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      You've probably heard by now that recently Archbishop Fulton Sheen was beatified. This is a big deal. He is the first American-born Bishop to carry such an honor. I first heard about the miracle (he needed one  for his beatification), online. It's an interesting story about a family that prayed to him for help with their infant son. The rigorous progress to verify the miracle was completed and the infant son has grown to be a teenager. See the ** link below. Sheen had a profound affect on people, inspiring and converting them with his teachings. I like some of his quips, for which he was known, and which retain their wisdom still today: Resigning a bishopric, he said,  "I am not retiring, only retreading." "You must remember to love people and use things, rather than to love things and use people." "The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who s...

I remember "Boggle Beak". But listening to my mother or father read "Boggle Beak" to me, or reading it myself, isn't among my childhood memories. I'm not sure why. No, wait. That's not entirely true. I remember reading the book, but the memory reminds me of my father showing me "Boggle Beak" and telling me why the book is important to him. I'll let him explain it. "Boggle Beak" was: "A greatly favored book of mine when an infant or child. It was read to me on innumerable occasions by my sister Mary Alice, and, less often, by other members of my family before I could read; and, after I could read it for myself, it continued to be a favorite for perhaps a year or two. I do not recall reading it after we moved to Rockford, so by the time I was nine I must have outgrown it." (Bernard Gill's handwritten note, on the front endpaper of "Boggle Beak", dated June 1963) I'd have been 11 years old when he wr...

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants Abel Grimmer [ Web Gallery of Level ] Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India) . Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel Matthew 21:33-43 (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India) Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence round it and dug a wine press in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than at first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw t...

I've been distracted this week. Wednesday morning I got and started reading documents involved in setting up family property/estate/whatever arrangements for at least the next generation. I was part-way through the last document when a video conference with the lawyer started. Good news, we caught a misspelling of my name and clarified a few points. Surprising news, one of the documents was a health care directive.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Being a Catholic affects how I prepare my health care directive, particularly how and why I define palliative care.)

Fr Anthony Collier 20 June 1913 - 27 June 1950 Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India) Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel Matthew 21:28-32 (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India) Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’, but afterwards he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir’, but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors an...

Lala with Jordan who died in November 2023 I try to mark Lala's birthday every year, which is 27 September, the feast of St Vincent de Paul. That won't be celebrated this year as it falls on Sunday. So I'm posting it this year a little early. Fewer and fewer persons with Down Syndrome are being born in European countries. This is because more and more children with Down Syndrome are being aborted. Below, with some minor changes, is what I have posted over the last three years. +++ I first wrote this post in October 2008 and used it again in 2011 under the title Lala and Queen Elizabeth II . I have re-posted it a number of times, with variations, because Lala's story is one that should be told over and over again. This year I am re-posting what I have posted over the last three years, with a couple of updates on ages. I am posting the day before Lala's birthday in the Philippines, 27 September, the feast of St Vincent de Paul. No doubt, the occasion will be marked a...

    I was listening to a recitation of the  Gospel of Mark, Chapter 10 using ** Lectio Divina on the Parable of the Rich Man. You might remember the story where Jesus tells the rich man, " Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”  (Mk 10:21) Typically when I read this parable, I think very literally in terms of giving away stuff, the actual physical things we hold on to. The context of the retreat I was listening to talked about making space for Jesus, and this got me to thinking, "What if Jesus isn't asking us to give up stuff, but to give up what we are attached to?" What are you attached to?  Let me give you an example. Let's say you have developed the habit of scrolling or watching reels on your phone. "It's okay," you tell yourself. "I'm not hurting anyone by doing it, and it gives me a break." Let's say lately you have really coveted your time doing this, to...

Technology and culture change. Some things don't. ...I spent two decades of my life working for a small publishing house here in Sauk Centre, Vocational Biographies.... ...By the time I worked there, the old coach entrance was at ground level, with steps up to the floor a few paces inside. That's where I usually entered the building, particularly in winter when navigating the front entrance's outside steps could be tricky.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Remembering the time I helped fix a lock started me thinking about natural law and free will, among other things.)

The Grape-Picker Bernhard Keil [ Web Gallery of Art ] The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard (Matthew 20:1; Gospel). Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India) Gospel Matthew 20:1-16 (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India) At that time: Jesus told his disciples this parable, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market-place, and to them he said, “You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.” So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the ele...

    Finally, finally , we are starting to get our green grass back. We have been looking at patches of brown for so long, I was happy to see our yard come alive again after the rain the other day. We planted a second flower garden last spring and the flowers have really grown tall and colorful this fall, but they are just now starting to fade a bit. The tomato vines have been trimmed and we have one scraggly plant with a few tomatoes holding on for dear life. When I think of flowers, I think of St. Therese of Lisieux and this famous quote by her: "I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would lose its loveliness. And so it is in the world of souls, where each one has its own mission and is different from the others in its qualities and sanctity." If ...

Scenic, no. Good farmland, yes. Red River Valley, near the Goose River, looking south.   Change happens, which isn't a new idea. At all. "Everything changes and nothing stands still" ("πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει", quoted by Plato in " Cratylus " (ca. 360 B.C.)) ( Heraclitus , Wikiquote) This week I'll be talking about — mentioning, actually — some of my relatives, what Thomas Jefferson said about settling central North America, and why I like being an American. On the whole. Indian Cemetery Field Trip Republic, Republican Thomas Jefferson, Change, and Using Our Brains "Hundredth and Thousandth Generation" Attitudes and "The Call of Cthulhu" Words, Meanings, and Respect "Crafty Individuals" Family and Neighbors A Blanket Marrying Into an Older Family I Like It Here .... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Thomas Jefferson thought settling America would take centuries. I talk about that, a...