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Some years ago, I shared a flat with a man called Caruthers. If ‘morals make the man, and manners make the gentleman’, then Caruthers was the finest gentleman I had ever met, or so I thought for the first few weeks. However, as the weeks went by, I began to see that his manners were no more than a thin coat of veneer that hid the chipboard man within. Casual visitors were as impressed with him as I had been to begin with. He was always ‘so terribly sorry’ for everything. He was ‘so terribly sorry’ for beating me to the bathroom, ‘so terribly sorry’ for keeping me waiting for half an hour, ‘so terribly sorry’ for failing to clean the bath. He was ‘so terribly sorry’ too for emptying the fridge when he had his friends round, for leaving the washing-up for me the following morning, and for leaving my car with an empty tank when he borrowed it without asking.  The trouble was, he wasn’t sorry at all and he kept on behaving in the same old way day in, day out. It is one thing to say you a

  (from The Cloistered Heart)

I say "in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" a lot: mostly when I start praying. I generally make the sign of the Cross at the same time. The sign of the Cross is a very "Catholic" gesture. It "reminds us in a physical way of the Paschal Mystery we celebrate: the death and Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ." 1 It's a prayer, a blessing, and a sacramental; and that's another topic. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1668 - 1670 ) Dali's " Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) " is very "Catholic," too; although not it's not like the mass-produced 19th-century stuff many associate with our faith. I wouldn't be surprised if a half-millennium from now, some tight-collar Catholics will be upset by new art that doesn't present the Cross as an unfolded tesseract , and that's yet another topic . Topics . More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

As the Morning Rising: Things Passing : Things Passing Lent opens a door for us. It is just wide enough to get through and takes us to a different space and...

The 10 Minute Daily Retreat will focus on the Scriptural Stations of the Cross during Lent, posting on Sundays and Fridays, and each day during Holy Week.  Let us stay  awake together because we all know that "that our spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak.” Matthew 26: 41 Jesus chose to  leave Peter and the two sons of Zebedee while He advanced into the garden to pray. He clearly felt the need to be alone with His Father in His final hour.  When He returned to find his disciples asleep, why did He challenge them?  Did He really need their support to manage His sorrow and distress? Read on:  https://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au /

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We're not sure how skulls found in central China fit into the family tree. They're a bit like Neanderthals, a bit like folks still living in that part of the world, and not quite like anyone else. Other scientists found what may, or may not, be the oldest evidence of life found so far. That's in Quebec, Canada. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Transfiguration, Fra Angelico  Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India ) Gospel Matthew 4:1-11 ( NRSV ) Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ And when they looked up

Fr Charles Duster (15 September 1934 - 7 March 2017) Father Charlie was born on 15 September 1934 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA, where his parents Charles Henry Duster ['DOOster'] and Cleo Catherine Handley Duster owned and operated a supermarket. He has an older brother William C. Duster (Audrey) of Littleton, Colorado, a sister Mrs Robert Enns (Katie) of Fort Pierce, Florida, and eleven nieces and nephews and their families. His older sister, Margaret Jeanne Duster, died in 1972.

Today’s Gospel:  Luke 11: 29-32 Did you notice this Gospel reading opens when the crowds gathering around Jesus were actually increasing? Christ’s angry reaction to this growing number of followers is shocking at first glance. However, these people were really curiosity seekers, who were not humbly looking for the truth with open minds, but arrogantly seeking proof with closed hearts; all the while convinced Jesus was a phony. Jesus calls them evil because they demanded a sign to authenticate His claims. continue reading

know that when I first woke up on Sunday Morning, the soda I wanted all week and the excitement of no work out was a dream. Mainly because Sunday was the beginning of a flare up that still has not ended. On the notes of my journal for the bible study portion of the challenge, I contemplated something I do not do enough, which is rest. I don’t know about you but I have trouble saying no and I always over commit myself. Before I got sick, this was not really a problem but since I have gotten sick it has pretty much kick me right in the behind. I began to really ponder rest. Why God commands us to do it, why I need it, why it is so important. I hate it to be honest. I always feel like there is something I should be doing, that I am not doing enough. So I ignored taking my health into consideration. Things came back and bit me in the butt. Now everything is behind and overwhelming instead of prioritizing I just allow the enemy to tell me that I can’t get it done that I have to keep

I know it's early, but I am just not into Lent this year. You can read the article and view the photo gallery at Being Catholic ... Really .

As the Morning Rising: A Mother Seldom Forgets : A mother seldom if ever forgets kindness from another towards one of her children. Years may pass, the child may have children of his/...

Today, I turn 60 and enter the winter of my life. I am starting it off with a bang! Tomorrow, I am having three teeth extracted, getting a partial temporary denture, and ultimately a four-tooth permanent (implant) bridge. I’m getting old! But with age, comes wisdom; the earthly kind. Earthly wisdom comes from life’s experiences. Those of us in the winter of our lives have a keen awareness for what is important: a strong faith, good health, and our family’s welfare. We find that if we have these three things, then we have all that we need. However, even with the 60 years under my belt, I still seek more Wisdom. When you get to my age, you find yourself asking those soul searching questions: Am I on the right course? Am I living my life doing everything I can to accomplish God’s will? Do I need to make amends with anyone? Read more...

One book I have on the back burner is a devotional of reflections on things Jesus said. I’ve collected 356 sayings but haven’t made much progress in writing the reflections. Maybe that is why in the Transfiguration story we hear on the Second Sunday of Lent, the words that attract my attention are “Listen to him.” God the Father speaks twice in the Gospels: at Jesus’ baptism, when he announces that Jesus is his beloved Son, and at the Transfiguration, when he again identifies Jesus as his Son, but adds, “Listen to him.” In other words, “obey him.” (The word obey is from the Latin for “to listen.”) The mother of Jesus says the same thing at the wedding in Cana: “Do whatever he tells you.” This is referred to as Mary’s commandment. Click to continue

En este día de la mujer, la mirada a los logros alcanzados hasta ahora en equidad de género es una constante. Pero a estos análisis y vitorees por muchos de los merecidos logros les falta una perspectiva geográfica y cultural muy importante. No todas las mujeres del mundo son iguales y, sin embargo, se les ha aplicado la misma receta feminista para alcanzar un muy necesitado respeto y trato digno.

As the Morning Rising: Transformation - Lenten Poem : Transformation A forty day call to holiness Through prayer to the Father Through fasting in desert loneliness  And journeying far ...

I don’t know about you, but I have come to realize that I no longer need to look at the bottom of a TV screen to determine if the person speaking is a Democrat or a Republican. Those days of sharing common interests, across the aisles, are long gone. Today, each side toes the party line, tossing aside one’s own personal beliefs for the sake of the party. Somewhere in that logic, people forgot about God first, country second. You can hear it in the tone and rhetoric of discord. This ever-present disunity is the last thing Jesus would want for us. Putting God First Jesus was rather specific when He said: Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are (John 17:11).   As Christians, in Jesus’ name, we are expected... Read more...

So I just want to say since the original picture did not get great feedback I changed the image. I am also going to show you guys my current and hopefully, in a little over a month, I will have an after picture.

During our storms of turmoil, our descents into hellishness, we cry but fail to see that everything in a watery drop is distorted and or inverted, subject to our perception; up is down and white is black. Humor me this, picture a mountain behind a pond of water and for some that same mountain is laid before their feet…or not. We’ve passively learned to trust our eyes, like our hearts trust those we love all the while missing that “love” like God, just “is” and makes no distinction to quantify what it is attached to or by whom. Our love is never wrong, I’ll repeat that; our love for others is never wrong and I would even dare say it is always right.  This is a guest post by Poet of the Light. To continue to read his insight and discover the 5 Wounds of Christ and the 5 Stages of Grief in Divorce, please join me at SingleMomSmiling.com.  Thank you for following, liking, and sharing!  God Bless...

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I once had a dream about a carnival. Specifically, I dreamed I was living in a little house on carnival grounds. It was night, but the light streaming in through my windows was bright and garish. It flashed bursts of purple and white and blue and yellow, ceaselessly, across walls and floors and faces. There were other people in the house... (continue)

As the Morning Rising: The Shattered Millwheel : I can feel helpless when listening to or watching the latest news bulletins. One day seems to follow the next with little evidence o...

I've missed one morning set, and several of the evening prayer sequences, in the routine I started February 13. ( February 19, 2017 ) I'm doing a little better with so far with the Lenten Chaplet. I started that Ash Wednesday. Emphasis on "so far." I nearly forgot twice, which doesn't surprise me. There's a very good reason for my wife handling the household's schedules, and that's another topic. This is where I could quote Romans 7:19 and launch into a 'wretcheder than thou' lament. It'd be accurate, on one level, since I've felt this way often enough.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

...“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”   “We can,” they answered .  Matthew 20:22 I’m a nurse;  I’ve seen people suffer . I’ve helped calm women as they experience the agony of childbirth.  I’ve administered morphine when the pain of cancer becomes too much to bare. I’ve held a mother as she wailed after the death of her child. James and John  want  prestige, position and favouritism from Jesus. Instead he offers them suffering! And they accepted it. They went on to experience terrible suffering, and they persevered and endured. Do we dare  to sit before Jesus and allow Him to ask us,  'can you drink of this cup?' During this season  of Lent...read on: https://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/  

In these first days of Lent, the Church shows us exactly how God wants us to  pray, fast, serve His people and worship Him. The words from Isaiah 58:1-9 are like brilliant beams of light, cutting through any false notions we might have about this season of repentance that we call Lent. Often we tend to think of Lent as a time to share in the suffering of Christ yet when we do so, we become morose and end up centring more on our own sacrificial devotions than on God. continue reading

The Tempation of Christ, Juan de Flandes Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia) Gospel Matthew 4:1-11 ( NRSV, Anglicised Catholic Ed ) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’ Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ Again, the d

As the Morning Rising: Ways not Comfortable : ‘The ways of the Lord are not comfortable, but we were not created for comfort, but for greatness, for good.' Pope Benedict...

As you all know Wednesday was Ash Wednesday. And here is my public proclamation of faith! So we all know the topic to follow is of course Lent! This year for Lent I have chosen to give up soda (because I do not need it). I also chose to take on becoming more spiritually and physically healthy. I want my changes to stick after 40 days and I know that I can not do it alone. At first I wanted to join a fitness program. It seemed amazing the girl who ran it seemed awesome but hubby said no. Mainly because I always start the gym  and don’t finish it. So he said that if I could do the workouts on my pintrest board that cost nothing that I always say I am going to do, we  could revisit the conversation. So for getting myself physically healthy I am going to work out for 30 mins a day six days a week. I will admit that some things will have to be modified for me because of my fibro, but that will be mentioned as it becomes relevant. All of the work outs I use in the challenge will

TRAPPIST-1's planets may support life: or not. We don't know. Not yet. We're pretty sure that all seven are rocky worlds, like the Solar System's inner planets. Three are in the star's habitable zone. The inner two definitely do not have one sort of atmosphere that would make life as we know it impossible. Even if we don't find life there, we'll learn a great deal while looking. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Does your husband love you like:  Christ loved the Church? This has come up in multiple groups I belong to. It actually frightens me and I want to be very open and honest with all of my readers. Not everyone is going to agree with me however I want to spread this message. First and Foremost! God has a definition of love. It is as follows “Love is patient and kind. Love is not JEALOUS or boastful or Proud or RUDE. IT DOES NOT DEMAND ITS OWN WAY! It is not irritable and it keeps no records of being wrong. It does not rejoice at injustice but rejoices when ever the truth wins out. Love never gives up and never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance” 1 Corinthians 13:47. Secondly, these are some other definitions I want to talk about (and we probably don’t talk about it enough): “Spousal abuse is generally defined as any abusive conduct between intimate partners who are married, dating, or residing in the same residence. It can refer to si

Every human being is basically blind to their own faults and sin. There are many reasons we cannot seem to die to self and enjoy communion with God – psychological reasons, inherited sin, pride, the tendency to control and other self-defeating behaviours. However, I think the biggest barrier to receiving the Love of God is egocentricity; we are centred on ourselves, on our own efforts to perfect ourselves instead of admitting defeat, taking our eyes off our own efforts, and allowing Christ to work out His salvation in our hearts. continue reading

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Many of us look at this period on the Church calendar as a time of suffering and deprivation. Lent has historically been synonymous with a desert experience of dryness; a sense of loneliness, as if God is on vacation somewhere else. This connotes a sense of negativity. Yet, Lent affords us so much more, if we are willing to open our minds, hearts and souls to the various opportunities that make the Lenten season special in a positive way. Lent, a Season of Faith, Hope and Love Lent can be a time of renewal and personal growth; a time for getting to know Our Savior much better by... Read more... 

Today is Ash Wednesday, or a few days after. Not too late to make Lenten resolutions. Are you stuck in a rut when it comes to Lent? Do you find yourself making the same resolution year after year? And maybe breaking it year after year? I wonder how many people, both children and adults, give up candy for Lent every year. For your consideration this week, I offer ten somewhat different resolutions that will bolster your spiritual life. Click to continue

As the Morning Rising: The Great Call of Lent : The Great Call of Lent He came  to me out of the shadows Like a sun shaft Through a canopy of leaves And I knew in my deepest being Th...

When Helen, said to be the most beautiful woman in Greek antiquity fled with her lover to Troy, she did not receive the reception that she expected. Although her lover was Paris, the son of the King, he and his courtiers were reluctant to admit her. One look at her face rightly confirmed that her husband, the King of Sparta would indeed launch a thousand ships to retrieve her. She was therefore understandably interrogated about her motives for deserting him. The king was on the point of rejecting her when she cried out in her defence, “Do we not all know that the gods have made us to love and to be loved, and so achieve our destiny? I can only achieve that destiny here in Troy and with your son, Paris, whom I love with all my heart.” One thousand years later Jesus came to tell us that our God has also created us to love and to be loved, as part of the preparation for the infinite loving that is our ultimate destiny. Learning to love here on earth, prepares us for the ultimate love

       El carnaval, como todos sabemos, es una fiesta popular que consiste en mascaradas, comparsas, bailes y regocijos bulliciosos.   Son tres días que preceden al miércoles de ceniza y que en muchos lugares ya son de ocho días, toda una semana y hasta diez y doce días. Es una expansión que nos atrae y nos envuelve en su loca alegría, un tanto disparatada y desbordante, quizá por el hecho de vivirla en la incógnita de un disfraz y un antifaz enigmático... Esta especie de desbordamiento festivalero   nos trae a la mente   el deseo de todo ser humano de desembarazarnos de las preocupaciones, de aligerar nuestros hombros de la carga de obligaciones cotidianas y de dar "rienda suelta" al placer y a la alegría. Pero … ¡cuidado ! pues pudiéramos caer en la inmadurez de llegar a creer que la vida es semejante a un   carnaval... Y así vamos por el mundo tratando de mostrar un rostro y un ropaje que no son los verdaderos. Parece que somos una cosa y somos otra en realida

Murder and attempted murder in the Kansas City metropolitan area last week is international news. If the suspect's neighbor is right, the 'drunken mess' who killed an engineer from India was having trouble dealing with his father's death. 1 I think he could have found a better outlet for his grief.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I cannot thank my brother Ed, enough, for gifting me with Resisting Happiness , by Matthew Kelly. This book was a real eye-opener for me! As human beings, we naturally resist happiness, and when we do so, we resist God, the source of all happiness. “ Why do we resist God? Because deep down we don’t trust Him…deep down we think that God is trying to limit our freedom ” (p. 214). Kelly tells us throughout the book that we need to become “the best version of ourselves.” How do we do that: by stopping the resistance. Throughout the book, Matthew Kelly shows us how we can find happiness by tackling our urge to be resistant. Let me share with you just two golden nuggets, gleaned from reading this wonderful book, that I believe will make me happier – just a couple of things I can do to fight the resistance to be happy. Idea #1: Prioritize Your Life in Accordance with God’s Plan Matthew Kelly comments in the book that when he conducts his various speaking engagements, he comes across

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#NEDAwareness [ Part 2 of 5] …In honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week: "We all have our own unique struggles but it’s what we do with our struggles that matters most. Accepting who you are, where you are right now, that is truly courageous. So be brave. Take the first step for you and for those you love.” –National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) It’s Time to Talk About It… Renoir’s Gabrielle Holding A Mirror >> Click HERE to Read More at: The Way To Nourish For Life >> NOTE: Further info provided via 5-part-"It's Time To Talk..." series including potential signs/symptoms, screening option, health consequences, and more. 

From The Cloistered Heart

I'll be eating oatmeal for breakfast during Lent, and walking around more. If I was in England, I'd probably call it porridge, and that's another topic. It'll be be good for my health, and I'm sure that's one reason my wife suggested it. But that's not the only, or the main, reason. Lent isn't about me.... ...Lent is when we join Jesus in the desert. Sort of.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Lent starts in just a few days. The first day is Wednesday, March 1st. If you are looking to grow deeper in your faith this Lent, you might want to consider reading the book,  Discernment of Spirits   by Fr.Timothy Gallagher. It is based on the rules of discernment by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The rule I personally found most helpful and one of the hardest to follow is rule number 5. Rule number 5 advises that you do not make a change during times of spiritual desolation. Continue Reading @ Beautifulthorns>

As the Morning Rising: Water of Salvation : Water of salvation Wash over me Invigorate me Cleanse me from sin Remind me of your power Especially in periods of drynes...

Rest on the Flight into Egypt (detail) , Caravaggio [ Web Gallery of Art ] But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.’ Can a woman forget her nursing-child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget,yet I will not forget you (Isaiah 49:14-15). Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales,  India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa ) Gospel Matthew 6:24-34 ( NRSV, Anglicised Catholic Edition )  Jesus said to his disciples: ‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither

This past weekend, the first Mass reading was from Leviticus 19 which talks about loving your neighbor as yourself. The Gospel reading was from Matthew 5 and was about not only loving your neighbor but also your enemy. I believe that we are asked to love our neighbor because sometimes our neighbor is the hardest to love. They can often annoy and frustrate us the most! Especially those neighbors who are rude, obnoxious and do not understand boundaries.  Often, if we can learn to love our neighbors, we can love anyone. Also, if we are not able to love our neighbor whom we can see, how can we love God whom we can not see (1John 4:20)? Continue Reading @ Beautifulthorns >

Andy Sandness wasn't born looking like that. He's lived with the consequences of a "wrong choice" for more than a decade. Agreeing to get Mayo Clinic's first face transplant won't undo his decision. But now he has a second chance for a normal life. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I have to say that when I saw an advertisement for this event in my Church Bulletin, I was probably more excited than most people. However I do really feel as Catholics we live our faith through our works. Service work of all kinds is doing Gods work. This does include political public service (I know this fact surprises a lot of people but it is true). The MCC  (MD Catholic Conference)  describes their mission as “The public policy arm of the Catholic Bishops serving Maryland in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Wilmington (DE), & Washington (DC)”. I know what you’re thinking. The Church has a public policy arm? Why would they need a public policy arm? According to the Church: “Role of the Church in Politics The Catholic Church, its parishes and Church organizations are prohibited by federal law from participating in partisan political activities. The tax-exempt status of a parish or Church organization may be revoked if there is a violation of the law, and other penalties and