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I like to see patterns.  I think they are helpful for us to see the bigger picture in circumstances.  In listening to the proclamation of the Gospel of Luke (19:1-10) about the tax collector, a wealthy man, it is easy to discern a pattern that still applies to us today. Jesus was passing through a town and Zacchaeus, the tax collector, wanted to see him.  Zacchaeus climbed up a tree and when Jesus saw him, he told Zacchaeus that he was going to stay at his house.  Now everyone knew that this man was not an honest person and certainly not worthy of having Jesus come to his house! But there he was, in the midst of the crowd, called out by Jesus, the subject of much grumbling by those standing around watching the event unfold. In response to Jesus, Zacchaeus said he would give away half of his possessions to the poor and repay anything he had taken from others dishonestly. Next, Jesus pronounces salvation. Here's the pattern: We have an encounter with Jesus.  He calls us f

  Woman Holding a Balance Johannes Vermeer [ Web Gallery of Art ] Because the whole world before you is like a speck that tips the scales  (Wisdom 11:22; First Reading). Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel  Luke 19:1-10 ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India) Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.   And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.   And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature.   So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.   And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him,  “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”   So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.   And when they saw it, they all

"The Fire of Rome," July 64 A.D., by Hubert Rober. (1785) The Pax Romana had been in progress for eight decades on July 19, A.D. 64. A fire started in a retail district near Rome's Circus Maximus. It was a windy night. The fire spread. Fast. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . The Great Fire of Rome and a public relations problem. The Roman Republic, Nero, Caligula and a golden age of Rome. Emperors, politics and nostalgia.

Depending on where I sit in our house, sometimes my phone will not work very well.  I end up either moving to a different place (often in the same room), or just wave my phone around in the air until the connection is made.  I know it sounds dumb, but that's what I do. Anyway, I was thinking the other day that one of the advantages of reading a book is that this is never a problem!  Doesn't matter where I sit, my book never protests! Knowing me as you do, you must know this line of thinking raises a spiritual question that I would like to pose to you right now:   "Are you situated in the best place to clearly connect to God so that you can hear him?" If not, I encourage you to consider how you might best situate yourself so that you can interact with God.  Jesus (who is God) used to go up on a mountain by himself to be with the Father.  Wherever your "mountain" is, be it a quiet room in your house, church or a bench in the woods , go there , sit

For various reasons, I found myself a bit discouraged the other day.  Making matters worse, the ugliness of the war in Ukraine and the politics of this election cycle, in particular, disheartened me. More and more people tell me they just don't watch the news anymore.  Never mind whether you feel it is biased, the content in its own right is enough to drag you down. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without scripture.  Any time I spend in God's Word lifts me up.  If the current temperature of our culture is what we cling to, if it is the barometer that sets our state of mind, or if it drives us--even subliminally--forward, we are clinging to the wrong thing. As an experiment, notice throughout the day the variety of messages or information that cross your path. How are you affected by what you see and hear?  How much are you freely subjecting yourself to, by choice?  Then, see what happens when you intentionally bring thoughts about God, creation, or the

Asteroid Dimorphos and comet-like dust trail, 28 hours after DART spacecraft impact on September 26, 2022. (Image taken October 8. 2022) Image from NASA/ESA/STScI/Hubble, used w/o permission On September 26, 2022, the NASA/APL DART mission changed the orbit of an asteroid: Dimorphos, a satellite of 65803 Didymos.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

  Church Interior with the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican Dirck van Delen [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Luke 18:9-14 ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India) Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:   “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.   The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.   I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’   But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’   tell you, this man went down to his house justified,

  Moses Michelangelo [ Web Gallery of Art ] (First Reading,  Exodus 17:8-13 ) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel  Luke 18:1-8 ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India) Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.   He said,  “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.   And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’   For a while he refused, but afterwards he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man,   yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”   And the Lord said,  “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.   And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will

  Do you have difficulty in praying the rosary? If you do, you may find this book helpful. Praying the rosary as described in this book will help you to cut out distractions. You will find that for every Hail Mary there is a thought or picture to keep your mind concentrated on what you are saying. Believe me, you just won’t have time for distractions. CLICK HERE

  I had to laugh when I saw this picture online, but not for the reason you might think.   I wish that's what the corn maze looked like that I took our son to when I was much younger .  We went on some group outing at a farm and we all went into the corn maze.  It was supposed to be fun.  Yea, right. Our son wasn't great on his feet, and neither was I, but what made this maze especially challenging was that rather than clearing a path to walk on, they just knocked down the corn stalks. (Is that how it is typically done?) We had to maneuver our way on top of the fallen stalks, which slowed us down so much that we lost the group.  Or maybe they lost us?  Believe it or not, I had never been in a corn maze like that before and I had no idea where I was going. Honestly, it was a bit scary for me as a young mother, with a son who was having so much difficulty on the stalks (as was I), and not a clue how to get out.  How far were we going to have to walk?  What if we just

Madonna of the Rosary , Lorenzo Lotto  [ Web Gallery of Art ] Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.  When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of   James.  All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers ( Acts 1:12-14 ). First Reading, Mass of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. Still-Life with Symbols of the Virgin Mary , Dirck de Bray  [ Web Gallery of Art ] In October 2014 I published here a series of posts on the Rosary under the general title  The Rosary with the Great Painters , each post featuring five mysteries. Here I give links to each of those posts. The Joyful Mysteries Continue at Bangor to Bobbio .

  WHAT DO WE MEAN BY HELL? CLICK HERE

One of our daughters called.  Her car battery died.  She'd been having trouble with it and now the repair place said she'd been running on 20%.  No surprise there.  As she waited while they were replacing her battery, she called me with an update. They couldn't get a bolt off in order to get her battery out.  Why can't it ever be easy?  She was facing having to take it somewhere else, spending time and energy she did not have. We hung up and I immediately prayed for help for the mechanic.  As I finished my prayer, she immediately texted me that they were able to get the bolt off and were presently working on replacing her battery.  Problem solved! Praise God! Now you may be thinking one of two things:  My prayer was either tremendously powerful, or a nice coincidence just took place. I know.  I get it.  This example merely highlights the challenge we all have with prayer.  How does it work?  What actually happens when something like this takes place?  Could

Peasant Girls with Brushwood Jean-François Millet [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Luke 17:11-19 ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India)   On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.   And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance   and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”   When he saw them he said to them,  “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”  And as they went they were cleansed.   Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;   and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.   Then Jesus answered,  “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?   Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner

Oh my goodness!  We are so inundated with television campaign ads that are so mean!  I noticed that in one ad, after slandering their rival, the candidate ended with a snippet of information about his own qualifications. It made me wonder why, if you are the right candidate, don't you just put out an ad telling us why you are so wonderfully qualified?  Why do you have to run the other guy down?  Don't you realize that it just makes you look bad for doing it? I remember the priest who married us telling us that you should never run down your spouse in front of other people because it just makes you look bad for having picked such a terrible spouse! I thought it was funny, but there is some truth, at least to the part about being critical of your spouse in front of other people.  Now, if you need to vent privately to a friend, that's different, but, in most circumstances, the best thing might be to talk to your spouse about your frustrations and try to work thro

 4th Oct 2022 The Feast of St Francis of Assisi.  After a life dedicated to pleasure and worldly pursuits, often quite evil, Francis had a conversion and gave his life to God. Trusting in his Father God, he gave all his riches away, and lived a simple life.  Do I  see, in his life, that Francis was answering that invitation from Jesus to become like a child?    Matthew 18:1-5 – Reading for feast of St Theresa of the Child Jesus 1st Oct The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’  So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never  enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this  little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.     ‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.’ In this scene we can imagine lots of little children playing in front of Jesus and

"News services dialed their headlines back a bit Tuesday. But Monday's planetary defense test was a big deal, no matter how much of a nudge it gave Dimorphos...." More at A Catholic Citizen in America . The NASA DART mission was a success, hitting asteroid Dimorphos in our first Planetary Defense Test. Next: studying the results, developing new tech.