NWS National Seasonal Safety Campaign: Winter

In an initiative designed to help people be prepared for hazardous weather year-round, NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) is initiating a number of National Seasonal Safety Campaigns. The aim of these Seasonal Safety Campaigns is to build a Weather-Ready Nation, one that is prepared for extreme weather, water, and climate events.

Each campaign includes seasonal resources that provide information that is vital to keeping individuals, families, and communities safe. These materials include websites, articles, social media, infographics, videos, and other content around the weather hazards most common during the current season.

The Winter Seasonal Safety Campaign begins tomorrow (1 December). To access related materials, please visit:

National Weather Service: Winter Safety

The Newfangled Four: "A Newfangled Tango"

It's time for some more barbershop harmony. Here is a presentation of "A Newfangled Tango" by The Newfangled Four:

 

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of grace in all its many forms.

Bishop Tobin on Turning Negative into Positive

"In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, millions of people around the globe have been tested for the virus. There are different kinds of tests and the time spent waiting for results varies a great deal. But one emotion all the patients have had was the hope to receive the good news that, 'the test results are negative.' In other words, they did not have the virus.

"Now, normally something negative is bad, right? You get turned down for a job, you fail an exam, you propose to your girlfriend and she says no. All bad news! But in these days of the plague, everything's been upside down. We've had to get used to the idea that something negative can be good; that something negative is actually positive!

"It seems to me that there's a lesson here for our spiritual lives. . . ."

In a recent commentary, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, of the Diocese of Providence (RI), reflected on some of the ways we can turn negative experiences into positive ones.

To access Bishop Tobin's complete essay, please visit: 

The Imitation of Christ: When Negative is Positive (27 NOV 20)

Reflection Starter from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer (in The Cost of Discipleship)

"Creator of the Stars of Night"

As we continue our Sunday celebration, I offer this version of the Saint John's Episcopal Church (Boulder, CO) Compline Choir presenting "Creator of the Stars of Night":

First Sunday of Advent

Today  the Church celebrates the First Sunday of Advent. The assigned readings are Isaiah 63:16B-17, 19B; 64:2-7; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; and Mark 13:33-37. The Responsorial Psalm is from Psalm 80 (Psalm 080:2-3, 15-16, 18-19).

For one version of the Responsorial Psalm set to music, please visit:

YouTube: Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 80 Lord make us turn to You let us see Your face

The Gospel reading is as follows:

Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'

"And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'

"Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'

"He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Reflections on these readings:

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Sunday Reflections: First Sunday of Advent November 29, 2020

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Sundays Salesian: First Sunday of Advent (November 29, 2020)

Community in Mission: Watch! A Homily for the First Sunday of Advent (28 NOV 20)

Crossroads Initiative: Advent Reminds us to Wake Up - You Snooze, You Lose!

St. Paul Center: Watch for Him: Scott Hahn Reflects on the First Sunday of Advent

Magis Center for Catholic Spirituality: First Sunday of Advent

The Gregorian Institute at Benedictine College: This Sunday, Don't Grow Accustomed to the Dark (25 NOV 20) 

Word on Fire: Longing for the Savior (Cycle B * Advent * Week 1)

National Catholic Register: Sunday Guide: Advent Begins: Preparing for the Glory of Christmas (27 NOV 20) 

Spirituality of the Readings: Waiting for Patience (First Sunday In Advent B) 

In Exile: Staying Awake (First Sunday In Advent B) 

Glancing Thoughts: Wandering Off (First Sunday In Advent B) 

The Perspective of Justice: Neglecting the Present (First Sunday In Advent B) 

Let the Scriptures Speak: What Time Is It, Really? (First Sunday In Advent B) 

The Word Embodied: Postponement and Repentance (First Sunday In Advent B) 

Historical Cultural Context: Don’t Forget Mañana (First Sunday In Advent B) 

Thoughts from the Early Church: Commentary by Augustine (First Sunday In Advent B)