Good morning, we made it through another week to Friday. Almost time to exhale – almost, not quite.
Even though I am not the most observant Jew in the world and married outside the faith, I still feel vaguely uncomfortable in a church. I never really know what to do, even though by this time I’ve been to a wide variety of masses for funerals, weddings, Holy Christmas, Communions etc.
I certainly won’t be kneeling when others do, or praying out loud – even though, unlike in synagogue, the service is mostly in English and therefore easier to follow. Also, the exchanging of peace, while a lovely concept, just feels awkward to me.
There are a few Catholic traditions that I really like. I like singing carols at midnight mass. I also really like the Blessing of the Animals that takes place on or around today – Oct. 4 – the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi. I have never actually taken one of my own pets to get blessed, but I am seriously toying with the idea this year. I think my littlest dog, Gizmo, who is quite frequently a significant handful, could benefit from all grace he can get.
As saints go, Francis of Assisi was a pretty amazing guy. Born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, was a Catholic friar and mystic who founded the religious order of the Franciscans, the largest religious order of the Roman Catholic Church, which is best known for the striving of its members to embody the ideals of poverty and charity.
The Franciscans actually encompass three different orders: the friars, the cloistered nuns, and a group of lay individuals who are religious but do not swear vows and live in the secular world while seeking to emulate St. Francis through acts of service, teaching, and charity.
I tried to figure out how it was that Saint Francis came to be associated at the patron saint of animals and the environment. There’s a story about how he once gave a sermon to a flock of birds, urging them to “praise your Creator very much and always love him.” The birds reportedly responded positively to this message, reaching out their wings and necks to him, as he walked among them and touched and blessed them.
This experience reportedly awakened Saint Francis to the fact that he had overlooked an important flock – quite literally – and from that day on he was particularly attentive to the birds and beasts of the world.
A number of churches hold Blessing of the Animals events – most of the ones I was able to find are scheduled for this coming weekend. Some of the bigger ones – like in Washington, D.C. and New York City – look really fun and draw a wide variety of beasties. This video from last year’s event at St. John the Divine is one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time. It features snakes, sloths, what looks like a crocodile, ducks, lots of dogs and cats, and even a camel.
I looked up what the appropriate blessing is for a Blessing of the Animals, and came up a a number of versions of the following:
Blessed are you, Lord our God, for you have made all things well. You have given us innocent companions on our life journey, animals wild and tame. They are wonderful in all their variety of shapes, sizes and abilities. We marvel at their beauty, which draws us closer to You who made them.
Regardless of your religious affiliation, I feel like this sentiment is something to get behind.
We’ll have another cloudy start to the day that gives way to sun in the afternoon. Temperatures will again be in the mid-70s. The weekend is shaping up to be not too shabby, with sunny to mostly sunny skies both tomorrow and Sunday and temperatures in the low 70s. Yes, please.
In the headlines…
The International Longshoremen’s Association agreed yesterday to suspend a strike that closed down major ports on the East and Gulf Coasts. The move followed an improved wage offer from port employers.
Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association union will see an approximately 62% wage hike. “Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume,” the parties said in a joint statement.
Experts projected the strike could cost the U.S. economy $5 billion per day as imports such as food, auto parts, furniture and other key goods remained sealed in containers that would remain unemptied by ILA members.
The strike had caused significant disruptions, with New York and New Jersey ports seeing major slowdowns in the movement of goods, including food, construction materials and vehicles.
A NPR/PBS News/Marist survey found Vice President Kamala Harris outpacing former President Donald Trump 50 percent to 48 percent among likely voters nationally, a lead within the poll’s margin of error.
Harris yesterday campaigned alongside Liz Cheney, the most prominent Republican to cross party lines and endorse her, in Wisconsin at a symbolic location: the birthplace of the Republican Party.
Cheney said she is “proudly” casting her vote for Harris in Wisconsin, invoking the events of January 6, 2021, and touting her endorsement of the Democratic presidential nominee in the crucial battleground state.
The California liberal and Wyoming conservative agree on little besides their view that Trump is a threat to democracy who shouldn’t return to the White House after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Harris leads Trump by roughly 2 percentage points in Wisconsin, according to 538’s polling average in the state.
Just over a month from an election that could make Trump, 78, the oldest person ever to serve as president (82 years, 7 months and 6 days when his term would end in January 2029), he is refusing to release even the most basic information about his health.
A majority of Americans worry this year’s general election will be tainted by fraud, according to a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll — an ominous finding for the thousands of local election officials across the country tasked with administering voting.
Former First Lady Melania Trump made an extraordinary declaration in an eagerly awaited memoir to be published a month from election day: she is a passionate supporter of a woman’s right to control her own body – including the right to abortion.
Three former Memphis police officers were found guilty of federal witness tampering charges in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man. But all three were acquitted of the more serious charge of violating his civil rights by causing his death.
The three defendants — Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith — and two other former officers who pleaded guilty to their role in the violence, still face additional state charges, including second-degree murder.
Five officers total were charged in Nichols’ death, but two pleaded guilty and testified against members of their now-disbanded crime suppression unit at the Memphis Police Department.
Israel continued heavy attacks on three fronts, striking in Lebanon, Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Anxiety is building over whether its conflict with Iran, which has long supported militant groups in each of those places, will escalate into a full-blown war.
The Israeli strikes in Beirut targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, one of the possible successors of late Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike last week. It’s unclear if Safieddine survived.
President Joe Biden says he doesn’t expect Israel to retaliate immediately against Iran and rejects the suggestion the U.S. would grant permission for such an attack.
Biden also said there were discussions about hitting Iranian oil reserves but stopped short of endorsing that option. His open-ended comments nonetheless prompted a spike in the price of oil as markets anticipated an attack on Iranian energy.
The UN Security Council affirmed its full support for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres after Israel banned him from entering the country.
According to images taken around October 2006, GOP Rep. Mike Lawler wore blackface at a campus social gathering as part of a Michael Jackson Halloween costume when he was a 20-year-old college student.
Lawler said he’s a lifelong Jackson superfan who was attempting to pay homage to the pop star. “I am a student of history and for anyone who takes offense to the photo, I am sorry,” he said. Lawler’s opponent, Democratic former Rep. Mondaire Jones, is Black.
Lawler, now 38, did not dispute the photos’ authenticity. He said that the costume was intended to be “truly the sincerest form of flattery, a genuine homage to my musical hero since I was a little kid trying to moonwalk through my mom’s kitchen.”
The U.S. Treasury Department announced it has awarded New York $9.4 million to help upstate small businesses become part of the growing upstate semiconductor manufacturing supply chain.
The New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) released a report on its progress in rolling out the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA).
Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs, a close legislative ally of Adams, was arrested and taken into custody by the New York City Police Department yesterday in his East Harlem district, according to witnesses.
Gibbs was arrested for interfering with cops as they pulled over his brother’s car in Manhattan — then later said the incident was “all on” him.
The federal prosecutors who indicted Mayor Eric Adams on corruption charges last week told a judge that at least part of their case against him involved classified material that might damage national security if disclosed.
Outgoing Chancellor David Banks’ shocking early exit came as a surprise even to the schools boss himself. Banks was blindsided to learn from Adams late Wednesday that he’d be pushed out of his job months earlier than planned, insiders said.
City Hall in a statement praised Banks’ leadership, but indicated that “it became clear that our students will be best served by having the same leadership through as much of the school year as possible, rather than changing chancellors halfway through.
The criminal case against Adams is not a sure thing — particularly on the headline-grabbing bribery charge that has predictably garnered the most attention. Over the last 25 years, the Supreme Court has steadily eroded federal public anti-corruption law.
There have been calls for Adams’ resignation from Black New York activists, elected leaders and residents. But also debates about whether to stand behind a controversial figure who, for many, represents a milestone for Black representation in government.
The New York Times’ Ginia Bellafante delves into the significant differences between Adams and the mayor he has been invoking of late, David Dinkins.
Big Apple taxpayers are footing $600-an-hour legal bills for three City Hall staffers in the historic federal criminal probes encircling Adams.
Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran accused of choking Jordan Neely to death on New York City’s subway last year, appeared in Manhattan court for a pretrial hearing yesterday.
“I just put him out” — that’s what Penny told cops on a Manhattan subway platform moments after he put homeless man Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold, video played in court reveals.
The lawyer for the 49-year-old bystander shot in the head by police at a Brooklyn subway station last month said he has filed an $80 million legal claim against the city.
Curbside collection of yard waste, food scraps and food-soiled paper will begin this Sunday in Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island as part of an expansion of a successful program that started in Queens and Brooklyn.
The Capital District Transportation Authority is rolling out buses without side rearview mirrors. The vehicles will instead rely on special video systems.
PrimaLoft, the Latham company that makes insulation for clothing and bedding, has hired two new top executives from the Boston area who have worked in the footwear and apparel industries, as part of a new “strategic vision” focused on outdoor experiences.
Albany Medical Center and the union representing its nursing staff continue to be at odds over staffing concerns.
The Cookie Factory continues to operate after an entity affiliated with the Troy bakery filed for Chapter 7.
Photo credit: George Fazio
