In waiting for Fick&Oz to return from their busy summers, I was rereading old conversations on their blog.

Their last full-blown podcast dealt with Catholic topics, in the news or otherwise of interest ... to them! :-)

I don't remember listening to the entire podcast but I was able to pull together a rather coherent comment that, imho, still holds up as informative and witty. So instead of letting my stunning synopsis languish in the com box of a lightly visited blog, I thought I would repost it here, on my lightly visited blog!

Their podcasts are funny. They are funny guys, much funnier than me:

I'm too young to have ever heard of the feast of circumcision. I was all of two years old in 1970 when the calendar changed to celebrate something else on Jan 1.

In the East, the feast of circumcision may still be observed on Jan. 1 along with the Feast of St. Basil.

Now, wouldn't a feast on basil be a very Roman thing? Tomatoes & mozzarella? Ah, just wait until Jan. 2 for it in the West!

In the middle ages, Jan. 1 was not only the feast of circumcision but also the feast of fools, especially in France. Disney's animated The Hunchback of Notre Dame, not a bad movie, features this event.

And, before we get all down on France, just consider what sociologist Andrew Greeley said about them: I am not inclined to believe that France was ever a Christian country.

The Christian octave was modeled neither on Judaism's seven-day feasts nor on The Beatles' Eight Days a Week. As a custom, octaves developed spontaneously in the 4th cent. CE.

I am happy that Jan. 1 is a holy day. I make resolutions ... but not revels!