I recently attended a conference in Chicago with about 70 other Catholic priests from all over the United States. During our lunch break, I met a priest who is a Chaldean Catholic priest. A chald…what? You actually say it “cal-dee-n.” Chaldean Catholic. Did you know there are 24 different rites of the Catholic Church in union with the Church in Rome? The Latin or Roman rite is what most people think of in the United States and Western Europe when they think of or belong to the Catholic Church, but there are actually 24 other rites still in communion with Rome. A few of those rites include the Byzantine rite, Maronite rite, or the Chaldean rite. These rites formed when the Apostles and early disciples began to spread the Church to the known world. When the apostle Thomas brought the Catholic faith to India, it mixed with the culture in a particular way and it formed the Syro-Malabar rite. The sacraments and the priesthood are all valid, but the customs and liturgy/Mass look a little different. In the United States we actually have small pockets of these 24 rites all over, mostly in big cities, from when people from various parts of the world immigrated to the US and brought the rites with them. Why the Sunday school lesson you may ask? This background is important for the rest of the story.

C APITAL Highlights The average price for a gallon of gasoline in Texas has risen from $2.55 in early February to $3.91 as of Sunday, according to AAA. Diesel prices hover around $5 a gallon.

The year was 1954. While attending Radhost and Hostyn schools, I always seemed to be a little “different” than the normal bunch of school kids. I always seemed to do different things, come up with and bring objects to school that were different. One example was the ball-point pen. These were laidback country schools taught by Sisters or Catholic Nuns, as we call them now. A ball-point was unheard of at that time and we always used fountain pens or ink pens. They were very messy. One had to stick them into a glass container of ink and draw liquid ink into the pen. There were many incidents of spilled ink bottles, dripping ink pens, and inksoaked shirt pockets.

To the Editor: The letter from the Office of the County Judge regarding the death at a Trail Ride that was published May 4, 2026 is the most face-saving piece of hot air I’ve seen yet from the halls of the County. First the County Judge pats himself on the back for the county ordinance that was meant to pacify the masses last year after that tragedy, but in reality did nothing to solve the real issue of violence during these events, and clearly did nothing to solve first responder access in the chaos that inevitably follows violence like this.

To the Editor: Should there be a limit on the number of letters one unhappy individual can submit to The Fayette County Record? Especially with the same repetitive negative comments towards our President of these United States. His comments fill two full page length columns.

Editor’s Note: Austin Bay moved to Fayette County in June 2022. For over 25 years he’s written a weekly column for Creators Syndicate – the focus is national security but also address economic and energy issues.

May 4-7, 1976 Veteran Sheriff T.J. Flournoy was reelected to another term, but longtime Precinct 1 Commissioner Gunther (Grinny) Behrens was unseated, a new constable was elected in Precinct 4 and Precinct 3 voters sent two races into the runoffs in Saturday’s first Democratic primary election.

We are a few weeks into baseball season. I have to admit, growing up in Texas, baseball was always secondary to football for me. Then I had kids and I got tricked into being the 4-year-old Tball coach and somehow was not able to retire until my kids moved into middle school. Honestly, I would not trade all the bad umpires for the joy that I experienced in coaching my kids - even baseball and softball.

C APITAL Highlights State officials began sending out the first notices to families awarded education vouchers last week, the Houston Chronicle reported. In the first round, 42,644 qualified, mostly students with special needs who are considered the highest priority.

Recruiters did not suspect a thing, when a 19 year old male impersonator from Canada enlisted in the Union Army on May 3, 1861. Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmundson was born in New Brunswick just across the border from Maine.