The view of the South Fork Fire from Crawford, Nebraska this evening. This is some crazy fire behavior. Nebraska has seen the most active and largest wildfires in the nation this year, and it doesn’t look like it’s stopping.
Residents surrounding Crawford are evacuating, and ranchers are trying to get their cattle to safe locations. The fire is now over 16,000 acres. Over 1.1M acres have burned in the state so far.
📷 Luis Corral 🙏
The World Cup begins tomorrow, and many will watch the matches. Soccer reminds us of something we must not forget: life is not a race to show off on our own, but a path we learn to walk together. Anyone who does not know how to pass the ball, even if they have talent, has not yet understood the game. Anyone who does not know how to live with and for others has not yet understood life. #ApostolicJourney
On June 10, 1926, Antoni Gaudí died in Barcelona.
In 2026, 100 years later, his legacy remains inseparable from Sagrada Família — the unfinished basilica that became the defining work of his life.
A century after his death, Gaudí’s architecture still shapes the identity of Barcelona and continues to influence architects, designers, and admirers around the world.
There is a rule in Florence that has not been broken in over five hundred years: nothing in the city may be built taller than a dome finished in 1436.
The dome belongs to the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, and it is the work of Filippo Brunelleschi.
When you look at a photograph of Florence and notice that its skyline seems strangely, impossibly intact, you are not imagining it...
The city has protected that view, by custom and by law, since the Renaissance. To this day, no building in Florence is permitted to rise higher than the cupola.
What it guards is one of the most astonishing structures ever built. When Brunelleschi began in 1420, no one in Europe knew how to raise a dome that wide. The technology had been lost with the Romans. The cathedral had stood for decades with a hole in its roof, because the span was considered impossible to cover, and the city had essentially gambled that someone would one day work out how.
Brunelleschi built it without the wooden scaffolding everyone assumed was necessary, laying over four million bricks in a self-supporting double shell, one dome inside another, in a herringbone pattern that let each ring hold itself up as it rose.
Six centuries later, it remains the largest masonry dome in the world. Nothing built since, in brick and stone, has surpassed it.
The Italian director Franco Zeffirelli, who was born in Florence, once explained what that means to him. "When I feel depression creeping in," he said, "I return to Florence to gaze at Brunelleschi's dome. If human genius was able to achieve something so great, then I too can and must try to create, to act, to live."
That is what a skyline can be when a city decides that beauty is worth protecting...
I write a weekly newsletter for over 50,000 people who love rediscovering the beauty of the past. You can join us for free at the link below, and if you'd like to support my work, a paid subscription is what makes it possible:
https://t.co/hgJUdR0jlx
Thanks for reading.
I have been briefed by @NEMAtweets regarding the wildfire burning northwest of Fort Robinson and Crawford. The terrain in that area is extremely rugged and windy conditions are compounding the challenge.
I have ordered all necessary resources—including @NENationalGuard helicopter units—to support local firefighters. Our team is coordinating with the U.S. Forest Service, which is also deploying additional assets.
Please keep our firefighters and responders in your prayers as they continue a tough and dangerous fight through the night, and if you are in the affected area follow all orders from local authorities.
"Researchers found that parents modelling their faith is the most powerful influence on adult religiosity." @ChristianToday@Jpdegance
https://t.co/SR3uanMuX5
“Read books. Travel when you can. Learn how to cook one meal exceptionally well. Sit in old bars and talk to strangers. Wear your best jacket to dinner. Appreciate good wine, good music, and good conversation. Do the right thing, even when no one is watching. Set the example for younger men who are watching you. Call your parents. Take long walks. Leave your phone behind sometimes. Become the kind of man people feel better after being around. Life is short, so live it well.”
-J.B. Lloyd
The MCC Lady Indians exploded for five second-inning runs and held on win 5-2 to eliminate No. 10 McLennan Wednesday at the NJCAA D1 College World Series.
MCC will play a 1:30 p.m. game Thursday.
https://t.co/0d1brDqbI8
The world's largest operating steam locomotive is making its way through Nebraska this week in celebration of America’s 250th birthday. Here's where it's stopping in the state:
The MCC softball team got back in the win column Tuesday with a 7-4 win over No. 15 Iowa Western CC in the elimination round of the NJCAA D1 Softball World Series. No. 25 MCC will take on No. 10 McLennan (Texas) in an elimination game 11:15 a.m. Wednesday.
https://t.co/pgpSCsOX5j
Let us learn to be rich in a different way: more attentive to relationships, more intent on valuing the common good, more attached to the local area, more grateful in welcoming and integrating those who come to live with us.
Significant tornado damage north of Saint Libory, Nebraska where one home in particular is completely swept clean, and one 4-wheeler tossed a considerable distance.
#Nebraska#nebraskaweather#Tornado#TornadoDamage
During his General Audience this morning on the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, Pope Leo XIV highlighted how the Blessed Virgin Mary is a model, member and mother of the ecclesial community and how she teaches all the faithful to love and serve the Church.
A clarion call to all young men:
The years between 18 and 25 will shape your future more than any other time of life. Work hard. Seek out difficult jobs and challenge yourself. Read good books and learn useful skills. Save your money. Be careful with your time, and don’t waste it chasing shallow pleasures and distractions. Find the woman you want to build a life with and treat her with the utmost respect. That decision will shape the course of your life more than any other. The habits you build, the standards you adopt, and the choices you make during that time will become the foundation of your life. The days might seem long, but the years will be short. Don’t waste them.
-J.B. Lloyd
The MCC softball team is headed back to the NJCAA D1 College World Series again after downing Northeastern Junior College 5-3 to win the Region IX Tournament Sunday at the Jaycees Sports Complex.
https://t.co/MnmTUxmKTI
The MCC softball team opened the Region IX Tournament Friday with a 4-3 walk-off win in the seventh inning over Western Nebraska. The top-seeded Lady Indians move on to a Saturday showdown against second seed Southeast Community College at 2 p.m.
https://t.co/ZAtMgytjb7