Tradition
Fasching
I listened to an interesting podcast today that talked about the season of Carnevale. Evidently in the history of the church seasons, Advent was a time of fasting leading up to Christmas, as was Lent leading up to Easter. Once the Christmas season ended with the Baptism of Jesus, which we celebrated yesterday, the Carnevale […]
Holiday Party
Today was the annual holiday party in our little housing complex. I have been hesitant to go in the past, but planned on going today. I guess I have realized how much I enjoy and need to visit with other people – even those I don’t know very well. And everyone here is just so […]
All the Lights
The weather was mild today, so I took advantage of the opportunity and put up some Christmas decorations and lights on the outside of my house. I didn’t do too much, but enough to look festive. Later in the afternoon, my sister and I bundled up and went to the Electric Safari at the Zoo. […]
The Drones
A couple of weeks ago, my sons asked if I was free last night. I said I was. They said that they would pick me up and planned something for my birthday. I had no idea what it was. My siblings and I tried to guess in our weekly Zoom session before they arrived. I […]
Beauty of Churches
Today when I went to Mass, I just chose a place to sit randomly. Typically, people seem to sit in the same place every week. We like consistency. But today I only thought about sitting in a place where the sun wouldn’t be shining in my face. After a little while I looked around and […]
The Diner
My grandson has been enjoying going to some of the places he used to visit when he and his family lived here. The other day and again today I took him to an old time diner. I remember on Sundays, whoever went to church with my daughter in law’s mother would get treated to breakfast […]
Jubilee Year of Hope
Today I read an article in the Word Among us about the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope that was proclaimed by Pope Francis. The history of a jubilee year goes back thousands of years to the Old Testament. Leviticus 25:8-55 describes a jubilee year to be celebrated every 50 years. Simply put, it was a […]
A Different Christmas
After much anticipation, Christmas arrived. Yesterday I kept myself busy cooking and baking and delivering goodies. I made my mom’s Christmas bread which she made every year. This year I was on my own. I asked her for help particularly to determine if the dough was the right consistency. It did turn out a little […]
Longevity Club
After many, many months, I took my mom to have lunch with her friends. This group started with people from the music society that my mom belonged to until some 20 years ago. On the way there, my mom talked about the group and how there were more than 20 people who would meet for […]
Reclaiming Sunday
During the season of Advent, we can just get busier and busier. Yet, the church describes this as a period of waiting and preparing our hearts for Jesus. Our pastor has said multiple times that one way to try to slow down and put our focus on God is to “reclaim Sunday” and make it […]
Still Finding God 