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  • The Jesus Psalter

    I first heard of the Jesus Psalter reading Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson’s wonderful Come Rack, Come Rope, a love story set in the time of the Elizabethan Pogroms. It was also my first introduction to how those Pogroms were conducted – hunters, star courts, betrayals, simony, etc. Reading such a story can drive one to despair,…

  • Holy Things for the Holy

    At RCIA we discussed sex and sexuality.  What an interesting thing, in the context of (Adult and Teen) confirmation class, to have an entire session devoted to sex. I say interesting because I think in 12 years I’ve heard the topic come up only a couple of times, and never as the main topic of…

  • Liturgical Doodles

    I’m given to understand that “back in the day” there were no “Vigil Masses” on Saturday Night and that proper piety in the West (as in the East) involved attending Saturday Vespers where one might also make confession. I’ve no idea if this “day” was 100 years ago or 1,000, but Saturday Vespers leading into…

  • Fer’im R Agin’im?

    Today’s readings: Jeremiah 7:23-28 Luke 11:14-23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.Qui non est mecum, contra me est: et qui non colligit mecum, dispergit.Luke 11:23 This verse is often contrasted with Luke 9:50, which seems to say the reverse:Whoever is not against you is for…

  • 70×7=Eternity

    From CatholicLink Today Readings: Daniel 3:25, 34-43 Matthew 18:21-35 Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.Dicit illi Jesus: Non dico tibi usque septies: sed usque septuagies septies.Matthew 18:22 Forgiveness is one of the seven Spiritual Works of Mercy. The full list is at the end of the posting. I don’t…

  • Work? What Work?

    Today’s Readings: 2 Samuel 7:4-5A, 12-14A, 16 Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24A Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. Joseph, fili David, noli timere accipere Mariam conjugem tuam.Matthew 1:20 You’ll admit that Joseph was brave.What would people say?And goodness knows that Jesus would never…

  • Order of Christ Crucified

    In Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World, which will I most heartily recommend without reservation to all who come into these presents, the protagonist, Fr Percy, suggests to the Pope a new religious order: A new Order, Holiness—no habit or badge—subject to your Holiness only—freer than Jesuits, poorer than Franciscans, more mortified than Carthusians: men…

  • God’s Family Servants.

    The Holy Family Window, St Joseph, a young Jesus, and the BVM. Today’s readings: Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 Matthew 23:1-12 The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.Matthew 23:12 Continuing from yesterday, where Lust is the fruit of Pride, we have today’s reading…

  • Don’t judge me, bro.

    Today’s Readings: Daniel 9:4B-10 Luke 6:36-38 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.Luke 6:36-37a This verse can be thrown in our faces at times. Anytime a comment about morality is made it can turn into a “Don’t judge…

  • The Ur-Leaving

    Today’s readings: Genesis 12:1-4a 2 Timothy 1:8B-10 Matthew 17:1-9 Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.Genesis 12:1b At the Stations of the Cross on Friday night we were meditating on the woes of Migrants, leaving their families and homelands and seeking…

  • Before Our Father

    A Patristic Homily on the Gospel Reading for today, Tuesday in the First Week of Lent, from the Catena Aurea of St Thomas Aquinas, using the words of Sts Augustine, John Cassian, John Chrysostom, and Pope Gregory the Great. Judaism has the teaching that God is the Father of us all. In the teaching of the…

  • Who is my Brethren?

    A Patristic Homily for the Monday in the First Week of Lent. From the Catena Aurea of St Thomas Aquinas, and the words of Sts John Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, Remigius, Gregory the Great, Rabanus, and Origen, the Teacher of the Fathers. Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for…

  • Rotten Tomatoes

    Mom tells me that there are help-wanted ad in her local paper looking for fruit pickers. The job pays $10.50 an hour, comes with benes and is being advertised in English. They can’t get their usual workers because of the policies enacted by Current Occupant in the White House. I spent some time a couple…

  • Lo, Mercy is Feasting.

    A Patristic Homily for the Saturday after Ash Wednesday. From the Catena Aurea of St Thomas Aquinas, and the words of Sts Bede the Venerable, Cyril, John Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Theophylact. Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Luke and Mark, for the honor of the Evangelist, are silent as to his…

  • Why Not Fast?

    A Patristic Homily for the Friday after Ash Wednesday.From the Catena Aurea of St Thomas Aquinas, and the words of Sts John Chrysostom, Jerome, Rabanus, Augustine, Hillary. Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples fast not?” This is arrogance – to take…