In today's Gospel for Pentecost Sunday, the Lord confers his Apostle's with his power to forgive sins.
“The doors were locked for fear of the Jews.”
When Jesus appears to the Apostles, breathes on them and fills them with the Holy Spirit, he drives their fear away and fills them with peace.
Filed under Uncategorized
Sunday, May 19th is Pentecost Sunday this year.
Pentecost, also known as Whitsunday, is the seventh Sunday after Easter. The feast goes back at least to the days of Solomon, when it was called Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, according to the Bible Encyclopedia. Pentecost means “fiftieth”; it took place on the 50th day after Passover, and celebrated the giving of the Law.
The Book of the Acts of the Apostles records that when the feast of Pentecost was drawing to a close, around 120 faithful were gathered in an upper room praying fervently, when a strong wind blew from heaven into the room. The Spirit of the Lord filled them, and they could suddenly speak in languages they had never learned. Tongues of fire appeared above their heads. Filled with courage, they emerged from the room and walked among people from many nations and religions, preaching and sharing the story of the Resurrection of Christ. In response to those who scoffed, saying they were just drunk, they pointed out that it was only nine in the morning.
Thousands of people became believers on that day because of the miracles and the testimony.
On Pentecost Sunday, we pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s the last day of the Holy Spirit Novena.
The liturgical color is red.
Traditions, according to Wikipedia, include scattering rose petals from church ceilings(Italian), wearing white and holding fairs (English), and blowing trumpets during Mass (French). Catholic Culture mentions traditions of holding banquets and cracking whips (German), and suggests decorating with paper doves and serving red and white foods such as marshmallows and cherries. Customary foods also include cheeses, cakes with strawberry frosting or glazes, ale (profit given to the poor), gooseberry pudding, custard, roasts and this cake. It’s a special day for performing charitable works as well.
It’s strange that some of these are foods I’ve been craving today, and I didn’t know they’re traditional.
Filed under Special Occasions and Seasons
The #RapeJihad reaches epidemic levels in Europe. via Seven Muslims found guilty of child rape, trafficking and organising prostitution - UK - The Independent.
The sexual abuse of young girls as young as 11 at the hands of one of Britain’s biggest child sex gangs was allowed to continue for around six years after the first victim came forward.
Filed under Uncategorized
Christian Persecution in LAOS - World Watch List # 18 (Open Doors)
LAOS (Wikipedia)
Government: Communist state
Main Religion: Buddhism
Population: 6.6 million (170,000 Christians)
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west.
Filed under Uncategorized
Finding Peace in Spite of Ourselves.
This post was exactly what I needed to hear today.
I have been struggling to get through the days for the past week or so under a weight composed of a lifetime of wounded pride. I thought my dignity depended on needing no one, and constantly, perfectly proving I needed no one, while really I have never succeeded in doing anything close to it.
At work and when seeking new employment, when seeking storage space for my extra belongings and when trying to pare down those belongings, even in meeting my meager bills some months, I need lots of help.
Does that decrease my dignity?
My dignity and value come from God, like all good things in my life or anyone else’s.
I was taking myself way too seriously.
Filed under Conversions, Philosophy
New president at Franciscan University; SPLC website may have influenced Corkins to attack research center; religious freedom under attack in military; more news.
Filed under Breaking news
Thoughts Upon Skimming Over My Spam Queue
I wonder how many of the comments in the Spam list, on this blog and elsewhere around the internet, are randomly generated, instead of written. People have a right to post comments, even if they can’t make themselves understood. But do automatic programs have that right? I’ve worked in call centers that used random dialers. It wasn’t long ago that most people were offended to be phoned by a random dialer. But at least we callers were really there, talking. We used a script, but someone wrote it. A computer program didn’t generate it (though it might randomize parts of the script). Now we routinely field calls from machines, and delete messages that are sometimes just column inches of random popular search terms and filler phrases (cat cats kitten weight lose loss diet and I guess you would likely LOL weigh pounds kitten cash if you really think about it…).
Green coffee sounds disgusting, doesn’t it?
You get lots of popup and sidebar ads all over the web for green coffee these days if you’re anything like some of us. And lots of ads for online education opportunities. And lots of ads for low insurance rates. People dance around all excited that they just saved on auto insurance.
Then there are the “urgent notices” about weight loss. Important? Sure, fitness is important for lots of people. Urgent? No. It can’t be urgent. By its nature, fitness happens little by little. So does unfitness.
And the “crazy, shocking news stories” about a woman in my own state (wow! 30-odd years ago when we were excited to hear our state’s name), who was 49/57/63/74/80 and invented a skin treatment that dermatologists “hate her” for because it costs pennies (all caps) and makes her look 20/27/33/39/49? The only thing surprising is that it happens so often. If that bothered dermatologists so much you’d think they’d get in on the invention, not resent her for it, wouldn’t you? And, isn’t that a piece of plastic being pressed to a young woman’s face to make wrinkles, then, peeled away?
As far as weight loss ads go, aren’t you glad “pounds” don’t really “melt off” people?
I like to look at inspiring before-and-after ads for weight loss and other fitness programs. But I can tell a healthy one from an unhealthy, uninspiring one. When someone consumes the equivalent of candy, skim milk and a multivitamin three times a day for a year and a tiny “meal” once a day, yes, the pounds disappear if s/he has the energy to burn those few calories. But the afters from such programs look more than a year older than when they started, and exhausted. When it’s a celebrity, we can watch in the media as the person regains the weight. Why would we think non-celebrities’ experience would be different? They regain the weight because they’re not fit; they’re just thin. It’s not the same thing.
Leave a Comment
Filed under Cultural trends
Tagged as advertising, comments, email, internet, mail, spam