"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
Today’s my baptism anniversary. I had planned to do a longer post, but I’m busy preparing a study of Philippians which begins tomorrow, so instead I’ll be brief… đ
Make sure it's got a rational soul...
Make sure it's thorough...
...and who says it has to be voluntary?
Now that the craziness of Independence Day has passed, it’s time to calm down and listen to something beautiful:
I was fortunate enough to be present at the Mass at Clifton Cathedral in Bristol when this video was taken. It was written by a friend of mine, Mr. Joseph Meigh, as his final composition piece before heading to university.
15th Sunday In Ordinary Time: 10th July, 2011Each week I produce notes for the upcoming Sunday Gospel for the Bible Study at St. John’s.
It’s a mixture of my own random thoughts, combined with what I’ve found in commentaries, sermons. I’m toying with the idea of publishing them here each week, so this is a bit of a test-drive…
If you think you’d find it helpful if I posted this each Monday evening, please let me know.
The Readings for this week focus around Jesus’ “Parable of the Sower”…
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Wow….we’re already just about half way through 2011… Does it look like I’m going to achieve all my New Year Resolutions? Â Let’s take a look and see…
1. Spend 30 minutes every day in Scripture: At the beginning of the year this was my most faithfully kept resolution, but unfortunately now it’s probably the worst… đ
2. More dancing: I’ve finally started making good progress in this area, thank goodness! Since my last update, I did the Beginner’s Boot Camp at Swing Diego. I’ve just finished a month of lessons and I’m signed up for another round. Finally getting back on track… đ
3. No more rushing: I think I’m still winning here. I’ve had quite a few extra commitments in the past few months (such as hosting Theology On Tap, taking a new course at the Pastoral Institute), but I think I’ve kept the rushing around to a minimum and even had a few peaceful weekends kicking around the apartment.
4. No chocolate: I’m still chocolate-free. Â When I miss it, I just stare at this picture for a while…
5. Get into the best shape of my life: I think I’ve been doing pretty well here – my diet is under control and I’m regularly doing moderate exercise. However, I’m nowhere near the best shape of my life. I think some kind of “big push” is needed…
6. At least five minutes of guitar practice every day: I’ve managed to keep this up. I’m actually doing more than this because, come September, I’m going to be the only guitarist at the LifeTeen Mass.
7. Keep proper track of my finances: Virtually all sorted. I’m even being good and checking my bank accounts most mornings for fraudulent activity (you know, like grown-ups do).
8. Get back to England for a couple of weeks: Sorted that back in March.
So, I’m going to have to (i) find a way to integrate Scripture reading into my daily life (ii) keep up with the dancing and (iii) go the extra mile (literally!) Â with the exercise.
All in all, none too shabby…
Not everyone is aware that Stephen Colbert from “The Colbert Report” is a practising Catholic. I recently stumbled across a “Catholic Throwdown” he had with Jack White from The White Stripes. You can watch the original video on his website, but I also found it on YouTube:
What a pair of lightweights. Colbert, I challenge you! :-p
One of the posts I was working on in my draft folder was the Catholic conception of salvation. I’ve got a bit of writer’s block at the moment (more due to lack of time than anything else), so I’ll just let Jimmy explain it…
The pope has launched a new Vatican website with his iPad