St. Optatus and Companions, Martyrs, (304)
St. Turibius, Bishop, (450)
St. Benedict Joseph Labre, Confessor, (1783)
I was just taking a look at this morning’s paper and a saw a front page blurb about the passing of Don Ho.
You can read more in Entertainer Don Ho, Hawaii’s best ambassador, dies at 76 from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
Take a look at the article’s listing of all the television shows he performed on. I recollect seeing just about all of them. I also saw him during a trip to Hawaii with my family back in 1978.
Don Ho was the consummate entertainer. For all the alleged kitchiness of his shows, he was the genuine article.
Aloha, Don Ho. Eternal rest grant onto him O Lord.
Most certainly why I seem to mesh well with the teaching of the PNCC.
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You’re Origen! You do nothing by half-measures. If you’re going to read the Bible, you want to read it in the original languages. If you’re going to teach, you’re going to reach as many souls as possible, through a proliferation of lectures and books. If you’re a guy and you’re going to fight for purity … well, you’d better hide the kitchen shears. Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers! |
Saints Anastasia and Basillissa, Martyrs, (65)
St. Padarn, Bishop, (450)
St. Ruadan of Lothra, Abbot, (584)
None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them.
Chrystus Zmartwychwstał
Prawdziwie zmartwychwstał!
Christ is risen
Truly He is risen! Alleluia
You would think that a clergyman preparing a homily for this Sunday would have an easy job. We all connect with Thomas. Doubt —“ a very real thing for all of humanity.
We doubt our lovers, friends, clergy, and fellow parishioners. We doubt the weatherman, the government, God’s existence, heaven.
Thank God for Thomas —“ he makes sermonizing easy.
So why lead off with fear?
Listen again:
None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them.
The Apostles were standing at Solomon’s portico.
Now close your eyes and picture the Temple. Solomon’s portico was a covered colonnade at the Eastern part of the temple in Jerusalem. It was an open place, a sort of porch, like you would see on an old Victorian Mansion.
The people, both Jews and gentiles, gathered together on this covered porch to experience spiritual conversation.
There they are, the Apostles, the original eleven and Matthias who was elected to replace Judas. There they were, among the people, right under the noses of the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, the Council, and the Chief Priest.
There they were, talking about Jesus, healing in His name.
None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them.
Now Solomon was King David’s son, the second king of Israel, the builder of the original temple. He was the man after whom the portico was named, and in essence his name means “Peace”.
As such the portico was really named the Peace portico. It was a place for people to come and experience God’s peace.
Standing in the Peace portico:
None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them.
How remarkable and how strange; in a place of peace, speaking the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, and people were gripped with fear.
That, my friends, was Thomas’ problem. Fear!
My brothers and sisters,
Whenever we hear of remarkable and heroic deeds we are both amazed and gripped with fear.
Would I have the courage to do that, to give up a kidney, to jump on a live grenade, to rush into a burning building, to stand up to anyone who would speak ill or disrespectfully of another?
Would I be able to stand up to the ridicule of declaring absolute faith in Jesus Christ and my membership in His Church?
Anyway, thank God that person had the courage…
None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them.
The heroes, the courageous, the martyrs, the peacemakers, the confessors —“ had what it took to be more than admirers, people holding others in esteem. By the grace of God they dared to follow the Apostles example. They joined them.
Brethren,
People are searching for meaning. Perhaps they visited our church once or twice. Perhaps they were faithful members somewhere and something happened which caused them to leave that church.
All of us, and these seekers, really want the food that will not leave us hungry and the drink that will not leave us thirsty. We all seek that which will satisfy, but do not know where to look anymore.
Let’s admit it – the church can be the most political institution in the world! We don’t like to admit it, but it is true. None of us are hungry for more politics. No one is looking for more expertise. We are not seeking something to do with our spare time. Most of us have none!
What all are doing is seeking the face of God. Jesus, Who is the Bread of Life and the Cup of Eternal Salvation.
Let us have the courage to welcome all. Let us have the courage to set our fears aside and to cry out together, along with Thomas: —My Lord and my God!— Lord, grant us the courage to stand on the Peace portico with Peter, Andrew, James and John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, James, Matthew, Simon, Jude, and Matthias.
Do not be afraid. Jesus is here and He is ready to do for you what He did for John:
He touched me with his right hand and said, —Do not be afraid.
I am the first and the last, the one who lives.
Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever.
Amen. Alleluia.
If you’re interested in learning Polish here are a couple of on-line resources, compliments of Sandy and Keith from the Polish American Forum:
- Hippocrene Phrase Book by Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski with Pogonowski’s simplified phonetic notation
- WikiBooks Basic Polish Language Course
- Polish Grammar
- Polish Language Course by Grzegorz Jagodziński
- Polish Lessons for Beginners
- Piotr Pikuta’s Polish Language Course
- University of Pittsburgh’s Polish Language Website
I installed Flock —” the social web browser last night. It’s pretty much based on Firefox but has a lot of great social networking features built in.
I especially like the way it interfaces with blogging packages and Flickr. It has a very clean interface as well.
I did notice several things that need work, the most annoying being that there’s no easy way to import favorites from Firefox
While I was messing around I decided to change my WordPress theme. I’m using Lorem Ipsum by Let’s Mint. I modified it a little by adding a sub-page list call to the pages template. Other than that the install was clean.
Blogged with Flock
St. Justin Martyr, Martyr, (165)
St. Ardalion, Martyr, (300)
St. Lambert of Lyons, Bishop, (688)
But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized [illuminated] person, and for all others in every place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers in the Hebrew language to γένοιτο [so be it]. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion. — Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter LXV, Administration of the sacraments.
Benedict XVI, the Bishop of Rome, has a new book coming out, Jesus of Nazareth. A few notes from the AP via the Houston Chronicle:
Benedict began writing his personal meditation on Jesus Christ’s teachings, entitled “Jesus of Nazareth,” in 2003 when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. He stressed that the book is an expression of his “personal search for the face of the Lord” and is by no means official Catholic Church doctrine.
“Everyone is free, then, to contradict me,” he wrote.
Benedict —” a prolific and well-known theologian well before he became pope —” thoroughly examined the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ public ministry to arrive at the foundation of the Christian faith: that Jesus is God.
Benedict said the fundamental question he is exploring in the book is what Jesus did.
“What did Jesus truly bring, if he didn’t bring peace to the world, well-being for all and a better world? What did he bring?
“The answer is very simple: God. He brought God.”
The 448-page book is due in bookstores in German, Italian and Polish on Monday, Benedict’s 80th birthday. The English edition is due for release May 15 and translations are planned for 16 other languages.
The book is the first of two volumes: Rizzoli, the Italian publisher, said Benedict is expected to write a second volume exploring the birth of Christ, his crucifixion and resurrection.
“Jesus of Nazareth” covers several key points of Jesus’ public life and ministry. An entire chapter is devoted to his baptism, another to the prayer Jesus taught the faithful, the Lord’s Prayer, and another to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, praising the poor, the meek and the hungry in the “Beatitudes.”
It looks like this will be a very good read. As with a few of John Paul’s books, I’ll probably read this one as well.
The Catholic mind and heart has much to teach the world. As such reading the works that flow from our shared, yet separate experiences, opens one to seeing things in new ways.
St. Martius, Abbot, (530)
St. Hermenegild, Martyr, (585)
Saints Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice, Martyrs, (200)