Lectio Divina
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The Ides of March
“Beware the Ides of March!” I said that today at my office, and one of my coworkers, who has a college education, asked me what I was talking about. “You know, from Julius Caesar? The day he got turned into a pincushion by the Senate?” She frowned as if I had asked her for money. “Who?” “Never mind.” And as I do so often, I turned away. I can’t wait until Wednesday. “Saint Who?” A week ago, the migration of hummingbirds back to these climes began. This evening, I was sitting in our office here at home, gazing out the door at Jinx, when something bulleted past. There was a…
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The Fourth Sunday in Lent
When Jinx and I went for our walk this morning, a group of cows was standing near the horizon, the pink-hued sun about to rise behind them. One of the cows was clearly trying to calve. I waited and watched for a minute, but Jinx was cavorting around in the field adjacent to that one, and I didn’t want to disturb the mama while she was in such a difficult situation, so I walked on. By the time we returned, she was gone. I don’t know if she gave birth to the calf, or if she simply relocated. There are so many spring calves in the pastures right now, it…
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The Third Sunday in Lent
My Old Farmer’s Almanac tells me that today marks the beginning of the hummingbirds’ migration north. The little wonders will arrive here and we will have their feeders ready for them, and our hearts will be glad to see them, and we will enjoy their company morning and evening as they swoop past and talk to us with their whirrs and squeaks. Speaking of birds, I have neglected to mention that we have a lovely little screech owl living in our barn. She was perched on the limb of the maple out back the other night when I was outside with Jinx, and she flew closer to the house and…
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Lauds
From this morning’s Office: In a desert, pathless, and waterless land: so have I come before Thee in the holy place, that I might see Thy power and Thy glory. From Psalm 62 — Deus, Deus Meus This spoke to me as I said it aloud in the quiet room with the dogs snoring and the clock ticking and the crucifix gleaming in the soft light. I am grateful for it, for the words and the Spirit behind the words, for the salmon-tinted dawn roaring up outside in the east, and for the unmapped day ahead. Grateful for all of it. ~ S.K. Orr
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Suffering’s Work
I have for the last several days been in a sustained mood of contemplation and prayer, feeling and responding to an almost urgent sense of needing to pray, to seek companionship with God the Father, with Christ the Lord, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, and with my patron saint, the Maid — St. Joan of Arc. Today before entering my place of work, I offered a very focused supplication that I might not be drawn into nor affected by the dozens of little soap operas whirling about me on any given day. Regular readers of this blog know that I have been battered by the foolishness that is the norm…
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The Second Sunday in Advent
The weekend was a mild one, foggy and rainy for the most part, but with a three hour sunbath this afternoon. We sat out on the front porch and read for a good long spell, enjoying the fresh air and watching the battalions of birds as they ate and visited. Methuselah, the ancient white-faced squirrel who has lived on this land longer than we have, scampered in his deliberate, arthritic way across the driveway. How many winters has he seen? Jinx and I climbed to the top of a high ridge yesterday and enjoyed a rest up where we could peer down to our place and for quite a ways…
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Self-Fortification
“The observance of Lent is the bond of union in our army; by it we are distinguished from the enemies of the Cross of Christ; by it we turn aside the chastisements of God’s wrath; by its means, being guarded by heavenly succours during the day, we fortify ourselves against the prince of darkness. If this observance comes to be relaxed it is to the detriment of God’s glory, to the dishonour of the Catholic religion and to the peril of souls; nor can it be doubted that such negligence will become a source of misfortune to nations, of disaster in public affairs and of adversity to individuals.” Pope Benedict…
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Schools
Learning comes from books; penetration of a mystery from suffering. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
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Passion And Warfare
A light rain was falling this morning when I let Jinx out. I busied myself with my morning routine, and after a while I went to check and see if the spotted menace wanted back inside. I opened the door and took a breath into my lungs, preparing to call his name. That’s when I saw what looked like a short, medium-sized dog trundle across the front yard, just outside of the reach of the porch light. Then it registered. Coon. A big one. I looked around to see if Jinx was in sight, and then I called with a thin and tentative voice. “Jinx? Come on in, boy.” I…
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The First Sunday in Lent
The sun favored us all day, rising in a golden mist, warming and drying the marshy earth. Jinx and I were out early, enjoying the welcome light. After our walk, I returned to the house. Jinx followed his own inner urgings and stayed out all day, napping in the sunshine beneath the Japanese maple out front. A washing machine on the fritz, a large limb broken somehow from the weeping willow, a new security light to install, a writing project to complete — the sun moved across the sky with extra speed today, or so it seemed. And now it dips towards the western ridge, and it’s not too long…