<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<title>Hurricane Harvey | A Catholic Citizen in America</title>
<link rel="profile" href="http://gmpg.org/xfn/11" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/themes/twentyten/style.css" />
<link rel="pingback" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/xmlrpc.php" />
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s0.wp.com' />
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.gravatar.com' />
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.w.org' />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="A Catholic Citizen in America &raquo; Feed" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/feed/" />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="A Catholic Citizen in America &raquo; Comments Feed" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/comments/feed/" />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="A Catholic Citizen in America &raquo; Hurricane Harvey Comments Feed" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/feed/" />
		<script type="text/javascript">
			window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/2.4\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/2.4\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"http:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?ver=4.9.4"}};
			!function(a,b,c){function d(a,b){var c=String.fromCharCode;l.clearRect(0,0,k.width,k.height),l.fillText(c.apply(this,a),0,0);var d=k.toDataURL();l.clearRect(0,0,k.width,k.height),l.fillText(c.apply(this,b),0,0);var e=k.toDataURL();return d===e}function e(a){var b;if(!l||!l.fillText)return!1;switch(l.textBaseline="top",l.font="600 32px Arial",a){case"flag":return!(b=d([55356,56826,55356,56819],[55356,56826,8203,55356,56819]))&&(b=d([55356,57332,56128,56423,56128,56418,56128,56421,56128,56430,56128,56423,56128,56447],[55356,57332,8203,56128,56423,8203,56128,56418,8203,56128,56421,8203,56128,56430,8203,56128,56423,8203,56128,56447]),!b);case"emoji":return b=d([55357,56692,8205,9792,65039],[55357,56692,8203,9792,65039]),!b}return!1}function f(a){var c=b.createElement("script");c.src=a,c.defer=c.type="text/javascript",b.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(c)}var g,h,i,j,k=b.createElement("canvas"),l=k.getContext&&k.getContext("2d");for(j=Array("flag","emoji"),c.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},i=0;i<j.length;i++)c.supports[j[i]]=e(j[i]),c.supports.everything=c.supports.everything&&c.supports[j[i]],"flag"!==j[i]&&(c.supports.everythingExceptFlag=c.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&c.supports[j[i]]);c.supports.everythingExceptFlag=c.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&!c.supports.flag,c.DOMReady=!1,c.readyCallback=function(){c.DOMReady=!0},c.supports.everything||(h=function(){c.readyCallback()},b.addEventListener?(b.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",h,!1),a.addEventListener("load",h,!1)):(a.attachEvent("onload",h),b.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",function(){"complete"===b.readyState&&c.readyCallback()})),g=c.source||{},g.concatemoji?f(g.concatemoji):g.wpemoji&&g.twemoji&&(f(g.twemoji),f(g.wpemoji)))}(window,document,window._wpemojiSettings);
		</script>
		<style type="text/css">
img.wp-smiley,
img.emoji {
	display: inline !important;
	border: none !important;
	box-shadow: none !important;
	height: 1em !important;
	width: 1em !important;
	margin: 0 .07em !important;
	vertical-align: -0.1em !important;
	background: none !important;
	padding: 0 !important;
}
</style>
<link rel='stylesheet' id='social-logos-css'  href='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/_inc/social-logos/social-logos.min.css?ver=1' type='text/css' media='all' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='jetpack_css-css'  href='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/css/jetpack.css?ver=5.8' type='text/css' media='all' />
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js?ver=1.12.4'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery-migrate.min.js?ver=1.4.1'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
/* <![CDATA[ */
var related_posts_js_options = {"post_heading":"h4"};
/* ]]> */
</script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/_inc/build/related-posts/related-posts.min.js?ver=20150408'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' async defer src='https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js?ver=4.9.4'></script>
<link rel='https://api.w.org/' href='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-json/' />
<link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/xmlrpc.php?rsd" />
<link rel="wlwmanifest" type="application/wlwmanifest+xml" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-includes/wlwmanifest.xml" /> 
<link rel='prev' title='Great American Eclipse 2017' href='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/great-american-eclipse-2017/' />
<link rel='next' title='Harvey Over Texas' href='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/harvey-over-texas/' />
<meta name="generator" content="WordPress 4.9.4" />
<link rel="canonical" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/" />
<link rel='shortlink' href='https://wp.me/p7Dwtw-pw' />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/json+oembed" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbrendans-island.com%2Fcatholic-citizen%2Fhurricane-harvey%2F" />
<link rel="alternate" type="text/xml+oembed" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbrendans-island.com%2Fcatholic-citizen%2Fhurricane-harvey%2F&#038;format=xml" />

<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//v0.wordpress.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//i0.wp.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//i1.wp.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//i2.wp.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//jetpack.wordpress.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s0.wp.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s1.wp.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s2.wp.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//public-api.wordpress.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//0.gravatar.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//1.gravatar.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//2.gravatar.com'/>
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//widgets.wp.com'/>
<style type="text/css" id="custom-background-css">
body.custom-background { background-color: #113355; }
</style>

<!-- Jetpack Open Graph Tags -->
<meta property="og:type" content="article" />
<meta property="og:title" content="Hurricane Harvey" />
<meta property="og:url" content="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Harvey was still a tropical storm when it went over the eastern Caribbean. That was a little over a week ago. Folks in Barbados were without power for a while. At least one house was destroyed, and…" />
<meta property="article:published_time" content="2017-08-27T00:08:14+00:00" />
<meta property="article:modified_time" content="2017-12-19T18:50:53+00:00" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="A Catholic Citizen in America" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://i1.wp.com/brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cropped-CatholicCitizenLogo06_ISS011-E-5487_2-detail-940x168-lite75.jpg?fit=512%2C512" />
<meta property="og:image:width" content="512" />
<meta property="og:image:height" content="512" />
<meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" />
<meta name="twitter:site" content="@Aluwir" />
<meta name="twitter:text:title" content="Hurricane Harvey" />
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://i1.wp.com/brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cropped-CatholicCitizenLogo06_ISS011-E-5487_2-detail-940x168-lite75.jpg?fit=240%2C240" />
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" />
<link rel="icon" href="https://i1.wp.com/brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cropped-CatholicCitizenLogo06_ISS011-E-5487_2-detail-940x168-lite75.jpg?fit=32%2C32" sizes="32x32" />
<link rel="icon" href="https://i1.wp.com/brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cropped-CatholicCitizenLogo06_ISS011-E-5487_2-detail-940x168-lite75.jpg?fit=192%2C192" sizes="192x192" />
<link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="https://i1.wp.com/brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cropped-CatholicCitizenLogo06_ISS011-E-5487_2-detail-940x168-lite75.jpg?fit=180%2C180" />
<meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="https://i1.wp.com/brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cropped-CatholicCitizenLogo06_ISS011-E-5487_2-detail-940x168-lite75.jpg?fit=270%2C270" />
</head>

<body class="post-template-default single single-post postid-1582 single-format-standard custom-background">
<div id="wrapper" class="hfeed">
	<div id="header">
		<div id="masthead">
			<div id="branding" role="banner">
								<div id="site-title">
					<span>
						<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/" title="A Catholic Citizen in America" rel="home">A Catholic Citizen in America</a>
					</span>
				</div>
				<div id="site-description">Following Catholic beliefs and practices in America: one man&#039;s experience</div>

										<img src="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/CatholicCitizenLogo06_ISS011-E-5487_2-detail-940x168-lite75.jpg" width="940" height="198" alt="" />
								</div><!-- #branding -->

			<div id="access" role="navigation">
			  				<div class="skip-link screen-reader-text"><a href="#content" title="Skip to content">Skip to content</a></div>
								<div class="menu"><ul>
<li ><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/">Home</a></li><li class="page_item page-item-6"><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/about-me/">About Me and This Blog</a></li>
<li class="page_item page-item-196"><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/becoming-a-catholic/">Becoming a Catholic</a></li>
<li class="page_item page-item-493"><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/blogroll/">Blogroll and Links</a></li>
<li class="page_item page-item-101"><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/science-and-religion-posts/">Science and Religion Posts</a></li>
</ul></div>
			</div><!-- #access -->
		</div><!-- #masthead -->
	</div><!-- #header -->

	<div id="main">

		<div id="container">
			<div id="content" role="main">

			

				<div id="nav-above" class="navigation">
					<div class="nav-previous"><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/great-american-eclipse-2017/" rel="prev"><span class="meta-nav">&larr;</span> Great American Eclipse 2017</a></div>
					<div class="nav-next"><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/harvey-over-texas/" rel="next">Harvey Over Texas <span class="meta-nav">&rarr;</span></a></div>
				</div><!-- #nav-above -->

				<div id="post-1582" class="post-1582 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-being-catholic tag-america tag-authority tag-disasters tag-faith tag-history tag-weather">
					<h1 class="entry-title">Hurricane Harvey</h1>

					<div class="entry-meta">
						<span class="meta-prep meta-prep-author">Posted on</span> <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/" title="00:08" rel="bookmark"><span class="entry-date">August 27, 2017</span></a> <span class="meta-sep">by</span> <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/author/brianhgill/" title="View all posts by Brian H. Gill">Brian H. Gill</a></span>					</div><!-- .entry-meta -->

					<div class="entry-content">
						<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gDkDpzB8Zo"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20170821ff/20170824-HurricaneHarvey-ISS-NASA-658.jpg?w=640" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p>
<p>Harvey was still a tropical storm when it went over the eastern Caribbean. That was a little over a week ago.</p>
<p>Folks in Barbados were without power for a while. At least one house was destroyed, and more folks had to evacuate their homes.</p>
<p>Pretty much the same thing happened in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Suriname and Guyana had wind and rain: enough to kill at least one person, a woman whose house collapsed with her inside.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41058774"><img src="https://i1.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20170821ff/20170826-KBMT-HouseFire-AFP-after-329.jpg?w=640" align="right" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>Harvey was a category 4 hurricane when it reached the Texas coast, between <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Aransas,_Texas">Port Aransas</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_O%27Connor,_Texas">Port O&#8217;Connor</a>. That was around 10:00 p.m. Friday.</p>
<p>By noon Saturday, about 230,000 utility customers in Texas had no power.<sup><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/#1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Harvey&#8217;s a tropical storm now, shedding water on Texas.</p>
<p>Folks between Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Houston will probably get over 20 inches of rain in the next few days.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;&#8230;While Harvey&#8217;s winds are decreasing, life-threatening hazards will continue from heavy rainfall over much of southeastern Texas and from storm surge along portions of the Texas coast&#8230;.&#8221;<br />
(&#8220;<a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT4+shtml/252055.shtml">Tropical Storm Harvey Forecast Discussion</a>&#8221; National Hurricane Center, NOAA (4:00 p.m. CDT Saturday, August 26, 2017))</p></blockquote>
<p>My guess is that most Texans are better able to deal with Harvey than many folks in the smaller Caribbean nations.</p>
<p>This storm won&#8217;t be easy on anyone who gets in its way.</p>
<p>Texas authorities confirmed that one person is dead. A man in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockport,_Texas">Rockport, Texas</a>, was not able to leave his house. It burned during the storm.</p>
<p>Other deaths may be confirmed, as teams sift through debris. Many folks survived, but have no place to live.</p>
<p>&#8216;Lost everything&#8217; is serious, no matter how much or how little someone has.</p>
<p>No pressure, but some will need help.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s true even in nice weather, and even in America.</p>
<p>There are a great many outfits working with folks who need help. And a few, sadly, out to make a quick buck from folks who feel charitable but aren&#8217;t careful.</p>
<p>CRS, Catholic Relief Services, isn&#8217;t the only legitimate philanthropic operation. But I think they&#8217;re worth mentioning:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.crs.org/">CRS</a> (Catholic Relief Services)
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.crs.org/about/mission-statement">Mission Statement</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="https://www.catholiccharities.org/">Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.catholiccharities.org/our-services/strengthening-families/disaster-relief/">Disaster Recovery – Restoring Hope and Rebuilding Lives</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>CRS, by the way, helps anyone who needs it. As their <a href="https://www.crs.org/about/mission-statement">mission statement</a> says, their job is &#8220;to assist people on the basis of need, not creed, race or nationality.&#8221;</p>
<p>There&#8217;s more to charity than charitable giving, and that&#8217;s another topic. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a7.htm#1822">1822</a>&#8211;<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a7.htm#1829">1829</a>)</p>
<h4><a name="storm"></a>Storm News and Views</h4>
<p><a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/153146.shtml?tswind120#contents"><img src="https://i1.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20170821ff/20170825-153146-658.jpg?w=640" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(From Hurricane Center, NOAA, used w/o permission.)</span><br />
(Five-day wind speed forecast; Friday morning, August 25, 2017)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20170821ff/20170826-212527WPCQPF_sm-329.jpg?w=640" align="right" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>Most of American &#8216;storm&#8217; news focuses on the Texas coast. That&#8217;s understandable. Texas is closer to home than Barbados or Suriname for most Americans. It&#8217;s home for a fair number of us.</p>
<p>Editorial styles vary, of course, since news outlets cater to a broad range of tastes. So does what they cover.</p>
<p>Some of storm-related entertainment news was remarkably trivial: for folks who aren&#8217;t &#8220;Game of Thrones&#8221; fans.</p>
<p>But I realize that life goes on, trivia and all. So, I think, does possibly-unintentional humor:</p>
<ul>
<li>&#8220;<a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/08/austin-game-of-thrones-power-outages">Austin Officials Reassure Residents Worried About Game of Thrones Power Outages</a>&#8221;<br />
Emma Stefansky, Vanity Fair (August 26, 2017)</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/08/hurricane-harvey-is-something-weve-never-seen-before/">Hurricane Harvey Is Something We&#8217;ve Never Seen Before</a>&#8221;<br />
Emily Atkin, Mother Jones (August 25, 2017)</li>
</ul>
<p>Atkin&#8217;s op-ed had another headline in New Republic. The N.R. headline Harvey &#8220;Scary and Unprecedented.&#8221; The Mother Jones headline is not entirely hyperbole.</p>
<p>Each tropical storm in the Atlantic has a unique history: just like Harvey. Atkin discusses some of Harvey&#8217;s highlights before approaching Texas.</p>
<p>A few tropical storms form in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Atlantic_tropical_cyclone">southern Atlantic</a>. Strong wind shear almost always keeps them from developing into hurricanes. There&#8217;s been one exception since we started keeping records of that area: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Catarina">Catrina in 2004</a>.</p>
<h4><a name="texas"></a>Texas Disaster Declaration</h4>
<p><a href="https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/Governor_Abbott_Requests_Presidential_Disaster_Declaration.pdf"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20170821ff/20170825-Texas-Governor-Disaster-Declaration-Letter-658.jpg?w=640" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(From Texas State Government, used w/o permission.)</span><br />
(Texas counties declared disaster areas; August 25, 2017)</p>
<p>The United States is a big country, with quite a few states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic. Hurricanes affect at least a few Americans every year. What&#8217;s unusual about Harvey is that it&#8217;s among the stronger hurricanes we&#8217;ve dealt with.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s probably one reason that Texas Governor Gregg Abbott sent <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/Governor_Abbott_Requests_Presidential_Disaster_Declaration.pdf">a letter</a> to the U.S. President and FEMA on Friday. I gather that it&#8217;s a formal request for help. He said that what&#8217;s coming &#8220;is beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments.&#8221;</p>
<p>This isn&#8217;t a &#8216;political&#8217; blog, so I won&#8217;t say that he shouldn&#8217;t have asked for help. Or shouldn&#8217;t have sent the letter yet. Or didn&#8217;t send it soon enough. Or that he did the right thing, and anyone who says otherwise is stupid. Or worse.</p>
<p>I figure maybe he&#8217;s right. It&#8217;s a hard decision.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m also quite sure that local, state, and national governments should help folks recover from natural disasters. One of the reasons we have governments is to help folks who need it. It&#8217;s one way we can all work for the common good. (Catechism, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c2a2.htm#1899">1899</a>, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c2a2.htm#1903">1903</a>, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c2a2.htm#1905">1905</a>&#8211;<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c2a2.htm#1912">1912</a>)</p>
<p>Ideally, every state would have funds and equipment ready for every possible disaster. We don&#8217;t live in an ideal world. That, I think, is why the Texan governor asked for help.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m glad that America is big enough so that if a disaster hits one area, the rest will probably be able to pitch in. Very ideally, we&#8217;d have a system like that in place globally.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, like I said, there are outfits like Catholic Relief Services.</p>
<p>BBC News says the last hurricane this big and affecting a mainland state was Wilma in 2005. They have a point, although Katrina, the same year, was one of the five deadliest.<sup><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/#2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>Katrina wasn&#8217;t the worse in terms of death and destruction, though. That was the 1900 Galveston hurricane.</p>
<h4><a name="learning"></a>Learning, Sometimes the Hard Way</h4>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20170821ff/20170825-Lucas_Terrace_50_deaths_Galveston_hurricane_1900-658.jpg?w=640" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(From Library of Congress, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)</span><br />
(What was left of St. Lucas Terrace, left; and St. Patrick&#8217;s church, right; Galveston, 1900.)</p>
<p>We don&#8217;t know how many Americans died because of the September, 1900, hurricane.</p>
<p>Estimates range from 6,000 to 12,000. It&#8217;s still the worst natural disaster we&#8217;ve had since 1776, in terms of lives lost. The 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes were remarkable for other reasons.<sup><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/#3">3</a></sup></p>
<p>What we call the Great Galveston Hurricane was a tropical storm when the National Weather Service heard that a tropical storm was over Cuba and heading north. That was September 4, 1900.</p>
<p>The Washington, D.C., office told their Galveston office. The Galveston office didn&#8217;t issue a hurricane warning.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s partly because the Weather Bureau didn&#8217;t like using words like &#8220;tornado&#8221; or &#8220;hurricane&#8221; back then. They didn&#8217;t want to panic the public. The policy changed after we found out why so many folks died during the June 7-9, 1953, storms. (<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/sane-environmentalism/#stormy">August 11, 2017</a>)</p>
<p>Forecasters in Washington didn&#8217;t know which way the storm would go next. Weather forecasting was an emerging science in 1900. (<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/sane-environmentalism/#scientific">August 11, 2017</a>)</p>
<p>Washington officials figured it&#8217;d probably do what many storms do: head northeast, along the east coast. Cuban forecasters emphatically said their predictions showed the storm heading west.</p>
<p>A few folks in Galveston headed inland. Maybe they&#8217;d learned about the Cuban forecast, or had noticed growing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swell_(ocean)">swells</a>. Or maybe they&#8217;d talked to sailors whose ships had weathered the storm. Rain clouds reached Galveston mid-morning, September 5.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane#Impact"><img src="https://i1.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20170821ff/20170826-Galveston_-_1900_bodies-329.jpg?w=640" align="right" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>Galveston&#8217;s weather office raised their Hurricane Flag on the morning of September 7.</p>
<p>The storm hit about 24 hours later.</p>
<p>The storm&#8217;s surge reached 15 feet, 4.6 meters. Galveston was built on an island that was at most 8 feet, 2.4 meters, tall.</p>
<p>Buildings collapsed, people died.</p>
<p>We don&#8217;t know what the maximum wind speed was. The Weather Bureau&#8217;s anemometer in Galveston recorded 100 mile an hour winds just before it was destroyed.</p>
<p>Survivors rebuilt Galveston: raising the island by 17 feet, 5.2 meters. With a seawall.</p>
<p>One reason I&#8217;m cautiously hopeful about humanity&#8217;s future is that we learn. Sometimes the hard way, and slowly. But we do learn. (<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/using-vaccines-wisely/#fear">July 21, 2017</a>; <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/climate-change-attitudes/#lessons">July 14, 2017</a>; <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/alchemy-science-life-and-health/#reticence">October 16, 2016</a>)</p>
<h4><a name="let"></a>&#8216;Let the Smiting Begin?!&#8217;</h4>
<p><a href="http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2016/08/24"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20170721ff/nq160824-658.jpg?w=640" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p>
<p>I see Non Sequitur&#8217;s &#8216;Church of Danae&#8217; strips as occasionally-grim humor. I might be offended if I thought they were attacking my faith. (<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/expectations/">August 23, 2017</a>)</p>
<p>But I&#8217;m a Christian, a Catholic. I recognize Danae&#8217;s theology as a facet of American culture, viewed in a fun house mirror.</p>
<p><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/early-agriculture-new-tech/#thinking"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20130220ff/20141209-nq130714-329.jpg?w=640" align="right" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>It lampoons a sort of religious belief that many still cherish.</p>
<p>I like to think the &#8216;angry God&#8217; folks are less influential these days. (<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/great-american-eclipse-2017/#i">August 25, 2017</a>; <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/living-with-consequences/#jonathan">March 5, 2017</a>)</p>
<p>My guess is that someone who feels that sinners should be smited regularly — or is that smitten? Never mind.</p>
<p><a name="anyway"></a>Anyway, someone will likely claim that Harvey is a judgement of God upon sinful folks who aren&#8217;t like the speaker.</p>
<p>That happened back in 2005. &#8220;<a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/news/2005/09/katrina-gods-judgment-on-america.aspx">Katrina: God&#8217;s Judgment on America</a>&#8221; was an anonymous bit of preaching on beliefnet.</p>
<p>The 2005 writer had a point, sort of. Gulf Coast America wasn&#8217;t what it had been in 1955.</p>
<p>Quite a few folks were probably offended by &#8220;the burgeoning Gulf Coast gambling industry.&#8221; They&#8217;d probably also disapprove of &#8220;the 34th Annual gay, lesbian and transgender Southern Decadence Labor Day gala.&#8221;</p>
<p>The notion that disaster and disease happen because God is upset with someone else works for some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blame#As_a_propaganda_technique">propaganda</a>.</p>
<p>That doesn&#8217;t make it a good idea.</p>
<p>The notion that God is upset at something the audience likes probably lacks appeal, and that&#8217;s yet another topic.</p>
<p>Maybe the anonymous writer was right. Maybe &#8220;&#8230;Katrina was an act of God upon a sin-loving and rebellious nation&#8230;.&#8221;</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t know. I don&#8217;t have inside information from God.</p>
<p>The &#8216;angry God&#8217; scenario seems dubious, though.</p>
<p>Getting back to Hurricane Harvey, I don&#8217;t think folks living between Port Aransas and Port O&#8217;Connor were particularly wicked sinners.</p>
<p>On the other hand, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Aransas,_Texas#Pirates_of_Port_Aransas">pirates</a> used the Port Aransas area in the early 1800s. I suppose someone could claim that God is finally getting around to punishing them — by hurting folks living in the same area, nearly two centuries later.</p>
<p>Or maybe they&#8217;re being whacked for something the Karankawa Indians did, before the pirates came.</p>
<p>No, I do <strong>not</strong> think so. The notion that God hold grudges, but procrastinates, is — silly, putting it mildly.</p>
<p>Maybe I shouldn&#8217;t joke about this. A fellow who&#8217;s been famous for being a particular sort of Christian made a similar claim about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5nraknWoes">Haiti</a> a few years back.</p>
<p>That sort of thing leaves an impression. Not a peasant one, I think.</p>
<p>I see Katrina, and Harvey, as natural disasters. I think folks affected by them need help. Or at least respectful sympathy. Not &#8216;judgment of God&#8217; preaching.</p>
<p>One more thing, a bit of good sense I read on Twitter:</p>
<blockquote><p>God bless Texas. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HurricaneHarvey?src=hash">#HurricaneHarvey</a> <a href="https://t.co/idl6MEB89a">pic.twitter.com/idl6MEB89a</a><br />
— Judy Bowman (@tiberjudy) <a href="https://twitter.com/tiberjudy/status/901116524995522561">August 25, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<h4><a name="siloam"></a>The Siloam Lesson</h4>
<p><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/divine-mercy/"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20160719ff/20151024-sinner-films-658.jpg?w=640" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p>
<p>Don&#8217;t misunderstand me. I take God quite seriously. Folks who seem convinced that God promotes their personal views, not so much.</p>
<p>I see Jonathan Edwards wannabes and disciples of Ussher as embarrassing relics. I think they are sincere. But I can&#8217;t take their beliefs seriously, apart from the influence they still hold. (<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/exoplanet-frontier/#God">June 30, 2017</a>; <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/first-americans/#assumptions">May 5, 2017</a>; <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/dna-and-cancer/#reality">March 31, 2017</a>; <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/living-with-consequences/#jonathan">March 5, 2017</a>)</p>
<p><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/mercy-still-practicing/#sins"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20130220ff/Hieronymus_Bosch_-_The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights_-_Hell-detail-b-20140719-329.jpg?w=640" align="right" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>I think sin exists, which does not mean that I think folks who do things I don&#8217;t enjoy are dreadful sinners.</p>
<p>When I deliberately do something that makes no sense, hurting myself or someone else, I offend reason and truth; and God. That&#8217;s a sin. (Catechism, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a8.htm#1849">1849</a>&#8211;<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a8.htm#1850">1850</a>)</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t consistently do what I know is good for me and avoid what&#8217;s bad, so I&#8217;m a sinner. (Catechism, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a1.htm#1706">1706</a>, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a6.htm#1776">1776</a>, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c3a1.htm#1955">1955</a>)</p>
<p>Sin is what happens whenever I don&#8217;t love God and my neighbor, and act as if everyone is my neighbor. (<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5#48005043">Matthew 5:43</a>&#8211;<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5#48005044">44</a>, <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/22#48022036">22:36</a>&#8211;<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/22#48022040">40</a>; <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/12#49012028">Mark 12:28</a>&#8211;<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/12#49012031">31</a>; <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/6#50006031">Luke 6:31</a> <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/10#50010025">10:25</a>&#8211;<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/10#50010027">27</a>, <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/10#50010029">29</a>&#8211;<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/10#50010037">37</a>; Catechism, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a7.htm#1825">1825</a>)</p>
<p>I think sin is a bad idea, and that I should keep learning to avoid it.</p>
<p>Events like Hurricane Harvey can be useful reminders that I&#8217;ve got limited time to work out my salvation, as <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/philippians/2#58002012">Philippians 2:12</a> says. Not that I can work <strong>or</strong> pray my way into Heaven. (<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/the-speckled-axe/#surprise">April 9, 2017</a>; <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/sin-awareness-repentance/#acting">December 4, 2016</a>)</p>
<p>That doesn&#8217;t mean I think I&#8217;m a particularly wicked sinner, any more than I think folks in Texas irked an irritable God. I figure it&#8217;s like Jesus said:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;&#8216;Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?'&#8221;<br />
(<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/13#50013004">Luke 13:4</a>)</p></blockquote>
<p>More, mostly about cautious optimism; and acting as if people aren&#8217;t perfect — but matter, anyway:</p>
<ul>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/the-federation-of-the-world/">The Federation of the World</a>&#8221;<br />
(May 28, 2017)</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/living-with-consequences/">Living With Consequences</a>&#8221;<br />
(March 5, 2017)</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/anger-and-whitewashed-tombs/">Anger and Whitewashed Tombs</a>&#8221;<br />
(February 12, 2017)</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/sin-original-and-otherwise/">Sin, Original and Otherwise</a>&#8221;<br />
(November 6, 2016)</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/authority-superstition-progress/">Authority, Superstition, Progress</a>&#8221;<br />
(October 30, 2016)</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p><sup><a name="1"></a>1</sup> Harvey and a weather resource:</p>
<ul>
<li>Wikipedia
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Harvey">Hurricane Harvey</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/">National Hurricane Center</a><br />
NOAA</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/state--regional/breaking-devastation-rockport-one-confirmed-dead/oFHIVSescpGp5RINVPRcCI/">BREAKING: Devastation in Rockport: One confirmed dead</a>&#8221;<br />
Jeremy Schwartz; Austin American-Statesman (August 26, 2017)</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-41062642/hurricane-harvey-i-m-basically-homeless">&#8216;I&#8217;m basically homeless</a>&#8221;<br />
video, BBC News (August 26, 2017)</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/weather/2017/08/26/harvey-downgraded-tropical-storm-danger-far">At least 1 dead as Harvey downgraded to tropical storm, but danger not over</a>&#8221;<br />
dallasnews.com (August 26, 2017)</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/26/546326246/warnings-of-catastrophic-flooding-as-tropical-storm-harvey-lingers-over-texas">Warnings Of &#8216;Catastrophic Flooding&#8217; As Tropical Storm Harvey Lingers Over Texas</a>&#8221;<br />
NPR News (August 26, 2017)</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41062633">Hurricane Harvey: &#8216;Catastrophic&#8217; flooding to hit Texas</a>&#8221;<br />
BBC News (August 26, 2017)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41057284">Hurricane Harvey will be major disaster: Texas governor</a>&#8221;<br />
BBC News (August 25, 2017)</li>
</ul>
<p><sup><a name="2"></a>2</sup> Hurricanes and America:</p>
<ul>
<li>Wikipedia
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina">Hurricane Katrina</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Wilma">Hurricane Wilma</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Category_5_Atlantic_hurricanes">List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_hurricanes">List of United States hurricanes</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41045079">Hurricane Harvey: Texas braces for massive storm</a>&#8221;<br />
BBC News (August 25, 2017)</li>
</ul>
<p><sup><a name="3"></a>3</sup> Assorted American disasters:</p>
<ul>
<li>Wikipedia
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811%E2%80%9312_New_Madrid_earthquakes">1811-12 New Madrid earthquakes</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane">1900 Galveston hurricane</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake">1906 San Francisco earthquake</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1928_Okeechobee_hurricane">1928 Okeechobee hurricane</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks">September 11 attacks</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>&#8220;<a href="http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/txhur.pdf">Texas Hurricane History</a>&#8221;<br />
David Roth; National Weather Service, Camp Springs, Maryland (2010)</li>
</ul>
<div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow" data-shared="sharing-twitter-1582" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter"><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow" data-shared="sharing-facebook-1582" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook"><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-google-plus-1"><a rel="nofollow" data-shared="sharing-google-1582" class="share-google-plus-1 sd-button share-icon no-text" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/?share=google-plus-1" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Google+"><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><a rel="nofollow" data-shared="sharing-pinterest-1582" class="share-pinterest sd-button share-icon no-text" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/?share=pinterest" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Pinterest"><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><a rel="nofollow" data-shared="sharing-linkedin-1582" class="share-linkedin sd-button share-icon no-text" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/?share=linkedin" target="_blank" title="Click to share on LinkedIn"><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button share-icon no-text" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/#print" target="_blank" title="Click to print"><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to print (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-112853982-1582-5a88dc35021eb' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/#blog_id=112853982&amp;post_id=1582&amp;origin=brendans-island.com&amp;obj_id=112853982-1582-5a88dc35021eb' data-name='like-post-frame-112853982-1582-5a88dc35021eb'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div>
<div id='jp-relatedposts' class='jp-relatedposts' >
	<h3 class="jp-relatedposts-headline"><em>Related</em></h3>
</div>											</div><!-- .entry-content -->

					<div id="entry-author-info">
						<div id="author-avatar">
							<img alt='' src='http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/ca71760ade43c965885531d978c1c771?s=60&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g' srcset='http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/ca71760ade43c965885531d978c1c771?s=120&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-60 photo' height='60' width='60' />						</div><!-- #author-avatar -->
						<div id="author-description">
							<h2>About Brian H. Gill</h2>
							I'm a sixty-something married guy with six kids, four surviving, in a small central Minnesota town. I mostly write and make digital art. I'm only interested in three things: that which exists within the universe; that which exists beyond; and that which might exist.							<div id="author-link">
								<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/author/brianhgill/" rel="author">
									View all posts by Brian H. Gill <span class="meta-nav">&rarr;</span>								</a>
							</div><!-- #author-link	-->
						</div><!-- #author-description -->
					</div><!-- #entry-author-info -->

					<div class="entry-utility">
						This entry was posted in <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/category/being-catholic/" rel="category tag">being Catholic</a> and tagged <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/america/" rel="tag">America</a>, <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/authority/" rel="tag">authority</a>, <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/disasters/" rel="tag">disasters</a>, <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/faith/" rel="tag">faith</a>, <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/history/" rel="tag">history</a>, <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/weather/" rel="tag">weather</a>. Bookmark the <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/" title="Permalink to Hurricane Harvey" rel="bookmark">permalink</a>.											</div><!-- .entry-utility -->
				</div><!-- #post-## -->

				<div id="nav-below" class="navigation">
					<div class="nav-previous"><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/great-american-eclipse-2017/" rel="prev"><span class="meta-nav">&larr;</span> Great American Eclipse 2017</a></div>
					<div class="nav-next"><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/harvey-over-texas/" rel="next">Harvey Over Texas <span class="meta-nav">&rarr;</span></a></div>
				</div><!-- #nav-below -->

				
			<div id="comments">




		<div id="respond" class="comment-respond">
							<h3 id="reply-title" class="comment-reply-title">Thanks for taking time to comment!					<small><a rel="nofollow" id="cancel-comment-reply-link" href="/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/?platform=hootsuite#respond" style="display:none;">Cancel reply</a></small>
				</h3>
						<form id="commentform" class="comment-form">
				<iframe src="http://jetpack.wordpress.com/jetpack-comment/?blogid=112853982&#038;postid=1582&#038;comment_registration=0&#038;require_name_email=1&#038;stc_enabled=1&#038;stb_enabled=1&#038;show_avatars=1&#038;avatar_default=mystery&#038;greeting=Thanks+for+taking+time+to+comment%21&#038;greeting_reply=Leave+a+Reply+to+%25s&#038;color_scheme=light&#038;lang=en_US&#038;jetpack_version=5.8&#038;sig=f1b7aaeb123d58d5e64cb71bf17d43f3a29d0898#parent=http%3A%2F%2Fbrendans-island.com%2Fcatholic-citizen%2Fhurricane-harvey%2F%3Fplatform%3Dhootsuite" style="width:100%; height: 430px; border:0;" name="jetpack_remote_comment" class="jetpack_remote_comment" id="jetpack_remote_comment"></iframe>
				<!--[if !IE]><!-->
				<script>
					document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () {
						var commentForms = document.getElementsByClassName('jetpack_remote_comment');
						for (var i = 0; i < commentForms.length; i++) {
							commentForms[i].allowTransparency = false;
							commentForms[i].scrolling = 'no';
						}
					});
				</script>
				<!--<![endif]-->
			</form>
		</div>

		
		<input type="hidden" name="comment_parent" id="comment_parent" value="" />

		
</div><!-- #comments -->


			</div><!-- #content -->
		</div><!-- #container -->


		<div id="primary" class="widget-area" role="complementary">
			<ul class="xoxo">

<li id="search-2" class="widget-container widget_search"><form role="search" method="get" id="searchform" class="searchform" action="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/">
				<div>
					<label class="screen-reader-text" for="s">Search for:</label>
					<input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s" />
					<input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search" />
				</div>
			</form></li><li id="rss_links-2" class="widget-container widget_rss_links"><h3 class="widget-title">RSS Feeds for A Catholic Citizen in America</h3><ul><li><a target="_self" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/feed/" title="Subscribe to Posts">RSS - Posts</a></li><li><a target="_self" href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/comments/feed/" title="Subscribe to Comments">RSS - Comments</a></li></ul>
</li><li id="blog_subscription-2" class="widget-container jetpack_subscription_widget"><h3 class="widget-title">Interested? Subscribe to Email notification</h3>
			<form action="#" method="post" accept-charset="utf-8" id="subscribe-blog-blog_subscription-2">
				<div id="subscribe-text"><p>Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.</p>
</div><p>Join 10 other subscribers</p>
					<p id="subscribe-email">
						<label id="jetpack-subscribe-label" for="subscribe-field-blog_subscription-2">
							Email Address						</label>
						<input type="email" name="email" required="required" class="required" value="" id="subscribe-field-blog_subscription-2" placeholder="Email Address" />
					</p>

					<p id="subscribe-submit">
						<input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe" />
						<input type="hidden" name="source" value="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/hurricane-harvey/?platform=hootsuite" />
						<input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="widget" />
						<input type="hidden" name="redirect_fragment" value="blog_subscription-2" />
												<input type="submit" value="Subscribe" name="jetpack_subscriptions_widget" />
					</p>
							</form>

			<script>
			/*
			Custom functionality for safari and IE
			 */
			(function( d ) {
				// In case the placeholder functionality is available we remove labels
				if ( ( 'placeholder' in d.createElement( 'input' ) ) ) {
					var label = d.querySelector( 'label[for=subscribe-field-blog_subscription-2]' );
						label.style.clip 	 = 'rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px)';
						label.style.position = 'absolute';
						label.style.height   = '1px';
						label.style.width    = '1px';
						label.style.overflow = 'hidden';
				}

				// Make sure the email value is filled in before allowing submit
				var form = d.getElementById('subscribe-blog-blog_subscription-2'),
					input = d.getElementById('subscribe-field-blog_subscription-2'),
					handler = function( event ) {
						if ( '' === input.value ) {
							input.focus();

							if ( event.preventDefault ){
								event.preventDefault();
							}

							return false;
						}
					};

				if ( window.addEventListener ) {
					form.addEventListener( 'submit', handler, false );
				} else {
					form.attachEvent( 'onsubmit', handler );
				}
			})( document );
			</script>
				
</li><li id="text-2" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Pin It!</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><a href="//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/" data-pin-do="buttonBookmark" ><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" /></a>
<!-- Please call pinit.js only once per page -->
<script type="text/javascript" async src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></div>
		</li><li id="text-22" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Browsing?</h3>			<div class="textwidget">Check out the <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/#tag_cloud-2">Tag Cloud</a>.</div>
		</li><li id="text-7" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Cookies: Implied Consent</h3>			<div class="textwidget">Cookies are little bits of information that help you see what's on a website or blog.<br />
<br />
Cookies have been used on much if not most of the Internet since the 1990s. This blog uses cookies.<br />
<br />
Keep reading if you are okay with that. I'll try to make it worth your time and effort.<br />
<br />
(More about cookies, from the EU Internet Handbook: <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/ipg/basics/legal/cookies/index_en.htm">Cookies</a>.)</div>
		</li><li id="top-posts-2" class="widget-container widget_top-posts"><h3 class="widget-title">Top Posts and Pages</h3><ul>				<li>
										<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/mars-and-beyond/" class="bump-view" data-bump-view="tp">
						Mars and Beyond					</a>
									</li>
							<li>
										<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/oatmeal-for-lent/" class="bump-view" data-bump-view="tp">
						Oatmeal For Lent					</a>
									</li>
							<li>
										<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/taking-god-seriously/" class="bump-view" data-bump-view="tp">
						Taking God Seriously					</a>
									</li>
							<li>
										<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/skydiving-and-lent/" class="bump-view" data-bump-view="tp">
						Skydiving and Lent					</a>
									</li>
							<li>
										<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/mass-murder-no-fast-fix/" class="bump-view" data-bump-view="tp">
						Mass Murder: No Fast Fix					</a>
									</li>
			</ul></li>		<li id="recent-posts-2" class="widget-container widget_recent_entries">		<h3 class="widget-title">Recent posts</h3>		<ul>
											<li>
					<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/mass-murder-no-fast-fix/">Mass Murder: No Fast Fix</a>
									</li>
											<li>
					<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/lent-not-doing-too-much/">Lent: Not Doing Too Much</a>
									</li>
											<li>
					<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/mars-and-beyond/">Mars and Beyond</a>
									</li>
											<li>
					<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/skydiving-and-lent/">Skydiving and Lent</a>
									</li>
											<li>
					<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/firestorm-comet/">Firestorm Comet?</a>
									</li>
					</ul>
		</li><li id="text-4" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Weekly Schedule</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><p><a name="weeklyschedule"></a><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">• Sunday</span> — &#8220;being Catholic&#8221;<br />
What I believe, and why it matters<br />
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">• Friday</span> — &#8220;science news&#8221;<br />
Seeking truth, being human</p>
<p>And see Categories, below.</p>
</div>
		</li><li id="categories-2" class="widget-container widget_categories"><h3 class="widget-title">Categories</h3><form action="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen" method="get"><label class="screen-reader-text" for="cat">Categories</label><select  name='cat' id='cat' class='postform' >
	<option value='-1'>Select Category</option>
	<option class="level-0" value="30">being a citizen</option>
	<option class="level-0" value="5">being a writer</option>
	<option class="level-0" value="6">being an artist</option>
	<option class="level-0" value="3">being Catholic</option>
	<option class="level-0" value="134">narratives</option>
	<option class="level-0" value="10">reflections</option>
	<option class="level-0" value="4">science news</option>
</select>
</form>
<script type='text/javascript'>
/* <![CDATA[ */
(function() {
	var dropdown = document.getElementById( "cat" );
	function onCatChange() {
		if ( dropdown.options[ dropdown.selectedIndex ].value > 0 ) {
			dropdown.parentNode.submit();
		}
	}
	dropdown.onchange = onCatChange;
})();
/* ]]> */
</script>

</li><li id="archives-3" class="widget-container widget_archive"><h3 class="widget-title">Archives</h3>		<label class="screen-reader-text" for="archives-dropdown-3">Archives</label>
		<select id="archives-dropdown-3" name="archive-dropdown" onchange='document.location.href=this.options[this.selectedIndex].value;'>
			
			<option value="">Select Month</option>
				<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2018/02/'> February 2018 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2018/01/'> January 2018 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/12/'> December 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/11/'> November 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/10/'> October 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/09/'> September 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/08/'> August 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/07/'> July 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/06/'> June 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/05/'> May 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/04/'> April 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/03/'> March 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/02/'> February 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2017/01/'> January 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2016/12/'> December 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2016/11/'> November 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2016/10/'> October 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2016/09/'> September 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2016/08/'> August 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/2016/07/'> July 2016 </option>

		</select>
		</li><li id="tag_cloud-2" class="widget-container widget_tag_cloud"><h3 class="widget-title">Tag Cloud</h3><div class="tagcloud"><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/america/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-16 tag-link-position-1" style="font-size: 16.226804123711pt;" aria-label="America (40 items)">America</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/animals/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-20 tag-link-position-2" style="font-size: 8pt;" aria-label="animals (10 items)">animals</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/astronomy/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-38 tag-link-position-3" style="font-size: 14.350515463918pt;" aria-label="astronomy (29 items)">astronomy</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/bible/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-60 tag-link-position-4" style="font-size: 9.5876288659794pt;" aria-label="Bible (13 items)">Bible</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/citizenship/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-31 tag-link-position-5" style="font-size: 12.329896907216pt;" aria-label="citizenship (21 items)">citizenship</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/civilization-of-love/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-123 tag-link-position-6" style="font-size: 14.927835051546pt;" aria-label="civilization of love (32 items)">civilization of love</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/climate/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-133 tag-link-position-7" style="font-size: 8.5773195876289pt;" aria-label="climate (11 items)">climate</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/cosmology/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-59 tag-link-position-8" style="font-size: 8pt;" aria-label="cosmology (10 items)">cosmology</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/death/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-82 tag-link-position-9" style="font-size: 8.5773195876289pt;" aria-label="death (11 items)">death</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/disasters/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-144 tag-link-position-10" style="font-size: 10.309278350515pt;" aria-label="disasters (15 items)">disasters</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/emotions/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-77 tag-link-position-11" style="font-size: 9.5876288659794pt;" aria-label="emotions (13 items)">emotions</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/environmental-issues/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-50 tag-link-position-12" style="font-size: 10.742268041237pt;" aria-label="environmental issues (16 items)">environmental issues</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/evolution/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-56 tag-link-position-13" style="font-size: 11.175257731959pt;" aria-label="evolution (17 items)">evolution</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/exobiology/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-37 tag-link-position-14" style="font-size: 8.5773195876289pt;" aria-label="exobiology (11 items)">exobiology</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/exoplanets/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-61 tag-link-position-15" style="font-size: 9.5876288659794pt;" aria-label="exoplanets (13 items)">exoplanets</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/extraterrestrial-intelligence/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-107 tag-link-position-16" style="font-size: 9.5876288659794pt;" aria-label="extraterrestrial intelligence (13 items)">extraterrestrial intelligence</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/faith/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-64 tag-link-position-17" style="font-size: 16.948453608247pt;" aria-label="faith (45 items)">faith</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/faith-and-works/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-106 tag-link-position-18" style="font-size: 10.742268041237pt;" aria-label="faith and works (16 items)">faith and works</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/genetics/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-26 tag-link-position-19" style="font-size: 9.5876288659794pt;" aria-label="genetics (13 items)">genetics</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/getting-a-grip/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-7 tag-link-position-20" style="font-size: 17.381443298969pt;" aria-label="getting a grip (48 items)">getting a grip</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/god/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-80 tag-link-position-21" style="font-size: 10.742268041237pt;" aria-label="God (16 items)">God</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/health/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-8 tag-link-position-22" style="font-size: 13.917525773196pt;" aria-label="health (27 items)">health</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/history/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-27 tag-link-position-23" style="font-size: 20.556701030928pt;" aria-label="history (81 items)">history</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/holidays/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-90 tag-link-position-24" style="font-size: 13.917525773196pt;" aria-label="holidays (27 items)">holidays</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/hope/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-83 tag-link-position-25" style="font-size: 9.0103092783505pt;" aria-label="hope (12 items)">hope</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/jesus/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-69 tag-link-position-26" style="font-size: 15.505154639175pt;" aria-label="Jesus (35 items)">Jesus</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/last-things/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-48 tag-link-position-27" style="font-size: 8pt;" aria-label="last things (10 items)">last things</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/legitimate-defense/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-18 tag-link-position-28" style="font-size: 8pt;" aria-label="legitimate defense (10 items)">legitimate defense</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/life-issues/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-15 tag-link-position-29" style="font-size: 10.742268041237pt;" aria-label="life issues (16 items)">life issues</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/love/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-17 tag-link-position-30" style="font-size: 16.082474226804pt;" aria-label="love (39 items)">love</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/medicine/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-29 tag-link-position-31" style="font-size: 11.175257731959pt;" aria-label="medicine (17 items)">medicine</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/mental-health/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-85 tag-link-position-32" style="font-size: 10.309278350515pt;" aria-label="mental health (15 items)">mental health</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/natural-law/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-139 tag-link-position-33" style="font-size: 8pt;" aria-label="natural law (10 items)">natural law</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/planets/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-41 tag-link-position-34" style="font-size: 11.175257731959pt;" aria-label="planets (17 items)">planets</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/politics/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-34 tag-link-position-35" style="font-size: 11.463917525773pt;" aria-label="politics (18 items)">politics</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/reason/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-19 tag-link-position-36" style="font-size: 10.020618556701pt;" aria-label="reason (14 items)">reason</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/science/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-22 tag-link-position-37" style="font-size: 22pt;" aria-label="science (102 items)">science</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/sin/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-14 tag-link-position-38" style="font-size: 10.309278350515pt;" aria-label="sin (15 items)">sin</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/social-justice/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-54 tag-link-position-39" style="font-size: 13.628865979381pt;" aria-label="social justice (26 items)">social justice</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/solar-planets/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-40 tag-link-position-40" style="font-size: 9.0103092783505pt;" aria-label="Solar planets (12 items)">Solar planets</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/space-exploration/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-39 tag-link-position-41" style="font-size: 9.5876288659794pt;" aria-label="space exploration (13 items)">space exploration</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/stewardship/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-51 tag-link-position-42" style="font-size: 11.175257731959pt;" aria-label="stewardship (17 items)">stewardship</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/technology/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-28 tag-link-position-43" style="font-size: 14.927835051546pt;" aria-label="technology (32 items)">technology</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/tolerance/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-116 tag-link-position-44" style="font-size: 11.463917525773pt;" aria-label="tolerance (18 items)">tolerance</a>
<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/tag/truth/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-24 tag-link-position-45" style="font-size: 13.628865979381pt;" aria-label="truth (26 items)">truth</a></div>
</li><li id="wpcom_social_media_icons_widget-2" class="widget-container widget_wpcom_social_media_icons_widget"><h3 class="widget-title">Brian H. Gill on Social Media</h3><ul><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BrianHGill/" class="genericon genericon-facebook" target="_blank"><span class="screen-reader-text">View BrianHGill&#8217;s profile on Facebook</span></a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/Aluwir/" class="genericon genericon-twitter" target="_blank"><span class="screen-reader-text">View Aluwir&#8217;s profile on Twitter</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/aluwir/" class="genericon genericon-pinterest" target="_blank"><span class="screen-reader-text">View aluwir&#8217;s profile on Pinterest</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhgillaluwir/" class="genericon genericon-linkedin" target="_blank"><span class="screen-reader-text">View brianhgillaluwir&#8217;s profile on LinkedIn</span></a></li><li><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/112144784741365292059/" class="genericon genericon-googleplus" target="_blank"><span class="screen-reader-text">View 112144784741365292059&#8217;s profile on Google+</span></a></li></ul></li><li id="text-15" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">I&#8217;m Aluwir on Twitter</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><a href="https://twitter.com/Aluwir" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false">Follow @Aluwir</a><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
		</li><li id="googleplus-badge-2" class="widget-container widget_googleplus_badge"><h3 class="widget-title">Brian Gill on Google Plus</h3><div class="g-person" data-href="https://plus.google.com/112144784741365292059/posts" data-layout="portrait" data-theme="light" data-showcoverphoto="true" data-showtagline="true" data-width="220"></div></li>			</ul>
		</div><!-- #primary .widget-area -->


		<div id="secondary" class="widget-area" role="complementary">
			<ul class="xoxo">
				<li id="text-23" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">&#8220;Catholic blogs of all types&#8221;</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><p><a href="http://topcatholicblogs.com/"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20171117ff/20171117-topcatholic-ad-160.jpg?w=640" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p>
</div>
		</li><li id="text-3" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Catholic Blogs on Google+</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/108838314443260572675"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20130220ff/CatholicBlogsLogo20140330-160-b.jpg?w=640" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div>
		</li><li id="text-6" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Advertisement</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- CatholicCitizen160x600WideSkyscraper -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
     style="display:inline-block;width:160px;height:600px"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-1561541623262525"
     data-ad-slot="6662457690"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script></div>
		</li><li id="text-17" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">ACWB Contributor</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><a href="http://associationofcatholicwomenbloggers.blogspot.com/"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20130220ff/1377478_159658200909351_745722056_n-trim160.jpg?w=640" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div>
		</li><li id="text-18" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">NewEvangelists.org Contributor</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><a href="http://NewEvangelists.org/"><img style="width: 160px; border: 0px;" src="https://i2.wp.com/brendans-island.com/blogsource/20130220ff/badge_new_evangelists_monthly-160.jpg?w=640" alt="New Evangelists Monthly" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div>
		</li><li id="text-10" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Sponsored links</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- CatholicCitizenLinkAd160x90VerticalMedium -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
     style="display:inline-block;width:160px;height:90px"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-1561541623262525"
     data-ad-slot="2555158894"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script></div>
		</li><li id="text-8" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Advertisement</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- CatholicCitizen160x600WideSkyscraper -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
     style="display:inline-block;width:160px;height:600px"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-1561541623262525"
     data-ad-slot="6662457690"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script></div>
		</li><li id="text-13" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Disclaimers</h3>			<div class="textwidget">The opinions expressed in this blog are my own. As a Catholic layman, I make an effort to be informed about the teachings of the Church, and will repeat what I have found. For more 'official' statements, I suggest that you talk to a priest or deacon in your area. Or check out the <a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/blogroll/#official">‘Official’ websites</a> on my Blogroll page.<br />
<br />
Although I make an effort to select meaningful and qualified information for the external links I create, I have no control over content on websites or blogs other than mine, and cannot be held responsible for their contents.<br />
<br />
I have limited control over the advertisements and video links appearing on this blog. I do not necessarily endorse any of them.</div>
		</li><li id="text-14" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Legal Stuff</h3>			<div class="textwidget">Apart from quotations and images from other sources, and unless otherwise noted, material in my blogs is copyright © 2007-present by Brian H. Gill. All rights reserved. It may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without express written permission. Fair use is permitted, including short quotations, links, and extracts used in search engines.<br />
<br />
This blog's header image is from NASA Photo ID <a href="http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS011&roll=E&frame=5487">ISS011-E-5487</a>, taken 188 nautical miles, 348 kilometers, above 17.6° N, 2.8° E: available from Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center.</div>
		</li><li id="text-20" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Sponsored links</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- CatholicCitizenLinkAd160x90VerticalMedium -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
     style="display:inline-block;width:160px;height:90px"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-1561541623262525"
     data-ad-slot="2555158894"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script></div>
		</li><li id="text-16" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Tracked by WebSTAT</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><!-- BEGIN WebSTAT Activation Code -->
<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http://hv3.webstat.com/cgi-bin/wsv2.cgi?58084"></script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://www.webstat.com">
<img src="http://hv3.webstat.com/scripts/wsb.php?ac=58084" border="0" alt="Web Analytics and Web Statistics by WebSTAT" /></a>
</noscript>
<!-- END WebSTAT Activation Code --></div>
		</li>			</ul>
		</div><!-- #secondary .widget-area -->

	</div><!-- #main -->

	<div id="footer" role="contentinfo">
		<div id="colophon">



			<div id="footer-widget-area" role="complementary">

				<div id="first" class="widget-area">
					<ul class="xoxo">
						<li id="text-9" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Sponsored links</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- CatholicCitizenLinkAd728x15HorizontalLarge -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
     style="display:inline-block;width:728px;height:15px"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-1561541623262525"
     data-ad-slot="6206629290"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script></div>
		</li><li id="text-19" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Advertisement</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- CatholicCitizen728x90Leaderboard -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
     style="display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-1561541623262525"
     data-ad-slot="8697594097"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script></div>
		</li><li id="text-21" class="widget-container widget_text"><h3 class="widget-title">Pinterest: My Stuff, and More</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><a data-pin-do="embedUser" data-pin-board-width="400" data-pin-scale-height="240" data-pin-scale-width="80" href="https://www.pinterest.com/aluwir/"></a></div>
		</li><li id="meta-2" class="widget-container widget_meta"><h3 class="widget-title">Back to Work</h3>			<ul>
						<li><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-login.php">Log in</a></li>
			<li><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/feed/">Entries <abbr title="Really Simple Syndication">RSS</abbr></a></li>
			<li><a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/comments/feed/">Comments <abbr title="Really Simple Syndication">RSS</abbr></a></li>
			<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/" title="Powered by WordPress, state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform.">WordPress.org</a></li>			</ul>
			</li>					</ul>
				</div><!-- #first .widget-area -->




			</div><!-- #footer-widget-area -->

			<div id="site-info">
				<a href="http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/" title="A Catholic Citizen in America" rel="home">
					A Catholic Citizen in America				</a>
			</div><!-- #site-info -->

			<div id="site-generator">
								<a href="https://wordpress.org/" title="Semantic Personal Publishing Platform">Proudly powered by WordPress.</a>
			</div><!-- #site-generator -->

		</div><!-- #colophon -->
	</div><!-- #footer -->

</div><!-- #wrapper -->

	<div style="display:none">
	<div class="grofile-hash-map-ca71760ade43c965885531d978c1c771">
	</div>
	</div>

	<script type="text/javascript">
		window.WPCOM_sharing_counts = {"http:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/hurricane-harvey\/":1582};
	</script>
		<link rel='stylesheet' id='genericons-css'  href='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/_inc/genericons/genericons/genericons.css?ver=3.1' type='text/css' media='all' />
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-includes/js/comment-reply.min.js?ver=4.9.4'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/_inc/build/photon/photon.min.js?ver=20130122'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/js/devicepx-jetpack.js?ver=201807'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://s.gravatar.com/js/gprofiles.js?ver=2018Febaa'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
/* <![CDATA[ */
var WPGroHo = {"my_hash":""};
/* ]]> */
</script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/modules/wpgroho.js?ver=4.9.4'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js?ver=4.9.4'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/_inc/build/postmessage.min.js?ver=5.8'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/_inc/build/jquery.jetpack-resize.min.js?ver=5.8'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/_inc/build/likes/queuehandler.min.js?ver=5.8'></script>
<script async="async" type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/plugins/akismet/_inc/form.js?ver=4.0.2'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
/* <![CDATA[ */
var sharing_js_options = {"lang":"en","counts":"1"};
/* ]]> */
</script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/_inc/build/sharedaddy/sharing.min.js?ver=5.8'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
var windowOpen;
			jQuery( document.body ).on( 'click', 'a.share-twitter', function() {
				// If there's another sharing window open, close it.
				if ( 'undefined' !== typeof windowOpen ) {
					windowOpen.close();
				}
				windowOpen = window.open( jQuery( this ).attr( 'href' ), 'wpcomtwitter', 'menubar=1,resizable=1,width=600,height=350' );
				return false;
			});
var windowOpen;
			jQuery( document.body ).on( 'click', 'a.share-facebook', function() {
				// If there's another sharing window open, close it.
				if ( 'undefined' !== typeof windowOpen ) {
					windowOpen.close();
				}
				windowOpen = window.open( jQuery( this ).attr( 'href' ), 'wpcomfacebook', 'menubar=1,resizable=1,width=600,height=400' );
				return false;
			});
var windowOpen;
			jQuery( document.body ).on( 'click', 'a.share-google-plus-1', function() {
				// If there's another sharing window open, close it.
				if ( 'undefined' !== typeof windowOpen ) {
					windowOpen.close();
				}
				windowOpen = window.open( jQuery( this ).attr( 'href' ), 'wpcomgoogle-plus-1', 'menubar=1,resizable=1,width=480,height=550' );
				return false;
			});
var windowOpen;
			jQuery( document.body ).on( 'click', 'a.share-linkedin', function() {
				// If there's another sharing window open, close it.
				if ( 'undefined' !== typeof windowOpen ) {
					windowOpen.close();
				}
				windowOpen = window.open( jQuery( this ).attr( 'href' ), 'wpcomlinkedin', 'menubar=1,resizable=1,width=580,height=450' );
				return false;
			});
</script>
	<iframe src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/master.html?ver=20171126#ver=20171126' scrolling='no' id='likes-master' name='likes-master' style='display:none;'></iframe>
	<div id='likes-other-gravatars'><div class="likes-text"><span>%d</span> bloggers like this:</div><ul class="wpl-avatars sd-like-gravatars"></ul></div>
	
		<!--[if IE]>
		<script type="text/javascript">
			if ( 0 === window.location.hash.indexOf( '#comment-' ) ) {
				// window.location.reload() doesn't respect the Hash in IE
				window.location.hash = window.location.hash;
			}
		</script>
		<![endif]-->
		<script type="text/javascript">
			(function () {
				var comm_par_el = document.getElementById( 'comment_parent' ),
					comm_par = ( comm_par_el && comm_par_el.value ) ? comm_par_el.value : '',
					frame = document.getElementById( 'jetpack_remote_comment' ),
					tellFrameNewParent;

				tellFrameNewParent = function () {
					if ( comm_par ) {
						frame.src = "http://jetpack.wordpress.com/jetpack-comment/?blogid=112853982&postid=1582&comment_registration=0&require_name_email=1&stc_enabled=1&stb_enabled=1&show_avatars=1&avatar_default=mystery&greeting=Thanks+for+taking+time+to+comment%21&greeting_reply=Leave+a+Reply+to+%25s&color_scheme=light&lang=en_US&jetpack_version=5.8&sig=f1b7aaeb123d58d5e64cb71bf17d43f3a29d0898#parent=http%3A%2F%2Fbrendans-island.com%2Fcatholic-citizen%2Fhurricane-harvey%2F%3Fplatform%3Dhootsuite" + '&replytocom=' + parseInt( comm_par, 10 ).toString();
					} else {
						frame.src = "http://jetpack.wordpress.com/jetpack-comment/?blogid=112853982&postid=1582&comment_registration=0&require_name_email=1&stc_enabled=1&stb_enabled=1&show_avatars=1&avatar_default=mystery&greeting=Thanks+for+taking+time+to+comment%21&greeting_reply=Leave+a+Reply+to+%25s&color_scheme=light&lang=en_US&jetpack_version=5.8&sig=f1b7aaeb123d58d5e64cb71bf17d43f3a29d0898#parent=http%3A%2F%2Fbrendans-island.com%2Fcatholic-citizen%2Fhurricane-harvey%2F%3Fplatform%3Dhootsuite";
					}
				};

				
				if ( 'undefined' !== typeof addComment ) {
					addComment._Jetpack_moveForm = addComment.moveForm;

					addComment.moveForm = function ( commId, parentId, respondId, postId ) {
						var returnValue = addComment._Jetpack_moveForm( commId, parentId, respondId, postId ),
							cancelClick, cancel;

						if ( false === returnValue ) {
							cancel = document.getElementById( 'cancel-comment-reply-link' );
							cancelClick = cancel.onclick;
							cancel.onclick = function () {
								var cancelReturn = cancelClick.call( this );
								if ( false !== cancelReturn ) {
									return cancelReturn;
								}

								if ( ! comm_par ) {
									return cancelReturn;
								}

								comm_par = 0;

								tellFrameNewParent();

								return cancelReturn;
							};
						}

						if ( comm_par == parentId ) {
							return returnValue;
						}

						comm_par = parentId;

						tellFrameNewParent();

						return returnValue;
					};
				}

				
				// Do the post message bit after the dom has loaded.
				document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', function () {
					var iframe_url = "http:\/\/jetpack.wordpress.com";
					if ( window.postMessage ) {
						if ( document.addEventListener ) {
							window.addEventListener( 'message', function ( event ) {
								var origin = event.origin.replace( /^http:\/\//i, 'https://' );
								if ( iframe_url.replace( /^http:\/\//i, 'https://' ) !== origin ) {
									return;
								}
								jQuery( frame ).height( event.data );
							});
						} else if ( document.attachEvent ) {
							window.attachEvent( 'message', function ( event ) {
								var origin = event.origin.replace( /^http:\/\//i, 'https://' );
								if ( iframe_url.replace( /^http:\/\//i, 'https://' ) !== origin ) {
									return;
								}
								jQuery( frame ).height( event.data );
							});
						}
					}
				})

			})();
		</script>

		<script type='text/javascript' src='https://stats.wp.com/e-201807.js' async='async' defer='defer'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
	_stq = window._stq || [];
	_stq.push([ 'view', {v:'ext',j:'1:5.8',blog:'112853982',post:'1582',tz:'0',srv:'brendans-island.com'} ]);
	_stq.push([ 'clickTrackerInit', '112853982', '1582' ]);
</script>
</body>
</html>
