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I’m in sort of an odd position as I write this piece. Today is Monday, Nov. 2, the day before Election Day.
By the time most of you read this, it’ll be a day or two or more following Election Day.
You’ll know what happened on that night better than I do right now.
I can’t predict the future as much as I wish I could.
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If you don’t know that Election Day is on Tuesday, Nov. 3, I am slightly jealous of you. You’ve probably missed out on some of the craziness, negativity, and frustration that has been the 2020 campaign season.
It’ll all be over soon, right?
Other than perhaps the Super Bowl, I can’t think of an event still in existence, or with its peak effect, that creates as much national attention as the day when we learn who the president will be over the next four-year term.
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Recently, I rewatched the HBO documentary Elvis Presley: The Searcher.
The more than three-and-half hour miniseries looks at the life and career of the affectionately-labeled “King of Rock and Roll”.
In the film, his story is bookended and told within the context of his 1968 “comeback special” that aired in December of that year.
At the conclusion of that special, Mr. Presley sings an emotional version of the song “If I Can Dream.” |
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As I am looking at the calendar for October of 2020, and seeing we have a Friday, Oct. 16, coming up, I’m asking myself — How has it been five years already?
The last time October 16 fell on a Friday was in 2015.
My parish, St. Maria Goretti (SMG) in Madison, and the Diocese of Madison as a whole, had one of its most eventful days ever.
The relics of St. Maria Goretti came to the parish for nearly a 24-hour stay, part of the Pilgrimage of Mercy tour that had taken her relics around the country ahead of the Year of Mercy, which started later that year.
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I used to joke that if Bishop Robert Barron can often reference Bob Dylan in his written columns, then I’m going to write about Jimi Hendrix someday.
Welp, here goes.
We’re in the time of the year when rock radio stations and music magazines remember the “West Coast Seattle Boy” during the anniversary of this death — this year being 50 years on September 18.
Those same media entities will remember his contemporary, the singer Janis Joplin, on the anniversary of her death, also 50 years ago this year on October 4.
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This month, I said goodbye to a labor of love of mine for the past several years.
Since 2013, I had been the coordinator of the young adult group (20s and 30s) — on a volunteer basis — at St. Maria Goretti Parish in Madison.
As I’ve gotten older, the new people have gotten “younger,” many of my longtime friends have moved on from the group or moved away, and myself having less time and energy to devote to the ministry, it was becoming obvious and apparent that it was time to move on and let others take over from here.
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I took a couple of audio-visual trips down Memory Lane over Labor Day weekend.
My first trip consisted of dusting off two VHS tapes and watching some “home movies” of the high school band trip to Canada that I went on when I was a senior in high school back in the summer of 2002.
Although I and some of my peers may have rolled our eyes at the time, I’m very grateful that one of the parent chaperones on the trip was constantly using his camcorder and captured more than a dozen hours of memories as they were happening.
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During what might be my 378th attempt to devote myself to praying the Rosary every day, I’m reading a book that contains meditations on each Mystery of the Rosary.
It’s no surprise that the first chapter is on the First Joyful Mystery — the Annunciation.
Here we find the Blessed Virgin Mary saying “yes” to the Archangel Gabriel to be the mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Words in the chapter go on to describe how Mary’s “yes” literally transformed the world.
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I’m a news junkie. Anyone who works in news, or who has ever worked in news, has a little bit of that in them.
It’s a constant desire to know what’s going on, know the latest information, and know as much about what is going on as we can.
Then — us being us — we want to tell everyone about it.
Today, sharing news and information is easier than ever with Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media and communication.
Getting more of the latest information is also easier than ever with all of the digital and online channels available to be consumed.
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During Memorial Day weekend, I sat in front of my TV, totally captivated by the images on the screen — live chaos on State St. and in the downtown area in Madison.
Our area’s version of the protests following the death of George Floyd had disintegrated into violence, looting, angry shouting, and even a police car set on fire live on TV among other negative pictures.
For those seeking dialogue, attention, and something good out of the day’s events, these actions left sour images in many minds as the week went on.