My peeps

I feel solidarity with NPR listeners today.

Dr. Fauci and Rand Paul

Heather Cox Richardson had a good piece yesterday on the Rand Paul vs Dr. Fauci congressional hearing. I copied part of it below, and have some comments of my own at the end: 

 July 29, 2026 (Wednesday)

"And so, Republicans are devoting themselves to serving red meat to their MAGA base, ginning up sound bites for distribution on social media. "

"On the menu today was Dr. Anthony Fauci, the 85-year-old former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who, serving in that capacity for 38 years, advised seven different presidents of both parties. President George W. Bush awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work in creating the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has saved an estimated 26 million lives. Trump named Fauci to the President’s Coronavirus Task Force in January 2020. "

A what-if on the 2024 presidential election

Could Kamala Harris have won the 2024 election if Joe Biden had resigned the presidency at the same time he relinquished the party nomination?

Bonus cut: the homily I didn't give today

In my previous post, I posted the homily I gave today, focusing on the first two parables in today's Gospel reading.  But up until late last night, that was not the homily I had planned to give today.  This one I'm posting below the break is the one I had worked on (more to the point, struggled with and fought) for quite a few hours this week.  It's based, not on the parables of Jesus in the Gospel reading, but on the prayer of King Solomon from today's first reading (readings are here).

Before I went to bed last night, I put the finishing touches on this one, practiced giving it, and printed it so it would be all ready to bring with me to the early mass this morning.  But I never loved it.  And I woke up at about 5:30 this morning with the conviction that, if I had enough time, I would redo it.  I had to drop one of my children off at work at 6 am.  That gave me about 50 minutes to draft a new homily.  That is not the recommended way to create a homily!  But I had been ruminating on the readings for days - more than a week - so I wasn't really starting ice-cold. So the new homily just came pouring out through my fingers on the keyboard onto the laptop screen.  I was able to type it out, edit it and print it within a 45 minute window.  I'm quite sure I had divine help getting that done. Then I put on some church clothes and headed to church, arriving in time for 7:30 am mass.  I didn't have time to practice it beforehand, which is not optimal.  But I think it worked out okay.  I gave it again at the 9:30 am mass and I think it was a little stronger that time. 

Here is the one I didn't give.  I'd welcome any comments. My own take is: it is more like a post here at NewGathering than a homily.  I'm glad I changed my mind.

All in

This is my homily for today, the 17th week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A.  Today's readings are here.

Are Independents Having a Moment?

 Recently Joe Manchin launched the Independent Leadership Council, an initiative to recruit and support independent candidates across the country.  

From an article on MSN:

Midterm elections 2026: Five independent candidates to watch amid Joe Manchin's new political push

The Conformity Gap - Catholics

 This came in an email this morning from Ryan Burge  that is relevant to the discussion of original sin and baptism.

“There’s a running joke in American religious life that goes something like this: ask ten Catholics what the Church teaches on a given issue, and you’ll get eleven different answers. It’s meant to be affectionate, a nod to the big-tent nature of a tradition that has managed to hold together nearly a billion people across wildly different cultures, languages, and political contexts. But like most jokes, it contains more than a little truth.