The 51st State

 Louise Penny's latest novel, The Black Wolf is a thriller.  It is exciting.  It's a spy story.  Inspector Gamache frequently travels home to Three Pines, to recharge, and that's nice.  But the story takes place between the governments of Canada and the US.

It's uncanny how prescient Louise Penny is.  She wrote this novel before 2025, and the story line revolves around current problems.  We just had a humongous fire in Canada that affected the US.  Also, for years, there has been a water problem.  Rivers are drying up and municipalities have been conserving water in the summer, for years.

The plot is to cause tragedy to strike, to cause panic, to use social media to affect people's minds to turn to blame the other country.  Since the US needs water and Canada has an abundance, why not make it our 51st state?  The Canadian fires are sending ash and other pollutants over the border--are they doing it on purpose?

My criticism is there are too many twists, and bad guys, and all too convenient Deus Machina.  It's too, too much and too many.  I found it hard to follow the bad guys.  I also found it hard to believe how the characters were rescued--again and again, at the last moment.

But hey, it's a story, right?  It's a good story.

Nghia Vy's Deportation

 Nghia Vy is a former "cloistered brother" and has been free for 17 years.  During that time, he went to school to be a dog groomer and also worked for Sister Ruth in the Hope Chest.  That is, until he got a letter from ICE.  The following poem speaks what happened.

Nghia Vy's Deportation

Time stays the same

       as usual--always.

Nghia helping customers

       find their treasures

Nghia who trained our dogs

       to sit and stay.

Nghia who prayed rosaries

      for all--far and near

Nghia who said "blessed,"

      instead of "happy"

Nghia who spread love,

     not hate and fear.

Nghia who paid taxes

     and obeyed laws.

Then came the letter from ICE

    to appear for a hearing.

Fear took over our thoughts

    suddenly--abruptly.

Passed from state to state,

     from prison to prison.

Nghia was stolen away.

     Unfair!  A good man!

Guantanamo, Panama, Yemen:

     deportation somewhere.

Vietnam the final destination.

     Due process be damned!

Last week we learned

     Nghia is dead.

John Lateran

 November 9th in the Catholic Church is the feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica.  This is celebrated as an important feast because it is the first basilica in Rome.  A basilica is a church that is built to hold the most people, as opposed to chapel, shrine, church, cathedral and then basilica.  

Who is John Lateran?  The land the basilica is on, once had the Laterani family's palace there.  I think it is nice that the family's name is carried on.

Why John?  The answer is not one John, but two.  The name refers to John the Baptist and John the Gospel writer.

That's why the church considers the dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica worthy to be celebrated.

Dirty Laundry

 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan is a Christmas story set in Ireland, in the 1990's.  The story revolves around Bill Furlong.  The reader learns about his upbringing, which made him the good man he is revealed to be, in the end.

He owns a business delivering fuel.  In the process of his work, he delivers to a convent, which concerns him.  This convent takes in unwed mothers and by the look of the mothers, they aren't treated very well.  This is the story of the Magdalene Laundries.  

Bill finds a girl hiding and brings her home with him.  That's the end of the story.  It is fiction but I would have liked to know how Bill's family accepted the girl.  What became of her?

Remembering a Failure

 Back when I was teaching Sunday school to teens, I planned a lesson on saints.  The class was at 7:00 pm.  My plan was to take the class over to the church and explain each of the stained glass windows.  I thought it important that people should know their own parish church.

Arrangements were made, e.g., doors unlocked, lights on, etc. I even requested parents to come to help guide the students across the busy intersection, getting to the church.
           Picture this:
                   The entire class, plus chaperones, entering the church
                    We all gather in the middle of the aisle
                   We look around us towards the tall windows
          What do we see?
                   Pitch black, unlit, darkness!!! :-( 
                   Stained glass windows only show up in sunlight!!
This through me for a loop.  There went 99% of my lesson plan.  Thank God, I remembered this.  Now, that I am preparing to bring my OCIA class for a tour of the church, I won't spend much time on the windows. There are many other features in our beautiful church to talk about--tabernacle, sanctuary, candles, fonts, pictures, etc.  

Satan is known as a destroyer, destructor--just a wicked, miserable creature.

Our Lady of Succour

 Start praying for the victims of hurricaine Melissa.   https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/hurricane-melissa-jamaica-haiti-cuba-dominican-republic-caribbean-atlantic#google_vignette

Our Lady of Prompt Succor,
ever Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God,
you are most powerful against the enemy of our salvation. The divine promise of a Redeemer was announced right after the sin of our first parents; and you, through your Divine Son, crushed the serpent’s head.

Hasten, then, to our help and deliver us from the deceits of Satan. Intercede for us with Jesus that we may always accept God’s graces and be found faithful to Him in our particular states of life.

As you once saved our beloved city from ravaging flames and our country from an invading army, have pity on us and obtain for us protection from hurricanes and all other disasters.

(Silent pause for individual petitions.)

Assist us in the many trials which beset our path through life. Watch over the Church and the Pope as they uphold with total fidelity the purity of faith and morals against unremitting opposition.

Be to us truly Our Lady of Prompt Succor now and especially at the hour of our death, that we may gain everlasting life through the merits of Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us!

Amen.

BFsF

 It was a time of giggles--high school, hip huggers, bell bottoms, saddle shoes, hair flipped, and getting drivers' licenses.  Once you turned 16, the day you got your driver's license, you went and picked up your friends to go for a ride, usually to the beach.

Not so today.  Drivers under 18, can't drive without an adult.  Boo Hoo!  That takes all the fun out of it.  You can't drive your own car to school--how humiliating!

Those were the good memories: cars filled with laughter, weekends with friends--hopes shared and dreams expressed, before high school graduation scattered us all.

How that all happened is more or less a blur.  Boyfriends, graduations, finances, new friends, jobs, marriages, baby showers, children...whew!  What happened?

I remember a class reunion, I think.  I remember Christmas cards with pictures and quick notes, to keep in touch.  Would we recognize each other if we met now?  I guess so, actually, I know so, thanks to Facebook.  We've reconnected.

Once we pass the lined faces, laugh wrinkles, grey and white hair, there you are, and you, and you... The gang's all here.

Really, just the same.  Maybe better than before.  The love and support are still there.  The sparkle in our eyes still blink out.  Blinking an invitation, "Let's go for a ride.  Let's go to the beach."