Traditional Mary

See these artists' depictions of Mary at the Annunciation.  My "cloistered brothers" and I were discussing the artists' interpretations.  Of course, this led to our own individual ideas of Mary at the Annunciation.

I think we passed a couple of hours in discussion.  It was very spiritually fruitful.  I was very impressed with this session.  I'm still meditating about our thoughts.

What is troubling is the fact that some people miss out on the Catholic view of Mary, the Annunciation, and Incarnation of Christ.  Walking away from having this graced filled experience with my "cloistered brothers,"  I walked with a couple of Protestant ministers.  I was so filled with the enthusiastic  benevolence I had received from this discussion, that I talked about my experience with these ministers.

I showed them these pictures.  I pointed out the various different expressions on Mary's faces.  I rattled on about some of the insightful comments my "cloistered brothers," shared.  I was happily praising and presenting my own interpretations.

But they looked embarrassed.  They put their heads and eyes down.

One of them said, "I take a more traditional view of Mary."

"OK"  I said.  "What's more traditional than Fra Angelico's Mary?  Look at this beautiful picture of the angel announcing...."  I could see he was shaking his head "No."

"OK" I continued.  "You know Mary is called the New Eve.  How far back do I have to go, for you to consider Mary traditional?"

They walked away from me, shaking their heads.

I don't get it.  They can't even look at Mary?  They can't look at art?  What do they do in school when the teacher discusses Michelangelo, Botticelli, Rembrandt, Lippi, etc?

Who do they think the scriptures are referring to as the Daughter of Zion, the embodiment of Nation Israel, the Ark of the Covenant, the bride at the Messianic Wedding Banquet, etc.?

What about Genesis 3: 15
Isaias 7: 1-17
Micheas 5: 2-3
Jeremias 31:22
.....

Wow.  I don't get it.  Thank God I'm Catholic and can appreciate more fully the Trinity and all its revelatory experience.

Sunday Snippets -- A Catholic Carnival

Rejoice!  I say it again, rejoice!  It's the third Sunday of Advent and the Lord is coming.  \0/ \0/ \0/  

RAnn asks what spiritual gift I would like to be blessed with.  What I need is the gift of moderation.  I tend to jump in with both feet, when just a toe would do.  Please God, place a hand over my mouth, handcuffs on my hands, and shackle my feet to You.  Sit on me Lord, I don't want to make a fool out of myself, anymore; although I will for you.

Now for Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival, where I give you my week, in review.  This post will link up to RAnn's This That And The Other Thing, where other bloggers will also link up.  Together, we share, read, and discuss our posts.  It's fun.

Monday -- I wanted to call attention to the vocation story of three seminarians, one of whom is from my own parish.  Patrick Fiorillo gives witness to his faith journey.  Pray for Pat and his classmates.

Tuesday -- A rant against recreational sex and living together.

Wednesday -- I prayed.

Thursday -- Commercial for Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology

Thursday -- Book Review on Scott Lerner's Ruler of Demons.

Friday -- Short Story for my granddaughter.

Saturday -- The Blues

Christmas is getting closer.  I've finished the Christmas cards.  I've lit the pink candle on the Advent wreath.  I'm ready.

Where Are You At?

Father Rocco told us about Beverly Blue, this morning.  She was a lady with a big voice and a big heart.  In the morning, every morning, Beverly helped make sandwiches for the homeless.  In the evening she sang the Blues.  She was good at both.

One of Father Rocco's students was amazed.  At what?  That she made sandwiches for the homeless and sang the Blues.  "How can she do that?" The student asked.

Father Rocco responded, "because that's where Jesus has led her."

Where has
Jesus led you?

Lucy Lego

Lucy Lego’s Christmas Ordeal

The big tub said 1000 legos.  But nobody bothered to count.  Among the lego blocks were some lego people.  Lucy was one of them.  She was a happy lego little girl.  She loved to play with the children and had as much fun as they did.

The children received the 1000 legos for Christmas and liked to play under the Christmas tree with them.  Particularly nice, was when all the lights in the room were turned off, except the Christmas tree lights.  Lucy Lego’s eyes sparkled with the reflection of the lights. 

She was a favorite of the children because there weren’t any other child legos.  There were her parents, and a lego dog and a lego cat.  Sometimes the children would fight over her.  This frightened Lucy because their Mother said that she would take Lucy Lego and throw her away, if the fighting didn’t stop. 

But the fighting didn’t stop.  One little boy was mean, and refused to share.  This made the little brother  cry, and the other children called him a “cry baby.”

Mother came in the room and picked up Lucy Lego, and made the children pick up all the other 999 legos.  The cover was put on the lego tub, and Lucy Lego was carried away.  Everyone was sent to bed.

Lucy Lego cried too.  Any minute she expected the Mother to throw her away in the waste basket.  But she didn’t.  Mother put Lucy Lego in an empty sugar bowl in a cupboard.

If Lucy Lego weren’t so confused and worried, she would have noticed that she was saved.  She wasn’t discarded with the trash, at all.  She was in a safe place.  The cupboard wasn’t so bad.  She could hear the family and the children.  Once in a while, when the cupboard was opened, she could even get a peak outside. The sugar bowl was pretty and cozy.

The twelfth day after Christmas, Grandma was coming over for dinner.  The cupboard was opened and the best dishes were taken out, along with the creamer and sugar bowl.  Mother took Lucy Lego out of the sugar bowl and dropped her into an apron pocket.

 

After dinner, the children went to play under the tree, as usual.  The Father gathered the children around himself, and told the children the story of the three Magi, following the Star of David, to find the promised baby, Jesus.  The three Magi brought gifts for the new born baby.  And to carry on that tradition of gift giving, Father gave the children a big box of crayons.  Grandma gave the children a music box that played Silent Night.  And Mother gave the children Lucy Lego.

The screams of delight echoed Merry Christmas!

Ruler of Demons

Scott A. Lerner’s Ruler of Demons is a fast read.  At first I laughed out loud at the depiction of Catholic transubstantiation, Catholic clergy, and the hovering hints of secret plots.  My Catholic senses braced for Catholic bashing and ridiculous portrayals of what I hold sacred.  But then I got drawn into the story.

The story has the major character, Sam, in a race, to solve a puzzle, prevent more ritualistic murders, and crazy as you probably think, force God’s hand to end the world.  You won’t think it’s so crazy when you’re in the story.

Hey, this isn’t theology 101; it’s a story, and you will be following Sam, and his sidekick, Bob, traveling from the USA, to Israel, to France.  They have a week to fix everything, solve the mystery, debunk the myth, and stop the bad guys.  And oh yeah, save the world.

One of the best techniques in this thriller is the pace.  Your heart will race.  But you won’t have a heart attack, because the author is skilled in breaking up the pace with humor.  Sam’s and Bob’s banter will make you laugh.  Sometimes you have to stop and think, and then you’ll guffaw.  (He who laughs last laughs best.)  They’re clever, witty, and likeable.    

I think everyone will enjoy this story.  You won’t figure it out.  You won’t expect any of the twists  the characters find themselves going through.  You won’t want the world to end.  Yet, (no spoilers)!

This book was provided by the author and Tribute Books for review purposes.

Link: http://www.tribute-books.com/blog_tours.html

Prices/Formats: $4.95 ebook, $13.95 paperback
Pages: 202
ISBN: 9781603819053
Publisher: Camel Press
Release: December 15, 2013

Scott A. Lerner's Amazon buy link:
http://www.amazon.com/Scott-A.-Lerner/e/B008WXJWSS/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Ruler of Demons blog tour site:
http://rulerofdemons.blogspot.com/

Ruler of Demons Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18761202-ruler-of-demons

Enter the $ 25 raffle give away at Amazon. Good Luck and Merry Christmas. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prayer by Drake, Tutu, and the One True Faith

My "cloistered brothers" and I examined a prayer by Archbishop Desmond Tutu from the Forgiveness Project.  At the bottom of the prayer, credit was given to the original prayer by Sir Francis Drake.  My curiosity was piqued by the name Sir Francis Drake?  Wasn't he a pirate and traitor?

 Naturally, I googled him.  He wasn't a traitor and he was a legal pirate.  He raided the Spanish and at that time, Spain and England were at war, so his illegal endeavors were sanctioned or winked at.

He did write, including poetry, and the prayer that is famous.  When I compared the two prayers, I didn't see any difference in meaning.  Surely there are words that are different, but not the sentiment.  I imagined Archbishop Tutu memorized this prayer, but when he wrote it down, he didn't write  word for word.  The same ideas came across.  I like it, and I want to do the same.  My take on the Francis Drake Prayer:

Disturb us Lord, when we're drifting,
When our course doesn't allow for Your Wind,
Because we think we're in charge.

Disturb us Lord, when the cargo is heavy,
When we want to keep what we have,
Because we forget  we owe everything to You.

Disturb us Lord, when  weather comes upon us,
When we're frightened and feel so all alone,
Because we doubt Your Presence and Power.

Help us Lord, when we look for shore,
When we're tired and need to anchor,
Because it's time to come home.

We ask this in the name of Our Savior, Lord, Redeemer, Your Son, Jesus Christ, Our Captain.

###

Here's my inspiration.

Sir Francis Drake's Prayer                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

 #########################

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, O Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess,
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
When, having fallen in love with time,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of Heaven to grow dim.

Stir us, O Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms show Thy mastery,
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

In the name of Him who pushed back
The horizons of our hopes;
And invited the brave to follow.
                         Amen

 The red is what different in the prayers between Sir Francis Drake and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.