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A tsunami flooded the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant eight years ago. Fires, explosions and meltdowns followed. Folks living within 20 kilometers were told to leave the area. Radiation levels are dropping. A few folks are moving back. Clearing debris and removing radioactive fuel rods is taking more time than expected.... (More, at A Catholic Citizen in America )

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Yesterday, we heard the Passion of the Lord from Luke 22:14 to 23:56. With every reading of the Passion, we relive, with Jesus, His humiliation, passion and death. With today being Holy Monday, we reside in the calm before the storm of a turbulent Holy Thursday and Good Friday. So, today, might seem like any other day. Yet, it is different. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the chief priests and scribes witnessed the crowd’s love for Jesus. This appreciation for Jesus made the chief priests and scribes feel uncomfortable – to the point where they began to plot Jesus’ death. They feared the rise and adulation of Jesus would deter devout Jews from the proper worship of God. They didn’t understand who Jesus really was and saw Jesus as a mere man professing to be the Son of God. Therefore, the chief priests met with Judas to make their plans to bring about Jesus’ demise. Assess Your Calm Before the Storm During this calm before the storm, today would be a good day to assess our own l...

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Seeing Jesus as a charismatic wannabe revolutionary is possible. So is assuming that he was politically inept or stark raving mad. Maybe both. Another option is seeing Jesus as a great teacher, one of the world's best: in the same league as Socrates, Kapila and Confucius. The 'up' side of the 'great teacher' view is that it acknowledges our Lord as someone who talked about ethics and made sense. The 'down' side, and it's a big one, is that Jesus of Nazareth said this.... (More, at A Catholic Citizen in America> )

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Para esta Cuaresma, el *Papa Francisco* propone 15 sencillos actos de *caridad* que él ha mencionado como manifestaciones concretas del *amor de Dios 💠 1.saludar. (siempre y en todo lugar) 💠 2. Dar las *gracias* (aunque no "debas" hacerlo). 💠 3. Recordarle a los demás cuanto los *amas.* 💠 4. *Saludar con alegría* a esas personas que ves a diario. 💠 5. Escuchar la *historia* del otro, sin prejuicios, *con amor*. 💠 6. Detenerte para *ayudar*. Estar *atento a quien te necesita.* 💠 7. *Levantarle los ánimos* a alguien. 💠 8. *Celebrar* las *cualidades* o *éxitos* de otro. 💠 9. *Seleccionar* lo que no usas y *regalarlo* a quien lo necesita. 💠 10. *Ayudar cuando se necesite* para que otro descanse. 💠 11. *Corregir con amor,* no callar por miedo. 💠 12. *Tener buenos detalles* con los que están *cerca de ti.* 💠 13. *Limpiar lo que uso en casa.* 💠 14. *Ayudar a los demás a superar obstáculos*. 💠 15. *Llamar por teléfono a ...

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Maintaining faithfulness to the Lenten pledge may not always be easy; especially when we gave up something that we truly craved – like chocolate! We go through withdrawal symptoms, feeling deprived, and we don’t like to feel that way. So, we give in and default on our Lenten pledge.  God is ever faithful to us, but because of our tendency to sin, we are not always faithful in return. Maintaining faithfulness to the Lenten pledge is a good example of where we easily fail to remain faithful. Maintaining Faithfulness is Not Trivial One might think a breakdown in faithfulness to a Lenten pledge is trivial. Yet, it might represent a microcosm of our relationship with God on a macro level. If we can’t be faithful in trivial matters, what makes us think we can be faithful with important matters? If we let a Lenten pledge slide and give it little thought, what else might we let slide? God never gives us more than we can handle. With something like a Lenten pledge, that we make to...

Entry into Jerusalem , Lorenzo Ghiberti  [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) The gospel for the procession with palms is included here. The shorter form of the Passion according to St Luke is Luke 23:1-49. Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) The gospel for the procession with palms is included here as is the Passon according to St Luke arranged for reading by   N. Narrator.  ✠  Jesus. O. Other single speaker. C. Crowd, or more than one speaker. Gospel for Procession with Palms   Luke 19:28-40 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition)      After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,  saying, ‘Go into the village ah...

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Lent is a time to give up something we love a lot, like chocolate, or wine, as a sacrifice, in thanksgiving for what Christ sacrificed for each of us. To give up something we really love a lot requires Temperance – the ability to control one’s passions. Therefore, Lent and Temperance go together like bread and butter. You can have one without the other, but they’re much better together! Lent and Temperance We need the virtue of Temperance to live up to our sacrificial commitment, thereby giving a more meaningful purpose to the season of Lent. We are about half-way through the Lenten Season. How is your Lenten sacrifice coming along? Are you living up to your commitment? Might you have slipped a bit, or perhaps forgotten all about your Lenten sacrifice? If so, here are a few things you can do to help you get back on the right track: Read more...

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Asistir a una boda siempre es bonito. Es un evento social que nos agrada. Hay saludos, música, convivencia y muchos y muy buenos deseos de felicidad para los recién casados. La novia luce radiante y el novio, casi siempre un poco pálido y nervioso. Sonríen tímidos al comenzar la ceremonia, más tranquilos en su terminación y los vemos felices y tiernos, ya en la recepción, bailando su melodía preferida. Tienen las bodas un encanto especial. Se suele oír, y por desgracia con demasiada frecuencia que, “no hace falta un papel para la unión de una pareja que se quiere”.Son frasecitas ya muy hechas que nos suelen llegar “como que no quiere la cosa” lo del famoso papel ….Si se quiere ser recto, real y responsable, ¡vaya que si hace falta el papel! porque el matrimonio civil es necesario, pues es una ley que ampara a los cónyuges y no digamos si es que llega a haber hijos. La pareja, sin ningún testimonio ni compromiso oficial, en su única forma de unión libre se asem...

I'm one of those folks who read dictionaries for fun. If I had more finely-tuned social skills, I might be a geek. I've been told I'm a nerd. I won't deny it. Which reminded me of Malvolio's words of wisdom. Or, rather, my paraphrase.... ...There are worse fates than being a geek, a nerd, or some combination thereof. Consider, if you will, the life of a fashion model: consigned to wear phantasmagoria made manifest. Like those accordion pants.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

From   The Gospel of John   (2003) directed by Philip Saville Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   John 8:1-11 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition)      Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them.  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them,  they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.  Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’  They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the g...