In this Sunday’s first reading the prophet Ezekiel speaks of the Lord’s protest toward “rebels who have rebelled against me.” Honduran President Manuel Zelaya might relate after being forced into exile Sunday by a military coup. . . .

For decades investors looked at the returns financier Bernard Madoff was able to deliver with admiring words that echo this Sunday’s gospel question: “Where did this man get all this?” Having lost their fortunes, they now know they were victims of a monumental scam. Madoff, 71, was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison. . . .

In this Sunday’s readings the Lord sends Ezekiel to speak to a rebellious people, “whether they heed or resist” that word. The Obama administration’s quest for a comprehensive energy and climate change legislation, which gained approval in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, will likely face stiff resistance in the Senate. . . .

Saint Paul in this Sunday’s reading from 2 Corinthians speaks of “a thorn in the flesh” that was given to him by the Lord to keep him humble. Scientific testing on what are believed to be the saint’s remains “seem to confirm” that they do indeed belong to Paul, Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday. . . .

The Minnesota Supreme Court Tuesday declared media figure-turned-politician Al Franken the winner of the state’s U.S. Senate race, ending an eight-month-long election saga and giving Democrats a 60-seat majority that theoretically would allow them to block GOP filibusters. . . .

“People wanted bigger weddings, newer carriages . . . . They were buying things they didn't need.”

Italy and Switzerland have agreed to redraw their 1861 border because melting Alpine glaciers have blurred the original demarcation.