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On Tuesday, April 20, 2021, a jury said that Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd. Folks have been reacting to that. But protestors haven't torched Minneapolis shops and services in the three days since then. Not as far as I know. Which is a relief, but not a surprise. For one thing, it's late April: still a bit too chilly for comfort during pyromaniac performance art's prime time. I'll be taking a quick look at headlines. Then I'll talk about life, law, justice and why I think murder is a bad idea. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

  The Good Shepherd Early Italian Christian Painter [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel     John 19:11-18     (English Standard Version, Anglicised) Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.   He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.   He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.   I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,   just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.   And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.   For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life tha

I was reading about the need for assistants in Chapter 6 of the Acts of the Apostles.   There were complaints (against the Apostles) that the widows of the Greek speaking Jews were being neglected. In response to this complaint, the Apostles readily identified “seven reputable men” who would take care of this problem.   But here’s what stood out for me . . . “The twelve” were very clear that it was not right for them to “neglect the word of God to serve at table.”   In other words, they knew what they were responsible for and didn’t try to do everything themselves.   The distribution of labor, if you will, quickly became a necessity in the early church. That is true for us today. I talk a lot about evangelization, sharing your faith and speaking the name of Jesus in this increasingly non-Christian world.   However, each one of us is called according to his vocation and not one of us has to do it all. Some of us are called to be pray-ers.   Some preachers, writers and worker b

"Doctor Faustus..." starts with a 194-word soliloquy. Sort of. It's delivered by Chorus, named last in Marlowe's "Dramatis Personae." Ancient Greek tragedies had a chorus, acting like today's narrators. Again, sort of. Aristotle said that chorus was a character, so maybe Marlowe saw it that way, too. Make that probably did, since his "Dramtis Personae" lists Chorus. Anyway, here's Marlowe's first whacking great chunk of soliloquy, whittled down considerably, in "Dr. Faustus." Assuming that what Chorus says is soliloquy.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

          El hecho de que el año de san José haya sido durante la pandemia puede parecer una pura coincidencia, pero no puede haber mejor protector y modelo en estos tiempos de adversidad como el que estamos pasando debido a la pandemia del COVID19. El Papa Francisco ha dirigido en forma especial la mirada de la Iglesia hacia su patrono protector, declarado así por el beato Pio IX en 1870.   “La confianza del pueblo en san José se resume en la expresión “ Ite ad Ioseph ”, que hace referencia al tiempo de hambruna en Egipto, cuando la gente le pedía pan al faraón y él les respondía: «Vayan donde José y hagan lo que él les diga» ( Gn 41,55). Se trataba de José el hijo de Jacob, a quien sus hermanos vendieron por envidia.” Papa Francisco (CARTA APOSTÓLICA PATRIS CORDE)     leer más...

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Kitchen Scene with the Supper in Emmaus Diego  Velázquez  [ Web Gallery of Art] Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:35). Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Luke 24:35-48     (English Standard Version, Anglicised) Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them,  “Peace to you!”   But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.   And he said to them,  “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?   See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”   And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.   And wh