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Today is Flag Day.

Some people may not think much about the American flag, much less notice it flying outside of banks, schools, libraries, post offices, car dealerships and more. Thanks to an ambitious young person at home pointing out flags in aforementioned places and wanting to learn how to say “American,” we’ve been talking a bit about the American flag lately.

So I found the symbolism (some of it faith-based) on flag folding — which was a review of a presentation in the Diocesan Pastoral Center lunchroom last year — a worthwhile read.

A few other flag-related Catholic news items that may be of interest:

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  Staff at the Diocesan Pastoral Center learned the significance of each fold of the American flag during Flag Day last year.

  The Dad of a St. Timothy student returned from Afghanistan in April and presented a flag he raised there Ash Wednesday to the Mesa school.

• Fourth Degree Knights show love of country, love of Church by the way they live and can help you properly dispose of tattered flags. Arizona’s Fourth Degree Knights link you to a bunch of patriotic websites including “I Am the Flag of the United States” and some Fourth Degree Knights in the Midwest can help you test your knowledge of flag etiquette.

• The mom of last year’s Phoenix Veteran’s Day essay contest winner sent our office a recap of how her son, an eighth-grader who just graduated from St. Timothy, read his essay for the Wreath Laying ceremony May 31 at the National Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix:

Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson sat on stage with the governor and a number of other military personnel who came out to honor our fallen heroes. He also had the honor of leading all 2,000 in the pledge of allegiance. He met a Navajo Code Talker, Pearl Harbor survivors [and] a number of other veterans who fought for freedom.

Also, Deacon Ollie from St. Tim’s was there doing the final benediction in his military uniform.

And here are some archived Catholic Sun headlines honoring soldiers, veterans:

• Fallen hero remembered as model of faith, service to others
• VA chaplain comforts veterans, leads chaplaincy
• Reconciling faith with service to country (note: this is on an old design of our website)
• ‘Flags’ falls short of epic (movie review of “Flags of Our Fathers”)