Is that his baptismal cross that he wears? This article from Unheard labels Vladimir Putin as the Orthodox Savior. It claims that he wants to reclaim Christendom, that's why he wants Kiev.
Emperor Basil II, based in the glorious city of Byzantium, reached out to his enemies, the pagans over in the land of the Rus. Basil II was a clever deal maker. If Vladimir of the Rus would help him put down the revolt, he would give him the hand of his sister in marriage. This was a status changer for Vladimir: the marriage of a pagan to an imperial princess was unprecedented. But first Vladimir would have to convert to Christianity.
Returning to Kyev in triumph, Vladimir proceeded to summon the whole city to the banks of the river Dnieper for a mass baptism. The year is 988. This is the founding, iconic act of Russian Orthodox Christianity. It was from here that Christianity would spread out and merge with the Russian love of the motherland, to create a powerful brew of nationalism and spirituality. In the mythology of 988, it was as if the whole of the Russian people had been baptised. Vladimir was declared a saint. When the Byzantine empire fell, the Russians saw themselves as its natural successor. They were a “third Rome”.
Kiev is the city St. Vladimir chose for baptism. A few years ago, the Ukrainian Orthodox broke from the Russian Orthodox. Ukraine called it a victory but Patriarch Kirill said the Ukrainian Church was under his jurisdiction. Putin attempts to fix it. This Vladimir identifies himself with St. Vladimir.
I don't hear or read this theory anywhere. Could it be possible? Religious wars are the direct opposite of religion. The juxtaposition of the word religious next to war, makes it an oxymoron.
Magnolias Don't Bloom in September, by Carol Lynn Luck, will have teachers thanking God they don't have classes like Kendra's. Kendra, the main character wants to make a difference. Her parents forbid her to join the peace corps. Vista, for some reason, didn't accept her, but they gave her a few suggestions for areas that needed teachers. Kendra chose Mississippi. The year is 1970 and it is the first year of forced integration. Kendra is teaching middle school-aged children who are grades lower scholastically. Some can't even read! She is innovative and comes up with methods, techniques, rewards, and finds success. She also becomes entangled with the politics of 1970 problems in the south.
Somehow, she survives the year. The class not only has learned academic subjects but also respect, acceptance, cooperation, and pride in achievement.
"In the name of God, stop now!" wrote Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius, Lithuania, president of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences. After Russia takes over Ukraine will he go for the Baltics? I can't help but think of my Lithuanian grandparents who fled from the Russians.
This is my grandparent's family. My mother is the smaller girl on my grandmother's lap.
Genesis 2: 15
Yahweh God took Man and placed him in the garden of Eden to till it and take care of it.
I thought work was a consequence of sin. Instead, God planned work. We were created to work. I'm depressed. I thought once I died I'd be free from work. Instead, I'll be working for all of eternity. How terrible!
Fido Catches the Thief
Faith’s
rescue cat Fido was destroying the newspaper.
For some reason, Fido loved to sit on the paper, kick it around, hide
under it, and scratch it up into shreds.
Maybe it was the scent of newsprint?
Whatever it was, it was like cat nip to Fido.
Today
however, Fido had separated the pages. One
section of the paper had flown out of Fido’s jumble of chaos. I checked the date of the paper before going
to discard it in the recycle pile. Much
to my chagrin, it was this morning’s Globe.
“Oh Fido!,
not today’s paper!”
Fido looked
at me questioningly.
I sat down
to read what was left of my Globe. I had
been cleaning all morning and needed a break.
A cup of tea to read what’s happening sounded good to me.
The first
thing I noticed was a picture on the page for local news. There was my raincoat! Yes, my very own raincoat that had been stolen by a salesman. Yes,
I remember it very well because it was so bizarre. A man had been going around the neighborhood
selling solar panels. He had pushed his
way through my front door, reached in, and swiped my raincoat right off the
coat rack!
And it wasn’t
even a rainy day! Why would he need a
raincoat!
And here it
was in this picture. It was from the police
department. It was put in the paper with
the hope that someone could help find him.
He had robbed a group of stores in the Town Plaza. A security camera had taken a good image of
him. Well, he had a ski mask over his
face, so I couldn’t say I recognized him, but I’d know my raincoat
anywhere. I had sewn a button on with
the wrong colored thread. Fido had
pulled the button off while playing and I didn’t have that particular color thread,
so I used what I had. Here was that
black button sewn on with white thread glaring at me.
“Hey,”
Fido. “Look at this. My raincoat was used as a disguise to commit
a crime. And I know who did it because I
kept his business card after he stole my raincoat. Let’s call the police.”
Now don’t be
surprised if you see Fido in the newspaper.
After all, if she hadn’t pulled my button off, I would never have
recognized the raincoat thief. Fido had inadvertently
led the police to the man. Fido is a
hero.
This is one of my favorite paintings. The artist is Paul-Hyppolite Flandrin, 19th century. The image depicts the Dominican friar, John of Fiesole. John of Fiesole painted pictures of sacred subjects. He portrayed them so beautifully that he earned the nickname Fra Angelico. Hence, this painting by Paul-Hyppolite is titled Fra Angelico Visited by the Angels.
The friar while painting the crucifixion, which you can see the beginning of, is so overwhelmed with anguish that he falls to his knees and sobs. I guess his emotional sobbing has upset the angels and they approach the grief-stricken friar apprehensively.
That's my interpretation and I'm sticking to it.
The Catholic Mobilizing Network has many articles pertaining to the death penalty, justice, and restorative issues, to read.
Please take the time to read it and sign a petition.
Guest post by Mr. Agustin Garcia, OP.
Christ invites us to journey with Him, "going up to Jerusalem." The way to Jerusalem is through wholeheartedly embracing God's call to obedience, through prayer, fasting, and acts of mercy.
The apostles didn't understand what being a disciple entailed. James and John must have thought "going up to Jerusalem" meant going to claim the Messiah's throne. Their mother asked Jesus to have them sit next to Him when He came to His kingdom (Matt. 20: 24).
Journeying toward the heavenly kingdom impels us to share Jesus' fate. Every one of the apostles will carry a specific cross. All the apostles die an ignoble death
Are you ready for the journey? What is your cross? Can you follow Jesus all the way up to Jerusalem?
I have to write an ad for my cribbage club. Here's the result.
Add Joy to Your Life
Don’t let
your mind stagnate. It is important for
us Seniors to increase and keep our minds sharp. One easy way to do this is to learn a new
game. Cribbage is a game that will help
keep you young by:
Ø Increase your concentration
Ø “
memory skills
Ø “ math skills
Ø “
decision making
Ø “
social interactions
Ø “
your confidence
Ø “
problem solving
Ø “
cooperation abilities
Ø “ stimulation
Cribbage
triggers endorphins, which promote a good sense of wellbeing and improve brain
function. To paraphrase George Bernard
Shaw: we don’t stop playing because we
grow old, we grow old because we never learned to play cribbage!
Learn to play cribbage to
help you function at your best.
Cribbage cribbage cribbage cribbage cribbage cribbage
Do you already know how to play?
You are welcome to come Monday night 6-8, at the Franklin Senior
Center to play. It will super charge
your social interactions besides maintain your memory and math skills.
Come see and play!
LECTIO:
Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
but stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
it fears not the heat when it comes;
its leaves stay green;
in the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.
STUDIUM:
The people continue to sin, even though they had the prophets and laws. The people of Judah were worshipping false gods and their military strength and alliances instead of God. Jerimiah says our human hearts are deceitful. Those who trust in the true God will prosper and those who leave God will be cursed.
MEDITATIO:
Why do we humans continue to sin even though we know the eternal consequences? We claim to love God. Well, we are human; we get tired and lax. Our spirits are willing but our flesh is weak. The only resource we have is prayer.
ORATIO:
Lord, give me strength to do Your Will. Help to never offend You. I ask for help to resist temptation.
CONTEMPLATIO:
Doesn't Jesus offer hope? People don't. Does it matter who is president or pope? God is KING.
RESOLUTIO:
Don't forget your mantra: All is passing; only God abides.
It occurred to me at a recent TOPS meeting that zoom has brought us closer together. Usually, when we meet for real, we are 10-12 people. I sit where there's an available seat and talk to the people to my right and left.
Yesterday, there were 18 of us. When you zoom, people's names are in their box. So I finally learned everyone's name. I couldn't remember the names of many newcomers, before, but after seeing their names and faces for an hour, I got it.
Also, I heard people whom I don't usually talk to, express themselves, i.e., I got to know them. I realized at the end of the meeting that I am now good friends with everybody. This doesn't happen at meetings--any kind of meeting, especially regional meetings where you don't know the majority of people. Even if you told people to mingle, they physically couldn't get around to meeting and speaking to everyone.
Instead of meeting for real all the time and zooming only in inclement weather, maybe we should zoom all the time and meet for real for holiday occasions and award ceremonies.
Trisagion is my word for today. As you may guess, the "tri" in Trisagion means three. It is a phrase describing God that is used three times in our Eucharistic Prayer, the Sanctus: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty...
It has been used since the early centuries. Sometimes it is called by the Greek, Agios O Theos. This is a standard hymn at Eastern Orthodox's Masses.
"Her Family's Secrets" by Joanne C. Parsons is an easy read. It has a happy ending and is a modern story about a woman whose marriage is falling apart. She inherited a cottage on the Cape. Once she sees the place she envisions just the house she always wanted, but her loser husband resists. This pushback was the impetus for her to break out of the marriage.
Andrea, the major protagonist, throws herself into renovating the cottage. Accidentally, she finds some hidden diaries in the house and lives in the stories of her ancestors. She falls in love again, with another loser but she moves on. She moves on because she finds out she's pregnant. She had been trying to get pregnant for years, so finally when it happens, she just rejoices.
Emmaus Journey is a bible study I follow. Each week they produce a commentary with questions on Sunday's readings. This week we have the theme of "being called". The first reading was about Isaiah's calling, Isaiah 6: 1-8. The second reading is about Paul's calling, 1 Cor 15: 1-11. Finally, the Gospel is about calling the first apostles, Lk 5: 1-11.
One of the commentary's questions gave me pause: "What is the most significant thing God ever asked you to do?" I kept replacing the word significant with synonyms and I would answer differently with each synonym.
If significant is understood as "life-changing", then being professed as a Lay Dominican would be my answer. I would not be where I am today, were it not for my vocation as a Lay Dominican. I am not only thinking spiritually, either. I would never have become a lector, joined Toastmasters, volunteered in a prison, and maybe not undertaken the faith formation of my grandchildren if I didn't feel "called."
One of my "cloistered brothers" thanks God for being incarcerated. He would never have become where he is spiritually if he weren't in prison. I understand because I, also, see how close to God he is. Maybe cloistered monks reach that level of sanctity but not the average person.
What is the most significant thing God has ever asked of you?
Who am I to correct a moral theologian? So I'm offering a differing opinion, not a correction, to this article by Father Ezra Sullivan, op, on the morality of vaccine mandates.
I can see just by googling the morality of the COVID vaccine that there are differing opinions. The USCCB tackles the question of morality in vaccines, in its committees on doctrine and pro-life activities:
At present, there is no available alternative vaccine that has absolutely no connection to abortion. Second, the risk to public health is very serious, as evidenced by the millions of infections worldwide and hundreds of thousands of deaths in the United States of America alone. Third, in many cases the most important effect of vaccination may not be the protection it offers to the person who receives the vaccination, who may be of relatively robust health and unlikely to be seriously affected by the disease. Rather, the more important effect may be the protection it offers to those who are much more likely to be seriously stricken by the disease if they were to contract it through exposure to those infected.
The spiritual advisor to my fraternity, Father Nicanor Austriaco, op, concurs with the USCCB regarding vaccination against COVID. Getting vaccinated is not intrinsically evil. He has been vaccinated. Pope Francis has been vaccinated and has urged the faithful to do likewise.
As a simple, old woman, I'll follow the advice of the Vicar of Christ.
Father John linked the Old Testament to the New, in this morning's homily. Today's homily was about Mary's visit to Elizabeth....
