Reflection Starter from Bear Bryant

“If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, then we did it. If anything goes real good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games.” – Paul “Bear” Bryant

National Public Lands Day

Saturday, 28 September, is being observed as National Public Lands Day, considered to be the nation's largest, single-day volunteer effort for public lands (federal, state, regional, and municipal). This year’s observance is the 20th Anniversary of National Public Lands Day.

During this annual day of caring for public lands, volunteers assist at parks and other public lands by collecting invasive plants; building and maintaining trails; planting trees, shrubs and other native plants; removing trash from trails and other places; and offering a number of other services.

Among NPLD efforts currently listed in New England, volunteers plan to be working at two sites in Connecticut, five sites in Maine, eleven sites in Massachusetts, five sites in New Hampshire, and one site in Vermont.

Background information:

National Public Lands Day

Facebook: National Public Lands Day

Antonín Dvořák": “Symphony No. 8”

It’s time for some classical music. This is a presentation of Antonín Dvořák’s “Symphony No. 8” in G major (Op. 88) as played by the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra:

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the many ways in which You touch our hearts through our viewing and reflecting on paintings, sculptures, and other works of art.

Msgr. Pope on Art and the Human Person

“I cannot draw or paint. Yet I have always marveled at how some can take an empty canvas and bring it to life with color, form, depth, and shadow. And, little by little, from the painter’s brush and soul a picture emerges. So too with sculpting. A mere block of marble, with each blow of the sculptor’s tools, it comes to resemble the form of a human being or some other reality with nature.”

In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on painting and sculpting and their appreciation as a gift to the human person.

To access Msgr. Pope’s complete post, please visit:

Msgr. Charles Pope: A Reflection on the mystery of Art as a capacity of the Human soul (3 SEP 13)

Reflection Starter from St. Thomas More

“What does it avail to know that there is a God, which you not only believe by Faith, but also know by reason: what does it avail that you know Him if you think little of Him?” – Saint Thomas More

EPA Launches Online Green Sports Resource Directory

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently unveiled an online Green Sports Resource Directory that is designed to help teams, venues, and leagues save money and reduce carbon pollution through increased energy efficiency. Resources in this directory were set up to support teams and their fans, stadiums, and venues in their waste management, water and energy conservation, and other sustainability efforts.

EPA has also compiled a Green "Scoreboard" that is designed to highlight a number of winning efforts across numerous sports leagues and some statistics on the environmental and saving benefits. The Scoreboard is available on the Green Sports Resource Directory.

EPA is a founding partner of the Green Sports Alliance, which has more than 180 members. The Alliance is currently working with more than 75 professional and college teams in over 100 stadiums and sports venues across the country.

For more information related to these Green Sports initiatives, please visit:

EPA: Green Sports Resource Directory

EPA: Green Sports Scoreboard

Green Sports Alliance

Background information:

U. S. Environmental Protection Agency

Executive Office of the President: Climate Action Plan (June 2013)

“Servant Song”

As we continue to live this week I offer this version of Sr. Donna Marie McGargill’s “Servant Song”:

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for Your people who follow Your way in spite of persecution from others.

Fr. Longenecker on Obedience and Faith

“I became a Catholic because I came to believe in the authority of the church. I had really come to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ delegated his authority to Peter and that the Bishop of Rome was Peter’s successor. Furthermore, I believed that the validly consecrated bishops of the Catholic Church were the successors to the apostles, and the priests were their ‘fingers’.”

In a recent commentary, Father Dwight Longenecker (parish priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Greenville, SC) reflected on the obedience of faith and what God may doing in our lives through our obedience.

To access Fr. Longenecker’s complete post, please visit:

Standing on My Head: No Obedience No Heaven (5 SEP 13)

Background information:

Dwight Longenecker - Catholic priest and author

Reflection Starter from St. Augustine

“Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever; and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow.” – Saint Augustine

Msgr. Pope on the Mystery of Time

“. . . There is a great mystery of time on display for us at every moment. The past is present in many ways. And our past is ‘out there’ on display and still present as well. If there is any one on a planet near Rigel and they look back through a telescope to earth, say to France, they do not see us now, they see Joan of Arc and other events of the 14th Century taking place. The light of our ‘today’ will not reach Rigel for 600 years . . . .”

In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on the mystery of time.

To access Msgr. Pope’s complete post, please visit:

Msgr. Charles Pope: On the Relationship Between Light, Time and the Mystery of God (10 JUL 13)