New York Times’ Michael Roston, a senior staff editor in the science department, reports that 2024 will be the year of the “Lunar Traffic Jam.” He reported that “Three missions attempted to land on the moon in 2023. Only one, Chandrayaan-3 from India, succeeded. Four additional missions — and perhaps even more — will also try to complete a lunar landing in 2024:” Continue reading
Tish Harrison Warren, an Episcopal priest and opinion writer for the NY Times recently mused on the effects of television, social media and the like and their influence on our times. She noted that “in an Opinion essay exploring this idea in The Times last August, Ezra Klein noted that Neil Postman, the author of the influential 1985 book ‘Amusing Ourselves to Death,’ argued that television turned everything, no matter how serious and important, into entertainment. This development transformed society; it changed how we relate to ourselves and one another.” Continue reading
THY WILL BE DONE – Are we completely giving ourselves over to God’s will? And embracing the high adventure of His plan, over our plan, wherever that may lead?
LOVE OUR PEOPLE – Are we loving our people above all else and as if they are Jesus in disguise? Are we detached from things, money, power, honor and comfort, so we are free to love people most fully? Are we helping each person take one step closer to reaching their own dreams in this world and becoming a saint in the next? Continue reading
There is a classic Christmas song known as the Coventry Carol. The carol was traditionally performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The play depicts the Christmas story the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2. The carol itself refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed. It is a lament that is imagined having been sung by the mothers of the children lost to Herod’s cruelty. It combines the sound of their weeping with the gentle cadences of a lullaby. The lullaby is known as “Lully Lullay.” The account of the Holy Innocents is today’s gospel. You can view a video of the carol being performed by the King’s College Choir. Continue reading
Here in the first week of Advent the readings from the Old Testament are taken from the Prophet Isaiah, a book that is quoted and referenced more than 300 times in the New Testament. The days of readings are not taken from a sequence, but are a collection of well-known passages from Isaiah. So, I thought it good to provide a context for the readings with a few notes on the Monday reading. Continue reading
Writing earlier about St. Francis Xavier, I was reminded about a Franciscan missioner, John of Montecorvino, whose feast was November 29. Mention John of Montecorvino and most people – even most Franciscans – will say “who?” John was the first Catholic missionary to China, centuries before the efforts of other Catholic religious orders. It is a compelling story. If you would like to read an interesting and accessible account of the travel within the context of an art historian comparing 13th century Italian and Chinese art, read Lauren Arnold’s: Princely Gifts & Papal Treasures: The Franciscan Mission to China & Its Influence on the Art of the West, 1250-1350 – fascinating book.
This coming Sunday is the 1st Sunday of Advent in the new Liturgical Year. Jesus concluded his response by stressing the responsibility of maintaining vigilance. The duty to watch draws its force from the fact that “no one knows” the critical moment of God’s decisive intervention. Perhaps one is surprised that the lack of knowledge includes “nor the Son.” Early on the clause “nor the Son” attracted the attention of theologians anxious to trace the christological implications in the confession of ignorance, but that inquiry misses the point. Continue reading
The gospel readings so far this week have been from Luke 21, a chapter that is prophetic, apocalyptic, and sometimes seen as Wisdom literature. The context is in the middle of the last week of Jesus’ life. As the disciples are admiring the Jerusalem Temple, Jesus tells them: “All that you see here—the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” (Luke 21:6) Jesus offers a description of this time – a description that was the final verse of yesterday’s gospel: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.” (vv.10-11) Continue reading
It was February 1964 and as was the family tradition we were watching the Ed Sullivan Show, a Sunday evening television variety show that ran on CBS from 1948 into 1971. That evening the BIG event was the first live television appearance of the Beatles. The nation was in the grip of “Beatlemania.” At the end of their performance, my father solemnly announced” “that’s not music, it is just a bunch of noise.” I think we were referred to the true musical offerings of Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, either of the Dorsey brothers, Diana Shore, Doris Day and some others. Like so many in the greatest generation the 1960s were confusing times as he watched the country enter a period of cultural and civil unrest. Everything was changing. More than once he lamented that if the world would stop, he might just get off. Continue reading
The Washington Post Editorial Board had an interesting post this morning about, as the title hints, what is the state of marriage, is it being affected by current politics/political divides, and how is this all seen by young people entering adulthood? After reading the article I sought out some information on the general state of marriage in the United States. Continue reading
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