"In the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes a stream carves a canyon through rock formed during the 1912 eruption of nearby Novarupta Volcano. The snowcapped peaks are Mount Griggs and Mount Katmai (far right), part of an active system of ten volcanoes surrounding the valley, a hundred miles south of the proposed Pebble mine." -- National Geographic
The Trojans hurt themselves at the line in such a foul-plagued game, hitting just 15 of 25 free throws. They missed three of four over the next minute while Juvonte Reddic was scoring inside to make it 53-44.The basics still matter. You have to hit the free throws. Always. Read the rest here. It was a fun game to watch though, just for the thrill of seeing VCU play USC for once. Go Rams! Beat the Hoyas!
“Make a concerted effort to raise the status of the teaching profession” was the top recommendation.University teaching programs in the high-scoring countries admit only the best students, and “teaching education programs in the U.S. must become more selective and more rigorous,” the report says.
The Greek Orthodox Church has a more realistic view of the interconnectedness of nature and humanity. Rather than be at the top of the chain, human beings are considered part of the ongoing process of Creation. People are not stewards who manage and organise but priests of Creation whose role is to sanctify nature and who are open to the mystery of the creative process. When Job cried out to God in anguish, demanding to know the reason for his suffering, God put him in his place:
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding
Who determined its measurements - surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? (Job 38:4-7)
On this day, we celebrate the feast of St. Patrick, "the first human being in the history of the world to speak out unequivocally against slavery."--from How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill, Doubleday, New York, 1995, p. 114.
When thinking of Celtic spirituality, it is often difficult to imagine its application apart from the land of its origin. There are, however, numerous ways in which we can incorporate these practices into our own lives right at home. Here are a few suggestions:And of course the Irish Jesuits invite you into Sacred Space everyday with their great website.
How does this square with a tsunami? with nuclear meltdown? It doesn't. And that is hard. But I can't help but think, as spring flowers start to bloom, and the cherry trees start to blossom, that it gives hope, and with hope we can make it through today, into tomorrow.“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him."
Margaret C. Schaus, in Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia, Routledge, 2006, defines secular canonesses:Canonesses "were generally recognized as women who had adopted the religious life and who lived in community, but yet differed from nuns in several important respects: they made no permanent vows, and thus could leave the community whenever they wished; they did not relinquish private property upon entering the community and even maintained separate residences and servants; they wore secular clothing rather than the black habit of Benedictine nuns; and they performed various public duties, largely freeing them from the requirement of claustration.""Communities of canonesses reaches their apogee in Germany during the ninth and tenth centuries, when a series of new foundations with strong ties to the imperial court were established. The women of these communities, who came from noble families, maintained their power and prestige within the community and were active beyond its walls as well. Under the late-tenth-century rule of abbess Gerberga II, a niece of Otto I, the community at Gandersheim developed into an enormously powerful and independent house, with its own courts, the power to mint coins, a representative at the imperial assembly, and the right to direct protection from the pope. Gandersheim was also, like many houses of canonesses, a center of learning where daughters of the aristocracy could gain an education. The Latin writings of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim demonstrate her knowledge of a range of classical and medieval authors and reflect the richness of the community's library. Other communities, like Chelles, where Charlemagne's sister Gisela was abbess, were active in book production and included female scribes amongst their number." Page 107.
It's true that the phrase "Vatican II" (as in "Vatican II priests" or "Vatican II parishes) has become Catholic shorthand for "more progressive or liberal," as opposed to "more traditional or conservative." How sad that even a mention of such an historic moment in our church has become divisive.
I was born during the Second Vatican Council, and the parish I grew up in embraced its reforms wholeheartedly. Critics would say it even went beyond what the council called for in some instances. But it did an excellent job of teaching and modeling the Gospel to me, and I tend to think it inspired me in a way that much of the church before Vatican II would not have. Still, the reforms of Vatican II were just that: a reforming and reclaiming of parts of our tradition that had been lost. In the years since, there has also been some tweaking of the reforms, as there should be.
I proudly claim the label "Vatican II" Catholic.
What is a "Vatican II parish" or "Vatican II Catholic" to you? Should this phrase be retired? Is it too divisive?So, what's your answer?
The brothers in Egypt are said to have frequent prayers, but they are very brief and, as it were, suddenly hurled, lest protracted delays may cause to vanish or to dull the alert and aroused attention that is indispensable to one praying. By this they also show that this attention, if it shouldn’t be dulled when it can’t last, also shouldn’t be suddenly broken off when it continues. For if we shouldn’t indulge in a lot of talk in our prayer, neither should we avoid sustained prayer when fervent attention continues. To talk a lot while praying is to use superfluous words to ask for a necessary thing, while sustained praying brings the heart’s continued and pious emotion to the one to whom we are praying. For quite often praying consists more of groans than of words, more of tears than of talk. God looks upon our tears, and our groans are not hidden from him who made all things by his word and does not need human words. We need words, then, to help us consider and to observe what we are asking for, not in order to inform or to sway the Lord. (Augustine Epistle 130, 20-21; PL 33, 501-502)
