Happy 2015, dear readers. Hope it’s off to a great start so far for you.

One thing you’ll want to know: If the technological gods and odds are ever in our favor, chances are this is the last Roundup you’ll see. On Monday, we’re hoping to bring you something even better. If you get the Roundup now, you’ll automatically get the new product. If you want to subscribe, click here.

Meanwhile, back in Roundup Land …

New Year’s Day image by

From the Dept. of You Never Were Gonna Keep Those Resolutions Anyway

And that’s OK, says Billy Graham grandson Tullian Tchividjian, who calls them a “burdening attempt to fix ourselves and make ourselves more lovable.”

From the Dept. of LBJ and Civil Rights: LBJ was neither civil nor right. Discuss.

The NYT looks at new questions surrounding the depiction of LBJ, MLK and black churches in the civil rights epic, “Selma.” Gary May, an informal consultant on the film, says director Ava DuVernay has a few historical problems in how she depicts LBJ and MLK.

From the Dept. of Cuomo Catholicism

Former NY Gov. (and liberal icon) Mario Cuomo died yesterday at 82 (ironically, the same day that his son Andrew got sworn in for his second term in his father’s old job). Godbeat veteran Ken Briggs considers the Cuomos’ tortured relationship with the Catholic hierarchy. Ruth Messinger recalls Cuomo as “a genuine man of faith and formidable thinker who wrestled publicly and privately with theological doctrines, Cuomo was not afraid to challenge some of the dictates of his church.”

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York presides at a St. Patrick’s Day Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York March 17, 2014. Religion News Service photo by Gregory A. Shemitz

From the Dept. of Someone Turn On the Dolan Signal

Can Cardinal Timothy Dolan bring together his racially divided and politically wounded city? David Gibson reports from Gotham.

From the Dept. of Ever Wondered What an Angry Monk Sounds Like?

Throw together a group of monks, a major airline and a customer service fustercluck of biblical proportions and you get this story.

From the Dept. of Things Are About to Get Real in Florida

Gays and lesbians can get married (to other gays and lesbians, that is) in Florida starting next week. Somewhere, Anita Bryant is adding some vodka to her orange juice, I’m sure. Meanwhile, the AP says other progress for LGBT civil rights (beyond marriage) is gonna be a long uphill slog.

From the Dept. of The Pope’s White Cassock Is About to Go Green

Pope Francis is widely considered to be finishing an encyclical on the environment — a pretty big deal, actually — and the skeptics are already mounting a defense. U.S. evangelical Calvin Beisner says the Catholic hierarchy has been “misled on the science,” and an editor at the U.K.’s Catholic Herald wonders why the pope is wading into this controversy at all.

From the Dept. of Not A Good Way to End 2014

Should an Episcopal priest, who had a DUI conviction and a long battle with the bottle, have been elevated to bishop in Maryland? The bishop in question is charged with hitting and killing a bicyclist, and then fleeing the scene. An Episcopal priest in recovery talks about clergy and addiction.

From the Dept. of Not A Good Way To Start 2015

Recently retired Chicago Archbishop Francis George had to stop clinical trials for his cancer treatment after doctors said they weren’t doing any good.

From the Dept. of A Very Good Way to Start 2015

Germany’s famed Cologne Cathedral will go dark on Monday to protest a nearby anti-Muslim rally. We hear a lot about light in the middle of darkness, but perhaps no light in the midst of darkness can be just as powerful.

Church of St. Gregory the Great in Portsmouth, Rhode Island –
Religious Architecture, Restoration, Honor – Northeast Collaborative Architects. Photo courtesy of Faith & Form

From the Dept. of Not All Modern Churches Are Ugly

Cruise the winners of the recent International Awards Program for Religious Art & Architecture, given out by Faith & Forum, the interfaith journal on religion, art and architecture. I’ll give my vote to the Church of St. Gregory the Great — ugly on the outside, pretty cool on the inside.

And with that, dear readers, it’s back to work, altho the weekend is in sight. Happy 2015, and we’ll see you — with our new and really awesome product — on Monday.