News - November 2020 RSS Feed

It's really important to consume good media. I don't necessarily know that "media" is the right word, but it's what I've got. When I say "media," I mean all those things that others create that I take in. For me, this includes books, movies, podcasts, music, Netflix, social media, and art. Especially after having just watched "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix (watch it), I'm very convicted that the content that we consume shapes our experience of the world.  For example, during the political season, I viewed everything that I experienced through the lens of whatever  political commentary podcast I was listening to. It wasn't super helpful for being empathetic to "the other side."

It's the last blog of ordinary time! And what a reading. Gosh, the imagery in Revelation is so powerful. God did not mess around when He gave John this vision.  Honestly, the thing that stuck out to me the most as I read this reading was this: "All the dead were judged according to their deeds."

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm not one to change up mass readings based on a national holidays. So I didn't change what I'm writing about for the blog! We shall continue our walk through Revelation and Luke. 

(I had another blog blunder where I accidentally deleted the blog I wrote. Oops. So this is gonna be an abbreviated blog.)

Today is the Memorial for Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and his Companions. St. Andrew was a Catholic convert ordained to the priesthood, and one of 117 people martyred in Vietnam in the 19th century. Hundreds of thousands Catholics gave their lives for Christ in the 200 years leading up to that. All were canonized during the papacy of Saint John Paul II.

As we begin this final week of ordinary time, we continue to be invited to reflect over the end of times through the book of Revelation. Today we read about the elect, "the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from the earth. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes."

Revelation is a weird text. No doubt about it. I'll let the Holy Spirit reveal to you what He wants you to know about swallowing a scroll. My focus today is going to be on the Gospel.

I've slowly (very slowly) been praying my way through the book of Isaiah. I've spent the last few years praying through all of the books of the New Testament (with a few breaks here and there for Pslams, Songs, and repeats), and Isaiah is the first book I decided to tackle in the Old. I love every opportunity to hear a reading from Isaiah at Mass because it's so richly prophetic. As I read today's Gospel I was reminded of the passage from Isaiah that I read a few days ago, Isaiah 11. 

Today is the optional memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul. As such, we have the option of using readings specific to the day or using the normal readings for Wednesday of the 33rd week of ordinary time. When I went to mass this morning, the priest used the optional readings so I will too!

If you have taken classes on workplace safety or safe driving practices, the word “complacency” often comes up. When we do a repetitive task, it’s tempting to become too comfortable or overconfident in or abilities. If we have never been injured while working or experienced a collision in a car, we may be lulled into a false sense of security that it can never happen to us.

There's an awesome form of prayer called Ignatian Meditation in which one uses their "holy imagination" to enter into the story being told in Scripture. To begin, you set the scene by building up the setting. What do you see? What do you hear? Are you inside or outside? Is it bright or dark? What's the weather doing? Pay attention to all those little details that make a story present to you here and now. After setting the stage, you imagine yourself in the story. Ask the Holy Spirit where you belong. You could be a bystander watching all the action go down or you could be one of the characters described in the text. 

Like I said yesterday, as the liturgical year wraps up our readings will become more and more oriented towards preparedness and the end of times. Once again, today's Gospel features Jesus reminding us to be prepared always because we cannot know the day.

I heard some people talking a while back about when the Lord is going to come again. They were citing private revelation and had a general timeline all picked out. It got my attention because it's rather soon... like in the next 10ish years, and it got me asking the question, "Am I living like I would if Jesus were coming back now?"

I'm currently in the middle of reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I get reaaaally into books and if it's a good one I'll start seeing everything through the lens of that book. I won't give any spoilers and I won't pretend to be an expert about the themes and symbolism about this book, but I do know that it's based on the story of Cain and Abel and is ultimately about the human struggle of good versus evil.