HOLY NEPOTISM

Today is the Feast of St. Barbara, who is the patron assigned to me by my parents. (I assigned myself St. Paul a few years later. But Barbara has always been on the receiving end of my joys and gripes.)

St. Barbara is the patron of artillerymen and her medal is the highest military award given in Europe. So let's speak to her today about our soldiers in Iraq.

Barbara means "strange/foreign". When I was in the convent, the community added "Veritas" to my name, making the full meaning of my name "Strange, but True"... that rather sums up my personal career path nicely, I think.