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Humility, Science, and Accepting Reality
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By
Brian H. Gill
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I could be a Christian, following my Lord, if I believed that we live on a flat plate with nothing between us and the cosmic ocean but a sold dome that holds the stars. But my faith doesn't depend on maintaining ignorance of what we've learned in the last two dozen or so centuries. Imagery in 1 Samuel 2:8 and Psalms 148:4 is beautiful, poetic, and consistent with Mesopotamian cosmology : hardly surprising, considering where the Hebrews lived. That was then, this is now, and we've learned quite a bit about the universe since the days of Kubaba and Enmerkar . Some details of their lives seem exaggerated, but folks still pad their resumes, and that — isn't another topic.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .
Prayer Keys
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I am thankful for the many aids we've been given to help us pray. Just today, sidetracked during the Office of Morning Prayer, I found my way back more than once through words on paper before me. In case anyone else has a mind that 'drifts' now and then, here are some keys I've found to help open doors to prayer. While these are readily accessible without needing to be sought online, I am including links for anyone who may find those beneficial. Scripture. The current day's Mass readings are an ideal source for Lectio Divina . These can be found by starting here , or here. The Divine Office . This is the prayer of the Church, in which nuns, monks, clergy, religious and laity all over the world are participating, as one, on the same days. In addition to being available in bound volumes, this is free with no registration necessary online at Divine Office.org . The entire day of prayer is right there, printed and with (optional) audio. Bound volumes a
"Captivating"-The Story of St. John Paul II: A Boy Who Became Pope
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By
Unknown
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Available through Pauline Press and Amazon As a backdrop, I would be remiss if I also did not share the infinitely amusing ways God continues to make his presence known in my life and how I obtained my current copy of this book. To my delightful surprise one Sunday, the Pauline sisters visited my home parish of St. Peter’s in Plymouth. After mass, I hurriedly ran downstairs to peruse the numerous collections to be had. Let’s be honest, the gracious invitation of our sisters and my passion for books are two areas in my life that I find great difficulty saying “no” to. Having spied this book, my husband saw the gleam in my eyes and knew he would not be leaving church empty handed. However, having only had it in my possession for less than a day, I felt compelled to share it with a friend and her daughter. Read More...
'Yet, not what I want, but what you want.' Sunday Reflections, Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Year B
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By
Fr Seán Coyle
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The Gospel of John (2003) directed by Philip Saville The Commemoration of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem John 12:12-16. The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. At the Mass Gospel Mark 14:1 – 15:47 or 15:1-39 Chalice , Gilt Silver,1450 -1500, Hungarian Goldsmith Hungarian National Museum, Budapest Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them dr
So much to pray for. Where do I begin?
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By
Unknown
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So much to pray for. Where do I begin? Do you feel that way sometimes? I've been feeling like that a lot lately. Before I left for vacation, I prayed the rosary every night so that I could actually get on the plane ! During vacation, I prayed for our safety and well-being. When I got home, I prayed for my family, friends and my job. My prayer life has become overwhelming! You can read the rest at Being Catholic ... Really .
Behind the Name, Beautiful Thorns
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By
Lisa
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Years ago I went through a severe trial and very intense spiritual warfare. After that happened, I cried out to the Lord and told him, "I just want a normal, leisurely life"! Well, he heard my prayer and he left me alone for the next 6 years. Needless to say, I was miserable! There were no spiritual consolations; I did not sense or hear from the Lord at all during that time. The worst part about it though was my passion towards him was gone! I had no desire to pray or serve him. I felt like Jesus could have appeared in all his glory right in front of me and I would not have been moved. It was a very scary place to be and even made me question my salvation. Continue Reading @ Beautiful Thorns >
The Thumb-Brain Connection, and DIY Robots
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By
Brian H. Gill
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Scientists learned how using our thumbs changes our brains by collecting data from 26 smartphone users, 11 users of "old-fashioned cellphones," and electroencephalography. Building your own robot is getting a whole lot easier, now that RoboCORE is around. It's a robotic central nervous system you can program with C++ or Python.... When I was in high school, I learned that adult brains were static, unchanging. Neuroscientists thought, or assumed, that once we get past youth — that our brains don't change: no new neurons, no new connections between neurons. They were wrong.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .
Praise to the Lord! Praise Him Forever Each Dat!
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I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord , and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145: 1-3 Praise the L ORD , for he is good; for his mercy endures forever; Praise the God of gods; for his mercy endures forever; Praise the Lord of lords; for his mercy endures forever; Psalm 136: 1-3 Read More at:: His Unending Love
Life or Death: A Four-Year- Old Chooses
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By
Melanie Jean Juneau
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The following is a true story of a four-year-old Catholic child, in a coma, following a serious car accident. Chandra was still not conscious when she began to speak to her parents in the ICU unit. She spoke as if in a dream, describing a big room with two doors where she sat waiting with several other people. She explained that she had to decide which door she wanted to walk through. A really nice man, dressed in white smiled at her and told her that she was completely free to walk through either door. One door would bring her back to her life on earth. If she liked, she could across the room, take the nice man’s hand and walk through the other door. continue reading
Son of Dr. Alveda King talks about his mother's abortion
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By
Unknown
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Early Spring Walk Through the Cemetery - Pray for the Souls in Purgatory
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"By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3: 19 Oh, My Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of your mercy. Read More at: His Unending Love
Our winter vacation in New York City
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By
Unknown
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Making Mistakes, the Human Condition
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By
Kathleen Glavich
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If you’re like me, you hate making mistakes. I like to think I’m perfect, and doing a foolish thing punctures my ego. It’s bad enough when I’m the only one who knows about it, but worse when others witness or hear about it. What pops into my mind is the day I was making cheese soufflé and a large amount of cayenne pepper fell into the mixture. “We never taste it anyway,” I thought. “I’ll leave it in.” Well, that evening the sisters really tasted it! To top it off, the next morning for breakfast I used baking soda instead of baking powder in our pancakes, turning them into a gritty substitute for toothpaste. That was long ago, but I continue to do and say dumb things, living proof that “to err is human.” Click to continue
What We Learned During Lent This Year
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By
Tacy
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Happy Palm Sunday (this weekend!) and Feast of the Annunciation! And Easter! (Almost!) Soon we'll all be saying: He is risen- he is risen indeed! Now that Lent is indeed almost over, as we're looking back, I have to be honest about these almost 40 days. We took Lent by the horns this year. It was hard. We went full-throttle and gave up a whole bunch of really lovely things. It was extremely hard at times not to eat that piece of chocolate. But we did learn - oh boy did we learn- a whole bunch. All of us. The whole family! So, the question remains: what- exactly- did we learn during Lent this year? 1. Prayer First of all, we learned to pray more. In the afternoons, when I usually have my cup of tea and read while the kids nap, I often felt a slight depression at having decided to limit caffeine and my intake of hot tea. During those times, I usually prayed. I found it so hard not to resort to my usual compulsive behavior: checking all of the social media apps on my phon
Free temperament quiz and pre-sales for choleric child book
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By
Connie Rossini
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I am happy to announce that I have published a 44-question quiz to determine your children’s primary temperaments. You can also use it for yourself. You can download it free through Smashwords for your Kindle, Nook, iPad, or as a PDF. I also uploaded it to Amazon, but Amazon only allows free distribution during special offers or as a price match. I have notified Amazon that the quiz is free elsewhere. I hope they drop the price to free soon. That is beyond my control. (It currently sells there for $.99.) Please download your free copy of Determining Your Child’s Temperament: a brief quiz for Catholic parents. If you find it helpful, please post a review on Smashwords or Amazon so that others can benefit. Share the links with your friends, family, and homeschool co-op. Let me know if I can improve it in anyway. Thank you. Continue reading at Contemplative Homeschool.
Keeping Watch with Jesus in Holy Week
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By
Unknown
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Prayer is the place where "heart speaks to heart," as John Henry Cardinal Newman says. Using Scripture, we can enter into Jesus' experience of Holy Week; we can place our hearts into his. We can read the Passion accounts of the Gospels and ask Jesus for the gift of compassion, of suffering with him in his agony. Jesus himself invites us to do this when, in the midst of his agony in the garden, he calls to his disciples and to us: Remain here and keep watch with me. Matthew 26:38 "Gethsemane" © Deror Avi / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0 St. Ignatius of Loyola proposes a deeply personal and imaginative way to remain with Jesus. A master strategist and student of the human soul, St. Ignatius articulated a process of praying with Scripture that allows us to encounter Jesus personally. This kind of imaginative prayer engages all the senses and has come to be known as Ignatian Contemplation. At the Apostleship of Prayer, we call it praying with the he
Worth Revisiting: Why Pray the Stations of the Cross?
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By
Unknown
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Though this is a new post,the idea of revisiting the Stations of the Cross is a much needed conversation to be had this Lent. And one that in true Jesuit imagining I invite you to consider: This past week as I accompanied my 4 th grade students, from this past summer, for the Stations of the Cross I began to think... Why do we not do this more often? Here, we have been given this beautiful imaginative way to immerse ourselves in the story of the Passion of our Lord. More than merely listening we are asked to contemplate the scene, and walk in faith with Christ on the way to the cross. As we picture the faces of the crowd, the thoughts of the disciples, and the heart of Christ himself we glimpse the magnitude of the sacrifice of love that has been given to us. If you have never participated in the Stations of the Cross before, all are welcome, just call your local parish for the date and time. This is a graced pilgrimage and one that I hope that you too will make this Lent.
Scrutinies, Options, and "a Great Multitude"
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By
Brian H. Gill
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Someone called my father-in-law, asking which set of Bible readings were were using this week. It's a reasonable question. One set for this fifth Sunday in Lent is Ezekiel 37:12 - 14 ; Romans 8:8 - 11 ; and John 11:1 - 45 . The other, labeled "Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A Scrutinies," is Jeremiah 31:31 - 33 ; Hebrews 5:7 - 9 ; and John 12:20 - 33 . Having options isn't odd: readings for some Sundays include an abbreviated version — I'm not a big fan of those, since I like hearing Sacred Scripture, and my attention span doesn't time out quite that fast.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .
Carmelite Mystics to the Rescue
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Whilst giving a series of lectures on prayer at Belmont Abbey, I was cornered by one of the participants who demanded to know my qualifications. Although I was taken aback, I couldn’t but concede that he had every right to know whether or not the lecturer was worth the time and money he had spent. After all, if I’d been giving a course on scripture, theology or canon law the participants would have had every right to expect that I had an MA – if not a PhD – in the relevant subject on which I was holding forth. I found it embarrassing to admit therefore that I hadn’t any such qualifications in those subjects. On reflection, however, I realized that it was precisely because I had no such qualification that I was able to give the lectures and, for that matter, write all my books. You see, ‘ My name is David and I am a dyslexic .’ It took more than forty years before I was able to say those words, thanks to a chance meeting with a doctor who knew something about what she called ‘ my gif
Cracked Pots
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By
Melanie Jean Juneau
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The Spirit of God flows through our imperfections. An Allegory. An idealistic young man, Mark, traveled a great distance to find a well-known holy man to mentor him. Although this elder, Fr. Simon, was a confirmed hermit, Mark noticed he was becoming physically weak. Ingeniously, Mark offered the perfect exchange; he would do the heavy chores for the elderly monk, freeing valuable hours so Father would have more than enough spare time to teach him how to live a spiritual life. This earnest young fellow was determined to do his work so well the monk would never regret sharing his hermitage and more importantly, his wisdom with him. . One of the new novice’s daily chores was to haul water from a creek nearby with a yoke across his shoulders. On each end of a pole hung large clay pots. However, one of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to th
The Purgatory Trap
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St. Michael the Archangel and the Souls in Purgatory The trap of Purgatory is too many souls rely on Purgatory as the destination of their soul after death, and slap God in the face by not trusting in His mercy, and do not seek Heaven. They use Purgatory as their "backup plan" and as a result lead lukewarm lives, saying to themselves that in an exchange for just doing the "minimum" faith requirement, thinking that when they die they will just have to spend a few years in Purgatory and then eventually end up in Heaven. Whether we spend time in Purgatory is at God's discretion, not ours. The greatest misuse of Purgatory is that many Catholics do not fear God because of Purgatory. Those that hang their hopes on Purgatory are already among the lukewarm and possibly among those heading to the second death. Jesus will spit those out of His mouth that have failed to make every effort to follow Jesus and heaven, NOT Purgatory. To READ MORE: CLICK HERE!
Our visit to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum
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By
Unknown
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A Hidden Crater, Lava Tubes, and Mercurian Ice
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By
Brian H. Gill
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A bit shy of eight decades ago, a pilot and navigator set off on a round-the-world flight that should have provided ample material for her next book . Instead, shortly after midnight, July 2, 1937 GMT , the modified Lockheed Model 10 Electra disappeared. She's still famous — and now has an invisible Lunar crater named after her. Eventually, Fred Noonan may have some rock named after him, or maybe not. In a perfect world, folks in the support crew would get a tad more recognition — my opinion — but this isn't a perfect world. What's remarkable about Earhart Crater is that it's big , on the side of Earth's moon facing our planet — and buried under billions of years' of accumulated debris. Scientists found it while sifting through gravitational data. Other scientists found that lava tubes would be strong and safe enough to house a Lunar base, and Messenger took pictures of ice on Mercury. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .