Today my friends and I walked along the Charles River. It was so calm and peaceful, except for the wind. The wind was wicked.
The Charles begins in Hopkington, and meanders here and there and empties in Boston Harbor. In fact, it's Indian name meant "meandering."
Here's a letter from my "cloistered brother," Jazzer,
My dear friend,
I hope this will find you and all the family safe and healthy today. I've been thinking of you in my prayers and this week I was able to pray for you all at Mass...it was a bitter-sweet experience as we gathered by block only, in the prison auditorium. I was happy to see an altar and watch the flicker of the Pascal candle...we last had Mass in our chapel on March 11, last year.
It was sad to hear the priest mention our brothers who not long ago were sitting in the very seats I was sitting in, knowing I won't be seeing them again (in this life) but I was thankful to be at the Mass and celebrate the Holy Eucharist. Sadly, we have little or no help with the person in charge of "programs" and once again there was no notice given about the 3 Masses at 1,2,& 3 pm on Thursday, so by the time the Mass was announced many men were at work, in the yard, or doing something else...we had six men from the block I live in and that's only because I was the night before by one of the cleaners. How difficult can it be to let us know the night before with a simple posting on the blocks. The same thing happened last month and out of 3 different blocks only 2 men came to the first Mass, 1 to the second and 0 to the third, nobody was told, nobody knew. So many problems, so much disrespect in so many areas regarding peoples' faith. The good news is, God is watching and holding us close to his heart, without faith there is darkness.
I continue to struggle with depression and anxiety and have to be on my guard then fold in these extremely unsettling times...let us all continue to ask for help and pray for each other...
God's peace and love,
Jazzer
I cried to the Lord. "I tried. I tried my best but I couldn't move that rock. It was too heavy for me."
The Lord answered. "Well done my child. I told you to push the rock. I didn't tell you to move it. You did what I wanted. Good job!"
The first celebration in 2021 for Bethany House Ministries was a Mass --come rain or shine. It was raining so Mass was held under a tent.
A Robin's Song At Daybreak
Poet: Nixon Waterman
Today we celebrate a memorial for Saint Anselm, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the eleventh century. In today's Office of Reading we are presented with the Proslogion, by St. Anselm.
I am unfamiliar with the label Proslogion, so I googled it. As far as I can tell, St. Anselm made up the label. I don't see where anyone else ever wrote a proslogion. So it's not a treatise, a letter, a thesis, a postulation, a proposal, a premise, a proposition, etc. Although, the entire writing is a meditation, it was not intented to be a thesis, nonetheless, it is a defense on the existence of God. In fact, the original title was "Faith Seeking Understanding" (Fides quaerens intellectum).
The entire work is beyond me. I can't even comprehend the main thought: "God is that which nothing greater can be thought." But I can see where this thought is fertile material for contemplation--for a long time!
I will close with the last paragraph in today's reading from the Proslogion.
Meanwhile, let this hope (prayer) of mine be in my thoughts and on my tongue; let my heart be filled with it, my voice speak of it; let my soul hunger for it, my body thirst for it, my whole being yearn for it, until I enter into the joy of the Lord, who is Three in One, blessed for ever. Amen.
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St. Bartholomew must have the most depictions of his death than any other apostle. His name is sometimes Nathaniel and he was probably a fisherman, like many of the other apostles.
If Rodney Dangerfield
was a Franklinite
You think it’s easy being me? It’s not. Let me tell you. I won tickets to the movies. The theatre was called the Zeotrope. It’s been gone for over 10 years.
I can’t get no respect.
When I was a child I learned how to swim at Beaver
Pond. The trouble was that my parents
dropped me off at the dump across the street from the pond. No respect I tell you.
I got a library card at the nation’s first library, the town
library. I was seven years old and could
barely read. So I didn’t know I was locked
in the elevator instead of the children’s room.
I tell you, I’ve lived a hard life – no respect!
My teachers taught me all about Ben Franklin and how the
town was named after him and he gave the town some books for our library. But he died in Philadelphia, so my teachers
gave me a one way ticket to Philadelphia.
I have never been given any respect.
When I graduated from Franklin High School I was given a
blank diploma. When I complained I was
given a diploma with the wrong name. I
complained again and the principal crossed out the name and wrote mine. What’s even worse is that he misspelled
Dangerfield. He wrote Danger
FAILED. I didn’t dare complain
again.
I brought the family to have a picnic on the Town
Common. We were playing hide and seek. I looked for an hour and couldn’t find them. I
had to walk all the way home…in the rain.
That’s NO RESPECT.
I joined TOPS at the Franklin Senior Center. That’s a club, Take off Pounds Sensibly. I didn’t lose any weight but I found out how
to look like I did, just hang out with fat people.
I went over to the Mormon Temple on Jordon Road because I
heard that they were good on genealogy.
I wanted to look up my family tree.
I found it, and found three dogs had used it. No wonder I get no respect. The apple doesn’t fall far from the
tree.
These jokes were fun to write, but I know I didn’t do the justice
that Rodney Dangerfield deserves. He was
a comic genius. If you didn’t laugh at his
jokes and the way he put them over, you ain’t human. His shtick was putting himself down. His catch phrase, “I can’t get no respect,” is
famous. When he died in 2004 and reached
the pearly gates, St. Peter said to him, “I heard you got no respect in life;” which
prompted Rodney to quip some famous no respect one liners.” St. Peter smiled, laughed and then waved
Rodney in. “Finally,” Rodney Dangerfield said, “a little respect.”
LECTIO:
Revelation 2: 17
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it.
STUDIUM:
The hidden manna is Jesus Christ Himself, who come to physical life and His presence in the Eucharist. The white stone was used in Jesus' time as a pass to enter an event or such, to which one had been sent in invitation. Jurors at trials also cast white stones to signify not guilty. The new name will be given to us by Jesus which will embody who we really are.
MEDITATIO:
What will my new name be? I bet it's the same one I have, "Faith." The hidden manna that I receive at Mass won't be hidden at my death. Jesus will hand me a white stone with my new name.
ORATIO:
Lord, let me not fear death.
CONTEMPLATIO:
As I age, I feel myself running towards Jesus. At times, death can't come soon enough.
RESOLUTIO:
I will prepare for death by trying today to please You more and more. If I live as You desire, I will be ready for death at any moment.
A. E. Housman's Smooth Between Sea and Land is depressing nihilistic. No wonder Housman was an atheist. He thought that all that matters was in this life. This life is nothing. Everything will pass as the poet says. What matters is our eternal life and that's what we should be working on. Here's the poem.
Smooth between sea and land
Is laid the yellow sand,
And here through summer days
The seed of Adam plays.
Due to COVID-19, meetings are held on platforms like zoom and google-meet. I love it. A couple of times a year, I had to attend Lay Dominican meetings that were hours away. Now I can stay home. Even if I have a headache or some other ailments, which would ordinarily have kept me away from physically attending a meeting, I can still attend on zoom.
Except for the Eucharist, I like Mass better on television. The camera does close-ups of the consecration. You can't get any closer than that. The viewer is closer than the Mass celebrant because he's an arm's length away.
I predict that meeting via zoom or google-meet, etc. won't go away when COVID-19 is over. It's too convenient.
Our prayer and God's mercy are like two buckets in a well; while one ascends, the other descends.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
The Church has a special process to honor people who have lived exemplary saintly lives. When someone is being considered a saint an inquiry will be started. You need someone like a lawyer or advocate or whatever to do the work. If the person considered seems worthy, he is referred to as Servant of God. The person doing this has a lot to do and needs to make a living so he needs to be paid. That's why you see members of religious orders being assigned to work on proving the Servant of God worthy of advancing.
During this process, the life of the Servant of God is examined. Miracles are needed. The next step for a Servant of God is to be advanced to Venerable. In order to move up, a miracle needs to be proven. The miracle needs to be an answer to prayers specifically to the Venerable. If accepted the Venerable is advanced to Blessed.
This is where we are with Blessed M. Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P. Please pray for Blessed Lataste to be canonized. It would be perfect for him to be canonized during the year of St. Joseph since he offered his life for St. Joseph to be made patron of the Church. Please pray.
O Lord of all that is good and holy. You see those of us who love and serve You faithfully. If it be Your Will, I ask you to glorify Your faithful friar, Father Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P. he exemplified Jesus' teachings on mercy, forgiveness, and love. He taught the forgotten, the poor, the marginalized, and the imprisoned, that all Your people are loved equally by You. Pere Lataste said that the prisoner was loved the same as a priest, in Your eyes. His clear and courageous preaching of Your Truths converted many hardened hearts to embrace the Faith. His love for the Blessed Mother moved many to love Your Son. He inspired the lives of the women prisoners in Cadillac, France, to establish the Dominican Sisters of Bethany. He gave his all for You, zealously bringing people to You. His will was to do Your Will.
Lord, if it be Your Divine Will, I ask you to glorify Your loving and faithful servant, Father Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P.
I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord and Savior. Amen
In the beginning, we have an unmarried pregnant girl being chaperoned to Switzerland for an abortion. This is how The Alice Network by Kate Quinn begins. The girl is Charlie, short for Charlotte. In the beginning, Charlie isn't too likable. Being in Europe reminds Charlie of the good times she had with her cousin Rose. Rose has been missing since the war. Whether it's raging hormones or just oppositional disposition, Charlie sneaks away from her mom to go looking for Rose.
Focused on her pursuit for Rose, Charlie becomes more likable. The reader roots for her. The last known place that Rose worked for was a restaurant in France. Charlie was led to a woman who also worked in the same restaurant. This woman is Eve, a member of the espionage network called, The Alice Network. She is quite the character. In fact, the author's characterization is one of the enjoyments of the novel. Eve is a cantankerous old risk-taker, hell-bent on revenge on the restaurant's owner who crippled her hands and turned her over to the enemy. Since Eve's hands are crippled, she has another contributing main character, her driver, Finn. The three of them go off in pursuit.
Their adventures are thrilling. The historical background is interesting. The ending is explosive.
Today we learned the story of the Tower of Babel. The grandchildren made the tower out of saltine crackers and peanut butter. Then grandma and grandpa came and destroyed much of it by eating it.
Lesson learned. The grandchildren made a mess because they didn't work together.
My daughter is into positive thinking and she gave me three or four books on the subject. "Relentless Optimism" by Darrin Donnelly was one of them. The book surprised me. It was so interesting that I couldn't put it down. It reads like a novel. There is a story that teaches how a commitment to changing your attitude can affect your life, everything in your life.
There are two major characters, Bobby Kane and Wally Hogan. Bobby is 31 and reduced to playing in the minor leagues. It looks like his career is over. Wally was a successful big leaguer turned minor league manager. Wally made his money and could afford to do what he loved. W ally was more than a baseball manager, he was a mental coach for positive thinking.
Yesterday's Easter homily told the story of the couple walking to Emmaus. The homilist said we are the people walking that road, too. Today, I am still thinking of this.
How many times has a stranger brought me closer to Christ?
We must be open to the stranger so that we can continue to meet Christ. The story of Emmaus offers us a direction and remember that the couple was heading to Emmaus but after meeting Jesus they turned around and went back to Jerusalem. We have to be open to changes, too.
And we must continue to read the Bible and receive the Eucharist so that our hearts will burn and hearts will be opened. Then we too will proclaim, "It is true, the Lord has risen! Truly He has risen!"
Where did the idea of God being Three Persons, come from? It came from Jesus. Matthew 28: 19. New International Version Therefore go an...
