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Eric Thompson, a fourth grader at St. John the Evangelist School, Severna Park, won the school-level competition of the 19th annual National Geographic Bee Jan. 5 and a chance to win a $25,000 college scholarship. Students in grades 4-8 answered oral questions about geography in the first round. The runner up was Grant Murray, a fifth grader at St. John. This is the first time in the history of this competition at St. John’s that a fourth grade student has won the right to progress to the next level.

The tribute to Teddy Kollek by George Weigel (CR, Jan. 18) was for a remarkable man who participated in the birth of Israel. Mr. Weigel, in his glowing tribute to Mayor Kollek, refers to the intifada and how it made cooperation with the Palestinians impossible. That remark reminds us that the struggle in the Middle East and for Jerusalem is one driven by two compelling narratives. Teddy Kollek represents one – the one Americans know the most about. It is the narrative of the Holocaust and the struggle of the Jews for a homeland. The other is the Palestinian narrative of the Nakbah, the Arab word for catastrophe, inflicted on the Palestinian people in 1948 and again in 1967.

With stomachs rumbling as a wedding rehearsal proceeds, thoughts of the forthcoming meal may cause even the most alert participants to lose focus of their instructions. It’s traditionally up to the family of the groom to feed members of the wedding party after they have absorbed their responsibilities for the upcoming nuptials. Etiquette doesn’t dictate if the rehearsal dinner should be fancy or casual, but it does command who should be included in the invitation list, according to two different Baltimore-area wedding consultants.

On Jan. 1 the Internal Revenue Service made it mandatory that all charitable donations come with a paper trail to claim them on next year’s tax return, but pastors at some Baltimore area Catholic churches have seen little change in parishioners’ tithing practices. “The new rules haven’t been in place long enough for us to see a change yet,” said Deacon Paul Weber, business manager for St. Ignatius, Baltimore. “We’re making a push to get more people to use envelops or write checks. But, it takes a while for people to change their habits.”

After Sunday Mass Jan. 28 and to kick off Catholic Schools Week, St. Margaret School, Bel Air, will dedicate its middle school gymnasium in front of parishioners and school families with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a blessing by Monsignor G. Michael Schleupner, pastor, and performances by the school chorus and cheerleading squad.

VATICAN CITY – Signaling continued improvement in Vatican-Vietnamese relations, Pope Benedict XVI hosted the first ever visit of a prime minister from Vietnam’s communist government. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and a nine-member government delegation, including the head of the government Commission for Religious Affairs, arrived at the Vatican Jan. 25. The Vatican said the meeting marked “a new and important step toward the normalization of bilateral relations,” which have improved in recent years along with “greater spaces of religious freedom for the Catholic Church in Vietnam.”

The Greek Chi explanation is ridiculous. Are we speaking Greek here in the US? Keep the Christ in Christmas!

While presenting Science fair awards Jan. 19 to middle school students at St. Philip Neri School, Linthicum, Fran Meeks unsuspectingly received an award of her own – teacher of the year. The eighth grade science and homeroom teacher with 33 years of service received a plaque and $250 from VFW Post #304, Annapolis.

MEXICO CITY – A Mexican bishop has cautioned against the reference to Jesus in the presidential oaths of office that were taken by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. “We have to be critical when people invoke God to justify terrorism, wars, the exploitation of the poor, inhumanity, totalitarianism and unheard of repression,” said Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquival of San Cristobal de las Casas in a commentary published by the Mexican bishops’ conference Jan. 17.