Main Street: "Pop Songs Medley"

As this blessed week draws to a close, I offer this version of the barbershop quartet Main Street Quartet (the 2017 International Quartet Champion) presenting a Pop Songs Medley:

On Car Cruise Nights in Rhode Island

"Some things are just a quintessential part of summer in Rhode Island - Del's frozen lemonade, lobster rolls on Block Island, WaterFire concerts in Providence, and classic car cruise nights across the state.

"Car cruise events have become a summer staple in Rhode Island. Whenever the sky is clear, locals say you can count on a car show.

"And the crowd never disappoints - each event seems to draw at least a hundred participants, whether it be a small weekly event at Frederickson Farm in Scituate or the 28th annual 'Automotive Extravaganza' in Johnston War Memorial Park."

A recent article in The Valley Breeze gave a brief overview of car cruise nights in Rhode Island.

To access the complete Valley Breeze report, please visit:

The Valley Breeze: A summer staple, car cruise nights are without doubt a Rhode Island favorite (26 JUL 17)

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the many blessings You have bestowed on and through the Hawthorne Dominicans.

On Mother Mary Alphonsa of the Hawthorne Dominicans

"Nathaniel Hawthorne added the 'w' to his last name because one of his ancestors was John Hathorne, a Salem witch trial judge, and he wanted to distance himself from that legacy. Raised in a Calvinist milieu, Hawthorne was not a regular churchgoer, but as anyone who read The Scarlet Letter in high school knows, he was conversant with religious themes of sin, judgement, forgiveness, and mercy. A supporter of Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, he was rewarded with a diplomatic post - the consulship in Liverpool, England. The Democratic Party did not nominate Pierce to run for a second term, however, and the Hawthorne family toured Portugal, France and Italy in late 1850's after leaving that post.

"Hawthorne’s wife, Sophia Peabody, had been raised a Unitarian and both Nathaniel and Sophia were influenced by the Transcendental Movement, being friends with Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. They had three children, Una, Julian, and Rose. Nothing in the family background could have prepared them for the conversion of their youngest child to the Catholic Church - except perhaps those years in Europe where they encountered 'the Roman Church' in art and architecture, music, culture and prayer.

"Rose Hawthorne's conversion to Catholicism in 1891 shocked the family. Her father had died in 1864 and her mother moved the family to Dresden, Germany, where Rose met George Parsons Lathrop. . . ."

In a recent commentary, writer Stephanie Mann profiled Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, who founded the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne and became known as Mother Mary Alphonsa, Now called called a Servant of God, her cause for canonization was opened in 2003.

To access the complete National Catholic Register report, please visit:

National Catholic Register: Blogs: Stephanie Mann: Mother Mary Alphonsa, Daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne, is Now Called a Servant of God (9 JUL 17)

Editor's note: My aunt and godmother,  Elizabeth Lopatosky/Sister Mary Teresita, O.P., became a Hawthorne Dominican. She passed on the feast of Saint Dominic (8 August) in 2001, shortly before the 50th anniversary of her profession.

Background information:

Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne

Reflection Starter from Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Every individual has a place to fill in the world and is important in some respect whether he chooses to be so or not." - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of the sacrament of Reconciliation.

On the Terra Sancta Museum in Jerusalem

"Tucked away behind a high stone wall in the Old City of Jerusalem lies a serene garden, two chapels and a Christian history museum few people know about.

"Hailed as the world's first museum to focus on the roots of Christianity and the preservation of Christian heritage and holy places here, the Terra Sancta Museum is located on the Via Dolorosa - the route that follows the sites of Jesus' passion.

"The museum is housed in the Monastery of the Flagellation, the second of the 14 Stations of the Cross. It stands beside the site of the ancient Antonia Tower built by King Herod the Great to honor Marc Antony, and destroyed by the Roman General Titus in the year 70, along with the nearby Jewish Temple.

"It was here, according to tradition, where Jesus was flogged by Roman soldiers under the direction of Pontius Pilate and began his journey to Calvary bearing the cross.

"The museum was founded by the Custody of the Holy Land, the Franciscan authority that safeguards the Catholic Church’s Holy Land properties and institutions. The Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, the faculty of Biblical Science and Archaeology of the Pontificia Universitas Antonianum in Rome, is responsible for the museum's collections and exhibitions."

A recent National Catholic Register article profiled the Terra Sancta Museum and its ministry.

To access the complete National Catholic Register report, please visit:

National Catholic Register: Jerusalem's Terra Sancta Museum Unearths Christian History (4 AUG 17)

Reflection Starter from Nikos Kazantzakis

"I said to the almond tree, 'Friend, speak to me of God,' and the almond tree blossomed." - Nikos Kazantzakis

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of miracles of any size.

Fr. Longenecker on Miracles and the Shrous of Turin

"The Scottish philosopher David Hume famously disbelieved in miracles. He used a kind of Occam's Razor to cut through any suggestion of a miracle. He argued:

'By definition, a miracle goes against our very regular and extensive experience of how the world works. Therefore, on the basis of experience, the probability that a miracle has occurred must always be less than the probability that it hasn't. Because it is rational to believe what is most probable, we never have a good reason to believe that a miracle has occurred.

"So - 'The alternative to the miraculous answer is always to be preferred because it will always be more probable.'

"In other words, 'Miracles are impossible therefore miracles don't happen.'

"As more and more scientific research is completed on the Shroud of Turin, however, Hume's argument becomes more and more strained.

"The toss up is this: The Shroud of Turin is either the burial cloth of Jesus Christ on which is recorded evidence of the resurrection OR it is a forgery OR it is just a mysterious artifact for which we do not yet have a natural explanation."

In a recent commentary, Father Dwight Longenecker (parish priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Greenville, SC) reflected on the challenges facing the choice of other than the miraculous as an explanation for the Shroud.

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

Standing on My Head: David Hume and the Shroud of Turin (3 AUG 17)

Background information:

Dwight Longenecker - Catholic priest and author

Reflection Starter from Archbishop Fulton Sheen

"Most commit the same mistake with God that they do with their friends: they do all the talking." - Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

"Our Father"

As we continue to live this week, I offer this sung version of the Our Father, presented by the Missionaries of the Poor: