Attitudes Toward Humor

 Humor changes over time.  This may sound horrible to you today, but in the 1950's my father would tell the story of his cat having too many kittens.  So he put the mother cat and the kittens in a potato sack with some rocks and threw it in the river.  When he got home, there was the mother cat sitting on the steps waiting for him.  Everyone laughed--then.

Today it's not funny.  That's what I think happened to me when I tried to read A Confederacy of Dunces.  It must have been funny when John Kennedy Toole wrote the novel in  1980s, but I don't find it funny at all.  The major protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly is stomach-turning gross.  I can't continue to read it.  I'm putting the book down on page 149.  

Humor changes over time.

Redemptive Suffering

  What is the Catholic teaching on suffering?  from Wekepoedia

The Catholic Church sees human suffering as a chance to follow the example of Christ and believe that it is a part of God's plan. The document aims to reconcile suffering and pain with the belief in a loving God. Those who suffer here on Earth are united in that suffering with Christ, who died on the cross.

Redemptive suffering is the Christian belief that human suffering, when accepted and offered up in union with the Passion of Jesus, can remit the just punishment for one's sins or for the sins of another, or for the other physical or spiritual needs of oneself or another.

Cardinal Pell in an address he gave at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo, California said he offered up his suffering in prison.  He thought of Christ's suffering and united himself to Him.

I also just got off the phone with a friend who is in great mental and emotional anguish.  She also is offering her pain as redemptive suffering.  So the pain can be physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Anyone can offer their pain up.  Don't waste your suffering.  Think of the suffering of Jesus and unite yourself to Him.

Breast Feeding

 I wish I knew there was a devotion to Our Lady of La Leche when I was a nursing mom--especially when I had a breast infection. I probably thought that pictures and statues of Mary nursing Jesus would have been gross, at that time.  But think of it--pictures of naked bodies are commonplace.

Well, I've matured.

Thank You Mr. Leco

 My friend brought me out for lunch on my birthday, today, and we were surprised with an unexpected present. When it came time for the bill, the waitress told us that the bill had already been paid for by Mr. Leco.

Who?

Mr. Leco.  Who's that?  

He was nobody we knew.

And he didn't know it was my birthday.  Maybe he does this for Christmas.

Whatever!  Thank you Mr. Leco.

My Friend, Joan.

Christmas Bazaar

Fatima Shrine
Holliston, MA

 

Saturday, December 11, 2021

10:00 AM  --  3:00 PM

 

The shrine’s lights are on display from December 9 – 28, hot chocolate available.

Ezekiel's Prophesy

 It's bizarre that I'm preparing a Lenten Reflection Booklet for my Lay Dominican Region and looking at scripture prophesizing redemption, and in real-time I'm in Advent.  Read what Gus, one of my "cloistered brothers" wrote for Ezekiel 37: 21-28 and John 11: 45-56, and see if his words aren't also describing the birth of Jesus.

Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem, after bringing Lazarus back to life.  Jesus is fulfilling Ezekiel's prophesy.  

Thus speaks the Lord God: 'I will take the Israelites from among the nations to which they have come...to bring them back to their land... My dwelling shall be with them...my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever. 

Jesus begins in Bethlehem and ends in Jerusalem.  He will dwell among His people and bring the promised land to them.  His sanctuary to us Catholics is the tabernacle.  It is set up among His people, forever.

Life is Real Drama

This novel, Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard has everything life can throw at a woman.  The setting is between 1970-1980 because the story references Princess Diana and the Challenger rocket exploding. There's death, tragic accidents, marital infidelity, gender dystopia, estrangement, divorce, poverty, success, failure, and more I'm sure.  There were chapters that kept me awake reading because I didn't want to stop in the middle of desperation.

Joyce Maynard drew her characters well.  Each person is distinct and perfectly characterized.  The setting is New Hampshire and Boston.  The farmhouse, itself, is a character.  This house was really created by Eleanor, the main character.  Her stamp is on it, even when she gives it to her "ex".  The story even ends with the farmhouse.  It sounds like a place you would have liked to grow up in. In fact, Eleanor is the mother you wish you had, or were yourself. She really was a wonderful mother and a good wife until tragedy struck the family.  Then the plot twists, taking your heart with it because it twists all the characters.  

But life goes on.  Children grow up.  Love comes and goes and comes and goes.  After all, this is real life, not a story.  Oh, wait...