Happy Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday! (Apparently only Sunday remains temporarily uncolonized by our retailing overlords.) Also, and more hopefully, happy feasts of St. Cecilia (Thursday), St. Clement, St. Columbanus, and Bl. Miguel Pro, SJ (all on Friday), Sts. Andrew Dũng-Lạc and companions (Saturday), and of Christ the King (today).
There’s lots to be thankful for, though. So much, that we’ve been too busy to keep up with our normal Week in Review schedule… so much, in fact, that we almost maxed out the tabs on our web browser putting this together.
So, sit back, make a turkey sandwich, put some stuffing in the microwave, take a deep breath, and dive into our Weeks in Review.
If you’re only going to read four pieces, read these:
- From Fr. James Martin, a new serenity prayer.
- Superheroes, sinners, and saints: Paul Lickteig tries to figure out what’s going on in our new pantheon.
- November 5 was the feast of All Saints and Blesseds of the Society of Jesus — and also the day that John Kavanaugh, SJ, joined them in their reward. Michael Rozier remembers “this man who called us to lead fuller lives.“
- God damn it. Here I am. I’m all yours. Brendan Busse on praying when angry words are the only ones available.
Did you hear we’re going to Rio? Yeah, we’re as excited as you’d be.
TJP continues to get ready for our expedition to Magis and World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro —
TJP continues to get ready for our expedition to Magis and World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro —
- We asked you “How do you see Magis?” in our first-ever photo contest, and got some great responses.
- And if you missed our Magis contest deadline, check out our second photo contest, Framing God in All Things, still running till December 1
- If you’re thinking about going to WYD — especially if you’re a student a Jesuit university — you might want to know more about what the Magis program is. In an homage to VH1 and 1992, we’ve got you covered pop-up video style.
Election Edition:
Oh, that’s right, there was something that happened in early November —
Oh, that’s right, there was something that happened in early November —
- Perry Petrich wondered if we’d be better off deciding elections by having epic rap battles.
- Red state Jesus or blue state Jesus? Joe Simmons wasn’t taking the bait.
- And Sam Sawyer was just praying for the end to come — without recounts, if possible.
Catching up on pop culture:
TJP’s own “dynamic duo,” Perry Petrich and Quang Tran, are on the beat — and they’re not the only ones —
TJP’s own “dynamic duo,” Perry Petrich and Quang Tran, are on the beat — and they’re not the only ones —
- Could Bieber be the baddest thing since Michael Jackson? Do we really want to live vicariously through the boys of One Direction? Will TJP ever stop talking about this stuff? We can answer the last one: not as long as the world is paying attention to it.
- Calling it “one of the greatest breakup albums of all time (ofalltime!)” Perry reviews Taylor Swift’s latest.
- Flying cakes, simple joys, Justin Timberlake’s wedding… what were you expecting?
- “Is nothing sacred anymore?” Spiderman didn’t need the reboot, according to Chris Schroeder, but there are a number of movie franchises that do.
- If you’re looking for a sitcom, Jake Martin recommends Up All Night — it’s Worth Watching.
Some links that might mean a little bit more:
- Recuperating from a baseball injury, and wondering about the problem of evil — Vinny Marchionni points us at Faithworks’ coverage of Phillies pitcher Justin DeFratus.
- Brian Konzman appreciates the honesty, but thinks a scientist like Martin Rees ought to be able to muster a bit more curiosity about our purpose in the universe.
- Jeff Sullivan finds evidence of love in a Pee Wee League football highlight reel.
- Is authenticity just a hoax? Sam Sawyer wonders how it might intersect with real religious longing.
- If you get tired of hearing people explain, again and again, what “vocation” means, Matt Spott’s has got you covered: sometimes, it’s just another word for “friend.”
Parting is such sweet sorrow…
… TJP says goodbye to the Twinkie —
… TJP says goodbye to the Twinkie —
- All the way from the Vietnamese village in New Orleans East, an audio eulogy for the Twinkie by TJP’s own Quang Tran
- You Can’t Take It With You bids goodbye to the co-writer of Pretty Woman and T.S. Eliot’s widow (who released the rights to the poems that gave us Cats), and many more.
A Very TJP Thanksgiving:
- “Now, I’m not always as thankful as I should be, but today I am.” — Fr. James Martin returns to TJP with A Thanksgiving Prayer for Everyone.
- Before Joe Simmons headed home for Thanksgiving he prepped himself to avoid running all the same old family dynamics plays and to seek the good.
- Even in a Rebecca-Black’s-Friday-inspired Thanksgiving song, Matt Stewart finds a reason for gratitude.
- In his TJP debut, Eric Ramirez fends off the retail frenzy of Black Friday with a video montage from surveillance cameras showing… wait for it… people being kind to each other.
- And while we know it’s not Christmas yet, we can’t help starting to think about it:
- You Can’t Take It With You reaches back into the past to bid Bing Crosby of White Christmas fame goodbye (again).
- Eric Sundrup’s got a list, he’s checking it twice… a list of which (secular) Christmas songs he’s willing to listen to even before Advent has begun and which (sacred) songs he’s going to wait for.
We won’t make you wait so long for our next Week In Review, and in the meantime, you can still get in on our Framing God photo contest, and we’d love to hear about your own sacred/secular Christmas playlists. We’ve got lots to be thankful for, and our readers are high on the list: thanks for reading, clicking, liking, sharing — thanks for making TJP a place where it’s a little bit easier to find God in all things.
