Halloween Night

Halloween Night
by
William Wyllie

Halloween night is here.
Ghosts and goblins will be near.
Some look creepy, some look cute.
Kids dressed up in Halloween suits.
You give them treats,
You give them candy.
To a cute little girl named Mandy.
They paint their pretty little heads
Like the Walk of the Living Dead.
They gross themselves out.
Till they make you scream and shout.
They dress like angels,
They dress like devils.
But believe me folks, they're on the level.
The living dead will rise when
the fall of night arrives.
They'll walk amongst the living.
They take without giving.
So friends don't drop out of sight
on this Halloween night.

The End

Lectio:

Solemnity of All Saints
Lectionary: 667

Reading 1RV 7:2-4, 9-14

I, John, saw another angel come up from the East,
holding the seal of the living God.
He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels
who were given power to damage the land and the sea,
"Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees
until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."
I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal,
one hundred and forty-four thousand marked
from every tribe of the children of Israel.

After this I had a vision of a great multitude,
which no one could count,
from every nation, race, people, and tongue.
They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
They cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne,
and from the Lamb."

All the angels stood around the throne
and around the elders and the four living creatures.
They prostrated themselves before the throne,
worshiped God, and exclaimed:

"Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,
honor, power, and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me,
"Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?"
I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows."
He said to me,
"These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb."

Studium:

This is John's revelation of the end-time.  It starts in the East because that's where Jesus is supposed to return.  In Genesis 2:8, the east is considered the entry point of light and the site of paradise.  

The seal marks believers and are protected.  Their number is perfect--the twelve tribes of Israel squared.  The second crowd of innumerable people is everyone else.  The long white robes are a sign of their resurrected status.  The palm branches are a symbol of victory.  The martyrs are the ones who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.

Meditatio:

The ultimate triumph is our faithfulness.  I long to be in this parade of martyrs, the chosen, the persevering, holding palms and crying out "Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb."

Oratio:

You are the One.  You are my Beloved.  You, O Lord is my reason for being.  I owe everything to you and long to be with You.

Contemplatio:

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Wrong Way

I guess I'm a linear thinker.  I guess I take things too literally.  I know I'm an idiot.

I was watching Bishop Baron's video on the Youth Synod and he introduces his topic by saying, "the couple on the road to Emmaus were going the wrong way..." 

They were?  You mean they were going south when Emmaus is north?  I didn't know what he meant.  I vaguely heard the rest of the video because I was stuck on "the wrong direction." 

Not until a friend explained to me that the Bishop didn't mean a physical direction.  He meant that the couple shouldn't have left Jerusalem.  That's where all the action was.  They were going away from the apostles when they should have stayed.

oh.

Red Sox Fans Define the Church Militant

Today I was teaching the Church Triumphant, the Church Militant, and the Church Suffering.  The Church Triumphant represents the souls in heaven.  We who are still battling evil represent the Church Militant.  And lastly, the souls in purgatory represent the Church Suffering.

I think I did a good job because as the class was leaving, Luis said that tonight he would represent the Church suffering because he was going to watch the Red Sox play the Dodgers.

You see the Red Sox are the local team in Boston.  The Dodgers are from Los Angeles.  They are playing each other in the World Series.  The past few games have been played in Los Angeles which means to us on the east coast that we are staying up very late to watch them, because of the four hour time change.  One of their games broke the record for the longest innings played--18!  It didn't end for us until 3 AM, and the Red Sox lost that one.  But in the World Series, the winner is the one with four wins out of six.

So Luis was inferring that he would be suffering staying up late worrying if the Red Sox would win.

Find Me, Lord

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 149

LECTIO:

Reading 1JER 31:7-9

Thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
exult at the head of the nations;
proclaim your praise and say:
The LORD has delivered his people,
the remnant of Israel.
Behold, I will bring them back
from the land of the north;
I will gather them from the ends of the world,
with the blind and the lame in their midst,
the mothers and those with child;
they shall return as an immense throng.
They departed in tears,
but I will console them and guide them; 
I will lead them to brooks of water,
on a level road, so that none shall stumble.
For I am a father to Israel,
Ephraim is my first-born.

Studium: 

Jeremiah is prophesying the future.  The remnant of Israel is in Egypt, but they will be brought back to their homeland.  All of them, scattered, will throng back home.

  Jacob is the second born son who tricked his father into giving him the blessing belonging to the first son.  And referenced here is, Joseph bringing his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim to his father, Jacob,  for a blessing.  Manasseh and Ephraim were Joseph's sons born in Egypt.  Manasseh is the firstborn, but he doesn't get the blessing belonging to the first son because Jacob crosses his hands, so that his right hand rests on the second son's head.  This was done on purpose so that Ephraim will get the firstborn son's blessing.  Joseph speaks up, "No, no Father, put your right hand on the firstborn." 

 But his father refused, and said: "I know, my son, I know. He, too, will become a nation; he, too, will be great. But his younger brother shall be even greater than he." (Genesis 48:14-19)

 Ephraim represents the exiles who physically and spiritually return.

Meditatio:

I guess Lord, like a strong father, you take us back into the fold no matter how far we stray from you.  It doesn't matter where or who, we will all return.

Oratio:

Father, deliver us from the evil that tempts us.  We need to come home to rest.  And only in You do we find peace.

Contemplatio:

Thy Kingdom come.  Thy will be done.

Loving Creation

Why does Bree Jo'ann's poem make me think of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "How do I Love Thee (Sonnet 43)"?

#Mood   Bree Jo'ann

I like literature that makes me think:          Banana Republic, Victoria’s Secret, Forever 21, A constant reference to the things that I’m supposed to want, but ironically, but effectively, like a commercial that employs racial stereotypes but still makes me want to go to that restaurant to scoop the vestiges of salad on my plate with a piece of bread.  Before I moved, I was obsessed with the mall. I wanted to spray myself with scents and wear overpriced loungewear as a nihilistic act. I like Instagram posts that make me think:          Crystals, juice, my psychic, These collective practices of the personal. I can feel my heart is a gravitational force, and my head bonded only by mystical means. One end attracts, the other repulses.  Some of my friends live in the neighborhood, some live in the woods. We talk about how to combat gentrification and what to do if you see a ghost. I like Twitter posts that make me think:          Meaningless, prescription drugs, inadequacy.  I felt resistant to aimless positivity for a long time. I wanted to be a soulless yoga bitch with blacked out eyes doing drugs on a pontoon, a perfect body filled with destruction. I wanted to create a cult to my body, but most jobs think its cute to show gratitude with carbs and Seroquel gives me the munchies. I like life experiences that make me think:          Fish tank, trees, justice, we made it, aliens, secret society, perfect feed, torrent download, hair and makeup, freak paradise, small objects on a window sill, sweet flea market find, alternative section, slow motion suburban intro with darkwave soundtrack, oasis in the ghetto with organic snacks, etc.

Natural Law Theory: Crash Course Philosophy #34