Last Week In Life:

December 27, 2021-January 2 , 2022

Last Week’s SPECTACULAR STORY OF WEEK

Writing Goal Accomplished!

At the beginning of 2021, I decided that I would write a weekly post detailing the news stories of the week. There are times when I thought that I couldn’t go on with it. But somehow I made a unofficial commitment to write this post every week and so I did. I wrote it when I was tired and out of ideas. But I made sure that every Monday with a few Tuesdays that I published my Last Week in Life. The last few months overall saw the decline in overall quality of the piece. I ended up just putting up headlines with links to various stories. Not bad in and of itself but when I was going back to look at headlines to write up a year in review I found it hard to narrow down stories because I included too many. Last year I wrote a good year and review and I may do so, just not when I wanted to. It will take some work to sift through too many headlines. Last December I wrote more Christmas related articles also. My lighting cloud of inspiration seems to be stuck somewhere up in the sky.

The big event of my life in 2021 was moving from Massachusetts to RI. My new job has left me with less time to do things. My brain feels tired and wants to sleep but suffers from insomnia that I will try to get fixed in the new year. Maybe. I want to do something different with my writing in the new year. I just don’t know what yet. I want to improve my overall quality of writing. My wife thinks I publish too many posts with too many other people’s quotes. I do that because I like to share other things I have read that I find interesting and inspiring. Also because my life has become just kind of mundane and boring. I could read more about things and watch things to write about, but my ADHD causes me to lose focus and thus I can’t concentrate on reading material long enough to write something worth reading. Also Facebook sucks me into looking at it too much.

I have writing projects I have started but not finished.

I have writing projects I did last year, but probably won’t this year. Although I could later on sometime next year. I mostly talking about my year in review.

I probably won’t continue on with LWIL in 2022. I may do Last Month in Life instead or maybe some other infrequent news summary.

I did a short summary of historical events for everyday of last year except January and February. If I don’t do this weekly anymore 2 months will be left without any mention of what happen yesteryear. I will have to think how I will handle that.

I’m overall glad that I made this commitment to writing every week about a specific topic. It kept me writing even when I didn’t want to.

But now it’s time to move on or revamp what I’ve been doing as I transition into 2022.

I don’t know what I’ll do next but hopefully whatever it is, I might get some more readers and get some conversations going.

Below is a link list to every post this Last Week in Life for the Last Year.

See you in some form or other in the new year.

Last Week in Life Easy Access Portal

Last Week’s Other Stories, Articles and Things

Father Michael L. Pfleger, a well-known social activist in Chicago, celebrated the Dec. 24 evening Mass, which was live streamed from St. Sabina Church, a predominantly Black parish on the city’s South Side. Pfleger has been the pastor there since 1981.

Many of those upset by the Mass say it crossed the line from worship to entertainment. That view is fueled, in part, by the fact that it is not clear from the nearly 2½ hour video of the service, billed as “Christmas Eve at Sabina,” when the liturgy actually begins. There is no apparent greeting, penitential act, or opening prayer, all required Introductory Rites of the Novus Ordo liturgy.

In the video, posted on YouTube, Pfleger does not appear on the altar until after nearly an hour of musical and dance performances. A band plays a mix of religious carols and secular music, including Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed” and the Vincent Guaraldi Trio’s “Christmas Time is Here” (best known from the Peanuts Christmas special, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”) while colorfully costumed dancers swirl around the altar.

Did Father Michael Pfleger’s Christmas Eve Mass in Chicago go too far? | Catholic News Agency

What was better about 2021? For one thing, people finally emerged from their isolated pandemic cocoons and started connecting with others. Granted, the vast majority of the people who connected with us this year wanted to discuss our car’s extended warranty. But still.

Ha ha! Was that stupid, or what? Fortunately in 2021, we followed the Science, which decided that the coronavirus does not observe floor arrows. On the other hand, the Science could not make up its mind about masks, especially in restaurants. Should everybody in the restaurant wear them? Should only the staff wear them? Should people who are standing up wear them, but not people who are sitting down, which would seem to suggest that the virus can also enter our bodies via our butts? We still don’t know, and we can’t wait to find out what the Science will come up with for us next.

Anyway, our point is not that 2021 was massively better than 2020. Our point is that at least it was different. A variant, so to speak. And like any year, it had both highs and lows.

Dave Barry’s Year in Review: Wait, wasn’t 2021 supposed to be better than 2020? (msn.com)

Humans of Judaism

December 29 at 7:29 PM

Simon Wiesenthal, born December 31, 1908. “One day Simon called and said that he would like to celebrate his 90th birthday with a few friends in Vienna. I asked him where he would like to celebrate.

He said, ‘I have one unfulfilled wish, to have a party at the Imperial Hotel.’ He told me that it was Hitler’s favorite hotel and that both Hitler and Himmler had permanent suites there. They built enormous bunkers beneath the hotel, which still exist today, because Hitler thought that this would serve as an ideal headquarters from where he could conduct the Second World War.

During the Third Reich, it would have been unthinkable, Simon said, for a Jew to be seen at the Imperial Hotel. ‘And I want to make sure,’ he said, ‘that all the taboos of the Third Reich are broken and that the record of this hotel would affirm that Simon Wiesenthal celebrated his 90th birthday here with a Kosher dinner.’

On the night of the dinner, when the band played a favorite Yiddish song, ‘Belz, Mein Shtele Belz’ (Belz, My Little Shtetl Belz), he looked up at the ceiling, turned to me, and said: ‘You see even the chandeliers are shaking because this is the first time they have ever heard such music here.

Let the record read,’ he said, ‘that Hitler is no longer here, but even in the Imperial Hotel, Jews are still alive and still singing.’”

– Rabbi Marvin Hier reflecting on Simon Wiesenthal’s birthday.

Source: Simon Wiesenthal Center

Ten Prayers for the New Year | Christianity Today

Tito Edwards – NCRegister The Best In Catholic Blogging

This Week on

Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World

MYS187: It’s New Year’s Eve, so Cy Kellett of Catholic Answers Live is asking Jimmy Akin weird questions from listeners, including are there dinosaurs in heaven, can angels lie, are we in a rebooted universe, whether aliens and humans could marry, and much more.

Dinos in heaven, Jesus’ DNA, lying angels, rebooted universe, marrying aliens? & More Weird Questions

FEAST DAYS ,HOLIDAYS AND LAST WEEK IN HISTORY

WinCalendar: Calendars, Holidays, Days & Today

Monday December 27, 2021

Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist

Top news stories on this day

Here is what else happened on this day in History.

Radio City Music Hall Opens – HISTORY

1831 – Charles Darwin embarks on his journey aboard HMS Beagle, during which he will begin to formulate his theory of evolution.
1935 – Regina Jonas is ordained as the first female rabbi in the history of Judaism.
1983 – Pope John Paul II visits Mehmet Ali Ağca in Rebibbia‘s prison and personally forgives him for the 1981 attack on him in St. Peter’s Square.

Tuesday December 28 , 2021

The Holy Innocents, Martyrs

Top news stories on this day

Here is what else happened on this day in History.

First Commercial Movie Screened – HISTORY

1958 – “Greatest Game Ever Played”: Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York’s Yankee Stadium.
1972 – The last scheduled day for induction into the military by the Selective Service System. Due to the fact that President Richard Nixon declared this day a national day of mourning due to former President Harry S Truman‘s death, approximately 300 men were not able to report due to most Federal offices being closed.^[4] Since the draft was not resumed in 1973, they were never drafted.

Wednesday December 29 , 2021

[Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr]

Top news stories on this day

Here is what else happened on this day in History.

U.S. Army Massacres Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee – HISTORY

1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.
1913 – Cecil B. DeMille starts filming Hollywood’s first feature film, The Squaw Man.
1916 – A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the first novel by James Joyce, is first published as a book by American publishing house B. W. Huebschis after its serialization in The Egoist (1914–15).
2003 – The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.

Thursday December 30, 2021

Top news stories on this day

Here is what else happened on this day in History.

USSR Established – HISTORY

1916 – The last coronation in Hungary is performed for King Charles IV and Queen Zita.
1944 – King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving the throne vacant.
1993 – Israel establishes diplomatic relations with Vatican City and also upgrades to full diplomatic relations with Ireland.
2006 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed.

Friday December 31, 2021

[Saint Sylvester I, Pope]

Top news stories on this day

Betty Marion White Ludden (January 17, 1922 – December 31, 2021)

Here is what else happened on this day in History.

Panama Canal Turned Over to Panama – HISTORY

1878 – Karl Benz, working in Mannheim, Germany, files for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine. He was granted the patent in 1879.
1879 – Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1955 – General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.
2000 – The last day of the 20th Century and 2nd Millennium.
2004 – The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft).
2009 – Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur. 2011 – Samoa and Tokelau skip the day of December 30, 2011 as they jump to the other side of the International Date Line, changing their time zones.
2019 – The World Health Organization is informed of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause, detected in Wuhan.^[10] This later turned out to be COVID-19, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11]
2020 – The World Health Organization’s issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Saturday January 1, 2022

1st day of the year. There are then 364 days left in 2022.

SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD
The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord Solemnity
not a Holyday of Obligation this year]

Top news stories on this day

Here is what else happened on this day in History.

Batista Forced Out by Castro-Led Revolution – HISTORY

As You Start Out Your New Year, This Also Happen… | Mark Wilson (patheos.com)

Sunday January 2, 2022

USA: THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

Bishops and Doctors St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen

Memoria of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church [January 2] | A CHRISTIAN PILGRIMAGE

Mark and Kristin’s 12th Wedding Anniversary

National Science Fiction Day

Bishop Barron’s Homily of the Week

Top news stories on this day

Last Year I wrote…

Reflections on 11 Years of Marriage | Mark Wilson (patheos.com)

Today on January 2, 2022, we celebrate 12 years of blissful sacramental marriage.

Our wedding day is on the birthday of
St Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)

St. Therese, doing small things with great love | Performances | thedaonline.com

and Sci-Fi Author Isaac Asimov (January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992)

Isaac Asimov – Yousuf Karsh

And Luisa Carvajal y Mendoza, (January 2, 1566 – January 2, 1614)

a Spanish mystical poet and Catholic martyr died on this day,

Mujerícolas: Luisa Carvajal y Mendoza. Poeta Mística
As well as Alan Hale Jr AKA The Skipper from Gilligan’s Island.

Happy 96th Birthday Alan Hale Jr. – Waldina

He was born on March 8, 1921 and my father was born on March 17, 1921.
He died on January 2, 1990 and I graduated High School in May 1990.

What Else Happen on Our Wedding Day?

U.S.-Russia Detente Ends – HISTORY

533 – Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.
1788 – Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1959 – Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union. 1967 – Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.
1974 – United States President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
2004 – Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.

POPE FRANCIS’S FAMOUS LAST WEEK’S WORDS

Pope Francis to Beatify ‘Smiling Pope’ John Paul I in September 2022| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com)

Pope Francis Sends Condolences Upon Death of Desmond Tutu| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com)

A Chance To Do A Work Of Mercy

Help bring clean and safe water to every person on the planet | charity: water (charitywater.org) Click on here if you want to donate.

charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries

Tunes That Came Out Last Year I’ll probably Keep Listening To.

AJR-Way Less Sad/Record Player (with Daisy the Great)

Weezer-All My Favorite Songs (feat. AJR)/Grapes of Wrath

Coldplay-Higher Power/My Universe (with BTS)

OneRepublic-Run/Sunshine

Imagine Dragons-Follow You/No Time For Toxic People

Sheppard- M.I.A./Die Young

BTS– Butter/Permission to Dance

FITZ & Fitz and The Tantrums-Head Up High/Congratulations (feat. Bryce Vine)

Tenelle Towns-Villian in Me/The Girl Who Didn’t Care

TobyMac-Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight)/Promised Land

Ashe-Not Mad Anymore/Till Forever Falls Apart (wih FINNEAS)

Walk Off The Earth-Anthem/Love You Right

Book Titles That Came Out Last Year I Might Read

#Rules_of_Engagement: 8 Christian Habits for Being Good and Doing Good Online by Ann M. Garrido

And Then She Vanished (The Joseph Bridgeman Series Book 1) (2021) by Nick Jones

Survivor: An Abortion Survivor’s Surprising Story of Choosing Forgiveness and Finding Redemption (2021) by Claire Culwel

Stumbling into Grace: How We Meet God in Tiny Works of Mercy (2021) by Mary Pezzulo

The Power in the Snow by Sarah E. Greydanus

Project Hail Mary: A Novel Kindle Edition by Andy Weir

Kung Fu Antipopes and Other Strange Stories by Paul Leone

Reclaiming Vatican II: What It (Really) Said, What It Means, and How It Calls Us to Renew the Church by Fr. Blake Britton (Author), John C. Cavadini (Foreword)

A White Catholic’s Guide to Racism and Privilege by Daniel P. Horan

Wisdom and Wonder: How Peter Kreeft Shaped the Next Generation of Catholics by Brandon Vogt(Author, Editor)

To Kidnap a Pope: Napoleon and Pius VII by Ambrogio A. Caiani

Planetary Anthology Series: Saturn Book 11 of 11: Planetary Anthology Series

Saturn. The Ringed Planet. Harbinger of ideas and wonder. The planet that gave birth to the modern era of science envisioning the myriad of multi-colored rings circling the planet, one of the reasons for the invention of the telescope and the second largest in our solar system. These are the stories of Saturn, the great Titan. Tales of time, age and endings. With stories by Richard Paolinelli and the queen of Catholic Sci-Fi Karina Fabian as well as her husband Rob Fabian. Amazon Description

New and Old Movies/TV I Came Across Last Week

12 Movies and TV Shows I saw (or will see) that came out Last Year that I liked or think I’ll like.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

Black Widow (Saw in Theaters)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Saw in Theaters)

Raya and the Last Dragon

Free Guy

8-Bit Christmas

Spider-Man: No Way Home (Saw in Theaters)
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Saw in Theaters)

A Quiet Place Part II (Still Haven’t Seen Yet)

Encanto (Still Haven’t Seen Yet)

Sweet Tooth

Midnight Mass

Piffy Quality Quotes

of the Week

When a reader writes, “I’m not much of a fan of the supernatural” this strikes me much the same as “Planck’s constant is distasteful to me, so it’s not real.” It seems to me to be a fundamentally narcissistic way to address reality. Who cares if you are a fan? I don’t like cancer, integral calculus, or Byron’s poetry either. But that does not cause them to cease existing.-Mark Shea