An undeterred Pope Francis lit the way

We'll cherish the memory

It's a day to pay attention to our Catholic friends. Catholics are pretty fortunate in Morris because there's only one church, one building. Also, there is a well-developed system of authority over them to make sure everything keeps running smooth. Like to guarantee there is reliable clergy on the scene. 

The Lutherans are dispersed. They have a woeful time trying to find a pastor if there's a vacancy. We can feel happy for our Catholic friends being more fortunate that way. One nice big building. 

My Catholic friends took me there to play bingo when I was a kid. I asked them in later years why I was allowed to play bingo but not allowed to take communion. "We'll always take your money," one of them quipped. 

There was a little dust-up at the time of "Rit" Eul's funeral over the banishment of non-Catholics from communion. I guess someone got turned away. Someone mentioned to me there might have been a "backstory" with that. But it bothered me because until I was made aware of the policy, I might have innocently gone up there during a funeral. 

I attended the Catholic funeral for Lynn Anderson not long ago. I was pleased to see the church now has a practice to accommodate non-Catholics. I should ask them if I can still get to heaven. There's a system now where if you go up and cross your arms in front of you, it's a signal that you want a simple "blessing" instead of communion. I chose not to do that. Maybe next time. 

No fun to go to funerals but we all die. And today on Easter Monday (if that's a thing) we learn of the death of the Pope. 

Assumption Church, Morris

I drifted away from an old Catholic friend unfortunately because he was taken in by Donald Trump rather completely, to the extent he could not speak very favorably about Francis. Pope Francis staked out pretty "liberal" ground. He was unabashed about doing that. He did not have to answer to just Americans, he answered to people all over the world. 

America itself has been a problem in recent years. And it's Trump and MAGA. Pope Francis held his ground and I totally admired him. 

How "conservative" are America's Republicans really? A recent headline on Drudge reported that the Federal government is spending more now than when Biden was president. Military spending is not being cut. Are we going to war or what? Is Pete Hegseth working out at the Pentagon? A TV personality? 

And how about these constant vibes about how the administration wants to destroy the Federal Dept. of Education? Don't you have to wonder if such DOGE-induced cuts are a factor in how we're getting this sudden news in Morris about substantial cuts to our public school? A friend emailed me this info a couple days ago. My restaurant server this morning was familiar with this info. She lives in Hancock. I asked her how she learned about it. "The anonymous Facebook page (for Morris)," she said. 

My eyes lit up when she said that, not that I'm a fan of that particular site, but because it shows how people's media habits are changing/evolving. Little by little, the "anonymous" thing is entering the regular conversation among us. "Anonymous" is not the most appealing name. Also, I sure hope the content is properly monitored to guard against defamatory statements. Heaven knows topics can arise that arouse emotions. 

So there's a school board meeting tonight on "Easter Monday" (if that's a thing). And will the public turn out to vent about the school cuts? I think likelihood is high. Will sheriff's deputies be there like for the city council's closed meetings on the library matter? Three of them? Three Barney Fifes? 

I doubt that the strongly "liberal" crowd supporting the library director would threaten violence. Quite peace-loving folks. And why the hell haven't we gotten some background from city officials - just cursory background - on what the heck is up with the library? 

Are all public institutions under sudden intense financial pressure because of what is happening in D.C. with DOGE? With the push to force people in their localities to pay directly for everything they want? You might like that in theory. Maybe you don't remember the hell this community of Morris went through in the 1960s trying to get a new school built. Failed referendums and hard feelings among the populace. 

I was around at the time. It was all like pulling teeth. We finally got a Democratic governor who had a meteor-like period of success with his agenda: Wendell Anderson. His work came to be called the "Minnesota Miracle." You see, it's easier to get generous government money, the further away the money comes from, i.e. from a centralized source. What could be more central than Washington D.C.? That place can turn on the spigot. It can run on a deficit. But the new presidential administration wants to crush the Dept. of Education and like entities. 

The operative saying here: "Be careful what you wish for." You can listen to conservative radio and start nodding at a lot of the stuff. "Cut government spending." We all want government spending to be wise. And no system is going to be perfect. But we are seeing a new administration put the anti-government cliches into action and that's a whole different kettle of fish, n'est-ce pas? 

Now we have substantial cuts to school staff here in Morris staring us in the face. Yesterday I posted on my companion blog of "Morris of Course" with a headline expressing my glee about how our band program is spared this time. Here's a link to the post:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2025/04/crack-open-champaigne-band-is-spared.html 

 

The Morris school took the very positive step of establishing soccer. Maybe boys volleyball will come along one of these days. So let's cut football, really truly seriously. The kids can only get hurt playing this brutal sport which really only rewards schools with the biggest fastest boys. So Darwinian. 

You are being disingenuous if you proclaim how much you (as a fan) enjoy football, because it's vicarious for you. You feel none of the pain, take none of the risks.

 

A warning

I'm quite serious here. What if school staff starts becoming bitter because of cuts? I implore you to realize that the staff can become hyper-defensive and to be frank, can "pout" in response. Morale will crash. They'll get bitter and political. I have seen this vividly in the Morris school history. So beware, please. People will start talking behind other people's backs. I have seen it reach the point of business boycotts. 

Finger-pointing? Oh my goodness. 

A big problem is that teachers are union. The public library employees are union too. Maybe we don't need a "library director." Is Anne still suspended? Can the regular workers just keep the place going fine, answering to the city manager? We had a retired Morris attorney sort of "go after" the city manager on the "Anonymous" thing recently, connected to the library distress. 

I know Anne. I have never met the city manager. But no way am I going to let these facts color my  thinking. If Anne is exonerated, fine. If it's based on the facts, fine. But the whole thing has me thinking something weird is going on. 

Catholics in some cities celebrate "Dyngus Day" on the day after Easter. It's a way of making up for the sacrifices of the Lenten season! I'll drink to that.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com