Thank you, Lord, for each person You have placed in our lives – including those whom You call us to minister to and those whom You call to minister to us.
13 November 2013
On “People Who Need to Be Heard Every Day”
“God meddles in our miseries, he approaches our wounds and heals them with his hands; it was to have hands he became man. . . . God does not save us only by decree, with a law, he saves us with tenderness, he saves us with caresses, he saves us with his life given for us.” – Pope Francis in his homily on 22 October
“It was to have hands and be able to touch and heal people that Christ became human, Pope Francis has said.”
A recent Catholic News Service Blog post offered a reflection, in words and pictures, on the importance of of the people that Pope Francis is encountering- “people who need to be heard every day.”
To access the complete post, please visit:
Catholic News Service: Blog: Powerful pictures should make more than headlines (7 NOV 13)
Reflection Starter from St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
“We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone.” – Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (St. Frances Cabrini was the first United States citizen to be canonized; the Church celebrates her memory today.)
12 November 2013
Thank You, Lord
Thank you, Lord, for Your presence among Your people, especially when they are faced with distress of any kind.
Msgr. Pope on the Divinity of Jesus Christ (in His Own Words)
“I have mentioned before that many years ago in seminary I was quite surprised to listen to some of my professors declare what I considered to be heretical things about Jesus Christ. They often said, he did not claim to be God, or he did not know he was God.
“When I might meekly suggest a certain biblical text that more than suggested he darn well knew he was divine they seemed unimpressed and invoked dubious theories that denied the biblical text was a credible source.
“Thankfully I had some other professors who were able to reassure me that the Divinity of Christ was not in question and that the Scriptures accurately what reported what Jesus himself actually said and did. It still shocked me that teachers who denied or questioned the divinity of Christ could openly teach in a Catholic seminary and am happy to report that those problems have long since been cleared up at the seminary I attended.
“Yet, I must say, I am still bothered to hear that some college students still have to endure this sort of heresy, it is especially grievous to me that some of this still goes on at Catholic Colleges.”
In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) offered a reflection on the Biblical evidence as to Jesus’ Divinity.
To access Msgr. Pope’s complete post, please visit:
Msgr. Charles Pope: The Divinity of Jesus Christ, In Scripture and in his own words. (5 NOV 13)
Reflection Starter from St. Andrew Avellino
“One cannot separate the most Holy Eucharist from the Passion of Jesus.” – Saint Andrew Avellino
11 November 2013
“Armed Forces Medley”
As we continue our observance of Veterans Day, I offer this version of the “Armed Forces Medley”:
On a Band of Brothers – a Veterans Day Thought Starter
A recent CBS Sunday Morning presentation reported on a band of wounded warriors making music with Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, at the recent Stand Up for Heroes benefit concert at Madison Square Garden.
To access the complete CBS Sunday Morning report, please visit:
CBS Sunday Morning: Meet a real-life Band of Brothers (10 NOV 13)
A Veterans Day Remembrance
As we observe Veterans Day today, I offer these reflections:
Presidential Proclamation – Veterans Day, 2013
To Bend Light: Veterans Day Prayers (10 NOV 11)
YouTube: Patriotic Tribute~Thank You
Wreaths Across America: Every Day Is Veterans Day (31 OCT 12)
The DeerLake Weekly Letter: Letters addressed to (Any Soldier). (9 NOV 12)
Christopher Closeup: Airborne Ranger Infantry (10 NOV 12)
A big thank you and a salute to all those who have and are serving in the U.S. Armed Forces!!!
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words,but to live by them.” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Background information:
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Veterans Day – November 11
Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs
Bureau of Maine Veterans Services
Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services
Thank You, Lord
Thank you, Lord, for the many ways You work through those who serve our nation in the military and in other positions of responsibility.
Sr. Mary Sean Hodges, O.P., and the Partnership for Re-entry Program
“In the soft light of early evening, the smell of curried chilies wafts through the screen door of this two-story, Craftsman-style house in a tidy section of South Los Angeles. As bicycle bells jingle and ice-cream trucks pass by, four men sit in rockers, telling their stories of life in prison to a visiting journalist.
“All four spent 30 to 35 years in prison for murder. All four have been released to this halfway house to get their bearings before moving on with their lives. All four identify strongly with the character of Brooks Hatlen in the 1994 movie ‘The Shawshank Redemption’: a man who is paroled after more than three decades behind bars and is so disoriented by the prospect of starting a new life in a world he no longer understands that he commits suicide.
“And all four credit a woman sitting on the wide porch alongside them, Sister Mary Sean Hodges, for why they won’t follow in Brooks’s footsteps. Each has a gratitude and regard that wells up from deep within for the Roman Catholic nun with mercury-colored hair.”
A recent Christian Science Monitor article profiled Sister Mary Sean Hodges, O.P., and her ministry to current and former inmates of California’s prison system.
To access the complete article, please visit:
Christian Science Monitor: Sister Mary Sean Hodges gives ex-convicts a second chance (8 NOV 13)
Background information:
Archdiocese of Los Angeles: Office of Restorative Justice: Partnership for Re-entry Program
Reflection Starter from Theodore Roosevelt
“Walk humbly; you will do so if you study the life and teachings of the Savior, walking in His steps.” – Theodore Roosevelt
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