“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan,” words famously spoken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he addressed a joint session of Congress. He finished his speech with a request for Congress to make a formal declaration of war against Japan, thus entering the United States into World War II. Continue reading
The first reading today again comes from the Prophet Isaiah. In yesterday’s post what has been, in times past, promised and announced, comes to fruition as the Promise One is depicted as ruling. In place of the kings from the line of David which proved to be faithless and fickle, in defiance of the empires such as Assyria, those verses describe a king in who ushers in a reign of safety and security to which the weary exiles may come streaming in return. Continue reading
The first reading today again comes from the Prophet Isaiah. In yesterday’s post there is some background on the prophet and his writings which might prove insightful in this first week of Advent readings. But in today’s reading the messianic hope which began to be expressed in Isaiah 7:14 (Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel) and which was amplified in 9:1–6 (The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone…) comes to full flower. Continue reading
Tomorrow should be Feast of St. Francis Xavier SJ, however, the 1st Sunday of Advent is celebrated. I remember in March of 2013 while returning from a meeting of the priests of the deanery, the radio announced that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit, had been elected and taken the name Pope Francis. My first thought was, “that’s a great choice” to take the name of one of the amazing saints of the Jesuit order, Francis Xavier, one of the church’s most widely traveled missionaries. I remember thinking that it was a sign that the universal (katholica) church would increasingly focus its attention on the world of the southern hemisphere.
In this 34th week of Ordinary Time, in the shadow of the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe, we have been reading from the Book of Daniel, a book used in conjunction with Revelation to conjure predictions of the end of the world… depending on whether you are post-millennial, pre-millennial, or amillennial…but then that is a topic for another post. Continue reading
Today is the feast of St. Andrew, the one named the Prōtoklētos – or “first called.” Andrew is so designated because as it tells us in the Gospel of John (John 1:35–42) Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, whose testimony first led him to follow Jesus. Andrew at once recognized Jesus as the Messiah and hastened to introduce him to his brother, Simon Peter. Jesus called; Andrew answered: Apostle, missionary, martyr. Continue reading
Despite the title, clearly many non-native English speakers pick up the language. That being said, English, with its intricate phonetic structure and complex pronunciation rules, can present unique obstacles. One common issue is the difficulty in producing specific English sounds that do not exist in many other languages. Continue reading
As in the image, we often decorate our autumn and Thanksgiving pictures with a horn of plenty also known a cornucopia. Cornucopia comes from the Late Latin cornu copiae, which translates literally as “horn of plenty.” A traditional staple of feasts, the cornucopia is believed to represent the horn of a goat from Greek mythology. Continue reading
The Thanksgiving holiday offers a little extra “down time” from the ebb and flow of parish life. It offers time to accomplish things, let the mind wander, read a book, or spend time thinking about a random assortment of words and phrases. With the Thanksgiving dinner complete, the refrigerator brimming with leftovers, one wonders about the phrase “cold turkey.” Continue reading
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