"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset." Saint Francis De Sales

Friday, December 28, 2018

Christmas, Family & Arlo



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We celebrated Christmas with the family on Christmas Eve. Stephen, Christina, Isabelle, Eryn, Hailey, Todd, Lauren and Ekaterina joined Dee, her Mom Lucy, and I at our home. There was plenty of fun, Dee always has a unique game for everyone to play. This year we played the Right-Left game. I did the reading while Dee recorded the passing of the gifts. Afterward Dee had everyone pick a number and when that number was called you could switch your gift with another person or keep what you ended up with. The gift could only be “stolen” once. 

Dinner was Todd and Lauren's “home made” ravioli which was excellent. Unfortunately there were no left-overs.

Eryn, Hailey and Ekaterina put on a small play which is always fun to watch.

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Dee and I were Hospitality ministers at our Church of the Epiphany on Christmas Day. We were blessed to have parish families with their out-of-town families join us. There were also new people attending, all of us remembering that the meaning of Christmas is about the birth of our Lord, Jesus.

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“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, "It will be happier.””
Alfred Lord Tennyson

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January 1994 Comic Strip

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From Bohemian Gentlemen Gamers

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I'm reading "The Lord Of The Rings, Part Two, The Two Towers."
Finished "Part One, "The Fellowship of the Ring."

As I mentioned before, this is a re-read, which I'm enjoying all over again. They are my original Ballantine paper bound books from 1979. The pages are a wee bit dry and some have lost their "binding glue." So, as I read, I have to hold some of those pages gently.


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Arlo Guthrie - “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.”


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Go over to "This Ain't the Lyceum," where Kelly is hosting more takes.


Friday, December 21, 2018

Dale, Candles and Rain




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“Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.”     Dale Evans

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Advent will end next Monday, the 24th of December. That evening we will be celebrating the arrival of Jesus. We will not encounter a “heavenly host,” but in churches throughout the world there will be choirs singing His praises. Candles will “shed their light ….”


“When the Christ-child comes again
Softly down the street to-night,
Twinkling through the window pane
Let our candles shed their light.

Though the clouds are dark above
And the golden stars are dim,
We can tell Him of our love
If we set a light for Him.

Oh, the blessed Christ-child dear,
In His robe of shining white,
Let our candles give Him cheer
As He passes by to-night!”


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The snow is gone, but it’s raining again.
I may have to purchase a boat.


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Merry Christmas


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Neil Diamond - “Little Drummer Boy”


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Temptations - “Silent Night,” a different rendition.



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Please continue to pray for my Cursillo brother Dan who is now in “recovery mode.” Also pray for his wife Mary.

Prayers needed for our dear friend/sister Pam who is in “recovery mode” from an operation. Also pray for her husband Tony.

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Go over to "This Ain't the Lyceum," where Kelly is hosting more takes.


Friday, December 14, 2018

The Path, Snow & Jubilation



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The “completed crèche.”

Left
Center

Right

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We all need friends from time to time to sit us down and say, “Hey, you've wandered away from the path.” And when we don't have friends like that, our lives can fall apart really quickly.”

“So, today as we reflect on the Gospel, we ask ourselves, What can we learn from John the Baptist? I think the first thing is, he went away from the world. Part of this journey towards Christmas—part of this Advent experience—needs to be going away from the world, needs to be stepping back from the world so that we can reflect on who we are and what we are being called to so that we can prepare our hearts, so that in turn, we can go out and be a powerful friend to other people.”

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Snow, snow and more snow. The official total in our area was 13.5”. It has been the “biggest December snowfall in 100 years.” 

I went out this morning to clean off Dee’s car and shovel a pathway from the street to the front porch. Great exercise, but not my favorite thing to do.


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Our son Eric, who is also a Calvin & Hobbes fan, sent this to me.


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The Army-Navy game was enjoyable to watch. I was pulling for the Black Knights, so their win over the Midshipmen worked well for me.

Just in case you missed the game, there is a
“YouTube recap,” and a “John Feinstein’s article.”

The next big game is the Armed Forces Bowl on December 22 at Carter Stadium, Forth Worth, Texas.

Go Army!

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Dee and I, along with Pam, Tony, Brenda and Lou, attended the Jubilation Choir’s annual Christmas program. 

This year my favorite song was “Glory in the Highest.” Director Paul Honaker had an “ensemble” of ten from the choir position themselves in the back of the church. There was a combination of alternate and whole choir singing that added to the music. I felt like I was in the middle of an “angelic host.”

It was beautiful. 

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Elvis Presley and Martina McBride - “Blue Christmas”



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My Cursillo brother, Dan, remains in the hospital. Please continue to pray for him and his wife Mary.

De Colores

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Go over to "This Ain't the Lyceum," where Kelly is hosting more takes.


Friday, December 7, 2018

The Crèche, Springs & Bowls



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We started working on the Church of the Epiphany crèche early Monday morning. I was involved in the relocation of chairs in the room to other parts of the church, the moving of the large panels and the scenery pieces from storage. A separate group, the ladies of our Parish, worked on the angels and arranged them on the curtains.

Both teams came back on Tuesday morning to set all the pieces in place. 

Everything went as planned and the crèche was completed by dinner time. Our team leads, Marcia and Peter did an excellent job overseeing our annual Christmas project.

A couple of "behind the scene" photos.



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The December 3 issue of “The Catholic Virginian,” had an interesting section in the “Questions & Answers.” 

The question:
“Is Catholic confession available online? This would be so convenient.”

The answer:

“There is no provision in the Church’s sacramental practice for online confession and absolution. Implicit in the Church’s Code of Canon Law (Canon 959 ff.) is the notion that the penitent is in the personal presence of the confessor.
In fact, in 2011, when the Vatican gave qualified support to a new app designed to help people examine their consciences, then-Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi was careful to tell reporters, “It is essential to understand well the sacrament of penitence requires the personal dialogue between the penitent and the confessor and the absolution by the confessor.”
“This cannot in any way be substituted by a technology application. One cannot talk in any way about ‘a confession via iPhone,'” he said.
The sacrament of penance is designed to be, for the penitent, an encounter with Jesus Christ through the person of the priest. It is difficult for me to see how the internet would permit that close personal contact with the Lord. The additional concern I would have is for the privacy that is so integral to the sacrament of penance, the danger that an internet confession could be recorded or hacked.”

So, that means, “there is no app for that.”

Thank you Father Doyle, I support your response.

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One of our garage door springs broke this week, so I had both springs replaced. My brother Tee, once told me that it’s a “cycle” issue. Don’t open your garage door unless you really need to. So, I found this over at Wikipedia:

“Garage door manufacturers typically produce garage doors fitted with torsion springs that provide a minimum of 10,000 to 15,000 cycles and are guaranteed for three to seven years. One cycle is a single opening and closing sequence. Most manufacturers offer a 30,000 cycle spring. However, it is important to remember that if the weight of the garage door is increased by adding glass, additional insulation, or even several coats of paint, the life of the torsion spring may be greatly reduced. Additionally, springs at highly humid environments, such as coastal regions tend to have a significantly shorter cycle life, due to the corrosive cracking.”

I figure it’s not worth the effort to count my cycles. The springs I had lasted beyond the 10 year average. Maybe these will last as long.

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Calvin on Christmas morning.

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This is an article written by John Feinstein that brought tears to my eyes. It is worth the few moments to read.

You will then be ready for the Army-Navy game on December 8.



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The Irish Lads play the Clemson Tigers in the Goodyear Cotten Bowl Classic on December 29 at AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas.

The Alabama Crimson Tide faces the Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl on December 29 at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida.

These will be two great games to watch.

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Kathy Mattea - “Mary Did You Know?”


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My Cursillo brother Dan, is in the hospital. We need prayers for him and his wife Mary.

Dan has some bleeding into his lungs and a heart vein issue. Please pray that his doctors can complete all the necessary procedures for his recovery.


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Go over to "This Ain't the Lyceum," where Kelly is hosting more takes.

Friday, November 30, 2018

Thanksgiving, Mass & Leaves




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We had a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner with family last week. 
Dee made the turkey, ham, green beans, sweet potatoes and biscuits. Christina brought scallop potatoes and desert.

Isabelle, Hailey, Eryn and Me

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Our Thursday evening prayer group watched Segment 6 of the 
Ministry of the Wild Goose with Father Dave Pivonka, TOR. 

This week we learned that the Holy Spirit is present in the Mass. 
A concept that I never thought of before. 

The study questions that were asked:
 why we attend Mass, 
how do we prepare for the Mass and 
what part of the Mass is most important to us. 

These are not easy questions for me. I have never thought about them. 
So, in addition to the Holy Spirit at Mass, I have to think about Father Dave’s questions as they pertain to me.

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Advent begins on Sunday, December 2.
I suggest signing up for “Best Advent Ever” at Dynamic Catholic.

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Snoopy is getting ready for Christmas, practicing his version of “Silent Night.”


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Last July I took our lawn vacuum in for servicing. I wanted to be prepared for the Fall. The plan worked out well. At least for the first weeks of the onslaught of leaves. Then this week, the temperatures dropped to a range in the mid 30’s. 

On Wednesday morning the aforementioned device refused to start. No matter what coaxing I tried, it just wouldn’t start. So, with the blower and rake I moved leaves off the lawn. A long arduous process. 

Thursday it warmed up to the low 40’s, so I though I had a better chance. But once again it refused to start. So I pushed it out into the sun for about an hour and that did the trick. It ran for the rest of the day.

Today I was trying to remember when I purchased this finicky device. It seems that it was back in 2006. Hmm, 12 years old. Maybe it’s wanting to retire or perhaps it longs for a warmer climate.


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The Irish Lads are ranked number 3 in the "College Football Playoff" list as of December 30.

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Alison Krauss & John Waite - "Lay Down Beside Me"


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Go over to "This Ain't the Lyceum," where Kelly is hosting more takes.