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<\/a>I have written many times that I am a big fan of Pat McNamara\u2019s blog about Catholic history. But I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve mentioned that I am also a big fan of Ulysses S. Grant (left), without question the greatest field general in American history. (OK, Frank\u2014If Grant wasn\u2019t the greatest, who was?) Grant was a failure before the Civil War and a terrible failure as a President and investor after the war. But put him in charge of an army and he just plain won. So I was fascinated to read Pat McNamara\u2019s report on Grant\u2019s West Point roommate<\/a>, Fr. George Deshon, CSP. The Catholic connection doesn\u2019t surprise me. I\u2019ve always suspected that Grant was a deeply spiritual man who, like Lincoln, didn\u2019t wear his religious thoughts on his sleeve.<\/p>\nI am also partial to all things Minnesota, so I was particularly touched by this photo album from Margaret of Minnesota<\/a> showing the progression of her pregnancy and childbirth, beginning with one of those fuzzy ultrasounds and ending with several cute mug shots. <\/p>\n The thing about Margaret\u2019s pics, of course, is that they show, with smiles, the continuity of life from womb to highchair (above). You may be in tears when you read Jan Collins\u2019s story about the evolution of her views on abortion<\/a>. (Jan\u2019s blog is \u201cRuns With Angels.\u201d)<\/p>\n After writing a piece about the Church\u2019s position on abortion<\/a> himself this week, Frank came across this story<\/a> on the advances being made by pro-life forces South of the Border. Now, that\u2019s Good News!<\/p>\n That, or read Msgr. George Pope\u2019s piece about the Church as a sign of contradiction<\/a>.You\u2019ll find encouraging thoughts like this one:<\/p>\n That the world hates us is not necessarily due to the fact that we have done anything wrong. It is often a sign that we have done something precisely right for it is often our lot, as the Body of Christ, to be a \u201csign of contradiction.\u201d That is to say that we must announce the Gospel to a world that is often and in increasing measure, stridently opposed to it.<\/i><\/p>\n Meanwhile, readers in my own town of Beverly and those south of Boston in Providence could bust their buttons over this list of the \u201cFive most positive developments in 2009<\/a>.\u201d Development #1, top of the list, was \u201cAmerican bishops find their public voice.\u201d And who were those bishops? In Providence, of course, we had Bishop Thomas Tobin calling Congressman Patrick Kennedy to \u201cconversion and repentance.\u201d But what was the Beverly connection?<\/p>\n Boston\u2019s cardinal archbishop, Se\u00e1n O\u2019Malley, has a fine weekly blog, and the entries for the past week, dated December 31, documented the Franciscan\u2019s service to the poor<\/a> during the Christmas season.<\/p>\n As the member of a superb, though largely amateur choir, I am partial to talented amateur artists who use their talents to praise God. How could I not love this YouTube clip<\/a> from Singapore, of a parish orchestra playing \u201cGod We Praise You\u201d\u2014especially when the parish is dedicated as mine is in Beverly, to Our Lady Star of the Sea? (Thanks to \u201cWhispers in the Loggia.\u201d)<\/p>\n Of course, the best news of the past week or so was the birth of Our Lord, which we Catholics celebrate for a whole \u201coctave\u201d of days because, as Father Barnes said, our joy is too great for one day to contain. We celebrate this birth in so many ways, including a perpetual fascination with Nativity scenes. I have written in the past about one collector of these<\/a>. But, as the Crescat demonstrated this week, even this lovely tradition can be carried too far<\/a>. <\/p>\n I\u2019ll close with thanks and congratulations. The thanks are to Julie Davis at Happy Catholic, who kindly cited YIM Catholic as one of her discoveries of 2009<\/a>. Praise from a leading Catholic blogger is Good News to Frank and me. Thanks, Julie!<\/p>\n Posted by Webster\u00a0In his homily for New Year\u2019s Day, the octave day of Christmas, Father Barnes said there is so much joy in Christmas that the Church calendar cannot contain it all in a single day. I\u2019m not sure the same could be said of the Catholic blogosphere in the past week. There was less […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![](\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_dmDaLWNETzg\/Sz_hrhqML1I\/AAAAAAAAAyM\/2lqV5I6sb6w\/s320\/Highchair\")
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<\/a>And if you ever worry that the Church\u2019s position, on abortion or any other issue, is going to make you less than popular or admired in the circles you frequent, just print out this quotation from Bishop Fulton Sheen<\/a>, found this week at The Deacon\u2019s Bench.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_dmDaLWNETzg\/Sz_YbA3sC9I\/AAAAAAAAAx0\/H5A5LDmddlI\/s320\/Herzlich\")
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