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  It must have been either the longest--or most boring--sermon in history! In the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 20, beginning with verse 7, we learn of a young man (Eutychus) who fell asleep sitting on a window sill, listening to Paul talk "on and on." "Overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and when he was picked up, he was dead." Paul went down and threw himself on him and we learn that when the boy was taken away he was alive. I hope a homily never has this affect on you! Anyway, following this we learn that Paul was trying to make his way to Jerusalem so he could be there for Pentecost. One of his stops, though, was in Miletus, where he summoned the presbyters of the church. Paul cautioned them and revealed to them that they would never see him again. Before he gave his warning to "keep watch" over themselves and their flock, he gave them an accounting of himself. Clearly he had some street cred. He reminded them that he "s...

 

    I would like to encourage you to check out this link where you can find a novena (a set of prayers for 9 days) to the Holy Spirit, as we head into Pentecost on May 24, 2026. The Novena has already started but you are not too late! Pentecost will officially end this beautiful season of Easter. I have been enjoying this time of focus on joy, which I find both comforting and challenging. I am including in this post an example of this very short, but beautiful novena, along with the accompanying email you get when you sign up. Pray for peace and an end to war. Janet Cassidy Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com janetcassidy.com https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/ https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy     Janet - Peace be with you! Each day of this novena, we will pray for one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are, "perfections that the Holy...

Scenic, no. Good farmland, yes. Red River Valley, near the Goose River, looking south. Our second-oldest daughter and her husband live and run their businesses on the homestead where my mother grew up. Our oldest daughter moved there, some years back. That’s another story for another time. The oldest daughter and I enjoy a two hour (roughly) chat each evening: something that wouldn’t be possible without today’s information technology. Yet more topics. Since our conversations are in text format, we make what amounts to a transcript of what we’ve said. Plus, we can easily share material that we’ve read or written; provided it’s under the service’s character limit. Last Saturday, our oldest daughter shared part of a conversation she had with an AI. With her okay, I’m showing part of it here, and adding some of my thoughts. Our Oldest Daughter, Remembering a Life Transition Oldest Daughter's Input: Neuro Compass: Finding Patterns Respect (Neuro Compass, continued) Me: ...

Ascension Cupola Italian Mosaic Artist [ Web Gallery of Art ] Ascension, Year A The Ascension is celebrated on Ascension Thursday, 14 May, in England & Wales, Scotland. In the USA it is celebrated on Ascension Thursday in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Omaha, Philadelphia. In all of these places Ascension Thursday is a Holyday of Obligation. The Ascension is observed on Sunday, 21 May, in Aotearoa-New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Philippines, USA (apart from the jurisdictions mentioned above). Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan) Readings (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India) Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel Matthew 28:16-20 ( English Standard Version, Anglicised) Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to ...

    We were finishing up our rosary when a bird's nest came floating out of the tree near our deck.  We watched as its builder (a robin) came back to the nest and attempted to rebuild it, picking up several small pieces of grass. It looked like a futile project. "A house not built on a solid foundation," my husband said, spontaneously quoting Matthew 7:24. As I thought about the determination of this bird, I started thinking about all of the people who lose their homes during floods and year after year go back to rebuild them. Such perseverance! I thought about how many of us, when faced with what seems like an impossible task, have to take a deep breath and get to it. Sometimes it's the seemingly ordinary things in life that can be so hard. I was talking to a dear priest friend of mine years ago and I asked him how he keeps going in the face of so many struggles and he responded, "What am I going to do? Give up? Let the bad guy win?" Indeed, we...

    We went to a Chinese restaurant and the next day I decided to eat one of the fortune cookies. As I took out the slip of paper with my fortune on it, it said, "Read the moment. It is speaking to you."  Then I looked at the other side. Imagine my surprise when I discovered an advertisement for a show on Prime where people battle for a million dollars! Whaaat? The last thing you expect to see on a fortune is an advertisement for a streaming show. I never take my fortune seriously, but it feels like somebody sold out by selling advertising on it. Of course, everything is a business and maybe times are tough for fortune printers, I don't know. When I was a kid I used to read my horoscopes in the paper. I never took those seriously either, of course, but it was just something fun to read. It's never a good idea to put your faith in something like a horoscope or a fortune, so I never did. I know this will make you gasp, but we played with a Ouija board, too....

Assorted insanity, personified. Gautier lithograph (1857) When mental health, or lack thereof, pops up in stuff I read, I take notice. That happened Sunday afternoon, and I realized that I'd found something to talk about this week. "...A Catholic Approach to Mental Health Care...." Mental Health, Being Catholic, Making Sense Standards in the DSM Ethical Principles and Tableware Saints: Dealing With What They've Got, Doing it Well Taking Mental Health Personally Perceptions: Accurate Ones Like Father, Like Daughter "Normal" — SERIOUSLY?! More Than You Need, or Maybe Want, to Know ...   ....  More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Taking both mental health care and being Catholic seriously. A quick look at standards, the DSM, and principles. Mental health and my family.)

The Holy Family with the Father and the Holy Spirit Carlo Dolci [ Web Gallery of Art ] I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you for ever,   even the Spirit of truth  (John 14:16-17; Gospel). Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings   (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   John 14:15-21   (English Standard Version, Anglicised) At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.  ‘I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, ...

    "It [is] hard to be forgotten." I am in the middle of a book (" The  Woman They Could Not Silence") about a woman that was committed to an insane asylum in 1860 because her husband needed to silence her growing activism. She felt abandoned because correspondence to her had been confiscated, leaving her feeling forgotten. Even today, a broader application of her statement remains true.  The reality is that those who live in poverty, the suffering innocent, victims of war and abuse, are often overlooked, forgotten, unseen. Invisible. The gospel mandate to care for the marginalized is clear. Our morality test rests on how we respond to those in need and like a doctor's oath, we must be careful to "Do no harm." Jesus, the great physician, calls us to put others first. To see  those in need and take care of them. If we do nothing else, we need to at least start there. Pray for peace and an end to war. Janet Cassidy Email me at:  jmctm2@gma...

My folks tell me that Boots was the liveliest of his litter. But Boots was a cat, so he was often anything but lively. Regal, yes; spritely, no. His capacity for liveliness may explain why my father made a strong wooden box for him. A little context about that. While I was growing up, my folks would spend a week's vacation somewhere in Minnesota's lake country, north of Park Rapids. One year they took Boots along. Maybe they had the previous year, too, and that was why Dad made that box.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (While on vacation, the family cat broke out of a pet carrier. Our regal and occasionally tranquilized cat. How I see animals, emotions, and making sense.)

Apostle St Thomas El Greco [ Web Gallery of Art ] Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”   Jesus said to him,  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life"   (John 14:5-6; Gospel). Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings   (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   John 14:1-12   (English Standard Version, Anglicised) At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know wher...

                                          Photo Credit: Bloomberg.com   I am no where near an expert when it comes to military practices, but I'm also not stupid. We are currently, clearly, in a war with Iran, having sent thousands of troops to the region, as well as retaining a military blockade of the Straight of Hormuz. But now, our government is claiming the war has ended due to a (temporary) ceasefire.  Does anyone really believe this war is actually over?  They are claiming the ceasefire actually terminated the war. Clearly, they are claiming this to avoid a requirement that Congress must give its approval once they hit a 60 day mark, which happens to be today. I don't know what a reasonable strategy is to end this mess that is causing chaos around the world and at home, but the loose interpretation of the War Powers Act is ridiculous. The WPA does not s...

     When something goes wrong, do you ever feel like God is getting even with you for your sin or past actions? Does this thinking lead you to feel that you deserve the bad things that come your way?  Do you live in the Old Testament, assured of a punishing God? In the New Testament, at the end of the Gospel of John, Chapter 12, Jesus frees us from the image that God is after us, waiting to pounce on us for whatever we've done wrong. He said: ". . . I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world." He also said that the condemnation we receive comes from our own rejection of him and our not accepting the word that he spoke.  In other words, we need to look to ourselves before we assign blame on God. It is our own doing when we choose to live in darkness when the One who came into the world as light was sent to free us. What a different image we get when we see Jesus as coming to save us, rather than coming to condemn us. He loves us and he wan...

    Have you heard the shepherd's voice?   CLICK HERE   

It's been another 'one of those weeks', so I'm sharing a Bishop Fulton Sheen video (from a family retreat in the 1970s, I gather), talking about whatever comes to mind, and calling it a day.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Prayer: definitions, five categories, and what it is not. Plus my take on apparently-unanswered prayers.)

The Good Shepherd Marten van Cleve the Elder [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings   (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)   Gospel   John 10:1-10   (English Standard Version, Anglicised) At that time: Jesus said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.’ This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand w...

      I'd like you to take a minute and think of someone that you really appreciate. What are their characteristics? Are they loving and kind to you? Do you observe their generosity of spirit or their sacrificial ways? I read this quote by Denis ("The Treatise on the Divine Names" in "Aquinas and His Role in Theology") and found it interesting: "In this way every quality of perfection in creatures exists in a more excellent way in God." (Think "people" when you read creatures.) The point is, the goodness and love that you see exhibited by someone you know is a reflection of God, whose love and goodness is even greater than what you are seeing. That's because God pours out his goodness on (or in) us, and through others we get a hint of how amazing God is. Think back to a time when that someone you appreciate took care of you in some way. Now imagine God being there for you even more! The tenderness that you felt from another is jus...

  Once upon a time there was a church with a devout and vibrant community who met regularly to pray and sing hymns together. Then one day a night club opened next door. It served drinks in the bar, played music and had scantily dressed ladies entertaining the guests who also came to gamble at roulette and card games. The church congregation were appalled and wanted the night club shut down. But there was no way they could do so legally. So they met as a Prayer Group and prayed, and prayed and prayed some more.    One evening, during a terrible storm, a thunderbolt from Heaven hit the night club and it was burnt to a cinder. No one was hurt. But the club was no more. The owner of the club took the church to Court and sued them for the damage. The whole congregation turned up in front of the Judge and said they were not responsible. It was just lightning in a storm which caused the fire. The owner of the club argued otherwise and wanted compensation. Eventually, the Judge a...

Politicos being tone-deaf when it comes to faith is nothing new. Sometimes cosplaying Jesus goes over well, at least for the intended audience. Take William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech in 1896, for example. 1 Even then, it's an arguably-risky move. On the other hand it's nearly guaranteed to get remembered. About politics, principles, piety and personal preferences, my gut-level response to what's been going on is not dissimilar to Mark Twain's imagined reader of the Deerslayer tale.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (How I feel about a colorful and imaginative image of the American president. More to the point, what I think about what has been happening.)

Supper at Emmaus Rembrandt [ Web Gallery of Art ] Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread  (Luke 24:35; Gospel).. Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings   (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Luke 24:13-35   (English Standard Version, Anglicised) On the first day of the week, two of the disciples of Jesus were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognising him. And he said to them, ‘What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?’ And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, name...