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May, the Month of Mary Garland of Flowers with the Madonna and Child Christiaen Luyckx [ Web Gallery of Art ] You can also find this painting on Wikipedia  here . O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today! Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May. Bring Flowers of the Rarest (Queen of the May) Composed by  Mary E. Walsh , sung by  Frank Patterson Bring flowers of the rarest bring blossoms the fairest, from garden and woodland and hillside and dale; our full hearts are swelling, our glad voices telling the praise of the loveliest flower of the vale! Refrain: O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today! Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May. O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May. Their lady they name thee, Their mistress proclaim thee, Oh, grant that thy children on earth be as true as long as the bowers are radiant with flowers, as long as the azure shall keep its bright hue Refrain Sing gaily in chorus; the bright angels o'er us re-echo t

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    In today's saint, like so many others, we have a powerhouse of strength and holiness. Here is a short video on the life of St. Catherine of Siena, that I hope you will take the time to watch. St. Catherine of Siena, Pray for Us! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLlkdymNajw  Happy Feast Day! Janet Cassidy janetcassidy.com Follow my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/ Check out my YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy

  If you have anyone in your life that is questioning the existence of God, or is arguing against God because of the existence of evil, you may find an article I recently read, quite interesting. I came across an article (Answering Atheists) by Bishop Robert Barron at Word on Fire (wof) that addresses some primary arguments used by modern atheists.  You can find it just by searching "wof answering atheism". In brief, here's what he covers, among other things: 1) "What Evidence is there for God?" 2) "If everything has a cause, then what caused God?" 3) Has science disproven God? Are science and faith incompatible?  If     God exists, is he useless? This article is not a difficult read (it is actually a transcript of an interview--you can listen to the podcast if you prefer) but it addresses these topics in a very clear and concise matter. One thing that stuck out for me, in particular, was the point that we do not have to rely on science alon

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UPDATE/FIX — The links in this post now take you to "Kamoʻoalewa: Breakaway Asteroid and Quasi-Moon" on A Catholic Citizen in America. I goofed when posting this preview - - - sorry about that: and have a good day/evening/weekend/afternoon.... :) The asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa isn't exactly Earth's second moon. But it's been circling our world for centuries: and near Earth's orbit for much longer. Now scientists say they've traced the asteroid back to Giordano Bruno crater on the Moon. I'll be taking a look at what I could find of their research, Earth's moons, and asteroids whose orbits keep them near Earth. Then I'll talk about one of the more colorful personalities of the Renaissance. Asteroid Kamoʻoalewa, Giordano Bruno Crater: Origins & Orbits Dust, Asteroids, Astrodynamics, Temporary Moons, and Lagrange points When Circling Isn't Orbiting: Quasi-Satellites In This Week's News: 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and a Lunar Crater

    It is easy to come across a number of people online who lash out against Pope Francis.  I guess they don't like the things he says, which often, from what I've seen, represents what we know to be the inclusive way of Jesus. When he speaks of being non-judgmental and welcoming everyone, those who have a personal agenda, or a vendetta against others, often campaign against him. Sometimes, it seems, he speaks off the cuff, but how can you not like someone who says things like this? "I believe it is essential today that we abandon the rigidity of the past, and distance ourselves from a Church that points the finger in condemnation . . . It is therefore important to preserve and promote the faith by placing ourselves close to the people, leaving our embroidery, frills, and lace cuff in the closet and concentrating instead on the Christian message of compassion and closeness." (Pope Francis LIFE) He's not really talking about style, but what it represe

  St Mark the Evangelist Happy Feastday  Mark was not one of the twelve Apostles, though it's more than likely that hew knew Jesus personally. Ir is interesting that many ecclesiastical writers see a sort of hidden signature of Mark in his Gospel, in the recounting of the young man present at the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane , who                                                                                                                             "followed Him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked"                                                                                 Maybe it's significant that only Mark mentions this incident.  Mark was, from an early age part of the group of  first Christians who were close to Our Lady and the Apostles and would have known them well. He was with Paul and Barnabas on their first apostolic journey, though for some reason left them to go back t

    Before the conclave which elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the papacy, and prior to his awareness that he would be chosen as Pope, he asked to give a speech to the College of Cardinals about the direction in which he thought the Church should move. Apparently, that speech unintentionally sealed his fate. In that speech, in which he was allowed just 3 minutes, he spoke about four things:  Evangelization, the danger of the Church becoming self-referential, spiritual worldliness, and finally, ironically, what the Church would need in the next Pope. The common thread, obviously, is that the Church needs to look outward and not get stuck on the idea that "she has her own light." In a General Audience given by Pope Francis April 10, 2019 , he said it this way: " That it is like the moon, which does not have its own light: it reflects the light of the sun. Nor do we have our own light. The light we have is a reflection of God’s grace, of God’s light.&qu

The Red Vineyard Vincent van Gogh [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   John 15:1-8     (English Standard Version, Anglicised) Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser.   Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.   Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.   Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.   I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.   If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  

St Mark's Basilica, Venice [ Wikipedia ;  photo ] The Church celebrates the Feast of St Mark the Evangelist on 25 April. The Second Reading in the Office of Readings in the Breviary is from the treatise Against Heresies by St Irenaues. Here it is, with  highlights  added. [ Source ] The Church, which has spread everywhere, even to the ends of the earth, received the faith from the apostles and their disciples .  By faith, we believe in one God, the almighty Father   who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them .  We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became man for our salvation . And  we believe in the Holy Spirit who through the prophets foretold God’s plan : the coming of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, his birth from the Virgin, his passion, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension into heaven, and his final coming from heaven in the glory of his Father, to  recapitulate all things  and to raise all men from the dead, so that, by the decr

      I'm going to apologize in advance to those of you who consider the following remarks offensive. Please don't take them as me disrespecting you, it's just that, to my ear, referring to an individual with a plural pronoun doesn't work. I had someone call the house the other day to ask about some supplies for our son.  The caller referred to him as "they."  At first I was confused and thought I heard her wrong, but when she did it again, I caught on, and asked her politely to refer to him as he. I just can't handle an individual being referred to plurally. It's just poor grammar, that's all. Well, I suppose, that's not really all there is to it. I had a friend kindly explain to me a while back why she chose to use plural pronouns at her daughter's request.  She said she couldn't stand to cause her daughter more pain than she was already experiencing, so out of love and respect for her daughter, she acquiesced.  Who wouldn

This isn't what I'm writing about this week, but it's noteworthy:... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (As I write this, Voyager 1 has been outward bound for 46 years, seven months, 18 days and about two hours.)

    Years ago I read some leadership advice that asked the question, "Who are you mentoring?"  It suggested you list the number of hours you spend on each of the tasks that you do, and be sure mentorship is high on the list.   If you are not mentoring, you are not actually leading. We've had a lot of readings lately about Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who leads his flock.  If anyone knew good leadership, it was Jesus. This got me to thinking . . . Maybe we are not a shepherd on a hill somewhere, leading a flock, but as parents, we do have a flock of our own that we have been given--our children.  Even if they are adults now, our role as faith mentors still continues. Now you may say that your adult children have lost their way.  This is all the more reason to see yourself as their shepherd.  Bishop Barron gave a SERMON last Sunday where he talked about the importance of a shepherd being attentive to his individual sheep. Attentiveness doesn't mean controlli

      I've been reading "Pope Francis LIFE, My Story Through History."  It has taken me a bit to get into it, but the more I read, the more interesting it becomes. True to the title, his book weaves historical moments with his life experiences. One of those historical moments was the Berlin Wall coming down.  He had this to say: "But walls are not just physical: when we're not at peace with someone, a wall comes between us.  How beautiful the world would be if there were bridges instead of barriers . . . . Wherever there are walls . . . we see the proliferation of mafias, ,criminal behavior, dishonest scoundrels exploiting people's weakness and subjecting them to fear and loneliness. We are Christians! So we must love our neighbors unconditionally, without borders, without limits of any kind, going beyond the walls of selfishness and personal or national interests.  It is necessary to break the barriers of ideology, which amplify hate and intole

Scientists have found gene groups we have in common with nearly all animals: thousands of them, from code library that's more than half a billion years old. I'll be talking about that this week, plus why I see no problem with studying this vast and ancient universe. Still Learning Life's Long Story Bilateral Symmetry and Oh, Look! It's a — Thing Bilaterians: 700,000,000 Years of Building on the Basics Ancient Genes, Rewritten Gene Duplication: Let the Modding Begin! Faith and Reason, Science and Religion "Truth Cannot Contradict Truth" Four Centuries in Europe: the Black Death, Wars, and a Label A King, the Age of Enlightenment, and a Few Good Ideas English Politics and All-too-Familiar Attitudes Using my Brain, Admiring God's Universe More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Discovery: bilaterians, animals with right and left sides, get thousands of gene groups from our last common ancestor. Plus why science and faith get along.)

The Good Shepherd Early Italian Christian Painter [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel    John 10:11-18     (English Standard Version, Anglicised) Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.   He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.   He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.   I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,   just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.   And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.   For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I

      Just a quick thought for today . . . Who do you need to forgive, and who do you need to ask for forgiveness? I was praying for a dear friend who, knowing that his death was near, diligently prepared himself for it.  He made amends where necessary. Now that he is gone, I was thinking about him and wondering if he had been able to shorten his time in purgatory because of his careful attention to readiness, here on earth. Hopefully, you don't have the wrong idea about purgatory.  It is simply a state for purification, since entering the "joy of heaven" requires us to be in a state of holiness. It is solid teaching that comes from scripture as well. Here is a great place to learn more about it:  http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a12.htm I thought I would copy the text here for your convenience.  It's a good read!  It comes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY 1030 All who die in God's grace and frien

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