Category Archives: Musings

Phone bills and restaurant tabs

Posted on by
Reply

Did you ever look at your phone/mobile monthly bill? There are all kinds of charges that are often listed that are beyond the charges you’d expect for various communications services. And am not talking about “cramming charges.” Those are the charges that your telephone company allow 3rd party vendors to charge to your phone bill. Charges that are explained on your telephone bill in general terms such as “service fee,” “service charge,” “other fees,” “voicemail,” “mail server,” “calling plan” and “membership.” Charges you may have authorized or not. Continue reading →

Christian saltiness

Posted on by
Reply

Salt is important. It has its own Wiki page and even has a history book (Mark Kurlansky: Salt: A World History.)  Yup, you heard it correctly. A whole history of the world written in the context of salt.  As the author writes, “from the beginning of civilization until about one hundred years ago, salt was one of the most sought-after commodities in human history.”  And you took salt for granted. Continue reading →

You can call me Al

Posted on by
Reply

During the week before Pentecost Sunday, early one morning on my way to prepare a cup of tea, I noticed something attached to the front door of the refrigerator. In a household with children I would not be surprised to see drawings, report cards, pictures, and whatnot on the refrigerator door, but this was a friary with four ordained brothers, all…shall we say, a bit past the half-century mark. So, I stopped to see what was posted. Continue reading →

Turning to God

Posted on by
Reply

The first reading today is again from the Book of Tobit, as are all the first readings from this 9th Week of Ordinary Time. Tobit has fallen on hard times. His property has been confiscated, he has been blinded by bird droppings and is now four years blind, his wife has been put to work, his mood is sour and melancholy, and his wife questions what has become of his righteousness and charity. Continue reading →

Being Steadfast

Posted on by
Reply

The first reading today is again from the Book of Tobit, as are all the first readings from this 9th Week of Ordinary Time.  In yesterday’s reading, we meet Tobit, a righteous and pious Jew living in the diaspora of the Assyrian conquest of Israel. We learn that he interrupts a festival meal of Pentecost in order to carry out an act of righteousness and mercy – to bury one of his countrymen and fellow exiles who has been murdered and the body left in the marketplace.  His neighbors caution and ridicule him, telling him to play it safe, but is reminded of the warning of the prophet Amos against the unrighteous of Bethel: “All your festivals shall be turned into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation.”  And so he does the righteous and charitable thing. Continue reading →

D-Day Remembered

Posted on by
1

Today marks the 79th anniversary of the June 6th “D-Day” landings in Normandy during World War II. It marked a turning Point in World War II as it provided the Allies with a foothold in Western Europe and set the stage for the subsequent liberation of France and the defeat of Nazi Germany. The Normandy landing resulted in significant casualties on both sides, with thousands of soldiers losing their lives. It remains a powerful symbol of the bravery and sacrifice of the soldiers who fought and gave their lives for the cause of freedom and the defeat of tyranny. The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, situated on the shores of Omaha Beach, serves as a poignant reminder of the cost of war and the importance of preserving peace. Continue reading →

Catholic Public Schools

Posted on by
1

In Oklahoma on Monday, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved what would be the nation’s first religious charter school. The online school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, is to be run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, with religious teachings embedded in the curriculum. Within minutes of the vote, Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced that it was preparing legal action to fight the decision. The ruling in this case is limited to the Board’s overview of online, virtual schools and is not a broader decision affecting all public schools in Oklahoma. The school’s patron saint is St. Isidore, patron saint of the internet.

Continue reading →

Who’d thought?

Posted on by
1

An interesting article from Scientific America passed through my inbox this morning. The topic was “fertility rates” in the United States during the pandemic years. There was one strain of thought that, couples having more “together time,” would lead to an increase in the monthly number of babies being born. An effect not unlike the imagined effect of major extended electrical power outages. By the way, it was imagined, there has not been a power outage + 9 months baby boom. But the “safer-at-home” period was a lot longer than an overnight power outage. Continue reading →