It's time for some jazz, a genre of music I enjoy. Here is a presentation of "On Green Dolphin Street" by the Eric Dolphy Quintet:
31 August 2022
On New England's Worst Drought and Other New England-related Topics
A number of articles/posts have recently been published on a variety of New England-related subjects worth considering.
To access some of these, please visit:
Concord (NH) Monitor: 'Flashy Flock' of sheep hanging out on Boscawen lawns (24 AUG 22)
Concord (NH) Monitor: Appalachian Trail thru-hikers face the reality of New Hampshire (31 AUG 22)
New England Historical Society : The 1965 Drought, New England's Worst Ever
The Recorder (Greenfield, MA): 12-year-old takes over family pumpkin stand in Colrain (28 AUG 22)
Thank You, Lord
Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you are bestowing on students and educators as they begin a new school year.
Steve Robinson on a Spiritual Sickness We May Not Be Aware Of
"'Don’t be quick to take up someone else's offendedness,' a wise elder told me over 40 years ago, long before the internet existed. I had become emotionally embroiled in a matter that had more back story and moving parts than were disclosed.
"His advice seems particularly relevant to our current social media 'outrage' culture, which is fueled by our ability to publicize perceived offenses to the world with a click of a keyboard rather than one person at a time, face to face.
"The corollary to that is that each day we have the ability to see and hear about dozens of offensive situations and issues that demand a reaction from us: Like? Care? Sad? Angry? . . ."
In a recent commentary, writer Steve Robinson
reflected on the importance of taking a "step back from playing God and a step forward to being more godly in our social media presence."
To access Mr. Robinson's complete post, please visit:
Aleteia: Steve Robinson: The spiritual sickness many of us don't even know we have (31 AUG 22)
Reflection Starter from Tom Landry
"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan." - Tom Landry
30 August 2022
"It's A Brand New Day"
As we continue to live this week, I offer this version of "It's A Brand New Day":
Br. John Henry Peters, O.P., on the Peace That Christ Gives
"In [a recent daily Gospel reading, Jesus
makes a promise to his disciples: 'Peace I leave with you; my peace I
give to you' (John 14:27). This passage is part of the Farewell
Discourse in the Gospel of John. Given that Jesus knew his Passion and
death were imminent - and he also knew what troubles his disciples would
suffer - his promise of peace is remarkable. It is one thing to offer
reassurance when things are well; it is another to do so when suffering
looms. And yet, Jesus admonishes his disciples: 'Do not let your hearts
be troubled or afraid.' It is one of the paradoxes of Christianity that
the greatest peace can exist amidst the greatest suffering. . . ."
In a recent commentary, Brother John Henry Peters, O.P.,
reflected on some of the ways we can be open to the peace that Jesus offers..
To access Br. John Henry's complete post, please visit:
Dominicana: The Peace That Christ Gives (17 MAY 22)
29 August 2022
Fr. Michael Rennier on the Importance of Persistence
" . . . After ordination [as an Anglican priest], I gratefully accepted the call to pastor a recently founded parish in Brewster, Massachusetts.
"'I use the word 'parish' loosely because it was, in fact, more of a mission or a startup than an established community. They'd been meeting for a year or so to gauge interest in the project and their average Sunday attendance hovered around 14 people. They had no property, no vestments, no rectory, no endowment. I made a perfect match for them because I had no practical experience and barely knew what I was doing. I was a brand new pastor for a brand new community.
"Looking back, it was a brazen decision, one that was made because I had no idea at all what I was getting into. In retrospect, I find it amusing that I have precious few of the talents that might typically be found in the pastor of a new church. . . .
"Those first few years were jam-packed with growth opportunities, which is a polite way of saying I made tons of mistakes as I learned to be a pastor. I learned how to listen, how to take advice, how to be patient. I sharpened my speaking skills and learned some basic lessons about staying disciplined in prayer. I practiced running meetings efficiently, and how to develop a vision and impart direction to a faith community. It didn't come easy.. . . .
"When my time had come to leave those churches because I'd decided to become Catholic, we had accomplished more than I ever would have expected. It wasn't because I knew what I was doing. It also wasn't because I possess superhuman talents or a magnetic personality. Not at all. It was persistence."
In a recent commentary, Father Michael Rennier
reflected on the importance of persistence (which is not always easy) in accomplishing one's goals.
To access Fr. Rennier's complete post, please visit:
Aleteia: Fr. Michael Rennier: The status games we play … and the king who did the opposite (21 AUG 22)
Reflection Starter from Fulton Sheen
"One would not generally put garbage into the stomach, but too often one will put garbage into the mind." - -
28 August 2022
"'Tis the Gift to Be Simple"
As we continue our Sunday celebration, I offer this version of "'Tis the Gift to Be Simple":
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today the Church celebrates the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The assigned readings are Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a;
and Luke 14:1, 7-14. The Responsorial Psalm is from Psalm 68 (Psalm 68:4-7, 10-11).
For one version of the Responsorial Psalm set to music, please visit:
YouTube: Psalm 68: You Have Made A Home For The Poor (Cooney setting)
The Gospel reading is as follows:
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully.
He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, 'My friend, move up to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
Then he said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
Reflections on these readings:
Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Salesian Sunday Reflections: Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time August 28, 2022
Crossroads Initiative: Humility Opens Doors
St. Paul Center: To Go up Higher: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Magis Center for Catholic Spirituality: Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Word on Fire: Act Against Your Attachments (Cycle C * 22nd Week of Ordinary Time)
Spirituality of the Readings: Let Love Live (22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C)
In Exile: Struggling with Our Own Inadequacy (22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C)
Glancing Thoughts: True Humility (22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C)
The Perspective of Justice: Resembling God (22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C)
The Word Engaged: Reversals of Fortune (22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C)
Let the Scriptures Speak: Who Is Your Patron? (22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C)
Historical Cultural Context: Table Manners (22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C)
Thoughts from the Early Church: Commentary by Bruno of Segni (22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C)
Msgr. Pope on the Rise and Fall of Civilizations
"In last week's post we examined the stages or persecution. Given the serious damage and debasement we see in our culture, we do well to ponder a more sociological examination of how cultures and civilizations go through cycles. Over time, many civilizations and cultures have risen and then fallen. We who live in painful times like these do well to recall these truths. Cultures and civilizations come and go; only the Church (though often in need of reform) and true biblical culture remain. An old song says, 'Only what you do for Christ will last.' Yes, all else passes; the Church is like an ark in the passing waters of this world and in the floodwaters of times like these.
"For those of us who love our country and our culture, the pain is real. By God's grace, many fair flowers have come from Western culture as it grew over the past millennium. Whatever its imperfections (and there were many), great beauty, civilization, and progress emerged at the crossroads of faith and human giftedness. But now it appears that we are at the end of an era. We are in a tailspin we don't we seem to be able to pull ourselves out of.. . ."In a recent commentary based on the writings of Scottish philosopher Alexander Tyler of the University of Edinburg, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish,
Washington, DC) reflected on the stages of the rise and fall of the world's great civilizations (including the transition from abundance to complacency, from complacency to apathy, and from apathy to dependence) .
To access Msgr. Pope's complete post, please visit:
Community in Mission: How Civilizations Rise and Fall in Eight Stages (25 AUG 22)
Reflection Starter from Pope Francis
"The Word of God for today invites us to become humble and meek. Beginning with our misery, humility makes us take our gaze off ourselves in order to turn it toward God." - Pope Francis
27 August 2022
The Crew Cuts: "Sh-Boom"
As this blessed week draws to a close, I offer this version of The Crew Cuts presenting "Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)":
Thank You, Lord
Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of Your presence in each person we encounter each day.
Elise Italiano Ureneck on Embracing Simplicity in a Time of Economic Hardship
"Among my paternal grandmother's most memorable qualities, her ability to make a Michelin-starred meal out of whatever she found in the pantry tops the list. OK, the star is probably far-fetched, as those require ingredients and utensils that would never have been familiar to the daughter of Italian immigrants, born in the early 1920s.
"But the meal would have been balanced, filling and full of flavor. She was a master at stretching what she had -- flour, eggs, cornmeal -- to create feasts. Every Sunday dinner was a mini miracle of loaves and fishes.
"To put too fine a point on it, my father, who as a child was responsible
for tending the family's chicken coops, recounted, 'She used every part
of the chicken -- I mean, every part -- for our dinners.'"
In a recent commentary, writer Elise Italiano Ureneck reflected on the importance of simplicity, getting back to essentials, and recognizing the difference between needs and wants.
To access Ms. Ureneck's complete column, please visit:
The Boston Pilot: Echoes: Elise Italiano Ureneck: Embracing simplicity in a time of economic hardship (26 AUG 22)
Reflection Starter from C. S. Lewis
"Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object to your senses, for in both, Christ is truly hidden." - C. S. Lewis (in The Weight of Glory)
26 August 2022
Johann Sebastian Bach: Passacaglia And Fugue in C minor
It's time for some classical music. This is a presentation of Johann Sebastian Bach's Passacaglia And Fugue in C minor as presented by the Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski:
Doctor Sees Jesus in His Patients
Dr. Wes Ely has developed practices for Intensive Care Units that are greatly improving the quality of patients' lives once they recover, but he approaches his career with a spiritual mindset, too. During a Christopher Closeup interview about his Christopher Award-winning book Every Deep-Drawn Breath, he explained, "I was in India, in Kolkata, at Mother Theresa'’s Home for the Destitute and Dying, and one of the things that she always said when they asked her, 'How do you pick up these people? They're covered in vomit and maggots and flies?' And she said, 'I just look in their eyes, and I say to myself, 'This is Jesus Christ.' . . . For a non-Christian, the same thing can happen. You can look in the person's eyes - whether yo'u're Muslim, Hindu, atheist, agnostic - and say . . . 'I am here to serve this entire person.' . . . I take a spiritual history of my patients and put them in charge . . . and I ask, 'Do you have any spiritual values that you want me to know?'"
There was one patient for whom Dr. Ely's Catholic faith played a role. His name was Gian, and he was a doctor who had contracted COVID before vaccinations were available, so he was struggling to stay alive. During one visit, Dr. Ely asked Gian, "What matters to you?" Gian responded, "The Eucharist."
Since Dr. Ely is a Eucharistic Minister, he was able to bring Gian Holy Communion the next day. He actually had to calm Gian down because he got so excited at the prospect of receiving it that his oxygen saturation declined. But once he stabilized, Dr. Ely read from Scripture, offered prayers, and gave Gian the Eucharist. Gian began crying afterwards, saying, "This is the most important thing I could ever want."
Dr. Ely said, "As physicians, Gian and I incorporate science into faith, acknowledging that when we ingest the Eucharist, it enters the workings of the cells of our entire body. My faith affirms that consuming the Eucharist helps me become a better servant of God and others, and I readily admit that I need all the help I can get. I believe that how we handle ourselves on earth will echo into eternity, and the Eucharist is both our shield and protection during life and our Viaticum, food for the journey, in dying. For Gian, the knowledge that this might be the last time he received the Eucharist - and it was - transformed the moment for him, transforming him beyond the sterile walls of the ICU, to a place where he felt safe, loved, and in an eternal relationship with God. It was a very humbling experience for me to do that, [one] I never take for granted."
In closing, Dr. Ely reflected on the ways he lights a metaphorical candle when he endures times of darkness. He concluded, "There's been a lot of heartache in my family and . . . with my patients, when I hope that one of them will survive and they don't. When I hit those moments of darkness, I try to remind myself that my job is to take what comes and find the beauty and the love alongside that sadness and heartache. . . . I have a motto that I keep in the forefront of my mind: V = v. I got this from Maximilian Kolbe. He used to teach the seminarians that the capital V, Voluntas, God's will, must become my little v, voluntas. In other words, my will is subordinate to the will of God in my life. . . . That's the way I go forward."
Background information:
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