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Hebrew Catholic Woody Allen was at it again, and it was outstanding. Sacraments, and how they work. The mark of the best teachers in anything is that they can teach the hardest things to the simplest people.

I saw Confirmation Sponsor Lady there, and their daughter, 'Lucy.' I feel bad for that young person! [Bwhahaha!--ed.] I mean, honestly. Has there ever been a couple more naturally suited to winning arguments than those two? All the 'discussions' we've ever had end with me saying, "You know, you're right, I was thinking imprecisely; I was wrong." If it had stage directions, it'd be like, [submits to bishop] or [tries cheese] or [prays to Mary] or [goes to New Orleans for no apparent reason]. It's kind of funny now. [I don't think it's funny.--ed.] Of course you don't.

I didn't see Confirmation Sponsor Guy; he was being a Dad. Pffft. Whatever that's about. Besides all that, he's been locked in the Cave of Writing since the Eisenhower administration. [You've seen him.--ed.] True. But he had to pull a Greg Lemond (look it up) to make it happen last time. Sheesh. I feel like he's doing penance for all the fun we had in the Jetta of Decision. [You call that fun?--ed.] OK, I admit, not everyone has the same sort of fun. But it's our fun. We're really different, I'm sure, in many ways. But we're a lot the same, in really big things. You know, like Jesus and His things. His Church. His people. I think I figured something out about us, in how we help each other. He makes me feel older, and I make him feel younger. Something like that.

I think sometimes I must be a real "Failure To Launch" type of person, to be my age, wanting and needing to grow up. On the other hand, I've been told that I'm one of the most interesting people in the world twice in the past 6 months. That's got to pay off sooner or later, right?

There are boxes everywhere. My brother and his wife and my nephew are moving out in a day or so. I'm sad, but I know it's for the best. To fix the rest of it...well, that's not my area, or calling, for that matter.

What I've learned through this and other things is to make the extra effort to keep lines of communication open. We're not supposed to go through life with anger and shattered hearts. Especially not with family. Now, my semantic range for that word is wider than yours may be, but we all know what it means to us. If the Good News of Jesus Christ isn't real here, it might as well not be real.

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