"What’s in a name? Do names really have power? Does it matter what I name my child? These are questions very few people ask in a culture of informality and where there is a quest to have the most unique (and popular) name possible. In the process, names have lost much of their beauty and power.
"This is unfortunate, because the ability to name sits at the very fabric of our existence. In fact, our duty to name is a command that was given to us at the very beginning of Creation.
"What are we to do? How can we recover a reverence towards names?"
In a recent commentary, writer Philip Kosloski reflected on the importance and meaning of names.
To access Philip's complete post, please visit:
National Catholic Register: Blogs; Philip Kosloski: The Name is the Icon of the Person (2 FEB 16)
04 February 2016
Reflection Starter from Rosa Parks
"Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others." - Rosa Parks
03 February 2016
Father Bill’s Struggles Made Him a Better Priest
Twenty years ago, Bill K. was at the end of his rope. Forty-seven years old, the drinking that had always been a problem in his life threatened to engulf him. He worked odd jobs that paid him at the end of the day, and that bought him enough alcohol to get through the night. The faith that had been a vital part of his life was gone; he was adrift with nothing in his sights.
"There was an emptiness in me, an idea that I was not enough," he said in a later reflection. "It was a feeling I had chased all through my drinking years: trying to be enough, trying to belong."
By the time death took him in 2015, that had all changed. He had put his life together again as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. He had begun to ask for and accept the help of others. And best of all, he had returned to the faith he once knew and was making a vast difference in the life of those around him: he was Father Bill Kottenstette, head of the Catholic Newman Center at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. He had come full circle.
"Father Bill was a wonderful pastor," a close friend said. "The fact that he was older really helped. He had been through a lot. You tend to look up to somebody a little bit more when they've walked the walk."
Hannah M. Brockhaus put Father Bill's story together for Our Sunday Visitor. Born in Denver in 1941, he entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1959 after graduating from high school. Despite early problems with drinking while in the seminary, he was ordained in 1973. But the problem persisted, and he was released from the Jesuits to focus on his recovery. He didn't stick with treatments, however, and finally ended up away from the church, doing odd jobs.
That was when Father Bill joined Alcoholics Anonymous, landed in Kirksville, and began working at a drug and alcohol rehab center. He was also active in AA, accepted a pastor's invitation to live in the rectory, became involved again in the church, and ultimately was "re-ordained" and took the Newman position at Truman State.
And suddenly he was home, right where he belonged. He loved his student-friends, and they certainly loved him. His "goofy" sense of humor, of bemusement linked him to his buddies, the collegians he constantly probed. One student recalled that Father Bill was consumed with the question of living the faith in the present moment - always asking, she remembered, "What are you going to do today?" It was as if he were asking, "How will you live your life today? How will you improve your world?"
A recent graduate said that by the time she knew him he had heard it all, either from his own experiences or from the tales he had heard. Students could talk to him, just as they are, she said. He liked that, and they loved that in him.
Above all, his own best friend said, he would tell his listeners that God loved them, and the key to knowing that was to love yourself first. "He helped the kids to see that the priest was a human being," Chris Koch said. "He was himself with them."
Father Bill had learned the lesson himself, learned it the hard way. And it stayed with him for the rest of his life.
This essay is this week's "Light One Candle" column, written by Jerry Costello, of The Christophers; it is one of a series of weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current events.)
Background information:
The Christophers
"There was an emptiness in me, an idea that I was not enough," he said in a later reflection. "It was a feeling I had chased all through my drinking years: trying to be enough, trying to belong."
By the time death took him in 2015, that had all changed. He had put his life together again as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. He had begun to ask for and accept the help of others. And best of all, he had returned to the faith he once knew and was making a vast difference in the life of those around him: he was Father Bill Kottenstette, head of the Catholic Newman Center at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. He had come full circle.
"Father Bill was a wonderful pastor," a close friend said. "The fact that he was older really helped. He had been through a lot. You tend to look up to somebody a little bit more when they've walked the walk."
Hannah M. Brockhaus put Father Bill's story together for Our Sunday Visitor. Born in Denver in 1941, he entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1959 after graduating from high school. Despite early problems with drinking while in the seminary, he was ordained in 1973. But the problem persisted, and he was released from the Jesuits to focus on his recovery. He didn't stick with treatments, however, and finally ended up away from the church, doing odd jobs.
That was when Father Bill joined Alcoholics Anonymous, landed in Kirksville, and began working at a drug and alcohol rehab center. He was also active in AA, accepted a pastor's invitation to live in the rectory, became involved again in the church, and ultimately was "re-ordained" and took the Newman position at Truman State.
And suddenly he was home, right where he belonged. He loved his student-friends, and they certainly loved him. His "goofy" sense of humor, of bemusement linked him to his buddies, the collegians he constantly probed. One student recalled that Father Bill was consumed with the question of living the faith in the present moment - always asking, she remembered, "What are you going to do today?" It was as if he were asking, "How will you live your life today? How will you improve your world?"
A recent graduate said that by the time she knew him he had heard it all, either from his own experiences or from the tales he had heard. Students could talk to him, just as they are, she said. He liked that, and they loved that in him.
Above all, his own best friend said, he would tell his listeners that God loved them, and the key to knowing that was to love yourself first. "He helped the kids to see that the priest was a human being," Chris Koch said. "He was himself with them."
Father Bill had learned the lesson himself, learned it the hard way. And it stayed with him for the rest of his life.
This essay is this week's "Light One Candle" column, written by Jerry Costello, of The Christophers; it is one of a series of weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current events.)
Background information:
The Christophers
Reflection Starter from Norman Rockwell
"When I go to farms or little towns, I am always surprised at the discontent I find. And New York, too often, has looked across the sea toward Europe. And all of us who turn our eyes away from what we have are missing life." - Norman Rockwell
02 February 2016
Bangor, ME, Police Facebook Writer Receives Humor Writing Award
"The mastermind behind the Bangor Police Department’s Facebook page has been honored for his writing about the daily humorous aspects of police work.
"Sgt. Tim Cotton was recognized by the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop as Humor Writer of the Month for February 2016. Bombeck was a nationally syndicated humor columnist until her death in 1996. The workshop is overseen by the University of Dayton, her alma mater."
A recent Bangor Daily News article reported on Sergeant Cotton and the award presented to him.
To access the complete Bangor Daily News report, please visit:
Bangor Daily News: Bangor police Facebook page author earns humor writing accolade (2 FEB 16)
Related article:
The Boston Globe: Maine police offer mid-Atlantic advice on how to handle a snowstorm - (22 JAN 16)
Background information:
Facebook: Bangor Police Department
Bangor Police Department
City of Bangor
Wikipedia: Bangor, Maine
"Sgt. Tim Cotton was recognized by the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop as Humor Writer of the Month for February 2016. Bombeck was a nationally syndicated humor columnist until her death in 1996. The workshop is overseen by the University of Dayton, her alma mater."
A recent Bangor Daily News article reported on Sergeant Cotton and the award presented to him.
To access the complete Bangor Daily News report, please visit:
Bangor Daily News: Bangor police Facebook page author earns humor writing accolade (2 FEB 16)
Related article:
The Boston Globe: Maine police offer mid-Atlantic advice on how to handle a snowstorm - (22 JAN 16)
Background information:
Facebook: Bangor Police Department
Bangor Police Department
City of Bangor
Wikipedia: Bangor, Maine
Daniel Stewart on the Courage of St. Francis de Sales
"St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church, was one of the greatest evangelists and most powerful confessors during the Counter-Reformation. His writings on Catholic spirituality still inspire the faithful today and his words still resonate across the centuries. Yet there was a time when Francis was entirely incapacitated by doubt and fear.
"When Francis de Sales was a young man at college in Paris, he began to hear discussions and debates on predestination and the nature of salvation. This was during the late 16th century when Calvinism was devouring large parts of Western Christendom. Young Francis was swayed by some of the harsher interpretations of predestination and began to doubt his salvation. Convinced he was one of the damned, Francis began to feel terrible anguish. He fell into a deep depression and was even bedridden for a time.
"But Francis did not despair completely. He made his way to the Church of St. Etienne-des-Grè and found there the statue of the Black Madonna of Paris, 'Notre Dame de Bonne Délivrance;' Our Lady of Good Deliverance. Here he prayed the Memorare prayer and truly was delivered from his crippling doubt. In place of this doubt, Francis was filled with the simple assurance that 'God is Love.'"
In a recent commentary, writer Daniel Stewart reflected on St. Francis and his journey from doubt and despair.
To access Daniel's complete post, please visit:
Catholic Exchange: St. Francis de Sales: A Profile in Courage (25 JAN 16)
"When Francis de Sales was a young man at college in Paris, he began to hear discussions and debates on predestination and the nature of salvation. This was during the late 16th century when Calvinism was devouring large parts of Western Christendom. Young Francis was swayed by some of the harsher interpretations of predestination and began to doubt his salvation. Convinced he was one of the damned, Francis began to feel terrible anguish. He fell into a deep depression and was even bedridden for a time.
"But Francis did not despair completely. He made his way to the Church of St. Etienne-des-Grè and found there the statue of the Black Madonna of Paris, 'Notre Dame de Bonne Délivrance;' Our Lady of Good Deliverance. Here he prayed the Memorare prayer and truly was delivered from his crippling doubt. In place of this doubt, Francis was filled with the simple assurance that 'God is Love.'"
In a recent commentary, writer Daniel Stewart reflected on St. Francis and his journey from doubt and despair.
To access Daniel's complete post, please visit:
Catholic Exchange: St. Francis de Sales: A Profile in Courage (25 JAN 16)
Reflection Starter from 1 Corinthians
"Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
01 February 2016
Operation Breakthrough Ministry
"As she arrives at the back door of Operation Breakthrough, escorted by one of the center's employees, Sister Corita Bussanmas is greeted like a visiting celebrity. It's not for several minutes that she finally makes her way through the phalanx of friends, colleagues, and workers at the center, and heads for a basement office to be interviewed.
"In 1971, Sister Bussanmas, along with Sister Berta Sailer, founded Operation Breakthrough, a large day-care center on the east side of Kansas City, Mo. Since then, it has grown into the largest single-site early education and social service provider in the state, touching the lives of thousands of people."
A recent Christian Science Monitor article reported on Operation Breakthrough's history and ministry and on the efforts of Sr. Corita and Sr. Berta, both Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the process.
To access the complete Christian Science Monitor report, please visit:
Christian Science Monitor: Corita Bussanmas 'saw a need and tried to fill it' (28 JAN 16)
Background information:
Operation Breakthrough
Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
"In 1971, Sister Bussanmas, along with Sister Berta Sailer, founded Operation Breakthrough, a large day-care center on the east side of Kansas City, Mo. Since then, it has grown into the largest single-site early education and social service provider in the state, touching the lives of thousands of people."
A recent Christian Science Monitor article reported on Operation Breakthrough's history and ministry and on the efforts of Sr. Corita and Sr. Berta, both Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the process.
To access the complete Christian Science Monitor report, please visit:
Christian Science Monitor: Corita Bussanmas 'saw a need and tried to fill it' (28 JAN 16)
Background information:
Operation Breakthrough
Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Reflection Starter from Horace Mann
"Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year." - Horace Mann
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