Every day of my life is a page of this book

So to make sure that there are no surprises at the last moment, I often like to take this book in my own hands — this book that I'm in the process of writing, whether I like it or not, as long as I live. I like to take it up and open it and let my soul read it. And that's very easy and very useful to do at the time of prayer or or examining one's conscience. I like to think that every day of my life is a page of this book; and when I begin a day what I have in front of me is a blank sheet of paper. And sometimes I run quickly through the pages already written, and allow the blank pages to pass through my fingers — the pages which are as yet unwritten because the time hasn't yet come. And in a funny way some pages always stay on my fingers: they are the days I don't know whether I'll get to write, because I don't know when the Lord will show me this book for the last time. ...

The "name of the game" is examination of conscience. You will gain a great deal of knowledge of yourself and of your character and your life. You will teach yourself to love God and to pin down your desire to make good use of your days by making clear, effective resolutions.

S. Canals, Jesus as Friend
via In Conversation with God, vol. 5

A Movie You Might Have Missed #28: Lagaan

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

I am hard put to it to think of any four hour movie I'd recommend. When I add that it is a Bollywood sports film, that just increases the odds against it. Yet this movie's charm is undeniable.

A small Indian village battles a sadistic British officer during the time of the Raj. He has imposed high taxes or "lagaan" which a prolonged drought makes it impossible to pay. Rallied by one independent soul, Buvan, the villagers find themselves in a winner-take-all cricket match. You might want to treat this one like a mini-series as the 4-hour length that would make Martin Scorsese envious. However, I will add that Tom and I never regretted a minute of it.

This is a delightful story of the triumph of the human spirit, complete with Bollywood dancing and singing that moves the story along in the best musical style. I will add that, by the end, you will have a fairly decent understanding of cricket. I will also add that, noticing hair as I do, it was rather painful whenever the young villager who pushes everyone on to fight for their rights had his head uncovered. Possibly the worst haircut ever. As Tom said, "He looks like a young Vulcan." Other than that though ... enjoy!

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

Scott and I discuss Lagaan at A Good Story is Hard to Find.
Hannah and Rose discuss Lagaan at An American's Guide to Bollywood.

If you want your children to eat better ...

If you want your children to eat better, don't tell them what to do. Eat better yourself.

Bee Wilson, First Bites

Of course, this holds true for much more than eating. If you want your kids to live their faith and to love it, first do it yourself.

Monterey Coast

 Monterey Coast, Theodore Wores

Updated: Finally — The McCarrick Report

Yesterday the Vatican  finally released their report on  former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick who also was a sexual predator. This is a really lengthy document and I have not had a chance to read it but I can point you to a few places that I'm finding useful in beginning to get a handle on it.

I'll add to this as I come across other sources I like. I'm swamped with work right now so my time is a bit limited.

National Catholic Register -  they have a link to the full text and feature the Vatican's summary of the document.

Morning Glory radio show - I listen to the podcast. They will unpack the report a little at a time for several days in a row. They spent the first fifteen minutes today getting started.

UPDATED

Bishop Barron on The McCarrick Report - listen or watch here. An excellent and insightful discussion.

What you learn at the dinner table

The table was the place for family business and for family quarrels as much as a place for eating. but most important, it was where we shared stories and learned lessons. I remember one night when the subject of managing money came up. Daddy took ten dimes out of his pocket and laid them out on the tablecloth. He said, "You give the first dime to the church. The second dime goes in your savings account. And you live on the rest. That, he said, was called tithing, and is how we should manage our money and our lives.

At that small white table in our hot kitchen, we learned the values and traditions that I later tried to teach — to recommend to — my own children.

Robert Khayat, quoted in A Gracious Plenty

The Princess and the Goblins

 The Princess and the Goblin, by George McDonald, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, (1920)

This is via a piece at My Daily Art Display about the illustrator. Check it out for more illustrations and to learn about the artist's life. I like this book a lot, but not nearly as much as my mother does. If you haven't read it, do give it a try. C.S. Lewis just loved George McDonald's writing and there's a good reason why.

The Cemetery Gates

The Cemetery Gates, Marc Chagall, 1917
via J.R.'s Art Place

Psalms Index

Canticles Index

(In alphabetical order)

• Daniel 3:57-88, 56 — Let Every Creature Bless the Lord
• Philippians (2: 6-11) – He humbled himself

Psalms Index

(Written in chronological order through Psalm 48. After that, as whimsy and inspiration takes me.)

 Initial Notes and Sources

• Background — The prevailing Western worldview is  no more "modern" than the worldview of the first Christians
• What is More Pleasing Than a Psalm? — what experience is not covered by the reading of a psalm?
  
• Psalm 1 — The Blessed and the Wicked
  
• Psalm 2 — The Lord's Anointed King
• Psalm 3 — Selah
• Psalm 4 — Deliverance and Thanksgiving
• Psalm 5 — The Holiness of God and the Power of Words
• Psalm 6 — A Prayer for Healing
• Psalm 7 — God Has Prepared His Deadly Weapons
• Psalm 8 — The Back Parts of God
• Psalm 9 — Confidence in God
• Psalm 10 — Plea for God's Judgment
• Psalm 11 — Trust in the Lord
• Psalm 12 — The Promises of the Lord are Pure
• Psalm 13 — Waiting on the Lord
  
• Psalm 14 — Fools Deny God
• Psalm 15 — Who May Dwell with God?
• Psalm 16 — Faithfulness to the Lord
• Psalm 17 — Prayer for Protection
• Psalm 18 — A Prayer of Thanksgiving
• Psalm 19 (part 1) — The Glory of Nature and the Law
• Psalm 19 (part 2) — God's Self Revelation 
• Psalm 19 (part 3) — Right Relationship with Nature and God 
• Psalm 20 — The King and the Community Can Trust God with Their Desires
• Psalm 21 — Thanksgiving and Trust
• Psalm 22 (part 1) — What Did It Mean Before Jesus Quoted It From the Cross?
• Psalm 22 (part 2) — The "Today" of Suffering God's Silence and the "Today" of the Resurrection 
• Psalm 23 — Trusting the Shepherd
• Psalm 24 — Who is This King of Glory?
• Psalm 25 — He Teaches the Sinners and the Humble His Way
• Psalm 26 — I Have Led a Blameless Life
• Psalm 27 — The Lord is My Light and My Help
• Psalm 28 — Plea for Divine Assistance
• Psalm 29 — The Lord Blesses His People with Peace
• Psalm 30 — Praise for Healing
• Psalm 31 — Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit
• Psalm 32 — Happy Those Who Are Forgiven!
• Psalm 33 — The Sovereignty of God
• Psalm 34 — Praise for Deliverance
• Psalm 35 — Plea for Divine Assistance
• Psalm 36 — The Wicked and the Righteous
• Psalm 37 — Fret Not Because of Evildoers
  
• Psalm 38 — Prayer in Sickness
• Psalm 39 — To Know Gladness
• Psalm 40 — Waiting Patiently
• Psalm 41 — Prayer for Healing
• Psalm 42 — Thirsting for God
• Psalm 43 — Hope in God
• Psalm 44 — Prayer for Victory
• Psalm 45 — A Wedding Hymn
• Psalm 46 — God is Our Refuge
• Psalm 47 — God is Exalted
• Psalm 48 — The Power of Zion
• Psalm 149 — Song of Praise and Joy

Spiritual acts and practical resolutions

Meditation moves our will to make spiritual acts such a the love of God and neighbor, desire of heaven and eternal glory, or zeal for the salvation of souls; it makes us long to be like our Lord, awakens a sense of compassion, wonder and joy, or fear of offending God or of judgment and hell; it leads us to hate sin and have confidence in the goodness and mercy of God and to be ashamed of the sins of our past life.

...you must not dwell upon them to such an extent that you forget to make practical resolutions according to your own special needs; for example, the first words of our Lord on the Cross will surely arouse in your soul a desire to forgive your enemies and to love htem, but this is of little value unless it leads you to make a special resolution to that end, saying to yourself, "I resolve not to be annoyed any more by anything which so and so—perhaps a neigbor or a servant—may say to me, nor by any affront which some other person may offer me; on the contrary, I will say this or that to win him over," and so on. In this way, Philothea, you will correct your faults in a very short time; but if you rely upon your spiritual acts alone it will take you a very long time and be very difficult.

St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life

A little more that grabbed me from my daily reading.

Thank You to Our Veterans

Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it… it flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it. —Unknown

This is just so darned true. Our soldiers and veterans are so worthy of our thanks and pride. I think of my brother who has said several times, with becoming modesty, that he really just wanted to help other people. 

This moving photograph shows Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt, superintendent of the 22nd Wing Medical Group at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, holding an injured Iraqi girl. The picture was taken in October 2006, while Sgt. Gebhardt was deployed to Balad Air Base in Iraq. According to the Air Force Print News, the infant girl Sgt. Gebhardt held in his arms "received extensive gunshot injuries to her head when insurgents attacked her family killing both of her parents and many of her siblings." An Air Force Link article about the sudden fame he gained as the subject of this photograph reported that:

The chief had a knack for comforting [the injured Iraqi girl] and they often would catch a cat nap together in a chair. "I got as much enjoyment out of it as the baby did," he said. "I reflected on my own family and life and thought about how lucky I have been." While deployed to Iraq, the chief tried to help out any way he could. He figured holding a baby that needed comforting that would free up one more set of arms that could be providing care to more critical patients. "I pray for the best for the Iraqi children," he said. "I can't tell the difference between their kids and our kids. The Iraqi parents have the same care and compassion for their children as any American."

Source: Snopes

I haven't said it enough because none of us really can but to our veterans as well as those serving now ... thank you from the bottom of my heart.

A Saucer of Milk

 A Saucer of Milk by Carl Holsøe

Gospel of Matthew — Back in the beginning, a very good place to start

Matthew 28: 16-20

 I really love the point made about why Jesus called the disciples to meet him in Galilee. That never occurred to me before (as with so much in this brief look at Matthew over the last year).

Fresco in Bishop's chapel located in Cortona depicting the mission of the apostles

Placing the final scene in Galilee, Matthew brings the story full circle. This is where it all began, where Jesus grew into manhood, where the first apostles were recruited, and where the message of the kingdom first sounded forth. Readers have anticipated a return to Galilee since the prediction in 26:32 and the instructions given in verses 7 and 10. Galilee, the launching point for the Messiah's mission to Israel, is now to become the take-off poit for a mission to the whole world.

[...]

It is important to recognize that making disciples is not reducible to winning converts or ensuring that people get baptized. A disciple is one who listens to Jesus (17:5) and learns from him how to love (11:28-30), how to pray (6:9-13), and how to do what is pleasing to the Father (3:17). Christian discipleship is a total way of life, a commitment to pattern our daily actions and decisions after the example set by Jesus and his most heroic followers (see 1 Cor. 11:1). As important as it is to attend weekly Mass or to say one's bedtime prayers, something much more is called for in the Lord's mandate.

May we all become the disciples our Lord calls us to be! With this we end our look at the gospel of Matthew. 

Quote is from Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: Gospel of Matthew by Curtis Mitch and Edward Sri.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #27 — Waking Sleeping Beauty

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll fall in love all over again with a little mermaid. Believe it or not, all from a documentary

The Black Cauldron is universally agreed to be Disney's lowest point in animated movies. This documentary takes us from the time that movie is being created in 1984 through Disney's golden animation renaissance that began with The Little Mermaid and ended with The Lion King in 1994. How the studio went in a  mere ten-year period the depths to the heights of animation is the subject of this behind-the-scenes tale from the point of view of the animators. Everything is told through stills and archive footage although with new audio interviews by several of the principal figures. Much of the footage shot by the animators themselves while at work.

The business side of the company is also examined, including what was really responsible for Disney's rise and subsequent fall after The Lion King, the monumental egos of Roy Disney, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenburg. Hearing the animators' side of these much loved movies is fascinating. The movie clips played remind us that it has been all too long since we watched The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast. As well, you will appreciate Howard Ashman as never before for his creative genius and the passion he gave to his work. It is an engrossing and surprisingly fast-paced work that any Disney movie fans will enjoy.

We can't fight imperfections if we don't know what they are

The task of purifying the soul cannot, may not, end as long as we live; however, our imperfections should not make us anxious, for perfection consists in fighting against them, and we cannot fight them unless we see them, or overcome them if we do not face up to them.

Victory does not lie in being unconscious of them, it lies in not consenting to them, and we are not consenting to them as long as they displease us.

In fact, to learn humility, we must sometimes be wounded in this spiritual warfare, but we will never be defeated unless we lose courage or our life, and as our spiritual life is lost only by mortal sin and never by imperfection or venial sins, we have only to look to our courage, praying with David that God may rescue us from the fears that daunt us and from the storm around us. (Cf. Ps. 54.9)

Luckily, in this kind of battle, we shall always be victorious as long as we are prepared to fight.

St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life

I've begun rereading  Introduction to the Devout Life, slowly — fortunately it comes in small doses and is perfect for that. Here's a bit that grabbed me.

A beautiful lady in a beautiful hat

Eula Wilson of Bowie, Texas circa 1900 (via Traces of Texas)

As stimulating as black coffee

Good conversation is as stimulating as black coffee and just as hard to sleep after.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

This hits me where I live. It's why I have to have a slow-down time after my book club, for example. And even with that I often still can't sleep well all night because my brain is buzzing with all the talk and ideas.

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his gallery in Brussels

 Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his gallery in Brussels, c. 1647–1651

Click through the link to take a look at all the paintings in the gallery in more detail.

Congealing into one story only

A society in crisis teaches itself to congeal into one story only, and sees reality through very narrow glasses. But there is never only one story.

Amos Oz

Praying and Fasting for the President to Experience Conversion of Heart

Note: I've updated my First Tuesday fast to expand the scope beyond whoever is president to include our country's leaders. We need heroes, we need effective leaders, we need people who are self sacrificing and willing to put the needs of the people beyond their own political agendas (like re-election).

 Below is the original post.

Today on Morning Glory, guest Father Josh Johnson pointed out that we've never had a President who has become Venerable or Blessed ... or in other words, a saint. Duh, I thought. Then he startled me by enthusiastically recommending that we fast and pray for whoever becomes president to experience a conversion of heart and to get on track for sainthood. 

Wow. The fact that I was so startled by such an idea, initially thought it crazy, says something about how pragmatically I view our governmental system and politicians. I loved Father's passion and belief that God can do anything. And, let's face it, that would indeed be a real change for either Joe Biden or Donald Trump. It would make them into the people we wish they would be. What a witness that would be.

So I'm going to do it. I'm still considering how to do this. I already fast on every first Friday for the Church and our priests. So this needs to be a separate fast. Right now I am thinking about a small fast — breakfast or lunch or maybe only bread all day (which is a heckuva lot harder than you'd think) — on the first Tuesday of each month (election day in November!). 

It's wild. It's reckless. It's completely crazy. So that makes it a perfect thing for God to use showing his glory and power. And this is a way to do that.

Join me!

Source