Christian nationalism rejects religious freedom and distorts both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy.
Yes, your mom makes the best apple pie, but don't you think everyone thinks the same?
Don't forget that the First Amendment prohibits making the country one religion.
Yesterday, I posted about a sculpture on the top of a column in the church of St. Mary Magdalen, in Vezelay, France. Meditating upon the sculpture inspired this book. Look at the face of the person doing the carrying. Hope for Judas by Christoph Wrembek, sj. Father Wrembek posits that this is Jesus carrying Judas.
Wrembek does a good job of convincing the reader that Jesus' mercy knows no bounds. Surely, Judas was sorry for betraying Jesus. Judas' throwing his reward away is proof of his contrition. Besides, Judas didn't plan events to turn out as they did. He believed Jesus was the Messiah; it was just taking Him so-o-o-o long to overthrow the Romans. Judas tried to force Jesus' hand. In the end, Jesus was crucified AND THEN resurrected! Jesus saved us. That was God's plan. Someone had to initiate the event. If it weren't Judas, it would have been someone else. "Oh happy fault", in the Exultet, sung on Easter Vigil, is referring to Judas' betrayal.
I agree, so far. What I don't see is Jesus' face in the sculpture. I think the sculpture is a depiction of the Good Samaritan carrying the poor man left in a ditch. The face isn't a man with a beard. Jesus always has a beard.
Even though I don't buy Father Wrembek's theory, it is very interesting that the man being carried is smiling.
Get ready. This is the top of a column in the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Vezelay, France. Look at the face of the man, supposedly Judas, being carried. Not the upright figure! The man being carried--look at his face.
Now turn the picture upside down. Now look at his face. what do you see?
At first, the characters were too many to keep straight. As the story develops, the characters in the story become the Peter van Laars, Louise, Barbara, T.J. The Van Laars own property, upon which a summer camp resides. T.J. runs it. Louise is a camp counselor. Barbara Ven Laar goes missing. This is more than disconcerting because her brother went missing about ten years previously and never found.
That mystery and Barbara's disappearance are the mystery. How the author, Liz Moore develops it, is riveting. Yes, the book is a page turner.
I've been journaling for a few years. Now, I find it a compulsion. Anyway, here's something interesting from Christian Granados.
Hello everyone,
dedicated space to answer questions, journal your thoughts, take notes, or even add drawings—making it a great companion for Bible journaling.
I'm laughing at myself. Less than an hour ago, I went to post my review of The Sleeping Witness by Fiorella de Maria, on Goodreads, and found out that I read this book a couple of years ago! I would have given the book the same score.
The Sleeping Witness by Fiorella de Maria is my first Father Gabriel mystery. Like Brother Cadfael's mysteries, Father Gabriel is a Benedictine monk. I guess Benedictines have more freedom than your usual run-of-the-mill monk, because these two are always investigating murders outside the monastery.
Whatever happened to a monk's vow of stability?
The setting is important in the story. I don't mean the place. I mean the time--right after War II. The people are affected by that war in many different ways, and I don't necessarily mean by being directly in it. Those that were directly involved, came home. Therein lies the devil. Everyone is damaged.
The wife of the local doctor was beaten into a coma. She was in the concentration camp. Her husband found her in the camp and nursed her back. The murder victim was a camp guard in her camp. The husband is the obvious perpetrator, but Father Gabriel keeps digging deeper.
Last Saturday, I went to my parish's Women's Faith Formation. We are watching YouTubes of Father Dave Pivonka's Wild Goose series. This one was on God the Father. In the video, there was a comment that there are a plethora of Saint Days, --days devoted to Mary, there are feast days for the Holy Spirit, and of course, Jesus, but there isn't a single, universal feast for God the Father in the Catholic Church. Being curious, I did a google search. There isn't.
Now, let me tell you about this religious sister, Mother Eugenia Elisabetta Ravasio. She received private revelations from God the Father. Yes, the church said there is nothing in them, that is wrong. There is nothing absurd in them. She isn't crazy. But the church stopped short of saying that they were of divine origin. The church doesn't promote her visions, but you can. You can believe them, promote them, follow them. You are free to do so.
First, let me tell you a little about Sister Eugenia. She was born in Italy on September 4, 1902, Elisabetta Ravasio. She entered the religious order of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Apostles. This is a missionary order. Her religious name was Mother Eugenia. During her life, she had revelations/visions/ apparitions of God the Father. There is a book about it, "The Father Speaks to His Children." But also, she opened over 70 centers (schools, infirmaries, and a church), in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mother Eugenia had two visions, in which she conversed with God the Father. The gist of these conversations were:
Father Lennie Tighe posted this:
Can you write a prayer to St Charles de Foucauld??
All I could think of when I finished reading Pretty Dead Things by Lillian West was the Mattis Law. This is a law in Massachusetts where prisoners who committed their crimes when they were under 21, will have their case reevaluated.
My heart often broke when I talked to some of my "cloistered brothers," who had committed murder when they were 18 or 19. They were now in their 50-60s. They certainly weren't the same kids they were then. What a waste of life! They could be useful in society, if given a chance.
This review of Pretty Dead Things is a big spoiler alert. Sorry. This is not really a book review, but rather a critique of the judgement the story places on a 16-year-old.
The story begins with Cora and Elliot planning their wedding. Cora happened to buy a jar of junk, at an estate style. The jar contained baubles, i.e., buttons, earrings, pins, marbles, AND two rings--a wedding ring set.
The story is about Cora tracing the engraved initials in the ring, to its owner. In doing so, she finds that the owner, Clarity, disappeared one day. Clarity wasn't accepted by the town and led a strange life. Her husband was married before and left his first wife and daughter for Clarity. Here I blame the husband. He was married and should never have allowed himself to become involved with Clarity. Mind you, he was not only leaving his wife, but he was also leaving his daughter, Beverly.
The author describes Lewis as a kind, and gentle soul, who would never hurt anyone. He was a victim of love. He couldn't help himself falling in love with Clarity.
Bull S###!
He destroyed two people's lives: his wife's and daughter's!
Lewis leaves his family, divorces first wife and marries Clarity (hence the rings). Lillian West, the author, tries to convince the readers of Lewis' good intentions. He's a good father to his daughter, Beverly. Not much is mentioned of how the wife takes it. How would you?
Clarity and Lewis have a daughter, Hazel. That makes Beverly and Hazel, sisters. Life goes on. Clarity and Lewis are happy. Not so much Beverly and the scorned first wife. Beverly loves her father, Lewis, but her mother's tears are upsetting. Beverly's homelife was destroyed by her father's marriage to Clarity.
If only Clarity wasn't in the picture, then Lewis would come back to Beverly's mother and life would go on, as it should have. This idea stewed in Beverly's mind.
The idea was realized when Beverly was 16. She took the chance to kill Clarity and buried her body. And her wish came true. Lewis remarried Beverly's mother, his first wife, and their life continued as best as it could.
Now Cora find's Clarity's wedding ring. The search for what happened to the ring's owner results in finding Clarity's skeleton, buried by Beverly. Beverly is caught and damned.
My question is, should she be?
If Beverly were in Massachusetts, and had served her life sentence, admirably for 20+ years, her case would be looked at. She might be given the chance to finish her life sentence, outside (not in prison). This doesn't mean that she was "scott free." Depending on the circumstances, she may have to wear a monitoring bracelet, for the rest of her life. She can't leave the state. She can't leave her home without her parole officer's permission. IOW, she's under house arrest for the rest of her life. The parole board would decide on the conditions of Beverly's release. This is the Mattis Law, as I understand it.
How do you judge Beverly? At 16, I would become enraged if someone stole by boyfriend, never mind my father! I hated many girls, for many reasons. I had many negative opinions that I grew out of. I looked at life in black and white. It's only by the grace of God that I never committed murder.
Of course, Pretty Dead Things, is only fiction. As I said, I couldn't help but relate the story to a few "cloistered brothers", that I know. The novel it home. There but for the grace of God, go I.
There's a difference between Hades and Gehenna. I always thought they were the same. It's the difference between hell and purgatory. Hades is a place you can't come back from
Gehenna is the name of the valley of the "sons of Hinnom," which is a place people sacrificed to Baal. The sacrifice was often people but more often garbage was thrown there. It was a dreadful place. The gases piled up in this dump and sometime combusted into tiny fires. Maybe the Gospels mentioning everlasting fire were thinking of the smoldering refuse in Gehenna.
Am I wrong in thinking that when Jesus descended to the dead, in the Apostle's Creed, He went down to get those people in Gehenna?
An accident happened because he was driving too fast. Fact.
That fact doesn't explain why he was driving too fast. He was actually following the ambulance his wife was in. He was killed and condemned for driving too fast.
There may be more to a story than face value.
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
"No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
A Lonesome Place for Dying by Nolan Chase is different, for me. Ethan Brand, the major character, in the story, is a cowboy. At least, I picture him wearing a cowboy hat and a sheriff's badge. The setting is the border of the state of Washington and Canada.
Brand's first crime in his new job as chief, is a murder. It's a young girl, who died in a lonesome place, the train tracks. Lab work, investigative questioning and following police procedures, lead Brand to one family. It's a well-known family; one brother in prison, and the other a prime suspect, since it was his girlfriend who was murdered.
The plot gets tense. It's a page turner. Brand, besides investigating a crime, has the mayor on his back. The mayor wants revenge, since Brand fired his son. It seemed that every day, Brand had to report to the mayor on the progress of solving the crime.
He does. Brand does figure everything out. The murderer is caught. But that's not the end. The sister in that crime-ridden family seems to be involved. Or is she? I see hints of another book, coming.
i walk on bones
snakes twisting
in my hand
locust breaking my mouth
an old man
leaving slavery.
home is burning in me
like a bush
God got his eye on.
If the title of Lucille Clifton's poem weren't "Moses," I wouldn't have a clue what this poem was about. However, the more I read it, the more I understand it. The bones and snakes and locusts represent the plagues; God sent to Pharoah. Moses was sent by God to free the Israelites from slavery. They roamed the desert for years, looking for a home. Home! That is really the theme of the poem, not Moses.
Moses met God in a bush that was on fire, but not burnt down. That bush drew Moses to it. Was not Moses drawn to a home? Does not home give warmth and light and love?
Do you think everyone in church has a personal relationship with God?
I know they don't. I used to be one of them. Every Sunday going to Church, bringing my children to church, sending them to Sunday School, even teaching Sunday School, and I thought I did have a relationship with Jesus. It was only superficial.
It was only when I felt His healing warm my body, enflame my head, did I listen. The Holy Spirit wouldn't leave me alone. It was exciting, like falling in love.
How does it go? Many are called; few are chosen.
Chosen--that's scary. Look at God's chosen people. Does it always involve suffering?
The Greatest Lie of All by Jullian Cantor comes at the reader with an interesting perspective. The protagonist, Gloria, is an actress, who was asked to portray her mother's favorite writer. At first, she was looking forward to the assignment and even went to live with the writer to get a feel for her role.
It didn't work out. The writer was rude and noncommunicative. This wasn't what Gloria expected from her novels. Gloria just couldn't get into the part.
There's the story. How Gloria finds out about the past that molded the writer is unexpected. Yet, it makes the plot complete, understandable, and moves to a happy ending.
A friend of mine recommended The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths. She said that since I like mystery series, I would enjoy Elly Griffiths' amateur sleuth, Ruth Galloway. I did enjoy the mystery, the writing, the plot, the setting, the pace, but I did not enjoy the fact that the characters have no moral standards when it comes to sex. It seems that chastity isn't a consideration. In fact, one of Ruth Galloway's best friends prefers to have affairs with married men, because then there would be no chance that they would want to get entangled with her. Ruth, herself, has a fling with the police detective investigating the crime. Isn't that unethical?
Besides, that flagrant behavior, the mystery is good. I kept guessing wrong perpetrators. Ruth is an archeologist, living on a desolate marsh. She becomes involved because bone identification is her specialty. Detective Nelson has been investigating a kidnapping for ten years. Recently, another little girl has been kidnapped. However, the bones that Ruth uncovered in her marsh are too old to be the victims.
There are notes taunting the police with archeological terms. Ruth helps with that. When she gets too close, she's endangered, also.
This is the author's first, in the series. I enjoyed the story. Too bad, everyone is sleeping with everyone's spouse and boyfriend. The story didn't need the sex. I think it detracted from the plot. The mystery could stand on its own.
It always bothered me that when John the Baptist was in prison, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He were the Messiah. Doesn't John...
