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Vote for the poor souls.


Quite by accident I ran into my old friend Phil Phewgoer a few days ago at the airport. He now walks with a slight limp, the poor soul. When I inquired about this malady malady /mal·a·dy/ (-ah-de) disease.

mal·a·dy
n.
A disease, disorder, or ailment.



malady

a disease or illness.
 Phil told me that ever since the directive to kneel during certain parts of the Mass came into effect, one of his knees began to bother him "just a little bit."

Despite his pain, Phil, like lots of loyal churchgoing church·go·er  
n.
One who attends church.



churchgoing adj.
 Catholics would, sheepishly sheep·ish  
adj.
1. Embarrassed, as by consciousness of a fault: a sheepish grin.

2. Meek or stupid.



sheep
 fell into line on the kneeling rule. I told him he was under no obligation to kneel if his body found it physically bothersome.

"If it makes them happy, it's no big deal to me," he said.

I wasn't sure who Phil was referring to by "them" in his response. The blessed Trinity, the hierarchy who promulgated prom·ul·gate  
tr.v. prom·ul·gat·ed, prom·ul·gat·ing, prom·ul·gates
1. To make known (a decree, for example) by public declaration; announce officially. See Synonyms at announce.

2.
 the General Instruction of the Roman Missal The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) - in the Latin original, Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani (IGMR) - is the detailed document governing the celebration of Mass of the ordinary form of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, and is printed at the start of  (GIRM GIRM General Instruction of the Roman Missal (Catholic instruction for Liturgy) ), or the local parish pastor? We moved on to other topics: family, friends, and, of course, the upcoming presidential election.

"I love this election. Never felt more important. Like you, I'm part of the 'Catholic vote.' Everybody's working hard to get our vote--George Bush, John Kerry Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. , Ralph Nader. Well, maybe not Ralph Nader. Even my bishop is working hard for my vote!"

Phil was right. This upcoming seesaw (language) SEESAW - An early system on the IBM 701.

[Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)].
 presidential election makes each and every vote incredibly valuable. Back in the days when votes could easily be bought, all precinct captains needed was a pile of five-dollar bills on election day to deliver the vote.

Things are much more complicated today. Survey and focus group results increasingly contribute to candidates' positions and postures. Even though you can't legally buy votes, people now get paid for participating in focus groups. I was about to ask Phil if he ever was part of a focus group, but he took the conversation in another direction.

"Funny thing about this election is that it's on All Soul's Day. Years ago we knew the poor souls were locked up in purgatory doing time for their misdeeds before achieving the Beatific Vision.

But today I've been wondering who the real poor souls are. Maybe it's the families and friends of those thousand plus American men and women who have died in Iraq. Maybe it's the families and friends of those tens of thousands Iraqis who have been killed in the last year and a half. Purgatory is here and now for lots of people, not after they die."

Who are the poor souls alive today? And who is responsible for getting them out of this purgatory? I doubt if these questions were ever posed to a focus group intended to discover the key to the Catholic vote. But my friend Phil Phewgoer got me thinking about this election like no candidate nor bishop has been able to do.

"Gotta go now. Just heard my flight called. Good seeing you again." Phil limped down the concourse toward his gate.

Yes, it was good to see Phil Phewgoer. Our brief conversation gave new meaning to this November 2.

PETER GILMOUR (Pgilmou@wpo.it.luc.edu) teaches at the Institute of Pastoral Studies of Loyola University Chicago Beginnings and expansions
Founded in 1870 as the St Ignatius College on Chicago's West Side. In 1908 the School of Law was established as the first of the professional programs.
.
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Title Annotation:Odds & Ends
Author:Gilmour, Peter
Publication:U.S. Catholic
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Nov 1, 2004
Words:519
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