According to the New York Times, the nation’s long run of recent bad weather might wind down by the weekend.

Speaking on behalf of Oklahomans and residents of other states hit hard by tornadoes and flooding, I pray it’s so.

Now, let’s dive into the (hopefully sunny and calm) Friday Five:

1. Religion story of the week: Perhaps you (like the New York Times so far) missed this big scoop concerning restrictions placed by the Vatican on former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick way back in 2008.

Not to worry: Our own Julia Duin can fill you in on a former aide to McCarrick spilling the beans to Crux and CBS.

2. Most popular GetReligion post: My post on Alex Trebek’s “mind-boggling” cancer recovery — and the role of prayers in that — is our No. 1 most-clicked analysis this week.

My questions: What exactly is Trebek’s religious affiliation? And how is faith manifested in his battle to beat cancer?

Spoiler alert: The “Jeopardy” host grew up Catholic, but details are lacking on whether he still is.

3. Guilt folder fodder (and more): In the last year or two, I’ve binged on all 11 seasons of “Frasier” and watched the entire run of “West Wing” for the third or fourth time.

Suffice it to say that I’m not too up to date on current entertainers, and I’d never heard of comedian Pete Holmes. Nonetheless, I enjoyed CNN Religion Editor Daniel Burke’s recent interview with comedian Pete Holmes.

The questions were insightful and indicative of a Godbeat pro who excels at his craft.

4. Shameless plug: I wrote a story for Religion News Service on the Evangelical Council on Financial Accountability facing scrutiny for failing to catch financial misdeeds involving a Chicago-area megachurch.

Christianity Today picked up the piece. (Hey, by the way, did you know that Christianity Today is an RNS subscriber again?)

5. Final thought: Amen on that.

Albert Almora Jr. is indeed “an absolute gem of a human.” (P.S. This has nothing to do with religion, unless you, like Terry Mattingly and me, consider baseball sort of a matter of faith.)

Happy Friday, everybody! Enjoy the weekend!