The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy ( Read more... )

"Remember that when you leave this earth you can take nothing of what you have received, but only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage."

-Saint Francis of Assisi
Feast day: October 4th

(Blessings on my friend Nicole Shirilla!)

Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
if it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.

~ Habakkuk 2: 2-3

Andrew Sullivan has written a long and well-reasoned post about Catholicism and the use of torture. It's an interesting read for anyone interested in what the Church teaches about the use of torture and in contrast to how some Catholics have advocated for the use of torture in George W. Bush's War on Terror.

Here's an excerpt:But what has ( Read more... )

Gospel
Lk 6:17, 20-26
Jesus came down with the twelve
and stood on a stretch of level ground
with a great crowd of his disciples
and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for the ( Read more... )

"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."
~ C.S. Lewis

Today at Mass, Drew walked up to communion with me, he received a blessing from the priest, I received communion. As I was saying, "Amen," Drew said, in a voice as big as all outdoors, "HEY JESUS. MY MOMMY'S GOING TO HAVE A BABY!"

I guess it's good to keep Jesus apprised of these things.

Remember kids: just because it's cold where you are, doesn't mean we aren't screwing up the atmosphere! Here are two videos that I thought were both enlightening and interesting while being soundly grounded in science. Good times!

[Link to the first video]

Click to view

[Link to the second video]

Click to view

The Catholic Bishops have a little to say, too:
( Read more... )

KAZANTZAKIS, Nikos - The Last Temptation of Christ

[Reading for today.]

Gospel
Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
The people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to ( Read more... )

The director of undergraduate programs in the College of Nursing died last weekend. I met Mary Jo Arndt through my affiliation with the UCC, but I had seen her at UGAAD and UCAP, and also at church every weekend. She and her husband served in a variety of ways--mass coordinators, lectors, Eucharistic ministers, etc. They always sat in the same ( Read more... )