Mushrooms, though classified as vegetables in the food world, are not technically plants. They belong to the fungi kingdom and although they are not vegetables, mushrooms provide several important nutrients. MORE

A man fired a rifle on Sunday inside a Washington pizza restaurant that has been subjected to harassment based on false stories tying it to child abuse, the police said. No one was hurt, and the man was arrested. MORE

Is Babylon the Great Falling?

Italy is on the cusp of tearing Europe apart but the economic and political crisis brewing in the nation is largely going unnoticed.

All eyes have turned to Britain’s vote to leave the European Union as having the most drastic political and economic impact onto the 28-nation state but if you look at the country’s economic data, bank issues, and the impending constitutional referendum coming up, Italy is like a bomb waiting to explode. MORE

Kellogg Co. announced on Tuesday its decision to pull ads from conservative media giant Breitbart.com because its 45,000,000 monthly conservative readers are not “aligned with our values as a company.” In response, Breitbart News, one of the world’s top news publishers, has launched a #DumpKelloggs petition and called for a boycott of the ubiquitous food manufacturer. MORE VIDEO PETITION

Vol 9 Issue 51 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
December 3, 2016 ~ Saint Francis Xavier, opn!

1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (96)
2. Second Sunday in Advent
3. Saint Peter Chrysologus
4. Family and Marriage
5. Articles and notices

Dear Reader:
This week Catholics throughout the world celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but for us in the United States of America it is all the more to be celebrated as the patron chosen for our country. Continue reading →

“As soon as I got down on the ground, I noticed it was a Bible verse, and I was like holy crap,” McCord said in a phone interview on Tuesday night. “It was in a puddle of water. I said, ‘I want to take care of this the best way I can,’ so I gently scooped it up and carried it out the best I could.” MORE

Pope Francis said: “Through humility, soul searching, and prayerful contemplation we have gained a new understanding of certain dogmas. The church no longer believes in a literal hell where people suffer as this doctrine is incompatible with the infinite love of God.

“God is not a judge but a friend and a lover of humanity and God seeks not to condemn but only to embrace. Like the fable of Adam and Eve, we see hell as a literary device and hell is merely a metaphor for the isolated soul, which like all souls ultimately will be united in love with God.” MORE

” . . . if there is an afterlife . . . I will unreservedly choose to go to hell . . . . Hell would be heaven for me. All my life I’ve been with the have-nots. Over here, if you’re a have-not, you’re short of dough. If you’re a have-not in hell, you’re short of virtue. Once I get into hell, I’ll start organizing the have-nots over there. They’re my kind of people.“ MORE and VIDEO

Los Angeles County will bury 1,430 individuals in a mass grave Wednesday.

“This holiday season, many of us are reminded how fortunate we are to be surrounded by loved ones,” Supervisor Don Knabe said at a gathering at the downtown Hall of Administration on the eve of the burial. “Sadly, not everyone shares this blessing.” MORE

California is taking its fight against global warming to the farm.

The nation’s leading agricultural state is now targeting greenhouse gases produced by dairy cows and other livestock.

Despite strong opposition from farmers, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation in September that for the first time regulates heat-trapping gases from livestock operations and landfills. MORE

From the earliest days of his campaign, Donald J. Trump made keeping manufacturing jobs in the United States his signature economic issue, and the decision by Carrier, the big air-conditioner company, to move over 2,000 of them from Indiana to Mexico was a tailor-made talking point for him on the stump. MORE

California’s northern Sierra Nevada mountain range, home to some of the state’s largest reservoirs, had the wettest first two months of the water year since 1984, the National Weather Service said Tuesday.

Between October and November, the eight measuring stations along the northern range received an average of 18 inches of precipitation, or about 200% above average for the first two months of the state’s water year, said meteorologist Eric Kurth of the National Weather Service in Sacramento. MORE

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Motorists fleeing wildfires in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge packed roads in and out of the resort towns Monday night as flames and choking smoke driven by wind swept across the area.

The Gatlinburg Fire Department ordered the mandatory evacuation of downtown Gatlinburg as wind conditions worsened and several fires grew increasingly unpredictable and dangerous. MORE

Russia and the Philippines have agreed to closer ties when it comes to defense, according to Russian news outlet RT.

The Kremlin-funded T.V. network said a decree signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev now appears on a Russian government website, stating the following: MORE