It All Started With Saint Christopher | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's note: Alex J. Ortolano is a former U.S. Army Medical Evacuation Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam and now a patient observer of life, and the rest of us, who act act as Alex's muses.

    We are please to announce that you will be able to find Alex here at BCN or at his blogspot here.

Years ago the Catholic Church cleaned house regarding its lineup of Saints.

    The most talked about "removal" was Saint Christopher. It was not that he's no longer a saint, nor even that he no longer has a Feast Day (he still does, on 25th July). What the Church did was stipulate that his Feast Day is no longer an obligatory celebration throughout the worldwide church.

    The bottom line is Saint Christopher wasn't uncanonized (probably not a word) & he is still a Saint.

    This is all very confusing & not all retailers of Religious Articles fully understood much of all of this (that probably includes you & me). If you got a bargain on a Mister Christopher Medal, consider yourself lucky.

    All of the above is only a lead-in to today's bit of Foolishness...

    My newspaper tells me that the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose Gomez, is in the news out in the California. Remember I am a Noticer. I noticed that in the news article the Archbishop was mentioned twice. He was not mentioned in this manner...

       •  Archbishop Gomez said it would put pressure on the state's poorest communities.

       •  ...and they have limited treatment options when they face a serious or terminal illness, Archbishop Gomez said.

    No, there was no "Archbishop" used to refer to the Archbishop in this news article. The Archbishop was referred to as "Mr. Gomez".

    I don't consider this progress but I am willing to look on the bright side. Those in the poorest communities that the Archbishop is so worried about protecting can now get a reduced price on Mister Gomez Medals.

    Would I kid u?

    Smartfella