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Rambling Toward the Weekend

Glorious weather. I spent nearly four hours at the produce site, trying to do a week's worth of work in one afternoon. It didn't quite work out. I got a lot of the (most excellent) Salanova lettuce planted, but otherwise, I just moved tarps around, which is pretty grueling (lots of squatting, pulling, and carrying heavy rocks). I also planted two of the highly-coveted black cherry tomato plants, only to realize later that I had pulled from the wrong tray (the tray that had just come from the basement and, therefore, hadn't been hardened off . . . seasoned gardeners will know what a major gaffe this is . . . suffice it to say, their chances of survival are less than 20%).

It's not too often that I get to say, "I'm proud of the Catholic Church in America," but I'm saying it today: The Detroit Diocese has banned athletic events on Sundays. I'm fed up with the constant encroachment of athletics into every sphere of life, especially the spiritual. Just give us one day . . . one freakin' day . . . without practices or games. At least one bishop agrees with me:

What follows here are details about one particular way we are committed to this “strikingly countercultural way of living.” After prayerful consultation with the presbyterate of Detroit and responding to what I believe is the call of the Holy Spirit through Synod 16, we in the Archdiocese of Detroit will cease sporting events on Sunday. This means that competitive athletic programs in the grade school and high school levels are called to no longer play games or conduct practices on the Lord's Day. In the months ahead, we will offer a number of resources to assist families in their own practice of keeping holy the Lord's Day.
In shifting away from the hustle of required sporting activities on Sunday, we will reclaim this holy day and create more time for families to choose activities that prioritize time spent with each other and our Lord. As the Catholic Church, our primary role is to form disciples. Informed by Synod 16 and inspired by the Holy Spirit, we look forward to abundant blessings as we seek to abide by our God's teaching to keep holy the Lord's Day.

Random Blurb from the Notebooks: And they suffered cruelly for their politically-incorrect ways. Peter, for instance, was arrested and held him for nine months in the Tullian Keep, a nasty dungeon, where the authorities had to change the guard constantly because he kept converting his keepers. They eventually crucified him, upside down. He requested the upside down part, but we don't know the reason. It may have been practical: he'd lose consciousness and thereby reduce the suffering. It may have been an act of piety: he didn't deem himself worthy to die just like his master.

With the exception of John and possibly Matthew, things didn't end much better. Their lists of death could be a reference guide to killing people in the ancient world:

Andrew: Crucifixion
Simon: Mutilation (sawing)
Jude: Impalement
Thomas: Stabbing
James the Lesser: Stoning
James the Greater: Decapitation
Philip: Crucifixion
Bartholomew: Flaying
Matthias: Stoning

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