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Rockford, Illinois: Central Park Gardens Amusement Park's roller coaster. (ca. 1930) Quite a bit has changed since my childhood. Even more has changed since my father's. Human nature, on the other hand — how and why folks do what they do — details shift, but the basics don't. Like kids taking crazy risks, and adults acting with dubious wisdom.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Maybe the amusement park ride operator had a heart of gold. But the free rides ended for my father when his mother found out.)

                                                       I've been thinking about prayer and how we feel when we don't get what we want. "What's the point?" we ask, if our prayers don't elicit a response, or specifically, the response we are asking for. We might even conclude that if we don't have the ability to manipulate change, or God, when we pray, then why bother? We may even just give up on the idea of prayer altogether, feeling like we're just putting our petitions out into the universe where no one is listening.  A couple of things to remember, when we get frustrated by prayer . . . For one thing, prayer helps us come into union with God, in his communion of persons--Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Also, our prayers should be pure.  Let's not pray to win the lottery. Let's ask God for something we really need or for the needs of ot...

  . Sermon for Palm Sunday by Father Jonathan E Moore    LINK HERE   Please consider contributing an article to The Christian Lounge 

Entry into Jerusalem (scene 1) Duccio di Buoninsegna [ Web Gallery of Art ] Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road  (Matthew 21:8; Gospel for Procession of Palms). The Commemoration of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem Gospel for Procession of Palms   Matthew 21:1-11  ( English Standard Version Anglicised: England & Wales,  India, Scotland)    When Jesus and his disciples drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord needs them”, and he will send them at once.’ This took place to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Say to the daughter of Sion, “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounte...

  Whenever I read about the Annunciation (when the angel appeared to Mary), or the Visitation (when Mary visited Elizabeth), I use those occasions to pray for people in my own life that do not know Jesus, or who have not remained close to him. I pray that God announces himself to them, or visits them, so that they will come to know him personally. Included in all of these prayers is that the Holy Spirit will be poured out on them, prompting them to turn to God. An additional prayer I utter is that they will not be able to refuse God.  I am a firm believer that God wants to draw all of his children to him and sometimes it just takes an instant for those who have lost their way to return to him by a prompting or an increase through spiritual understanding. Mary had been prepared her entire life to say Yes! when it was announced to her that she would conceive Jesus. We celebrate that announcement today. Sometimes fear can get in the way of us taking a chance on God, ...

The Raising of Lazarus Caravaggio [ 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 11:1-45   (English Standard Version, Anglicised) There was a man named Lazarus who lived in the village of Bethany with the two sisters, Mary and Martha, and he was ill. It was the same Mary, the sister of the sick man Lazarus, who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. The sisters sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’  On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’  Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the ...

I take quite a few things seriously, including art. I'll be talking about that — art, I mean — along with attitudes, the Eighth Commandment, and whatever else comes to mind. But first, a quick look at how I see art, the universe, and God. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Something G. K. Chesterton jotted between the lines of a book, a bogeyman of yesteryear, and how the Eighth Commandment relates to media and art.)

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National Weather Service forecast map: mid-afternoon, March 14, 2026. Over the last 24 hours, the local forecast has gone from wind warnings, through winter weather advisories, to "Blizzard Warning in effect from March 14, 10:00 PM CDT until March 16, 04:00 AM CDT". Tonight and tomorrow, as the wind switches around to the north, we'll learn just how much wind those new windows keep from getting inside. I'll see that as good news. I might be okay, getting to Mass tomorrow morning.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (A blizzard warning, Sunday routines, and being Catholic: practicing our faith and common sense, here in central Minnesota.)

The house I grew up in had been remodeled with an apartment on the second floor, and another in the basement. My folks and I lived near a college, so that wasn't unusual. College students often preferred off-campus housing, and I'm drifting off-topic. My father kept his clothes in the basement apartment's closet, on the north side of the bedroom/living room. He'd made bookshelves on the west wall.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Good memories from my childhood, involving an overstuffed arm chair, a desk, books, and time with my dad. Plus hearing a homily inside a stuck elevator.)

Fr Noel O'Neill with Myeong Sek 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 9:1-41   (English Standard Version, Anglicised) [For the shorter form (9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38) omit the text in brackets and italics.] At that time: As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.  [ And his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ Having said these things, ]  he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said ...

    Forever, man has been asking big questions about life, and one of the biggest, I think, is "Why am I here?"  The answer to why we are here is not as mysterious as we might imagine. We can get lost thinking that our purpose comes from our activity, or our acquisitions or even our physical or intellectual achievements. But we would be wrong. When I was working on my master's degree, my theology teacher drew our attention to the very first line in the Prologue of the "Catechism of the Catholic Church." Beautifully written, I have always been pulled in by this line. Each time I reflect on it, I feel I get a little closer to understanding it. "God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life." It goes on: "For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man."  And then it points out, in this first paragraph, that God sent Jes...

     We threw together a salad for dinner with a couple of leftovers for sides. One of them was french fries that my husband had the night before from his dinner out. Throw them in the air fryer and they are good as new. "Do you mind sharing those?" I asked him. "I don't have to," was his response. Whaaaat? I thought. He always shares everything! So I tried it again. Same answer. One thing I've learned from being married almost 44 years is that communication is key and, at times, can be a little complicated, so clarification is always best. Sure enough, he was telling me that HE didn't have to have any of the french fries, i.e., "share them" with me, because he had the other side of mashed potatoes.  Now that sounded more like him, and I'm glad I clarified because the french fries were very good indeed. For those of you who are engaged or newly married, I hope you will remember this story, because there will be times that you must...