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Showing posts with the label Prayer

Family Health Issues: Cancer, a Smile, Tubes, and Waiting

Good news from number-two daughter's operation last week. As she put it, 'I've still got my smile'. Medicos had gone back into her neck last Wednesday. One of the possible outcomes was disruption of nerves that control the lower-right side of her face.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Still dealing with cancer in the family: second operation, and no news from the man in the extended family who couldn't walk.)

Cancer in the Family

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First, the good news. Our number-two daughter's cancer is slow-growing. The not-so-good news is that it's aggressive. And, of course, that she's got cancer. I learned about the cancer in early January. 1 The family knows a little more now, and I've gotten the okay to talk about it. Which isn't easy. I've been — distracted — and that'll very likely continue. Putting Feelings in Perspective Previous Experience "...Feelings, Woah, Woah, Woah, Feelings...." Diagnoses, Definitions, Surgery, and (Probably) Good News Another Operation, Radiation, and Prayer More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (I learned that one of our grown children has cancer a few weeks ago. I know a little more now. This week I talk about feelings, health, and what comes next.)

Advent Sunday: Kyrie, Then Death

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Several dozen students in the Islamic City of Marawi were allowed to start their First Sunday of Advent Mass in a university gymnasium. Then, when they got to the "Lord, have mercy" part, a bomb went off. Four of them died. Many — I've seen both 42 and 72 reported — were injured. I'll talk about that, along with whatever else comes to mind. I've been running a fever, so this week's post may be — interesting. Well, of course. It's supposed to be interesting. But — you get the idea. I hope. Mass in a Gymnasium Rebuilding: Eventually Prayer and Neighbors An Abrahamic Aside Under the Circumstances…. Getting a Grip — or — Seeing Humanity as “Us”, not “Me” and “Them” The Mystery of the Missing Domain — and Something Serious More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (An Advent mass interrupted by a bomb. Rebuilding a city with several names. Priorities, prayer and neighbors. An Abrahamic aside and an unwell week.)

Lent 2023: Prayer and Prepping For Easter

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This post should be online just after midnight, on the morning of Ash Wednesday Meanwhile, New Orleans will have almost six hours of their Mardi Gras left. There's a reason for that, and it's not that New Orleans Mardi Gras folks are ignoring Lent. A Catholic Citizen in America is on UTC time, Greenwich Mean Time's successor. Midnight, UTC, is 6:00 p.m. in New Orleans, Louisiana. 1 Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday: Meat, Cheese and New Orleans Lent: Pointing Myself Towards God Original Sin: Living With Consequences Wounded, But Still Basically Good The Bible, Very Briefly Goals: Short- and Long-Term Simple, Yes; Easy, No Looking Back at Lent 2022 More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Mardi Gras, very briefly. The purpose of Lent. Original sin and consequences. The Bible, briefly. Goals, short and long term.)

Pope Benedict XVI: Not Well, Prayer Requested

Noted, in today's news:... ...Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has been living in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, about a hundred yards northwest of St. Peter’s in Vatican city. He’s still there, in serious but stable condition; with medicos on hand. At age 95 — his age, not mine — hearing that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had a good night's sleep and is "absolutely lucid and alert" is good news. And Pope Francis renewing his invitation to pray for Benedict XVI makes sense.... A liitle more at A Catholic Citizen in America .

St. Jude, Judas Thaddaeus: Patron Saint of Desperate Cases

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(From Farragutful, via Wikipedia, used w/o permission.) (Interior of St. Jude the Apostle Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Florida.) One thing's certain. Well, actually, quite a few things are certain. Something that's certain about Saint Jude the Apostle is that he's not Judas Iscariot. Which may take some explaining. Then again, maybe not. In any case, "Jude" and "Judas" look like two different names in English translations of the Bible. But they're two ways of transliterating the same name, יְהוּדָה, Y'hudah, into my language's version of the Latin alphabet.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Jude, Saints, a letter, dead emperors and how Nero handled a public relations problem. Plus Elizabethan playwrights, chorizo and making sense.)

Experiencing COVID-19: It Could Have Been Worse

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Another week has passed, and I still haven't written about fusion power experiments on both sides of the Atlantic. It's on my to-do list, but I'm putting it off until I'm less distracted and more clear-headed. Besides, this has been an distracting week. Or I've been distracted. Which isn't quite the same thing. So - Tuesday I saw a doctor, who told me that I've caught COVID-19: along with about 80% of all Minnesotans. I decided to skip getting a blood test to verify my COVID-19 status: partly because it wouldn't make a difference on how I deal with the situation. And partly because I didn't see a point in expending resources just to satisfy my curiosity.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Health and Surfside Condo Collapse: Siloam Scenarios

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Sunday's rain dampened Sauk Centre's streets, but delivered under four tenths of an inch. That's been good for our weeds, and for grass next to sidewalks. But it's nowhere near the two or three inches we need to get back to adequate soil moisture in these parts. Medical issues have been distracting me. I took one of the kids to an unscheduled clinic checkup with follow-up lab work. Then another enjoyed, if that's the word, a day or so in the hospital. Not Sauk Centre's hospital. One up in North Dakota, near where she lives. On the 'up' side, I've been okay this week, which left me free for chauffeur duty. I'm hoping the next week here will be less eventful. But, quoting an old Minnesota saying, it could be worse. I woke up Thursday morning. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Enjoying Our Annual Renewal of Baptismal Vows

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Life isn't back to normal, here in Sauk Centre, and won't be. Not if I see "back to normal" as "being just exactly the way it was two years ago." Time and reality don't work that way. At any, life may not be back to normal; but this fifth Sunday of Easter is less not-normal than last year's. The COVID-19 pandemic is still in progress, but regional rules — state and church — are relaxing a tad. Partly, maybe mostly, because mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are not just in the pipeline. They're here. And that's another topic. Topics. At any rate, life and my routines are less not-normal than they were at this time last year. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Pope Francis in Iraq: Peace, Prayer and a Sign of Hope

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I've been listening to Vatican News coverage of the Pope's trip to Iraq.... ...Watching, too. All 53 minutes and 42 seconds of that video. I'd have preferred seeing more of the medal presented to Iraqi authorities. And the speeches were pretty much what I expected: reviews of past events, current situations and future hopes. That drama deficit.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

First Sunday in Lent, 2021: But Mostly the Lord's Prayer

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Today's Gospel, Mark 1:12 - 15 , is a sort of segue between our Lord's baptism and recruitment of brothers Simon and Andrew, then James son of Zebedee and John. All four were in the fishing industry, and that's another topic. Mark summarizes Jesus the Nazarene's 40-day fast in 33 words. That's 33 words in my native language, English. In a particular translation of Sacred Scripture. And that, finally, gets me to Matthew 6:9 - 13 , which was the Tuesday Gospel for February 20, 2018. And, more to the point, an example of the Lord's Prayer.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Dawn of My Daily Journal, Continued

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If you're back for more of "A Catholic Citizen in America:" thank you! These daily 'journal' posts are something new. I started talking about them last Saturday. ( January 23, 2021 ) Then I got distracted, which is par for the course and almost another topic. Today I'll say what I'd planned to say then. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

A Gallimaufry: Politics and Prayer, A Dragon and Turkeys

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I woke up this morning, which is always a good thing. My memory tells me that Friday night, January 1, I didn't sleep. At all. Maybe I dropped off for a few minutes to an hour, but even then I didn't get nearly enough sleep. Three weekends and most of a week after my all-nighter, I'm starting my eighth day of one-a-day 'journal' posting. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Fog, Frost, Feelings: and Another Washington SNAFU

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(Looking across the street last Saturday. (January 2, 2021)) This week's weather has included, for the most part, dense or patchy freezing fog. I figure the weather, and Washington news, have been affecting my mood. Or should that be "has been affecting?"... ...I'd planned on getting a picture of the same twigs this afternoon. But something's removed an identifiable curvy twig. Maybe the night's and morning's frost hid it. Or maybe I just didn't notice it. So I took a picture of another part of the same set of bushes.... ...Sound and Fury, News and Opinion "2021 storming of the United States Capitol" may or may not stick as a name for whatever happened last Wednesday. I'm even less certain about what actually happened. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Rereading Christopher Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus"

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"Dr. Faustus" keeps coming back. Christopher Marlowe's play, I mean, not Johann Georg Faust. J. G. Faust lived five centuries back. Give or take a bit. Extracting his biography from folk legends, chapbooks and assorted other retellings? I'll leave that for someone else. I haven't read or discussed "Faustus," since 2012. So I'll be rereading the play, looking what I wrote then, thinking about it and sharing the results. Together with whatever else comes to mind as I go along.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Blizzard: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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(Wednesday noon, December 23, 2020; my webcam's view of Sauk Centre's south side.) Tuesday afternoon's winter storm warning for my part of central Minnesota became a blizzard warning in the evening. We were promised a chance of freezing rain. But I didn't notice any Wednesday morning. On the other hand, wind was picking up and by noon snow wasn't coming down. It was coming across. I'd probably have got out to the Eucharistic Adoration chapel for my 2:00-3:00 Wednesday afternoon turn, if my wife hadn't said I should think about it. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

November 3: The End of Civilization as We Know It (Again)

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This isn't the first time I've voted during a pandemic, but it's the first time I've had reason for extra caution. That's why I voted by mail this year. The election results will please or disappoint me. Or, more likely, do a bit of both. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Beirut Blast: Ammonium Nitrate and Human Nature

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Last Tuesday, August 4, 2020, something exploded in Beirut. It was around 6:00 p.m., Beirut time, 15:00 UTC. By Wednesday afternoon, I'd read that the blast killed at least 100 folks and hurt some 4,000. Upwards of 100 people were missing. My guess was that the body count would increase. I was right about that, sadly. By Monday, August 10, the acknowledged death toll had passed 200. I don't know how likely it is that search and rescue teams will find more survivors. Some of the good news is that there were search and rescue teams. And that many folks in Beirut "...rushed to the blast location ... to offer support and assistance...." More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Got the Summertime Blues?

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It’s July and the year is half over. So, why does it feel like this year is taking forever to slog through? Could we be suffering from the summertime blues? I, for one, dislike the heat. However, I think it is more than that. Our country has had to deal with an impeachment of a President (forgot about that already?), a deadly virus, civil unrest, massive unemployment, and an unsteady stock market. With all this upheaval, what can we count on? Uncertainty! Summertime Blues As we move to the second half of the year, I think the summertime blues will continue. Governmental corruption continues. The deadly virus resolutely waits to pounce. Systemic racism requires time and hard work to address properly. And unemployment and stock market movements sputter up and down. How can we cope in such times as these? Turn to God I’m the type of person who feels compelled to fix things. I’m a problem solver. However, with all this uncertainty and upheaval, I’m overwhelmed. So, in times lik

I don't know how to pray any more.

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I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PRAY ANY MORE! HELP HERE