Psalm 21 — Thanksgiving and Trust

Psalm 21 reveals Christ's kingdom, and the power of his judgment, and his coming again in the flesh to us and the summoning of the nations

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

This psalm is like an response to Psalm 20's anticipation of God's promised support. Both trust in victory and both are royal psalms.

 More importantly in our understanding, is that the king serves as a model for individual believers and their relationships with God. Reading this psalm do we see ourselves trusting God's strength and unfailing love?

The top of the photo has source information.
I look at this fragment and wonder who used it in prayer,
who was inspired by it, how long has it been used?
It's another reminder of the timelessness of the psalms.

Psalm 20. Contemporary Significance.

Characteristic of Israelite kingship was a tension that most of us face almost daily. If you look at the early narratives of the origins of Israel's monarchy, this tension is very apparent. The Kings constantly struggled with competing demands. On the one hand, the people wanted them to become political and military leaders winning victories against Israel's enemies. On the other hand, God  called them while demanding them to forego the normal kingly reliance on military, political, and financial power in order to lead the people in the ways of Yahweh. [...] Rather than the usual forms of kingly power, therefore, the kings were required to bind themselves to keep the law of Yahweh and to rely on him alone.

Psalms vol. 1 (The NIV Application Commentary)

Sources are here and an index of psalm posts is here.

Love, Treachery, and Other Terrors by Katharine Campbell

Fairies have one job. They are tasked with helping people learn and practice virtue. I am sure you've heard stories of fairies taking the form of beggars, blessing those who help them, and cursing those who don't.

However, not all fairies are good. Instead of helping people practice virtue, some encourage vice. These are the types of fairies you generally want to avoid. Nothing would delight them more than seeing you destroy someone you love.

Unfortunately, for the young King Alexander, his sister falls victim to a pair of such fairies who convince her to launch a coup. Alexander has no choice but to flee to a barbarian kingdom and try to build himself a new life among the uncouth locals.

Even if happiness were possible in such a place, could he live with himself if he left his people at the mercy of such evil beings? And even if he wanted to help his people, how could he possibly match the fairies' power?

I enjoyed this book a lot. It is a fractured fairy tale of sorts, updated for modern sensibilities but still anchored in the things that make for good fairy tales — fantastic adventures, heroes, right and wrong, good and evil, and even a faithful hound. There are even solid spiritual lessons woven into it, thankfully without ever hitting you over the head with them.

All this is told with a good sense of humor, clever plot twists, and solidly developed characters. I was really on tenterhooks at the end, wondering what sort of countermeasures Alexander could come up with against the two evil fairies. (He did it very cleverly, by the way.)

Definitely recommended.

Udria Cliff

Udria Cliff, Remo Savisaar

 

Creating what does not exist and changing natures to something new

If the words of Elijah had power even to bring down fire from heaven, will not the words of Christ have power to change the natures of the elements? You have read that in the creation of the whole world he spoke and they came to be; he commanded and they were created. If Christ could by speaking create out of nothing what did not yet exist, can we say that his words are unable to change existing things into something they previously were not? It is no lesser feat to create new natures for things than to change their existing natures.

St. Ambrose, from treatise on the Mysteries

This is such a basic bit of logic and yet one that never occurred to me. Now I just have to hope it pops into my mind if I am in discussion about the Eucharist.

Michelangelo’s Handwritten 16th-Century Grocery List

Michelangelo’s Handwritten 16th-Century Grocery List
via J.R.'s Art Place

“Because the servant he was sending to market was illiterate,” writes the Oregonian‘s Steve Duin in a review of a Seattle Art Museum show, “Michelangelo illustrated the shopping lists — a herring, tortelli, two fennel soups, four anchovies and ‘a small quarter of a rough wine’ — with rushed (and all the more exquisite for it) caricatures in pen and ink.”

A child is not an "add on"

A child does not come from outside as something to be added on to the mutual love of the spouses, but springs from the very heart of that mutual giving, as its fruit and fulfillment.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2366

Canticle: Letter to the Philippians (2: 6-11) – He humbled himself

He humbled himself

We're taking another short break from the psalms to consider another canticle. This one is featured in the Liturgy of the Hours every Sunday in evening prayer, so we know it is a biggie. When you go read it, you'll recognize it from the fact that it is often mentioned in the regular liturgical readings. And it is one of my favorites since I need that reminder that Jesus' obedience is key to our salvation. Like everyone, I struggle with obedience so this is something that hits me fresh every time I read it. Once a week seems just about right!

Icon of the Mosaic Pantocrator (Agia Sophia)

In every Sunday celebration of Vespers the liturgy proposes anew the Christological hymn of the Letter to the Philippians (cf. 2: 6-11) which is short but laden with meaning. We are examining the first part of this hymn that has just resounded (vv. 6-8), in which the paradoxical "self-emptying" of the Divine Word is described as he divests himself of his glory and takes on the human condition.

Christ, incarnate and humiliated by the most shameful death of crucifixion, is held up as a vital model for Christians. Indeed, as is clear from the context, their "attitude must be that of Christ" (v. 5), and their sentiments, humility and self-giving, detachment and generosity.

[...]

The basic element of this first part of the Canticle seems to me to be the invitation to enter into Jesus' sentiments. Entering into the sentiments of Jesus means not considering power, riches and prestige as the supreme values in our lives, for basically they do not respond to our most profound spiritual thirst, but rather, by opening our hearts to the Other, carrying with the Other our life's burden and opening ourselves to Our Heavenly Father with a sense of obedience and trust, knowing that by such obedience to the Father, we will be free. Entering into the sentiments of Jesus: this should be our daily practice of living as Christians.

Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience on Evening Prayer, June 1, 2005

I've linked above to where you can find this on the Vatican website. However, there are actually four different homilies, one for each week, in the series on the evening prayers for the Liturgy of the Hours. Two are by Saint John Paul II and two are from Pope Benedict XVI. You may read them all at Totus Tuus.

An index of canticle posts is here.   

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Goodness gracious, I first shared this recipe in 2004. That is so long ago! In the meantime, I've made a number of time-saving changes or those that up the flavor. This soup is so simple and so delicious you've got to try it so I'm rerunning it, revised. Get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #45: Attack the Block

It's been 11 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.

Inner City vs. Outer Space

 

This was one of my favorite movies of 2013 and I just realized that I never gave more than a one line description of this unexpected delight.

It's a good, solid monster movie with a basic puzzle to solve in order to rid oneself of the monsters. In this case, the twist is that the alien monsters land in London. The only ones to realize what's happening are some young thugs in a council block (that translates to "the projects" in the U.S.). They must battle the aliens while trying to escape the police who believe the resulting destruction is from gang violence. Its thoroughly enjoyable if one doesn't expect too much from it and watching the young actors is a delight, many of whom were recruited from local acting schools.

I especially enjoyed the fact that you can tell the aliens are not computer generated. The young actors said that they were actually frightened during action sequences because they were acting with real, unpredictable "creatures" ... it both shows and enhances the film.

The director went to a lot of trouble to get the place right. He interviewed council block kids to find out what weapons they'd grab if aliens landed. They use real slang and at times I felt as if I were watching a foreign language film with the captions off. However, there was always enough understandable dialogue for context.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

It is Mom's birthday. This is the second year she is with us so we can enjoy celebrating the day together.

I'm not making a Sunflower Cake but odds are good that I will be making her a chocolate cake of some sort. She's requested a chocolate cake with orange frosting and that is a divine combination.

I put the sunflower cake picture because Mom loves sunflowers (as do I). And that's perfect, actually because thinking of Mom's birthday makes me think of how many we celebrated when I was growing up in Kansas. One of my fondest memories is of sunflowers everywhere. The scene below is typical of what you'd see driving through backroads through the open country. It is thanks to Mom that I have my enduring love of nature, flowers, and wildlife of all sorts. That's a gift you can never say thank you enough for.

Happy birthday Mom!

Either man governs his passions and finds peace, or ...

... either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy.126 "Man's dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint.

[...]

Self-mastery is a long and exacting work. One can never consider it acquired once and for all. It presupposes renewed effort at all stages of life.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2339, 2342

Yoshida-jinja Shrine Aichi

Yoshida-jinja Shrine Aichi, Find47

 

If Christ had acted as we do

Let us not be insensible of Christ's loving kindness. For if he had acted as we do, we would have been lost indeed.

St. Ignatius of Antioch, letter to the Magnesians

Basket of Berries

Basket of Berries by Sarah Miriam Peale

Since I was talking about Strawberry Raspberry Pie, this seemed perfect!

What is a Yankee?

To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner.
To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.

E.B. White

So true! Tom told us this because Rose and I were talking about eating Strawberry-Raspberry Pie for breakfast. Because, you know, it is mostly fruit and, therefore, so healthy! It was delicious. And did not make us Yankees! It just made us happy.

"I'm from Texas"

A man from Iowa or Illinois will say "I'm from the Middle West"..a Georgian or a Mississippian may admit to being merely a Southerner...but no Texan, given the opportunity, ever said otherwise than "I'm from Texas."

J. Frank Dobie, Texan

Indeed, very true!

Gerontius

Gerontius, N Puttapipat Illustration

 

Good Listening, Catholic Style

Here are a few podcast episodes that I really enjoyed in the last few days:  

• Disney and Theology.
  Brandon and Father Blake at The Burrowshire Podcast discuss the The Disney Renaissance (aka The Disney Decade), lasting from 1989-1999, and examine the religious themes of four Disney films: Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
   
• Catholicism and Race.
  Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers (a favorite speaker of mine) is on Catholic Answers Focus with an answer to the scourge of racism — imitating Jesus. Our society refuses this path, preferring a culture of constant critique and revolution. It is time that the revolutionaries heard the hard truth—their cure is no cure at all. Real healing requires us to take up the Gospel with courage and humility.
  
  
•  The Poison of Indifference.
  Indifference does not mean you don’t care; it just means you don’t care enough to move. Father Mike Schmitz's homily about allowing one’s circle of interest to outstrip one’s circle of influence.
  
  
• The Best Argument for Outlawing Assisted Suicide.
  Trent Horn reports on a worrisome uptick in assisted suicides in Canada and lays out a blueprint for arguing against this offense to innocent human life.

REREAD — Catholic Family Fun by Sarah A. Reinhard

I reviewed this book when it came out in 2012. All these years later I am a godmother and a grandmother and sat down to reread this for inspiration. It is even more of a treasure now that I know I'll have reason to use it myself ... and soon!

I'm rerunning the review for anyone who doesn't know about this wonderful resource.

Right now the wind may have gone out of your summer sails and family time together may be more about feudin' and fightin' than enjoying each others' company.

I've got the solution. How about trying:

• Unbirthday Party
• Mystery Food Night
• Backyard Circus
• Silly Story Hour

Catholic Family Fun is a guide families can use for having a great time together, often using supplies from around the house or just plain imagination. Sarah Reinhard has a variety of ingenious ways to have fun in an old fashioned way that doesn't seem "old fashioned." The headings alone point you in the right direction. Who can resist Silly Things to Do Together, Story Starters, or Outdoor Adventures?

Each activity has a several variations, starters to help you get going, faith angles, and a way to "make it yours." There must be over a hundred possibilities when you consider all the alternatives. Some of these are activities that we did with our children when they were little but many of the variations are new to me. I'd have loved this book as an idea generator for a way to grow closer to the kids.

In keeping with the faith theme, the sections Faith with Fun, Ways to Serve, Saints to Celebrate and Praying Together are all just as fun and ingenious as the rest of the book. Somehow I never thought of doing the housework together while singing the Divine Mercy chaplet but just thinking about the house ringing with that song is one that makes me smile.

Although it is Catholic Family Fun, you could easily give it to families who don't care about the Catholic angle. Fun is fun no matter what a family does or doesn't believe. In the faith areas, many of the service ideas, for example, work just as well for any faith orientation with a bit of creative tweaking.

Just reading this book cast my memory back to sleepovers our girls would have when the big event was a musical show. The kids planned, costumed, and scripted it using Disney soundtracks. The next morning, all the parents got a show. Nothing we bought them could have given the fun and excitement they had from those evenings. This book is full of similar ways of "making" your own good times.

Full disclosure: when this book showed up in the mail, I immediately began thinking of which young mother of my acquaintance would be the recipient. Certainly, I planned on reading a few sample chapters at best. Therefore, this book's best testimony is that a third of the way into it, I was wishing I'd had it when my children were small and planning to tuck it away thinking "grandchildren someday."

Families with small children or grandchildren need this book. Period. If I had the cash, I'd keep a supply on hand to distribute to my many friends with small children. This could not only save their sanity but give them the reputation as the most fun mom on the block.

I will leave you with this lengthy excerpt because it makes the point about what a treasure this book is much better than I can. I chose this because I could easily imagine how much fun my husband and the kids would have had planning a course and then coming up with other variations. It shows how flexibility and creativity are the order of the day so that you can get on with having the fun.

Obstacle Course

Prep: High 2-4 hours
Duration: Less than 1 hour
Cost: Medium

My adult love of obstacle courses began recently, when a friend whose house is a frequent landing place for us suggested using an obstacle course setup to teach some math concepts. Watching our then-preschoolers laughing, and then observing how they started playing and modifying on their own, I was hooked.

I began to see the backyard as a canvas. Add some simple ingredients—a hula hoop, some lawn chairs, a folding table, a sawhorse, some PVC pipe, a ball or two, a baby pool, and anything that strikes your fancy from the house or garage. Spend a little time arranging, and voila! An obstacle course!

You may not have a large backyard—or even any backyard—but a room in your house, cleared out, could just as easily host your obstacle course. For that matter, you can build a miniature obstacle course on your kitchen table and race marbles or small objects through it.

Here are some of my ideas for obstacle courses. Let them spark your imagination—and be sure to get input from your family. You may find that creating and building the course if part of the fun!

1. The Whole Body Challenge: This is the full-blown backyard version of the idea. Gather your materials and dedicate an evening to devising and building an obstacle course. These tasks could be part of your family fun agenda.

a. Materials you could use: lawn chairs, buckets, small balls (plastic or foam), beach ball, sports balls (soccer, basketball), PVC pipe, baby pool, folding table, backyard play structures, rope, hula hoops, cardboard boxes, bandanas (for blindfolds), safety cones (overturned buckets, old tires, laundry baskets, or large cardboard boxes can serve the same purpose).

b. A few obstacle ideas to get things started:

• Balance beam: lay a length of or a plank (wood or cardboard) along the  ground. The object is to walk along it.
• Ball toss: place a bucket a distance away from a pile of balls. Toss the balls into the bucket. Bonus for doing it blind-folded.
• Crawl: line up a row of chairs (or a long bench) and crawl underneath it.
• Kicking weave: Put safety cones (or overturned buckets) in a row, with a beach or soccer ball at the end. Weave among them, kicking the ball.
• Repetition on the play set: find a way to use the different parts of your backyard play set. Go up and down the slide three times or swing five times back and forth. Try the same course backward—either facing backward or doing things in the opposite order.

2. Tabletop obstacle course ...


3. Croquet with a twist ...

Faith Angle

1. Life Obstacles ...
2. Old Testament obstacle course: Build an obstacle course around an Old Testament Bible story. For example, you could use a sandbox for a desert and have a wading pool nearby for a sea, and then have everyone sprint to escape the Egyptians (reference Exodus 14). You could build a maze—life size using cardboard or smaller using toilet paper rolls—for the 40 years the Israelites spent wandering in the desert, winding up with a feast in the "Holy Land."
3. Saint Obstacles ...

Make It Yours

• Make it a race to the finish! Use a stopwatch to time the participants as they go through the courses.
•  Pair up into teams. Have one team build the course and the other team go through it. who built the harder course? Who completed it faster? 
• Relays are always a fun way to change things up. Give each team a stick to serve as a baton; if the baton drops, the team has to start over. 

One More Step, Mr. Hands

One More Step, Mr. Hands, N.C. Wyeth
illustration for Treasure Island (1911) by Robert Louis Stevenson