ON GIVING THANKS:
It's About So Much More Than the Food

In his wonderful reflection this past Thursday, St. Blog's own inimitable Fr. Rob Johansen (who like yours truly is grateful for "good Scotch whisky, good Bourbon, cigars, and micro-brewed beers," among other things) reminds us what Thanksgiving should be all about. In part, he notes:

Gratitude is an indicator of holiness. If you read the writings of, or the Lives of, the great Saints, you'll see that they were suffused with a spirit of Gratitude. They were always thanking God for all they had, and taking notice of the smallest blessings.

Gratitude is also a remedy against Sin. It's the times when I'm most self-satisfied and taking things for granted that I end up being the most susceptible to temptation, and prone to become self-absorbed. Gratitude takes the attention away from yourself and puts it on the Giver. If you make the effort to practice gratitude, you will be come Holy. It's that simple....

There's a "CAT IN THE HAT" MOVIE REVIEW
penned in Dr. Seuss style.
We came across it on the Internet,
reading e-mail awhile.

It's funny and clever,
and as you can see,
is written by a Cath'lic fellow
who has one kid and three.

The reviewer loves the Cat books,
which he knows by heart,
but he says the movie version
is not worthy Seuss art.

The alarmed writer warns
there's no more innocence there,
so in his opinion,
"Parents, beware!"

So it seems Hollywood moguls
have screwed the thing up,
making Seuss fans wonder
if there were drugs in their cup.

MASSACHUSETTS’ JUDICIAL COUP D’ETAT:
Did Four Judges Turn the Bay State Into a Banana Republic?

In the wake of the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision legalizing gay "marriage," Daily Standard columnist Hugh Hewitt thinks so:

"JOHN MARSHALL has made his decision," Andrew Jackson is said to have remarked in the aftermath of a Supreme Court decision he disliked, "now let him enforce it."

…It is an interesting time for the Massachusetts Supreme Court to have seized control of the elected branches in its state, given the connection between Thanksgiving and the Bay State. Unlike its neighbor to the north, the Look-at-Me State of Vermont, Massachusetts actually has a place in the collective national consciousness and Americans of all regions are interested in its history. Now, in the aftermath of Tuesday's radical diktat from four justices to Massachusetts' elected representatives, Americans are interested in the state's future as well.

…the people of Massachusetts … didn't sign up for a banana republic run by pretenders in robes, and no one in the state's illustrious history ever sacrificed life or limb --from Boston Harbor to Concord, Antietam or the battlefields of Europe and Asia-- for the proposition that four judges get to change everything when they decide to conjure up a reason for doing so….

JACK KENNEDY AND THE CATHOLIC FAITH:
At His Death, JFK’s Catholicism May Have Been More Pivotal Than During His Life

Catholic Exchange writer Michael H. Brown ponders the effect of the Catholic faith on both JFK himself and his wife Jackie, despite JFK's now well-known philandering as well as his indulgence in reckless behavior in other matters, including geopolitics (e.g., the Bay of Pigs debacle and several misguided covert attempts to assassinate Castro).

For example, Brown notes:

Kennedy, despite his roguish ways, had a streak of devotion inspired by his mother Rose — a daily communicant — and so did his wife, who in Dallas had prayed with a priest as he administered the last anointing.

…Did the sacrament count? No one was sure. Extreme Unction — as it was then known — was not valid if the soul had departed. Father Huber sensed that Kennedy's soul was still there. "Through this anointing, may God forgive you whatever sins you may have committed," he had prayed. Through a faculty granted by the Holy See he dispensed remission of sins and a plenary indulgence….

NOVEMBER 22, 40 YEARS LATER:
Noted Blogger Mark Shea Asks His Readers, "Where Were You...?"

Read some fascinating rememberances of that tragic day in Mark's Comments Box HERE