

More reaction to yesterday's Wildcat victory, from the Arizona Daily Star -- Confident Wildcats on 'whole other level' and Charles Durrenberger says the Wildcats had Total domination. There's an article about the crowd rushing the field -- Fans pay no attention. As usual Greg Hansen's column is entertaining:

Picture your best day of the year: The mail includes a notice from the IRS, detailing the $4,286 you have overpaid. The office phones with news that you have been recommended for a promotion, a raise and a Christmas bonus.

You meet your cardiologist at the golf course. He slaps you on the back and says "Mr. Stoops, the X-rays all came back negative. You don't have high blood pressure or a heart problem, after all. It was just some bad pizza."

Or, if you're an Arizona football player, the best day of the year is beating undefeated UCLA 52-14 the way the long-suffering Wildcats did Saturday.

I have to agree.

ARIZONA BEATS UCLA!!

Today's football game was an AMAZING upset! Arizona stomped all over 7-th ranked UCLA (previously undefeated), winning by a final of 52-14. It was a truly amazing, astonishing game. Arizona's defense was strong, shutting down UCLA's running game and most of their passing game. UA's offense came alive under Willie Tuitama's leadership, and kicker Nick Folk did a great job on the rare occasions he had to punt. He got a lot of practice at kicking off -- almost all of them went into the end zone.

It was a very convincing win and I'm sure the national press will be scratching their heads over this one. Check out Sports Illustrated -- Desert Blues.

In other news, my alma mater's legendary coach, Vern Friedli, and the Amphi Panthers came up with Friedli's 300th win. Congrats to all!

Wow, I had the strangest dream last night. I don't remember that much, but basically I had come home to my house, only it's not the house I have now. This house has a carport and I get the impression it's on a military base for some reason. Anyway I come home (I don't know how I got there) and my car looks different, like it's shorter. When I look closer I realize it's been hit from the side by some kind of impact and that makes it look shorter. But it's in the carport, so how could it have been hit?

I go in the door and there are people in my house stealing my stuff. I start yelling at them to leave but they don't, they just keep stealing my stuff and start yelling at me. I decide to call the cops so I pull out my cell phone and call 911 and ask them to send someone pronto because I am being robbed. I am wishing I had a cell phone with a camera because they are right there. I'm trying to memorize what they look like so I will be able to describe them later.

And then I wake up! How bizarre.

I've just been watching a PBS special on the Apollo 8 mission. It's inspiring to remember. I was only 5 at the time and while I have good memories of Apollo 11, Apollo 8 is a little blurry. The inspiring reading of Genesis at Christmas time by the Apollo 8 crew is one of those moments in history that move beyond words. Sadly, in this day and age the crew could never read a passage from the Bible without being excoriated for their religious insensitivity.

Here's a cool article on The Truth About Hypocrisy. A good message that bears repeating:

I will say this and repeat it: Hypocrisy consists not in failing to practice what we preach, but in not believing what we preach.

Thanks to Mark Shea for the link!