Proclaim to the Nations ( Mass version)

Slightly countrified for Mass!



Pax et bonum

Forever (Rock of Faith cover)

Pax et bonum

Rock of faith - God of Wonders 2016

Our cover of this song - I'm on acoustic guitar and one of the male vocals.

One of my goals this coming year is to record some original songs and covers.


Pax et bonum

To Read in 2020?

I'm looking forward to this year - particularly if I do retire and have more time to read.

Of course, there are so many things to read. Some are on my list of books I should have read, but haven't. Some will be topical, Some will just be for fun.

The Bible tops the list. I need to read/reread more of that.

The current pile of other possibles includes:

Don Quixote - Cervantes
Brideshead Revisted - Waugh
My Name is Lazarus edited by Dale Ahlquist
Knight of the Holy Ghost - Dale Ahlquist
Life of Christ - Fulton Sheen

But I can see more getting on the list:

The Winter's Tale - Shakespeare
The Idiot - Dostoyevsky
The Great Heresies - Belloc
The Confessions - St. Augustine ( a reread; it's been nearly 40 years since I read it).

Assorted poetry - children's and adult.
Mysteries. Just for the fun of it.

Pax et bonum

Read in 2019

Today is the last day of 2019, and it is unlikely I'll finish another book before the ball drops tonight, so here is 2019's tally.

Twenty-six books. Down from last year's tally of 35.

As usual, some are school related - either because we are reading the book (the Chaucer one) or because they are related to books we read in class (the Twain books, for example, or The Horse and His Boy).

Some are Chesterton-related, either directly (Magic, Manalive, Tremendous Trifles) of Chestertonian friends like Pearce.

Some are books that's I've wanted to read, and finally got around to them (Saint Odd, the Oedipus plays, for example.

Some are topical and religious. And some are just for fun.

I wonder what I'll read next year? If I do retire in June, the count may go way up!

Edmund Campion: Hero of God's Underground by Harold C. Gardiner, S.J
The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek by Evelyn Sibley Lampman
Letter to a Suffering Church by Bishop Robert Barron
Flight Into Spring by Bianca Bradbury
Run That By Me Again by Father James V. Schall, SJ
You're Only Old Once by Dr. Seuss
Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
Literature: What Every Catholic Should Know by Joseph Pearce
The Horse And His Boy by C.S. Lewis
The Potter's Field by Ellis Peters
Stages on the Road by Sigrid Undset
Saint Odd by Dean Koontz
Magic by G. K. Chesterton
Manalive by G. K, Chesterton
The Theft of America's Soul by Phil Robertson
Brief Candles: 101 Clerihews by Henry Taylor
Tremendous Trifles by G. K. Chesterton
Mark Twain by Geoffrey C. Ward and Dayton Duncan
Gmorning, Gnight! by Lin-Manuel Miranda
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
23 Minutes by Vivian Vande Velde
Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde
So Far So Good - Final Poems: 2014-2018 by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King
The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappan (and Geoffrey Chaucer)

Pax et bonum

St. Francis, Admonition 26 about respect for priests

Blessed is the servant of God who exhibits confidence in clerics who live uprightly according to the form of the holy Roman Church. And woe to those who despise them: for even though they [the clerics] may be sinners, nevertheless no one ought to judge them, because the Lord Himself reserves to Himself alone the right of judging them. For as the administration with which they are charged, to wit, of the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which they receive and which they alone administer to others—is greater than all others, even so the sin of those who offend against them is greater than any against all the other men in this world. - St. Francis, Admonition 26

Pax et bonum

Feast of the Holy Innocents - Stand Out for Life

On the day that we recall the massacre of the infants by Herod, some 200 of us gathered outside Rochester's Planned Parenthood to oppose the contemporary slaughter of the innocents through abortion.

 

 

 

 

Pax et bonum

Woof

Pax et bonum

Over there

For some reason, this old song I wrote during the neutron bomb era popped into my head. My views on unjust war go back a long way - along with my views on the death penalty, euthanasia, and other life issues.

I had to work at remembering the words. Now I gotta remember the chords!

Over there

We're all for a confrontation,
a little war in another nation,
BBut don't you touch our loved ones here at home.
We think a fight is a might fine notion
just keep it across the ocean,
and don't you touch our loved ones here at home.

Over there, over there
You must keep it over there
Over there, over there,
you must keep it over there.

We will send you guns and bullets,
tanks and planes and shoes that don't fit,
but don't you touched our loved one here at home.
We'll even send our sons and daughters,
just don't make us watch the slaughter,
and don't you touch our loved ones here at home.

Over there, over there
You must keep it over there
Over there, over there,
you must keep it over there.

Yes, wars are meant for foreign places
let those nations change their faces,
but don't you touch our loved ones here at home.
We don't want to start rebuilding
our factories and office buildings,
so don't you touch those loved ones here at home.,

Over there, over there
You must keep it over there
Over there, over there,
you must keep it over there.

Over there, over there
You must keep it over there
Over there, over there,
you must keep it over there.

Pax et bonum

Missing Mass is a "grave sin"

2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass."¹¹⁷ "The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day."¹¹⁸

 

2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor.¹¹⁹ Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.

 

 - Catechism of the Catholic Church

Pax et bonum

Christmas Swag

This Christmas, I got an assortment of potables and edibles - a six-pack of caramel porter, a bottle of Irish cream, bottles of hot sauce, candies, shortbread, popcorn. Mmmm.

I also got a variety of print materials, dvds, and a radio drama.

The Old Farmer's Almanac
Studying the Life of Saint Clare of Assisi: A Beginner's Workbook by William Hugo, OFM Cap., and Joanne Schetzlein, OSF
History on Stage: G.K. Chesterton on Saints Francis and Thomas, performed by Chuck Chalberg
Celebrate Solanus
Brother Francis: The Barefoot Saint of Assisi from the Augustine Institute.

Ah.

Pax et bonum

Want to get to Heaven?

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE):

⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral,(1)  nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,(2,3)   ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Footnotes:

1. 6.9 the immoral: Literally, “fornicators.”
2. 1 Corinthians 6:9 Two Greek words are rendered by this expression
3. 6.9 homosexuals: Greek has “effeminate nor sodomites.” The apostle condemns, not the inherent tendencies of such, but the indulgence of them.

Pax et bonum

Hey Democrats, here's a potential candidate ...

Given the party's stance on a number of issues - sexual morality, religious liberty, homosexual  actions, abortion, contraception, etc. - he's a potential dark horse candidate!

Pax et bonum

Santa Season 2019

Another season in the books. So much fun!

 

 

 

Pax et bonum

Reading down ...

Last year, I read 35 books. This year, it seems obvious I'll read fewer books. I don't know if the books got thicker and denser this year, or if I got caught up in other activities.

Some people read many times more books.

Not that it matters.

But it does make me wonder.

Perhaps if I do retire in June I can really up my total in 2020.

Not sure what to read now. Working through a collection of essays by Father Schall and I started Brideshead Revisited.

We'll see.

Pax et bonum

Shepherds and Magi

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Adam Schiff Clerihew

Representative Adam Schiff
gets wide-eyed when he gets a whiff
of deceit and deception, though events have shown
he's oblivious to his own.

Pax et bonum

Santa Season

 

The Gates Town Tree Lighting 2019

Pax et bonum