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(From Gustave Doré, via Library of Congress, used w/o permission.) I'll be talking about ADHD, PDD, PTSD, ASD and me; and what that alphabet-soup assortment of acronyms means. But first, a spot of poetry. "...Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had tried to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—...." (" The Raven ," Edgar Allen Poe (1884) via Wikipedia) Fast-forward 35 years — More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I know I probably shouldn't be writing about this, but I was surprised at how the incident made me feel, and, well, writing is what I do, especially when I get stirred up about something. A couple of years ago I was trying to be friendly to a neighbor I didn't really know.  He was building something behind the fence in his yard.  I inquired about it and he told me it was a dog run.  I thought that was kind of a weird answer, since it was a big, fenced in area. I later find out that he lied to me because he had been creating a marijuana garden. Then, just the other day, we noticed he had a pellet gun and he was shooting up in his tree, while his dog was going crazy running around.  The man followed a squirrel from tree to tree, trying to shoot it. The dog, you see, had treed the squirrel earlier and one can only conclude that our neighbor was trying to shoot the squirrel out of the tree so his dog could have it.  (This is the same dog that tore apart a poor squirrel

  Palm Sunday, East Timor [ Wikipedia ;  photo ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) The gospel for the procession with palms is included here as is the Passion according to St Luke arranged for reading by   N. Narrator.  ✠  Jesus. O. Other single speaker. C. Crowd, or more than one speaker. Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) The gospel for the procession with palms is included here as is the shorter form of the Passion according to St Luke, Luke 23:1-49. Gospel   for procession of Palms  Luke 19:28-40  ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India)    When Jesus had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.   When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples,   saying,  “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here.   I

  Fr Aodh Eamonn O'Halpin 31 January 1934 - 2 April 2022 Please pray for the soul of Fr Aodh Eamonn O'Halpin who died peacefully in our nursing home here in Ireland last Saturday, 2 April. He spent the early years of his missionary priesthood in Mindanao, Philippines, and later worked in Ireland before spending many years on mission in Britain. The name 'Aodh', an old Irish name sometimes used as an equivalent for 'Hugh', is pronounced like the letter 'A' in the English alphabet. Father Aodh's obituary is on the website of the Columbans in Ireland  here . The Deer's Cry (St Patrick's Breastplate) Sung by Rita Connolly In his will Father Aodh asked that this be played at his funeral. Fr Daniel O'Gorman 4 March 1932 - 3 April 2022 Father Dan worked for many years in Korea, arriving there in 1957 when it was still devastated after the Korean War. In his latter years in Ireland he was of great help to Columbans who were sick until he himself

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Did you play a prank on someone today?  I didn't.  Not because I don't think it would be fun, but mostly because I am not that imaginative.  Do people do that anymore on April Fools Day? I started wondering about where this tradition came from, but I found that the various ideas about its origins are too many and too elaborate to detail here.  Suffice it to say that a number of them had to do with making fun of, or a fool, out of someone. My two contemporary favorites, which I found on history.com are these: " In 1996, Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, duped people when it announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell. In 1998, after Burger King advertised a “Left-Handed Whopper,” scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich." Aren't those funny?  And pretty harmless, too.  But I think the best one I read about goes like this: "In 1957, the BBC reported that Swis

One of my daily prayer requests is for help in praying against discouragement.  I suspect I am not alone in this.  When you work in church ministry, that request takes on a particular urgency, because if discouragement wins the day, it might be time to go into a new line of work . I use the term "work" loosely when talking about church ministry, however, because, as some of you no doubt know, it really is vocational, which is an entirely different beast. One might be tempted to think that when you work in a church, everyone floats as if walking on a heavenly cloud.  Kindness overwhelms every situation and words flow from divine inspiration.  Oh, if that were only true!  In fact, unfortunately, it has been my experience that vocational work in a church can sometimes be more challenging than you would experience in the secular world!  What is not to be missed, however, is that such purposeful work--while at times challenging--is most rewarding.  To be able to walk

Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery   Rembrandt   [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   John 8:1-11  ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India)    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 taught them.   The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst   they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.   Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”   This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.   And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them,  “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw

  Fr Patrick Dooher 21 January 1943 - 25 March 2022 Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr Patrick Dooher who died suddenly on the evening of Friday 25 March, the Solemnity of the Annunciation. Father Paddy was from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and worked in both Ireland and Peru. You will find his obituary  here . Fr Richard O’Sullivan 17 February 1936 - 26 March 2022 Father  Dick died peacefully in our nursing home here in St Columban's, Dalgan Park, Ireland early on Saturday 26 March. From Kilgarvan, County Kerry, Ireland, he spent many years in Fiji but also spent periods teaching in Australia and in Ireland. He was a gifted teacher. His obituary is  here . Solas na bhFlaitheas ar an mbeirt seo sagart misinéireachta dílis. The Light of Heaven on these two faithful missionary priests. St Columban's Cemetery, Dalgan Park, Ireland

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I was watching the Michigan basketball game with our son (since our beloved State team had already been eliminated) and we were grumbling about their shooting.  They just couldn't hit a basket. Since everyone becomes an expert when they are watching a game, I commented that it seems to me the most important thing a player can do in preparation for a game is to practice those foul and 3-point shots.  Stand there all day until you have perfected it.  Some players look like it's the first time they've ever faced a foul shot. Obviously, I'm not being fair--and maybe even a little harsh--since you could practice it endlessly and still miss it.  I guess that's because we are not perfect, no matter how hard we try. So when it comes to "practicing" one's faith, we have to remember to give ourselves a break sometimes.  Our goal isn't to be perfect, because that is not something we will ever be able to attain on this earth.  Our goal is to be fai

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  The Return of the Prodigal Son ,  Rembrandt [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Luke 15:1-3, 11-32  ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India)    Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “There was a man who had two sons.   And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.   Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.   And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.   So he went and hired himself out to [ a

I've read this passage in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 11:14-23)  a million times.  You know, the one where Jesus drives out a "demon that was mute"?  What I never really noticed before was that as soon as the demon is out, the mute man spoke, to everyone's amazement. It occurred to me that the evil one likes it when we are silent. There are a lot of reasons people do not speak up, but most of them, I would venture to guess, have nothing to do with the realization that it pleases Satan.  Sometimes I think that is how we have gotten into the mess we are in today in regards to moral issues. Jesus is the one who freed the man and gave him his voice back.  Perhaps he is calling you today to use your voice for good.  In fact, we learn in this passage that it is by "the finger of God" that Jesus drives out demons.  It is his power that makes it possible, not our own, but we, indeed, need to collaborate with God. If God is calling you to speak the truth, he

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Years ago when we were homeschooling our kids, my friend turned me on to a 10 volume history series by Joy Hakim called The History of Us .  Recently I have decided that I don't know enough about history, so I grabbed a different book she wrote called Freedom, A History of US . I could go on and on about how inspired I have been as I have read about the struggles and ideas that went into creating the foundation for a new nation.  We tend to take our freedoms for granted, I am embarrassed to admit that these books are mostly written for youth, but in an interview with Hakim I heard her say that many, many parents come up to her and admit how much they have learned from the series.   The interview with her is interesting because of her approach to writing the books and her ideas about how inadequately we teach history (and literature) in schools.  Hakim certainly had experts in the field review her content, but she also paid children to review them as well.  She gave them

Here's kind of a funny thing.  See if you can relate to it.  I was praying about something which I have absolutely no control over, and I uttered these words: "Lord, I'm going to let you direct this." I could almost hear God laughing as soon as the prayer left my lips.  How big of me to give God permission to do something!  What kind of authority did I think I have over God anyway? I immediately realized that my prayer should have been: "Lord, I trust you with this." Humility before God is essential to our relationship with him, but it is clearly something some of us need to work through in our humanity! In my defense, I would like to claim that the intent of my initial prayer was to simply acknowledge that the resolution was out of my hands, and that I expected God to direct it.  After all, I do like to pray in advance, with confidence in God. Maybe you will keep this in mind when you pray, trusting God with your worries, because the truth is,

Burning Bush Sébastien Bourdon [ Wikipedia ;  author ] When the  Lord  saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”   Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground”  (Exodus 3:4-5; First Reading).  Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel  Luke 13:1-9  ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India)    There were some present at that very time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.   And he answered them,  “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?   No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.   Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you th

(From BBC News, used w/o permission.) (Freedom Square, Kharkiv, Ukraine. Missile explodes, killing at least 10 people. (BBC News (March 1, 2022)) I don't know why Putin sent troops to Ukraine; why those troops bombed a hospital, a theater, and Kharkiv's Freedom Square; or why Ukraine's military didn't either give up or get promptly defeated: but that won't stop me from guessing.... (Russian forces in Ukraine. Death in a maternity hospital, a breadline and a theater. History, perceptions, and a coming consecration.) More at A Catholic Citizen in America .