Robert Brennan

Green Bay Packers players celebrate after an interception against the Los Angeles Rams during a game at SoFi Stadium, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (Shutterstock)

When my wife and I attended the gala dinner for the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles , the last thing on my mind was that I would be writing about an oak tree.

They might exist, but I cannot think of a recent or vintage sci-fi movie where religion matters. I do not count the neo-gnostic pagan mysticism of the “Star Wars” franchise.

Robin Selvig stands on the court named for him, at the University of Montana’s Dahlberg Arena, in a scene from “Playing Like A Girl: The House That Rob Built.” (Family Theater Productions)

I am writing this, ink bottle and quill in hand, before the 2024 presidential election, knowing that it will not see the light of day until that election has become history. But this is not a column about the campaigns, and it certainly cannot be about the election results because they have yet to be calculated and I am not a seer.

We did not see as many Catholic churches as we hoped, but the number of so many denominations made it clear we were not back in Los Angeles.

There was a time when the film industry produced religious epics featuring A-List directors like DeMille, Wyler and Stevens and starred A-List actors from either side of the Atlantic. They were films noted for their length, with theology that made one wonder if a Sister of Providence with a ruler in her hand was not looking over the script writer’s shoulder.

Catholic Charities’ Santa Maria location will remain open after an anonymous donor stepped in to keep its services running. Catholic Charities had scheduled the Santa Maria Community Services Center location to close due to a rent increase and lack of funding. Now, not only is the location not closing, but Catholic Charities is planning to expand. (Catholic Charities)

People attend the opening ceremony of a Christmas market in Cologne, Germany, Nov. 22, 2021. (CNS/Thilo Schmuelgen, Reuters)

A scene from the 1945 film "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." (20th Century Fox via IMDB)