Whenever the pope flies anywhere, you will see that the plane is called Shepherd One. Even so, the Vatican doesn't own any planes. The company that owns the plane lets the pope fly on its plane. I guess, the plane gets publicity, and the pope gets a free ride. The pope uses an Italian plane to get where he is going, but going back home, he usually flies via one of that country's airlines.
Sisterhood
Two girls, who like to play sisters.
Both wear different headscarves.
One is a hijab.
One is a tichel.
Will we grow old?
Will we see the sun set today?
Will we see the sun rise tomorrow?
Will we remember we are sisters?
Will the open dead eyes of the Palestinian corpses,
and the gaping holes of bombed homes by IDF
go away?
Will the ground ever be green again?
Will you feel your mother’s hands
saying “May Adonai make you like Sarah,
Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah?”
Will you hear your mother’s call to Salat
prayer, and bow and prostrate at her side?
Will we grow up to be soldiers
and will we fight each other?
Will we grow old?
Will we see the sun set today?
Will we see the sun rise tomorrow?
I’m afraid we won’t be able to forget.
Everything you ever wanted to learn about the Catholic Mass is explained by Mike Aquilina's Understanding the Mass. This little book, pp.136 pages, is an easy read and easily understandable by beginners and people like me who need to review.
I think it would be a must for those in the Order for Christian Initiation for Adults. It covers the Mass and the origins of the rituals and liturgical gestures. Beginners will appreciate this book. It's a keeper for reference.
Where did the idea of God being Three Persons, come from? It came from Jesus. Matthew 28: 19.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.I'm composing a blurb for my parish's church bulletin. Some friends and I are "tree huggers." We're into gardening and interested in our environment. We call ourselves "Sacred Air Folks." We thought we'd put blurbs in church bulletins, now and then, to call attention to our sacred land, air--environment. Here's one I composed for the month of May. BTW, I've written about Mary Gardens here, in this blog.
El Santuario de Chimayo is a small adobe chapel in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. During Holy Week pilgrims come. Many are healed there.
Today at a chapter meeting, my "cloistered brothers," were talking about the masks we wear. As children we wear masks to please our parents. Old children learn to wear different masks: for teachers, for friends, and parents. Teens especially try on different masks: tough guys, nerds, jocks, goths, etc.
In prison, especially, you had better wear the appropriate masks or you will have a miserable life. But which is the real you? Are you a conglomerate of all your masks?
The lone Franciscan in our group, opined. St. Francis said, "I am what I am."
The Dominicans jumped in with a laugh and said, Popeye said that. I y'am what I y'am.
Although I don't bless myself like Father George does, I like this video. Mostly because St. George is the icon on the right. St. George slays dragons and there are all kinds of dragons in our world. As I post this, Iran has launched hundreds of drones against Israel. Evil is the dragon. May St. George slay the evil in men's hearts and put peace in its place.
BTW, I bless myself with my whole hand. My friends, like Father George make a cross or use three fingers, (think Trinity) and bless themselves. It's a prayer in itself.
James McBride is an author I enjoy reading. He once wrote for the Boston Globe. His first novel, The Color of Water, is excellent. In fact, this novel, The Heaven and the Earth Grocery Store is reminiscent of The Color of Water. One of the major characters, Chona Ludlow, sounds like McBride's grandmother. McBride's grandmother was Jewish and lived above a grocery store with her family. So far, the two novels have the same setting. The Jewish and Black families, as neighbors, are similar in the two books.
The plot is a big difference. In The Heaven and the Earth Grocery Store, there are a couple of murders. The story begins with finding a murdered man. The story ends with an explanation of how that happened. In between, the reader is introduced to the village of Chicken Hill, and its assortment of nationalities, colors, and religions. It often is humorous. The story turns serious when Chona takes in a young black boy who lost his parents. The boy is deaf, but not mute, and intelligent. The government wants to take him away and put him in a mental hospital.
Unfortunately, the kid is taken and put in the institution. One of the characters, big Nate, who is a dangerous man, but one of the good guys, helps snatch the boy, out of the institution. They get away and life goes on. More or less.
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Story will make you laugh, cry, cringe, and hope. What more do you want?
David Grann's The Wager is a nonfiction, riveting story about a ship and its sailors. In the 18th century, England and Spain are at war. The Wager was a part of a squadron of ships assigned to capture some Spanish ships. The Wager hoped to win a lot of treasure.
Grann's descriptions of a sailor's life were so descriptive, I was repulsed. Who would choose such a life? If diseases like scurvy and typhus didn't kill you, the life on the ship would. And where they were going was known to be treacherous--around Cape Horn.
The Wager was wrecked. The sailors were marooned. Eventually, the men acted like animals. Some took their chances and took off on rafts and small boats. Surprisingly, some made it back to England and they told their story.
But then, others made it back to England and they told a different story. There's even a third story.
I won't spoil the book, by telling how the investigation decided. The reader will have their view, also. It is an excellent history, well researched with pictures of the captain and the types of boats, ships, and people. It is an adventure to remember.
I was visiting my sister, in a different town. I decided to go to Mass there. I knew tomorrow, Sunday, would be crazy, so I chose to go to church, Saturday night.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is riveting. I read it in two nights--maybe six hours. I couldn't put it down and I never guessed the ending.
The idea is that a woman murdered her husband and stopped speaking. She's in an insane asylum and a psychotherapist tries to heal her. He gives it his all, including doing things he shouldn't. But everybody in that hospital is doing stuff they shouldn't.
It's her diary that tells background information that fills in the plot. At first, I thought she was being gaslighted. But by whom? Her husband is dead. The doctors? Why?
I didn't know whether to believe her or not. If her diary was reality, then she was stalked and her husband was a victim of crime. But she was crazy, or was she?
In March, the family celebrated by husband's 80th birthday. That's a lot of candles to put on a cake. Where did this tradition come from--adding a candle for each year to celebrate a birthday?
History points to the ancient Greeks. Tradition tells us that candles were used to honor the goddess Artemis, the goddess of the moon. The flame on a candle is like the light the moon gives. The smoke dispersed in the air was pictured as offerings to the moon goddess.
It's such a nice image. Even candles are still used today. Candles add a nice touch. On birthdays, it makes the birthday person special. They get their very own cake; just to celebrate their life.
Adding candles makes a dinner romantic. Put some easy, soft music on, and the evening is amorous.
Candles in religion are important. They exemplify light. All religions I know of, use them. In ancient Egyptian times, candles were used to honor gods. Buddhism uses candles during meditation. Since Judaism uses candles to memorialize people and events, Christianity continued the practice.
Light from a candle is a metaphor of life and light, which is perfect to mark birthdays, and religious ritual. In the final analysis, candles used for birthdays, romantic evenings, and of course religious rituals, enrich the celebration. They're metaphors, expressing love, hope and love.
The earth revolves around the sun, not the other way around. Ever since the priest Nicolaus Copernicus pointed out that the book of Joshua got it wrong, science has challenged religion.
Joshua 10: 12-13
"O sun, stand still over Gibeon,
O moon, over the valley of Aijalon."
So the sun stood still
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,
as is written in the Book of Jashar.
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.
Copernicus lived in the 16th century. Copernicus understood that the earth was rotating but at that time no one could detect it. At that time, lack of evidence was accepted as the sun revolved around the earth. Galileo using a telescope taught and wrote, proving that the earth revolved, as Copernicus claimed.
A miracle happened in Joshua 10: 12-13. The day was longer than usual. God controls nature. And on that day, God's intervention saved the people.
Science should respect religion, not challenge it.
Father John linked the Old Testament to the New, in this morning's homily. Today's homily was about Mary's visit to Elizabeth....
