The Rose Window - a guide to real living

The Rose Window - a guide to real living

Fifteen years ago, when my family and I visited Rome, the one thing that struck me was the incredible attention to creative beauty that was almost everywhere - the fountains, statues, and architecture, and especially the beauty of the churches built to honor and worship our creator.  You could find in most countries, and even small towns, a desire to build a space of awe and beauty where people could come together and to let their souls soar for a few moments, no matter what their struggles in life.  In Northern France, there are incredible churches, such as Notre Dame and Chartres, where the gothic style masterpieces of architecture can take your breath away as you try to take in all the magnificence and the attention to detail.  That detail, and those symbols, often teach us about our faith and guides us to what is important in life.  One of the best examples this is the incredibly intricate and profoundly beautiful rose window, with its circular and colorful design, all revolving around the center.

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Thanksgiving - "giving thanks to whom and for what?"

Thanksgiving - "giving thanks to whom and for what?"

If you are lucky, you have family and close friends to share a Thanksgiving meal with this week.  For many, it is an abundance of food, football and catching up with family we do not see enough.  For others it could be an emotional day of old wounds, heated disagreements or just plain loneliness.  Wherever you are on Thursday, I pray it is a day of “giving thanks” for you.  Thanksgiving became an official American holiday in 1864 during the Civil War, per proclamation of the President, “Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may then be, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.”  Lincoln’s intent was to bring us together and to remember that we share the same creator that provides everything we have.

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Subsidiarity (Do John Halpin and John Podesta even know what it means?)

Subsidiarity (Do John Halpin and John Podesta even know what it means?)

You can learn some interesting things about how people really think when Wikileaks dumps their emails on the public.  I am not a proponent of this type of invasion of personal privacy, but since the media has abdicated its critical journalistic responsibilities to keep the public informed and protected, I can make an exception here when the individuals are actively working to undermine religious beliefs.  If you have not had a chance to read the emails, they were centered around mocking the “severely backward,” “ignorant,” and “medieval” thinking of conservative Catholics by the president of the Center for American Progress.  One note John Halpin wrote to Clinton campaign manager John Podesta, “They can throw around ‘Thomistic’ thought and ‘subsidiarity’ and sound sophisticated because no one knows what the hell they're talking about.”  My question is if they even understand what the term means?  Since they brought it up, it is an important concept in Catholic social teaching that is worth thinking about. 

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Does God exist?

Does God exist?

How would you answer the most important question in life? Do I believe that God exists?

  1. I believe in a personal God  
  2. I believe in a God but not a personal God
  3. I don’t know if God exists or not
  4. I don’t care if God exists or not
  5. I don’t believe in God

How would the answer to that question impact your life, what you think is important, and how you see yourself and others?  It may be more profound than you think and worth spending serious time on, no matter which answer fits you today. 

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September 13, 1986

September 13, 1986

I met a beautiful, fun, intelligent and friendly girl named Joanne in the fall of 1985.  On our first evening date, we enjoyed a fun dinner and a movie.  It was such a nice evening when I brought her home that we went for stroll and ended up on a small bride over the Charles River and watched the stars overhead.  Back in front of her apartment we had our first kiss and I will never forget that look in Joanne’s eyes.  It was a look that has stayed with me and made me smile until this very day. 

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