Jesus, Jesus, Wake UP!

Cardinal DiNardo said, "Considering the "cosmic" damage caused by Hurricane Harvey so far, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said Monday, “The people of Houston, I have to sayare rather resilient, but this is really stretching them." Calling for prayer on behalf of the affected region across the country and around the world, DiNardo said, “I think we have to wake up Jesus in the boat!”

Jesus in the boat is a reference to Matthew 8: 23-27.  

Enough!  Hurricane Harvey caused the kind of panic we now see in Texas.  They need God's help, yesterday!  It's time to appeal to God.

Avoiding Embarrassing Situations Receiving Holy Communion

A Priest Distributes Communion As Pope Francis Celebrates Mass Marking The Feast Of Pentecost In St. Peter's Square At The Vatican June 4. (CNS Photo/Paul Haring)

Avoiding Embarrassing Situations Receiving Holy Communion: I was recently making a retreat at a Monastery in the Catskills. At Sunday Mass, I was asked by the Chaplain to distribute the Precious Blood to the nuns and lay people in attendance.

This article in the Pilot relates the story of the priest distributing the Eucharist and asking the person if they were Catholic. It was a girl.  She must have not been holding her hands out correctly.  Just in case you didn't know that there is a correct way to receive, this article will tell you how.

God the Designer

For Boston priest and bishop, eclipse trip went 'from science to spiritual very fast': BRAINTREE -- For three days they traveled, driving a total of 1,352 miles from Massachusetts to their eventual destination of Athens, Tenn. Once there, they pulled into a parking lot, put down chairs, and settled in to watch the show.



Father Paul Soper and Bishop Mark O'Connell, the event marked their friendship with clarity.  Clarity?  During an eclipse? Yes, their friendship with clarity, not the event--itself.  You see Father Paul is interested in science, Bishop Mark is interested in law/people/etc.--not science.  Their friendship is an example.  They are different but enjoy and appreciate each other's uniqueness.



Since science can tell us when each eclipse is coming, Father Paul and Bishop Mark have been planning to see it since they were in the seminary.  And so they did.  Bishop Mark said, "all very interesting, cool science, but not exhilarating."


Father Paul saw it differently: "It was exhilarating to me!" he chimed in amid laughter. "I like the science!"


In fact, Father Paul connected it to God who created it, "from science to spiritual" real fast--light speed.  ;-)

Update on Poem Project

Last April I presented the My Favorite Poem Project to my writers' group, the Senior Scribblers.  They said, "Go for it!"  So I thought I'd tell you how it's progressing.

I think it's progressing very, very well.  The local newspaper is covering it.  The local cable company is covering it.  And!  They are reading their favorite poems.

I have sent out twenty six invitations.  I've got back eleven.  Six have said yes.

I've got the space secured and the time.  I'm in the process of making up flyers.

What do you think?

Trust

Lectio: Isaiah 22:19-23

Thus says the Lord to Shebna, master of the palace:  

"I will thrust you from your office
and pull you down from your station.
On that day I will summon my servant
Eliakim, son of Hilkiah;
I will clothe him with your robe,
and gird him with your sash,
and give over to him your authority.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and to the house of Judah.
I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim's shoulder;
when he opens, no one shall shut,
when he shuts, no one shall open.
I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot,
to be a place of honor for his family."

Studium:

It was not unusual for a change of positions in the court.  Princes are fickle.  In these verses, Shebna is in disgrace.  He was the treasurer.  What he specifically did is not the point.  He did something.  The point is that temporal positions aren't forever.  Don't rely on princes.  Their favors are fickle.  We need to pray for our princes (leaders).
   Eliakim is God's servant and He has called him to a higher position.  It was foretold that Eliakim should be put in Shabna's place.

Meditatio:

It's easy to identify with Shebna, in today's world--not his crime, but certainly his demotion.  Today, young college graduates are often hired by large fortune 500 companies because they're cheap, bright, and hard working.  They're anxious to prove themselves.  Give these same young lads twenty years, and it is not uncommon to find themselves out of a job--to make room for the next generation of smart young college graduates because they're cheaper than their fifty-year-old predecessors.
    I'm sure everyone knows their jobs are not like a peg in a sure spot.  That's just the way, today.  Only God is constant.  He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Oratio:

Lord, be at my side, always. Be my companion.  Help me to do Your Will and not be anxious about my job and home life.  Give me the grace to trust in You.  You alone are the same.  Your love and care I need to trust.

Contemplatio:

Lord, Your love is eternal.  Thank You for loving me.

No one Cares

The Coleridge Taylor Mysteries are about a newspaper reporter who is interested in solving the murders no one cares about.  Lights Out Summer by Rich Zahradnik is the latest Coleridge Taylor mystery.

 

Taylor works for a news wire.  The large, flashy newspapers cover the big news.  They seek the sensational, the latest titillation that the public seems to clamor over.  But Taylor would rather find the story of the people who interest him the most, like Martha Gibson.

Martha was a hard working young woman, who was murdered.  The crime seemed unsolvable, but Taylor was determined to find the killer.  In researching Martha’s life, he becomes enmeshed in Martha’s sister’s drug life and her employers’ rich lifestyle.

The reader will expect the drug dealer to have killed Martha.  Then it seems like someone in Martha’s employer’s family.  All this sleuthing is done on the side because Taylor has to do some reporting on other news. 

Taylor has a girl friend named Samantha, who is a private detective.  Taylor’s grandfather owns a coffee shop where Taylor and Samantha hang out.  It’s a place to relax and regroup.  Taylor often uses it as a meeting place.  Samantha and Grandpa support Taylor and help him recharge, besides offering him a sounding board to bounce his theories against.

I liked the pace in Lights Out Summer.  It was faster paced when the thrills erupted on the scene.  There were moments when I thought Martha Gibson was murdered by the Son of Sam.  Oh, that psycho is around.  In fact, the newspapers are clamoring over themselves to get that story out.  But Taylor only pays lip service to the Son of Sam.  He’s more interested in Martha Gibson. She was a good girl who came from a loving and supporting family.  And the police and media don’t seem to care because they’re chasing Son of Sam.  The author has the reader caring about Martha, too. 

That’s the beauty of the story.  The author has the reader care. The characters are delineated well. They are real people.  (Speaking fictionally)  I know people just like these characters.  Unfortunately, I know a few murderers.  (I volunteer in a prison.)  I know enough that people are people and everyone has choices to make. Unfortunately, some bad choices are life altering mistakes.

 Lights Our Summer is a good choice to read.  You just may get hooked on the Coleridge Taylor mysteries.  I was given this book to read and review, but my opinion is my own choice.

Author’s Web Site:
http://www.richzahradnik.com/

Rich Zahradnik's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/richzahradnik/

Rich Zahradnik's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/rzahradnik
 
Rich Zahradnik's Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8335771.Rich_Zahradnik

Rich Zahradnik's Blog:
http://www.richzahradnik.com/blog/

Lights Out Summer Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34605303-lights-out-summer

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

Lights Out Summer blog tour site:
http://lightsoutsummerblogtour.blogspot.com/

Rich Zahradnik's Bio:

Rich Zahradnik is the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed Coleridge Taylor Mystery series (Lights Out Summer, A Black Sail, Drop Dead Punk, Last Words).



The first three books have been shortlisted or won awards in the three major competitions for novels from independent presses. A Black Sailwas named winner in the mystery category of the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Drop Dead Punk collected the gold medal for mystery ebook in the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards. Last Words won the bronze medal for mystery/thriller ebook in the 2015 IPPYs and honorable mention for mystery in the 2015 Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards.

"Taylor, who lives for the big story, makes an appealingly single-minded hero," Publishers Weekly wrote of Drop Dead Punk.

 A Black Sailreceived a starred review from Library Journal, which said, “Fans of the late Barbara D’Amato and Bruce DeSilva will relish this gritty and powerful crime novel.”

Zahradnik was a journalist for 25-plus years, working as a reporter and editor in all major news media, including online, newspaper, broadcast, magazine and wire services. He held editorial positions at CNN, Bloomberg News, Fox Business Network, AOL and The Hollywood Reporter.



Zahradnik was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1960 and received his B.A. in journalism and political science from George Washington University. He lives with his wife Sheri and son Patrick in Pelham, New York, where he writes fiction and teaches kids around the New York area how to write news stories and publish newspapers.

  
Lights Out Summer Book Summary:

In March 1977, ballistics link murders going back six months to the same Charter Arms Bulldog .44. A serial killer, Son of Sam, is on the loose. But Coleridge Taylor can't compete with the armies of reporters fighting New York's tabloid war--only rewrite what they get. Constantly on the lookout for victims who need their stories told, he uncovers other killings being ignored because of the media circus. He goes after one, the story of a young Black woman gunned down in her apartment building the same night Son of Sam struck elsewhere in Queens.

The story entangles Taylor with a wealthy Park Avenue family at war with itself. Just as he's closing in on the killer and his scoop, the July 13-14 blackout sends New York into a 24-hour orgy of looting and destruction. Taylor and his PI girlfriend Samantha Callahan head out into the darkness, where a steamy night of mob violence awaits them.

In the midst of the chaos, a suspect in Taylor's story goes missing. Desperate, he races to a confrontation that will either break the story--or Taylor.

Book 4 in the Coleridge Taylor Mystery series.
 

Prices/Formats: $4.95 ebook, $15.95 paperback, $29.95 audio
Genre: Historical, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Pages: 288
Release: October 1, 2017
Publisher: Camel Press
ISBN: 9781603812139

Amazon buy link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/160381213X?&tag=tributebooks-20

Barnes and Noble buy link:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lights-out-summer-rich-rich-zahradnik/1126293458?ean=9781603812139

IndieBound buy link:
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781603812139

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Cat Got Your Tongue?

Has the cat got your tongue?  It's an expression that is asking someone why they're not answering.  Well, my cat didn't have my tongue, he had my iPad.

I've been looking for my iPad for four days.  The last time I saw it, one of my grandchildren was playing a game on it.  I've been looking for it, ever since.

I'd hear it gong for the Angelus.  So three times a day, I'd be alert to listen from what direction the gong sound of the Angelus was coming from. It was in the living room, somewhere.  I dusted.  I vacuumed, lifting furniture.  I searched the bookcase.  I tore the room apart.

NADA!

I prayed to Saint Anthony:

Tony, Tony, please come down.
Something's lost and must be found.

Today I went to my Lay Dominican Chapter.  During the Intercessions in Evening Prayer, I asked that my iPad be found.  Afterward, one of my "cloistered brothers," suggested I go to the APPLE website and have them find it.  I said, "How can they find it?"  He said they'd "ping it."

Not quite.  But he offered me hope.

I have an iPhone. The iPhone and iPad are compatible since they are both Apple products.  I asked Siri, on my iPhone to find my iPad.

Up popped a map of my location.  I saw my street and neighboring streets.  Near the end of my street was a house.  It was my house!  Near my house was a blinking target circle.

Ah, my iPad! At first, I thought it was in my car, outside.  But as I walked through my house, the blinking target moved closer.  Soon the house and target were one. I was in the living room.  But I had looked there...everywhere...but NOT the cat's blanket.

I had never touched that dirty blanket full of cat hair.  But when I picked it up, VOILA!

Deus Gratias!

And thanks to St. Anthony's intercession which prompted me to add the loss of my iPad to the Evening Prayer's intercessions.  And thanks to my "cloistered brother" who suggested that I go to  Apple.  And thanks again St. Anthony for having Siri find the location.  Finally, thanks, Saint Anthony for prompting me to pick up the cat's blanket.

I feel like throwing a party.  (Luke 15: 8-10)