Doors

Today started out with a drive over the Mt. Irenaeus for Mass this morning. I wasn’t going to go, but being a creature of habit I got in the car and drove over. I listened to Bill Douglas on the way. It was a change. This summer for one reason or another I’ve listened to a lot of Jimi Hendrix. I can’t seem to get enough of Voodoo Child and some of his other cuts from the Woodstock Concert. Continue reading “Doors”

All are welcome

Today as I made my way to Mt. Irenaeus for Mass I could not shut out the specter of war and an overall feeling of helplessness from my mind. Saber rattling by the Bush Administration both in Iraq and lately Iran, along with news that Russia has put its long range bomber fleet back into the air for the first time since 1992. As the father of two draft age children I cringe at the thought of a return to conscription. Continue reading “All are welcome”

More thoughts

When I was a child I grew up next to the Arcade Library. I learned how to read at school and I’m blessed with enough intelligence and a sense of curiosity to wonder how things work. I spent hours each week at the library as a child learning how to read and gather more information and vicarious experiences from the authors I read. I even learned skills out of books, but most of the time I needed visual models. Before the World Wide Web was born I would curl up with encyclopedias at work and read them. I’m really fascinated with learning about the world we live in. Continue reading “More thoughts”

Last Supper

Last Supper
I use my cell phone camera quite often and this weekend while at St. Francis Inn I spotted a print hanging on the wall in the dining room that I liked a great deal. Often Christ is depicted as a Caucasian male and usually a Western European or American male at that. Not often is Christ depicted as the Palestinian male he was or as any other racial type. At St. Francis Inn the image of Christ as an African is depicted in an area frequented by large numbers of African-American men. This is only the second depiction I’ve ever seen of Christ and the apostles as Africans. I think it’s quite powerful and very appropriate at the Inn.

The Lord hears the cry of the poor..

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I just got home from a few days at St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia. I went there to help and I was helped. St. Francis of Assisi said, “it is in giving that we receive,” and that is what happened. I have never witnessed such poverty nor ever lived among its victims and I am deeply touched by what I have witnessed. I don’t have the words yet for all that has happened in the last few days. There are not words adequate to explain what I have seen and heard. Continue reading “The Lord hears the cry of the poor..”

The Narrow Path

I came upon a compelling video presentation by Fr. John Dear, SJ. It speaks for itself. It is a product of the San Damiano Foundation.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK4B74ci2y4]