As we continue to live this week, I offer this version of the Old Friends Quartet presenting "Happy Rhythm":
22 September 2026
National Preparedness Month
September is being observed as National Preparedness Month. This awareness month is sponsored by the Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and the Ad Council. National Preparedness Month is designed to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities.
The Ready Campaign is a national public service advertising campaign sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in partnership with the Advertising Council. This campaign is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies including natural and man-made disasters. The goal of the campaign is to get the public involved and ultimately to increase the level of basic preparedness across the nation.
National Preparedness Month (NPM) is held each September to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities. September 2025 is the twenty-second annual NPM.
National Preparedness Month Coalition membership is open to all public and private sector organizations. Groups can register to become an NPM Coalition Member by visiting the Ready Campaign at http://www.ready.gov/ and clicking on the NPM banner.
During National Preparedness Month, coalition members are encouraged to share preparedness information with their members, customers, employees, and communities. Members spearhead activities that encourage specific steps for individual, neighborhood, and community preparedness. Once an organization registers as a coalition member, it receives access to the NPM Website, which includes a toolkit with templates, resources, and tips to assist with promoting emergency preparedness.
Background information:
The White House: Presidential Message on National Preparedness Month
Connecticut Division of Emergency Services & Public Protection
Maine Emergency Management Agency
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency
New Hampshire Department of Safety: Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency
Birthday Blessings, Nicolas!!!
Birthday greetings to nephew Nicolas, whose birthday is today!!! May this day, and each day of the upcoming year, be filled with the Lord's choicest blessings!!!
Birthday Blessings, Ella!!!
Birthday greetings to Myrna's great-granddaughter Ella, whose birthday is today!!! May this day, and each day of the upcoming year, be filled with the Lord's choicest blessings!!!
Marge Fenelon on Mother Teresa and Spiritual Darkness
"I have worked my way, slowly, through the private writings of Mother Teresa in the book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta, edited by Missionary of Charity Father Brian Kolodiejchuk and published by Image Publishing.
"The book is comprised of letters Mother Teresa of Calcutta wrote to her spiritual directors over the course of decades. It chronicles the saint's journey as she founded and developed the Missionaries of Charity and includes the more than 15 years that she endured intense spiritual darkness that she at one point compared to hell."
In a commentary, columnist Marge Fenelon
reflected on Mother Teresa living out of the conviction that, even though she could not feel Our Lord present, he had never abandoned her.
To access Ms. Fenelon's complete post, please visit:
National Catholic Register: Blogs: God Does Not Abandon Us: What Mother Teresa Taught the World About Embracing Spiritual Darkness (29 JUL 21)
Reflection Starter from Padre Pio
"Endeavor to unite the simplicity of children with the prudence of adults." - Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)
20 September 2026
"The Porter's Gate - Little Things With Great Love"
As we continue our Sunday celebration, I offer this version of "The Porter's Gate - Little Things With Great Love":
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today the Church celebrates the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The assigned readings for the Mass during the day are Isaiah 55:6-9; Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a; and Matthew 20:1-16a. The Responsorial Psalm is from Psalm 145 (Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18).
For one version of the Responsorial Psalm set to music, please visit:
YouTube: Spirit & Psalm - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023 - Year A - Psalm 145 - Manibusan
The Gospel reading is as follows:
Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o'clock, the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.' So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o'clock, the landowner found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.' When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.' When those who had started about five o'clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, 'These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat.' He said to one of them in reply, 'My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?' Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."Reflections related to these readings:
Benedictine College: This Sunday, Christianity Is Like Work Before It Is Like a Party (17 SEP 26)
Word on Fire: Love God - Not His Benefits (Cycle A * Ordinary Time * 25th Week)
The Pilot: Echoes: Scott Hahn: First and last (18 SEP 26)
The Pilot: Echoes: Father Joshua J. Whitfield: In heaven as it isn't on earth (16 SEP 26)
Msgr. Pope on Spiritual Truths According to St. John of the Cross
". . . A person can spend his whole life being resentful that life isn't perfect, forgetting all the while that we are all in exile. We are making a difficult journey to a life in which, one day, every sorrow and difficultly will be removed and death and sorrow will be no more - but not now.
"There is a kind of unexpected serenity in living in the world as it is rather than resenting it for not being the way we want it to be. For now, the journey is hard and we have to be sober about our obtuse desires and destructive tendencies. That is why there is value in calling these insights 'hard truths that will set us free.'"
In a recent commentary, Msgr. Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on the importance of paying attention to the teaching of St. John of the Cross regarding "hard truths, " including being aware of our obligations and being aware that life is short
To access Msgr. Pope's complete post, please visit:
Community in Mission: Sobering Spiritual Truths According to St. John of the Cross (13 SEP 26)
Reflection Starter from Pope Leo XIV
"God has different ways and fresh ideas even for those who consider themselves to be first and believe they have earned what they have, that they deserved the results they have achieved. Instead, we all gain joy, wisdom and a better future when the law of love interrupts that of calculation, when the experience of mercy broadens that of merit, and when the gift of peace suspends rivalries and brings us closer together in gratitude. Gospel of the Day (Mt 20:1-16)" - Pope Leo XIV
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