Keith Green
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
View from the Pew - Wednesday January 20, 2010
Feast of St. Fabian (Pope and Martyr) and St. Sebastian (Soldier and Martyr)
Today was the feast day of St. Fabian who was an early Pope who was martyred by the Emporer Decius in 250 AD. The unusual thing about him was that he was not a priest, yet became Pope. The Church at the time was under ground, and when a new pope was needed, Fabian was in the congregation of believers who were meeting to pick a replacement. During the meeting, a dove came into the place and rested on Fabian's shoulders. Bright folks that they were, the faithful considered that a sign and elected him Pope. He served the Church for 14 years, before being martyred. He was a very holy man, and was the first layman to become Pope.
St. Sebastian was a soldier, but was secretly a Christian. He was around the Roman guard as a leader in fact until his death in 288. When Christians were being used for sport with the real lions, long before the toothless lions played football in Detroit, he would minister to those who were about to die, and also converted many who were not Christians and were about to die. Unbelievers infiltrated Christian circles and fed the names of believers to the leaders and one day gave up St. Sebastian to them. He was at the time head of the guard for the Emperor Diocletian. Diocletian had him shot full of arrows and left him for dead. When a Christian widow came to bury him, she discovered that he was still alive. After she nursed him back to health, he returned to the guard post he had had. Diocletian was not pleased, and this time had him clubbed to death. Sebastian is the patron saint of Soldiers for all you parents and spouses of soldiers, who may not have been so aware. Pray for his intercession for all those who work to protect us from physical evils that attack our brothers and sisters.
The first reading for today was the story of David and Goliath from 1 Samuel:
The Psalm was:
The Gospel reading was:
Today was the feast day of St. Fabian who was an early Pope who was martyred by the Emporer Decius in 250 AD. The unusual thing about him was that he was not a priest, yet became Pope. The Church at the time was under ground, and when a new pope was needed, Fabian was in the congregation of believers who were meeting to pick a replacement. During the meeting, a dove came into the place and rested on Fabian's shoulders. Bright folks that they were, the faithful considered that a sign and elected him Pope. He served the Church for 14 years, before being martyred. He was a very holy man, and was the first layman to become Pope.
St. Sebastian was a soldier, but was secretly a Christian. He was around the Roman guard as a leader in fact until his death in 288. When Christians were being used for sport with the real lions, long before the toothless lions played football in Detroit, he would minister to those who were about to die, and also converted many who were not Christians and were about to die. Unbelievers infiltrated Christian circles and fed the names of believers to the leaders and one day gave up St. Sebastian to them. He was at the time head of the guard for the Emperor Diocletian. Diocletian had him shot full of arrows and left him for dead. When a Christian widow came to bury him, she discovered that he was still alive. After she nursed him back to health, he returned to the guard post he had had. Diocletian was not pleased, and this time had him clubbed to death. Sebastian is the patron saint of Soldiers for all you parents and spouses of soldiers, who may not have been so aware. Pray for his intercession for all those who work to protect us from physical evils that attack our brothers and sisters.
The first reading for today was the story of David and Goliath from 1 Samuel:
1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51For David his faith in Our God was sufficient, along with 5 puny stones and a sling to overcome the Philistine. Do you think that Our God is capable of removing the smaller obstacles in our lives that pop up. Without God, David would have been mince meat. With God, Goliath but the dust.
David spoke to Saul:
“Let your majesty not lose courage.
I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.”
But Saul answered David,
“You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him,
for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.”
David continued:
“The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear,
will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.”
Saul answered David, “Go! the LORD will be with you.”
Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi
and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag.
With his sling also ready to hand, he approached the Philistine.
With his shield bearer marching before him,
the Philistine also advanced closer and closer to David.
When he had sized David up,
and seen that he was youthful, and ruddy, and handsome in appearance,
the Philistine held David in contempt.
The Philistine said to David,
“Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?”
Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods
and said to him, “Come here to me,
and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field.”
David answered him:
“You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar,
but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted.
Today the LORD shall deliver you into my hand;
I will strike you down and cut off your head.
This very day I will leave your corpse
and the corpses of the Philistine army for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field;
thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God.
All this multitude, too,
shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves.
For the battle is the LORD’s and he shall deliver you into our hands.”
The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters,
while David ran quickly toward the battle line
in the direction of the Philistine.
David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone,
hurled it with the sling,
and struck the Philistine on the forehead.
The stone embedded itself in his brow,
and he fell prostrate on the ground.
Thus David overcame the Philistine with sling and stone;
he struck the Philistine mortally, and did it without a sword.
Then David ran and stood over him;
with the Philistine’s own sword which he drew from its sheath
he dispatched him and cut off his head.
The Psalm was:
144:1b, 2, 9-10Let us remember that the Lord is the Rock of Our Salvation.
R. (1) Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
My refuge and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust,
who subdues my people under me.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
O God, I will sing a new song to you;
with a ten-stringed lyre I will chant your praise,
You who give victory to kings,
and deliver David, your servant from the evil sword.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock
The Gospel reading was:
Mk 3:1-6How often do we have this need to be right? Here was Jesus doing a good thing, healing a man, but it was the Sabbath. Tsk Tsk. How tied up are we in our belief system, and in our rules of life that we do not see the need to Love One Another, as Jesus did? Just askin'.
Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
Coming Soon To a Blog Near You
Dear Readers:
Since arriving in Tucson almost a week ago, I have been extremely fatigued. Beyond that, it has been a delight. I shared one experience from Sunday, but just do not have the mental energy to share all or really any more, of what has been going on.
I am delighted to be able to attend daily Mass and receive the Eucharist. I am delighted to be able to sit in our motor home and gaze at the smiling face of My Dear Wife across the dining table. We have had wonderful discussions of life, love and faith, and I fall in love with her more every minute of every day, as I fall more in love with the God who created me, and saved me.
I am also delighted to be able to see the sunshine and feel its warmth every day, and I am even delighted that there has been heavy rain in the last two days with more on the horizon for tomorrow evening. Hearing the rain falling on our roof is something that tickles MDW's fancy and I enjoy it too. The water table here is seriously down, and so rain has been a mass intention at Our Lady of Fatima for some time.
As soon as I have the mental energy to write more both on this blog and on Life in the Spirit I will. Please be patient.
God Bless You All (Both, or you singular if there is only one of you besides me who has read this).
Since arriving in Tucson almost a week ago, I have been extremely fatigued. Beyond that, it has been a delight. I shared one experience from Sunday, but just do not have the mental energy to share all or really any more, of what has been going on.
I am delighted to be able to attend daily Mass and receive the Eucharist. I am delighted to be able to sit in our motor home and gaze at the smiling face of My Dear Wife across the dining table. We have had wonderful discussions of life, love and faith, and I fall in love with her more every minute of every day, as I fall more in love with the God who created me, and saved me.
I am also delighted to be able to see the sunshine and feel its warmth every day, and I am even delighted that there has been heavy rain in the last two days with more on the horizon for tomorrow evening. Hearing the rain falling on our roof is something that tickles MDW's fancy and I enjoy it too. The water table here is seriously down, and so rain has been a mass intention at Our Lady of Fatima for some time.
As soon as I have the mental energy to write more both on this blog and on Life in the Spirit I will. Please be patient.
God Bless You All (Both, or you singular if there is only one of you besides me who has read this).
Remember Soap Operas
Me Either, But Carman Does Sorta
Carman, the Christian singer, songwriter likes to put humour in many of his songs. One of his songs was based on the titles of Soap Operas, and this is it. Enjoy!
Carman, the Christian singer, songwriter likes to put humour in many of his songs. One of his songs was based on the titles of Soap Operas, and this is it. Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Dear John Letter (to the Devil)
Keith Green
Keith songs about his Dear John Letter to the devil, kicking him out of his life.
Monday, January 18, 2010
An Encounter With Jesus
Life Will Never Be The Same
Those who have read my View from the Pew postings lately might have noticed that yesterday's piece ended rather abruptly. At least, I did. I wrote it last evening and had not processed all that happened after the homily until after My Dear Wife and I had our evening prayers later on. So, as Paul Harvey says in his radio broadcasts, "Here's the rest of the story."
I have mentioned that a charismatic gift that I received was the gift of tears, and when my eyes start to well up, I know that something is touching my heart. At the beginning of mass, just when the introductory song was commencing, I could not sing because there they were, and also my throat choked up. It just no longer strikes me as weird, so I just get a little more observant, and go with it.
The Church was sort of hot and full yesterday, and so after the homily My Dear Wife had to leave as she was feeling faint. I waited until after the collection, and then joined her outside to make sure that she was okay. There is a rock just outside the rear door of the Church and there she was seated. We remained there through the rest of mass until Communion.
We came in to the back of the communion line, and as I passed the usher, who I recognized from last year, I said "Good morning, Brother." I know that he is a Knight of Columbus, as I am, so it would be appropriate to address him as a brother Knight. But, I knew that that was not what I meant, and so it struck me that something was afoot. When I received the Eucharist, it was a bit more profound than before, and that struck my curiosity as well.
As it was still too stifling for My Dear Wife, we departed the Church. This time we went straight to our car. We have never left Mass before the end in our lives that I recall, but we were peaceful. I asked My Dear Wife what we had for dinner, and she said she wanted to go to the Safeway store and pick up some things. We also never go shopping on Sunday, either. But when MDW tells me anything now, I listen. We drove over to W. Irvington, and then down Cardinal to the Safeway at Cardinal and Valencia in the farthest SW corner of Tucson. We picked up a few things, including a Starbucks each, and then got back in our car.
Heading north on Cardinal, I was focused on driving, but MDW as always, was looking around and noticed something unusual. She asked me to turn around because she saw a woman who needed some help. As I turned around, I saw who she meant. There was a woman staggering down the street, disheveled with her coat hanging part on and part off her shoulders. My wife got out of our car and approached her. The woman was disoriented, and largely incoherent, and started to enter the street we had just passed. My Dear Wife stayed with her talking gently to her, trying to discern the problem.
I had followed along beside them and was blocking the intersection now with our car. Other cars were at the intersection and impatiently were wanting to get by, so I pulled up and off the road. One young man with his two young children did pull over, and asked MDW if she wanted him to call the Sherrif, since we were actually on the Pima County side of Cardinal. She told him that she would appreciate that.
My Love steared her charge over to our car with some difficulty, and opened our door for her to sit down, until help arrived. When I turned around to look at her, I saw the face of Jesus in her, not literally, but none the less real. My heart cried out at her brokenness. This dear child of God, who we found out later was named Jacqueline was in a dirty tee shirt with a blue light jacket on over it. Her shoes were inexpensive ones with no support. Her face and arms were dirty, her nails long, and like her hair, unkempt. There were puke stains on her shirt, and for a moment I was afraid she would throw up in our car.
She was barely coherent, and her eyes rolled back in her head from time to time. I tried to ask her a couple of questions but had less success than MDW with her. While My Love spoke with her from outside the car, I went to check with the young man who had stopped. He had a precious 7 year old daughter in the car, and a nearly two year old handsome little son as well. He was a worker on an oil rig in the gulf coast, home between 2 month work shifts. The 7 year old told me that her birthday was in March, and I told her it was 6 days after mine. She told me that she was in grade 2 at the school we could see from where we were, and that she would be 8 on her birthday. I told her that I would be 60 on mine and didn't go to school any more, which was not really true, was it? School was in session for me at that very moment.
My Dear Wife continued to speak with Jacqueline, and asked her if she would like a cup of coffee. She then gave her her Starbucks which she took sips of. After a short while, two deputies from the Pima County Sheriff's Office arrived. They were very gentle with Jacqueline, and said that they would take her to a shelter nearby.
With that the father and his two children departed and so did we.
I definitely witnessed My Dear Wife being Jesus for Jacqueline, but even more than that Jacqueline was the broken Jesus on the Cross for us. She had told MDW that she had 14 kids in Nogales, so she is somebody's mother. She is also somebody's daughter. But above all, she is Jesus for us all, and the sister of Jesus, as well as the daughter of Our Blessed Mother, and of Our Father.
Last night, as we prayed our evening prayers with special reference to Jacqueline, our prayer became a time of pondering on what we had encountered this day. I fell even more head over heals in love with My Dear Wife, of course. How could I not? But, my heart filled with love for Jacqueline, and while I was awake before sleeping and when I awoke several hours ago, she was in my thoughts and prayers.
I know that Jesus died to set our dear sister free from all that has hurt her and led her to the place that she is at. But, also I know that if she had not been where she was at, at that exact time and place, we would not have been able to encounter Him in her.
Jacqueline was authentic in her brokenness. She was not hiding it in fancy clothes, fancy cars, or behind masks. She was the most real person I have ever encountered.
Father, forgive me for all the Jacquelines that I have passed by in my life, not seeing Your Son Jesus in them and in their sadness, and hurt. Soften and fill my heart with love for all your children. Help me to see my own brokenness in them.
Father, I ask that you pour the shed blood of your Son Jesus on our sister, your child Jacqueline and on all the Jacqueline's of this world. Wash her and them in that blood that flowed on the way to Calvary and on the Cross.
Mother Mary, please wrap your mantle of protection around your daughter Jacqueline and all those like her who are hurting and empty, and intercede on her behalf with Your Son, and Our Father.
Jesus, come to her with your Holy Spirit and open her sad eyes to the Truth of Your Love for her, and that you have already carried all her sorrows to the Cross for her.
Those who have read my View from the Pew postings lately might have noticed that yesterday's piece ended rather abruptly. At least, I did. I wrote it last evening and had not processed all that happened after the homily until after My Dear Wife and I had our evening prayers later on. So, as Paul Harvey says in his radio broadcasts, "Here's the rest of the story."
I have mentioned that a charismatic gift that I received was the gift of tears, and when my eyes start to well up, I know that something is touching my heart. At the beginning of mass, just when the introductory song was commencing, I could not sing because there they were, and also my throat choked up. It just no longer strikes me as weird, so I just get a little more observant, and go with it.
The Church was sort of hot and full yesterday, and so after the homily My Dear Wife had to leave as she was feeling faint. I waited until after the collection, and then joined her outside to make sure that she was okay. There is a rock just outside the rear door of the Church and there she was seated. We remained there through the rest of mass until Communion.
We came in to the back of the communion line, and as I passed the usher, who I recognized from last year, I said "Good morning, Brother." I know that he is a Knight of Columbus, as I am, so it would be appropriate to address him as a brother Knight. But, I knew that that was not what I meant, and so it struck me that something was afoot. When I received the Eucharist, it was a bit more profound than before, and that struck my curiosity as well.
As it was still too stifling for My Dear Wife, we departed the Church. This time we went straight to our car. We have never left Mass before the end in our lives that I recall, but we were peaceful. I asked My Dear Wife what we had for dinner, and she said she wanted to go to the Safeway store and pick up some things. We also never go shopping on Sunday, either. But when MDW tells me anything now, I listen. We drove over to W. Irvington, and then down Cardinal to the Safeway at Cardinal and Valencia in the farthest SW corner of Tucson. We picked up a few things, including a Starbucks each, and then got back in our car.
Heading north on Cardinal, I was focused on driving, but MDW as always, was looking around and noticed something unusual. She asked me to turn around because she saw a woman who needed some help. As I turned around, I saw who she meant. There was a woman staggering down the street, disheveled with her coat hanging part on and part off her shoulders. My wife got out of our car and approached her. The woman was disoriented, and largely incoherent, and started to enter the street we had just passed. My Dear Wife stayed with her talking gently to her, trying to discern the problem.
I had followed along beside them and was blocking the intersection now with our car. Other cars were at the intersection and impatiently were wanting to get by, so I pulled up and off the road. One young man with his two young children did pull over, and asked MDW if she wanted him to call the Sherrif, since we were actually on the Pima County side of Cardinal. She told him that she would appreciate that.
My Love steared her charge over to our car with some difficulty, and opened our door for her to sit down, until help arrived. When I turned around to look at her, I saw the face of Jesus in her, not literally, but none the less real. My heart cried out at her brokenness. This dear child of God, who we found out later was named Jacqueline was in a dirty tee shirt with a blue light jacket on over it. Her shoes were inexpensive ones with no support. Her face and arms were dirty, her nails long, and like her hair, unkempt. There were puke stains on her shirt, and for a moment I was afraid she would throw up in our car.
She was barely coherent, and her eyes rolled back in her head from time to time. I tried to ask her a couple of questions but had less success than MDW with her. While My Love spoke with her from outside the car, I went to check with the young man who had stopped. He had a precious 7 year old daughter in the car, and a nearly two year old handsome little son as well. He was a worker on an oil rig in the gulf coast, home between 2 month work shifts. The 7 year old told me that her birthday was in March, and I told her it was 6 days after mine. She told me that she was in grade 2 at the school we could see from where we were, and that she would be 8 on her birthday. I told her that I would be 60 on mine and didn't go to school any more, which was not really true, was it? School was in session for me at that very moment.
My Dear Wife continued to speak with Jacqueline, and asked her if she would like a cup of coffee. She then gave her her Starbucks which she took sips of. After a short while, two deputies from the Pima County Sheriff's Office arrived. They were very gentle with Jacqueline, and said that they would take her to a shelter nearby.
With that the father and his two children departed and so did we.
I definitely witnessed My Dear Wife being Jesus for Jacqueline, but even more than that Jacqueline was the broken Jesus on the Cross for us. She had told MDW that she had 14 kids in Nogales, so she is somebody's mother. She is also somebody's daughter. But above all, she is Jesus for us all, and the sister of Jesus, as well as the daughter of Our Blessed Mother, and of Our Father.
Last night, as we prayed our evening prayers with special reference to Jacqueline, our prayer became a time of pondering on what we had encountered this day. I fell even more head over heals in love with My Dear Wife, of course. How could I not? But, my heart filled with love for Jacqueline, and while I was awake before sleeping and when I awoke several hours ago, she was in my thoughts and prayers.
I know that Jesus died to set our dear sister free from all that has hurt her and led her to the place that she is at. But, also I know that if she had not been where she was at, at that exact time and place, we would not have been able to encounter Him in her.
Jacqueline was authentic in her brokenness. She was not hiding it in fancy clothes, fancy cars, or behind masks. She was the most real person I have ever encountered.
Father, forgive me for all the Jacquelines that I have passed by in my life, not seeing Your Son Jesus in them and in their sadness, and hurt. Soften and fill my heart with love for all your children. Help me to see my own brokenness in them.
Father, I ask that you pour the shed blood of your Son Jesus on our sister, your child Jacqueline and on all the Jacqueline's of this world. Wash her and them in that blood that flowed on the way to Calvary and on the Cross.
Mother Mary, please wrap your mantle of protection around your daughter Jacqueline and all those like her who are hurting and empty, and intercede on her behalf with Your Son, and Our Father.
Jesus, come to her with your Holy Spirit and open her sad eyes to the Truth of Your Love for her, and that you have already carried all her sorrows to the Cross for her.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
View from the Pew - 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - January 17, 2010
Our Lady of Fatima Parish - Tucson, AZ
Today was the first opportunity for us to celebrate Sunday liturgy back in Tucson at our local parish there, Our Lady of Fatima. We attended the 11:00 am mass, which had a young people's choir leading us all musically.
The atmosphere in our parish of St. George in London, Ontario is very different from what we observe here. Before mass starts here, there is lots of chatter as people greet each other, as though they were at a party, which, of course they are, a dinner party with Jesus present. The parish has a very large Hispanic contingent, and it appears that much of the faith life of the community is influenced by the special friendliness and yet beautiful faith of these members. The youth were very present at this celebration.
The music ministry is led by Alex Navas, a senior in Music Education with an emphasis in choral conducting, from the University of Arizona. Alex is a gifted musician, and brought that gift to OLF in January 2009, when we were here last year. He writes most of the psalm responses, and today was certainly no exception. What I noticed, from my own background in parish music ministry, and more from not being hard of hearing, was the life in his own music. He has been exploring various musical modes, and today the psalm response had lots of bounce to it, with good harmonic piano, over drums, and guitars and good male and female voices.
The Pastor, and Celebrant, Father Ray Ratzenberger, is a 57 year old, spirit filled priest, originally from Bridgeport Connecticut, but who moved with his parents to Tucson when he was in his late teens. He has connections to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal that date back over 35 years to 1974. His style of preaching is a little like painting dots on a piece of bristle board and then expecting the listener to connect up all the dots. His homilies are not for the lazy, but there is gold in them thar hills.
Today the Gospel reading was the first miracle of Jesus, when he made water into wine. It is a story, as Father related of the importance of marriage in God's eyes, and of the love of a Mother (Mary) for her Son, and His respect for her.
Father spoke about the importance of marriage, and for the young, and the youth part of all of us, he spoke in particular about the teachings of the Church about sex, that it is reserved for marriage, because sex between two people is an act of marriage, making a covenant between them. Consequently, two people having sexual relations, and then moving on to other partners is a misuse of a covenant gift. He also spoke of the Catholic teaching against artificial birth control, because of it being an act of taking control of something that God is in charge of. It was gutsy talk, but was the truth.
As I had been reading and pondering on this particular miracle, there were other thoughts that came to my mind. God, in Jesus tends to do things differently than we do. So, I noted that Jesus made wine better than the previous wine at the celebration, drawing attention to his love for the couple, and for married couples, in general.
The other interesting aspect is that Mary interceded with Her Son for a particular need, and though He believed it was not His time, He did as she asked. This is a biblical example of Mary as an intercessor, and combined with Jesus on the Cross, giving John, in particular and all of us in general to her as our Mother, invites us to run to Mary, who knows her Son like no one else.
Today was the first opportunity for us to celebrate Sunday liturgy back in Tucson at our local parish there, Our Lady of Fatima. We attended the 11:00 am mass, which had a young people's choir leading us all musically.
The atmosphere in our parish of St. George in London, Ontario is very different from what we observe here. Before mass starts here, there is lots of chatter as people greet each other, as though they were at a party, which, of course they are, a dinner party with Jesus present. The parish has a very large Hispanic contingent, and it appears that much of the faith life of the community is influenced by the special friendliness and yet beautiful faith of these members. The youth were very present at this celebration.
The music ministry is led by Alex Navas, a senior in Music Education with an emphasis in choral conducting, from the University of Arizona. Alex is a gifted musician, and brought that gift to OLF in January 2009, when we were here last year. He writes most of the psalm responses, and today was certainly no exception. What I noticed, from my own background in parish music ministry, and more from not being hard of hearing, was the life in his own music. He has been exploring various musical modes, and today the psalm response had lots of bounce to it, with good harmonic piano, over drums, and guitars and good male and female voices.
The Pastor, and Celebrant, Father Ray Ratzenberger, is a 57 year old, spirit filled priest, originally from Bridgeport Connecticut, but who moved with his parents to Tucson when he was in his late teens. He has connections to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal that date back over 35 years to 1974. His style of preaching is a little like painting dots on a piece of bristle board and then expecting the listener to connect up all the dots. His homilies are not for the lazy, but there is gold in them thar hills.
Today the Gospel reading was the first miracle of Jesus, when he made water into wine. It is a story, as Father related of the importance of marriage in God's eyes, and of the love of a Mother (Mary) for her Son, and His respect for her.
Father spoke about the importance of marriage, and for the young, and the youth part of all of us, he spoke in particular about the teachings of the Church about sex, that it is reserved for marriage, because sex between two people is an act of marriage, making a covenant between them. Consequently, two people having sexual relations, and then moving on to other partners is a misuse of a covenant gift. He also spoke of the Catholic teaching against artificial birth control, because of it being an act of taking control of something that God is in charge of. It was gutsy talk, but was the truth.
As I had been reading and pondering on this particular miracle, there were other thoughts that came to my mind. God, in Jesus tends to do things differently than we do. So, I noted that Jesus made wine better than the previous wine at the celebration, drawing attention to his love for the couple, and for married couples, in general.
The other interesting aspect is that Mary interceded with Her Son for a particular need, and though He believed it was not His time, He did as she asked. This is a biblical example of Mary as an intercessor, and combined with Jesus on the Cross, giving John, in particular and all of us in general to her as our Mother, invites us to run to Mary, who knows her Son like no one else.
Tucson, We Have Landed
Settling In
Dear Readers:
It has been quiet here on this blog this past week. I did set up some postings before My Dear Wife and I departed from our home in London, Ontario for the winter warmth of Tucson, Arizona and the simplicity of motor home life for a while.
On Monday morning past, I headed off to our local auto service centre to have our snow tires removed. I then beat a hasty retreat back home; we packed up and hit the road about 9:30 am.
Aside from being hassled at the border by an eager defender of the US side of the frontier, who must have finally concluded that I did not have a bomb in my pants, that I was married to the woman at my side, and that we only brought glad tidings for the US economy, we had a relatively uneventful trip. It was however 4 lengthy days of driving, followed by sleeping, and then driving again.
We crossed at Port Huron Michigan, and drove for a time through light snow and blow until we made the turn towards Chicago. We passed (I Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo, and Gary, Indiana.
But, as we neared the turn at Joliet Illinois, to head south west, Route 66 came to mind.
Now, it's not like we really were on Route 66. We were on the interstates, but we did stay in or pass many of the towns named early in the song.
It winds from Chicago to LA. (Check on Chicago.)
Now you go through St. Louis, (Check - stayed there one night)
Joplin, Missours (Check - passed by)
Oklahoma City is mighty pretty. (Check - stayed there too, well actually Yukon - on the outskirts)
You see Amarillo (Check - saw it - ate at an Olive Garden there)
Gallup New Mexico. (Nope turned south at Albuquerque.
Well, can you imagine trying to fit Albuquerque into that song?
Now, I did say we stayed in Yukon Oklahoma. It happens that Yukon is the birthplace of Garth Brooks. So here's Friends in Low Places.
We also passed the place of his youth of The King of the Road, Roger Miller at Erick Oklahoma. So here's a song from him for you.
Dear Readers:
It has been quiet here on this blog this past week. I did set up some postings before My Dear Wife and I departed from our home in London, Ontario for the winter warmth of Tucson, Arizona and the simplicity of motor home life for a while.
On Monday morning past, I headed off to our local auto service centre to have our snow tires removed. I then beat a hasty retreat back home; we packed up and hit the road about 9:30 am.
Aside from being hassled at the border by an eager defender of the US side of the frontier, who must have finally concluded that I did not have a bomb in my pants, that I was married to the woman at my side, and that we only brought glad tidings for the US economy, we had a relatively uneventful trip. It was however 4 lengthy days of driving, followed by sleeping, and then driving again.
We crossed at Port Huron Michigan, and drove for a time through light snow and blow until we made the turn towards Chicago. We passed (I Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo, and Gary, Indiana.
But, as we neared the turn at Joliet Illinois, to head south west, Route 66 came to mind.
Now, it's not like we really were on Route 66. We were on the interstates, but we did stay in or pass many of the towns named early in the song.
It winds from Chicago to LA. (Check on Chicago.)
Now you go through St. Louis, (Check - stayed there one night)
Joplin, Missours (Check - passed by)
Oklahoma City is mighty pretty. (Check - stayed there too, well actually Yukon - on the outskirts)
You see Amarillo (Check - saw it - ate at an Olive Garden there)
Gallup New Mexico. (Nope turned south at Albuquerque.
Well, can you imagine trying to fit Albuquerque into that song?
Now, I did say we stayed in Yukon Oklahoma. It happens that Yukon is the birthplace of Garth Brooks. So here's Friends in Low Places.
We also passed the place of his youth of The King of the Road, Roger Miller at Erick Oklahoma. So here's a song from him for you.
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