Am I not pathetic, though? Just in time for your lunch I present to you…Morning Prayer! Well, it’s still morning in California, and this is the beauty of liturgical prayer – it’s always an appropriate time for a particular prayer, somewhere! A thought I had while I was reading the psalms: Do you remember the old game show, “Password,” hosted by Alan Ludden? While the celeb gamesters and contestants would look at their cards the announcer would murmur to the... Read more
“Advent” does not mean “expectation” as some may think. It is a translation of the Greek word parousia, which means “presence” or, more accurately, “arrival,” i.e. the beginning of a presence. In antiquity the word was a technical term for the presence of a king or ruler and also of the god being worshipped, who bestows his parousia upon his devotees for a time. “Advent”, then, means a presence begun, the presence being that of God. — Pope Benedict XVI,... Read more
First Black Friday, now Cyber Monday – this is nuts. I don’t know about anyone else, but I am already so DONE thinking about Christmas gifts. If I find I need anything further, if I’m stuck for one more gift, I’m just going the Amazon Gift Certificate route. What’s better than that? Almost nothing, really. You got yer books, you got yer music, you got yer pretty much everything else…and you can wear comfy slippers and drink the greatest coffee... Read more
Exhale; Look Up; Feel the Kiss Every year has its days of clenched teeth and weeks of held-in breaths. Finally in Advent, we can exhale and look up in wonder rather than in supplication. Like a shepherd tired from the day’s rounding and believing that tomorrow brings nothing new, we look up and – gasp! – the star! The angels! The Incarnation – the Creator come down to us, not to watch or to direct, but to inhabit and to... Read more
Day One Why Advent? What’s the point? I have been asked that more than once, particularly by my Evangelical friends: why do Catholics and others, put so much stock in “ritualistic” sorts of things not explicitly spelled out in scripture – things like Advent, and its trappings – the purple vestments, the Advent wreaths and such. “Jesus came once for all, he doesn’t keep coming,” one woman said. “Christmas is a wonderful season. Why do you need a whole Advent... Read more
I wondered why things seemed so “quiet” on the internet and then remembered, oh yeah – Black Friday. I give all due credit to those hardy souls who are willing rise from their after-Thanksgiving exhaustion to brave the stores – particularly those awful “earlybird” sales – and get a large bit of Christmas shopping done. I tried it one year and decided, no. My abhorrence of crowds and my sense of personal dignity just couldn’t allow me to be herded... Read more
Deacon Greg has a really excellent homily for Thanksgiving. How I envy his parishioners! Very often, in our prayer lives, we spend so much time on our knees, asking for things. Pleading. “God, help me pass this test.” “Keep me from throttling my teenager.” “Help me find a job.” “Protect my son in Iraq.” The scripture tells us to ask and we shall receive, and to knock and it will be opened. So we ask, and we knock. But what... Read more
Well, it’s pedal to the metal time around here. Buster is home from college and already blowing the saxophone while his brother wrestles with a computer problem. The dog is throwing up. I still have to go shopping for a few items now that I have chosen my veggie entrees from some of the suggestions made below and at Ace’s – yay, my menu is finally complete! I’ve added an asparagus and a green-bean dish to the list, and have... Read more
Loved him as a kid – LOVED “My Son, the Folksinger” – loved the Borscht Belt humor, and the semitic wordplay; I knew all of the parodies by heart. And now, thanks to YouTube, the forgotten forefather of Weird Al Yankovic is remembered! Alright, but seriously… Read more
My dear MIL is doing Thanksgiving, but I offered to take some of the load off her hands by making all the veggies. Only trouble is I’m sort of out of ideas. I’m making the mashed turnips w/ carrots, and the sweet potato pie, and the usual broccoli w/ garlic, (and MIL is making the artichokes because I never make them right) but I need at least two more veggies or I’ll have failed in the task and let the... Read more
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