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smokeybrand · 3 years ago

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Free City or Liquid Suffering

Free Guy is an exceptional movie and you should go watch it right now. It’s worth every penny. I wanted to get that out there up front. That’s the review. The rest of this thing is going to be me just gushing about why i think it’s one of the best films of the year. If you’re curious as to why i loved it so much, read on. But you don’t have to if you don’t want because I'm telling you, right here, right now, up front, Free Guy is totally worth everything. Its exceptional. Go f*cking watch it right now! Also, just to clarify, the title of this love letter to Free Guy has a double meaning. Free City is the name of the world in which the movie takes place but it's also the name of a pretty dope St. Lunatics album. Batter Up!

The Outstanding

I have to say, the execution of this idea was fantastic! You’ve seen this the of movie before in films like the new Jumanji joints and Ready Player One, but you’ve never seen them executed like this. I was thoroughly surprised by how entertaining, how original, the Isekai Video Game Experience was presented. F*cking outstanding!

With that in mind, credit has to be given to the director of this spectacle, Shawn Levy. He has a strong vision because this f*cking thing definitely passes the eye test as a video game. It Feels like walking into the world of Saint’s Row III, the only thing missing being giant dildo swords.

I also have to mention how brisk this thing moves. There is next to no fat on this plot an it gets you to where you need to be with purpose. I appreciate that, not because i don’t like a slow burn, atmospheric, feat for the eyes but because that type of film making wouldn’t work with this type of film. It’s long, don’t misunderstand, but it never Feels long. I never needed to pause it and take a break or try over and over to start it. It’s a solid watch that, by the end credits, will have you absolutely enveloped with the pathos onscreen.

One of the stronger aspects of this thing was the cameos. A lot of the recognizable people, like Channing Tatum and Chris Evans came through and did their thing, for sure, but a lot of the streamers made an impression, too. Color me surprised when i is aw Pokimane and Ninja. Now, I'm old as sh*t so i only have a cursory knowledge of who these people are but for Gen Z and the Alphas? I imagine they were stupid excited seeing their versions of celebrities up on the being screen like that.

Speaking of cast, i just want to give a nod to Lil Rel Howery and Utkarsh Ambudkar as Buddy and Mouser, respectively. They were great as the supportive third string partners. I was particularly surprised by Lil Rel because i generally can’t stand him in stuff but he never overstayed his welcome in this. Well done.

Ryan Reynolds is Ryan Reynolds. You know what you’re going to get in a starring vehicle for dude. Mileage may vary but I'm a fan of the motor-mouth, super quippy, schtick. My favorite superhero is Spider-man so of course i am. That said, his Guy is very earnest and likable. Even when he’s moving down player after player, he’s still just that Blue Shirt Guy. It’s real hard not to like him.

For me, the stand out of this flick was Jodie Comer. I love this chick. I was put on to her way back when i stumbled upon Killing Eve an have been absolutely enamored ever since. Her Millie the Molotov Girl is a fantastic character and she is great in the role. It’s so different from what I've seen her in and it’s testament to he skill. I’m glad she’s getting bigger roles and can’t wait to see what she does in Thor IV. I’m actually curious who she’ll be since we already got a version of the Enchantress in Sylvie. Plus, i just really like hearing Jodie’s speaking voice. It’s cute.

What can i say about Taika Waititi other than he’s Taika Waititi? Dude is doing Hitler from Jojo Rabbit but as video game company CEO named Antwan and it absolutely works. Antwan’s not even villainous, he’s just a petulant, corporate, shill, obsessed with profits. So, basically, EA but, you know, a person. Which is kind of genius because if you ask any gamer, they’ll tell you the final boss is definitely companies lie EA, Activision, and Take Two. F*ck those guys and f*ck Antwan!

I’m more than on record of loving everything Joe Keery does. From my initial introduction n the excellent first season of Stranger things, his amazing growth in the second, and becoming the best f*cking thing about the show by the third. I loved him in Molly’ Game and was shocked by his range in Spree. I can’t say he flexes his acting chops so much in this as the unrequited love interest, Keys, but he’s still fun to see.

I think the best thing about this film, though, is how much genuine heart it has. This movie is chock full of emotional nuance. I was surprised by how much i cared about the characters by the time this thing ended and all credit to that has to go to the writing. In order for these performances to present such complete relationship arcs, that sh*t on the age had to be on point and believe me, it was. Hats off to Matt Lieberman and Zack Penn. Those two mad lads delivered something really special.

The Verdict

I already said it up front. Free Guy is fantastic. It’s loaded up with great performances. Rich characters, a wonderfully world, and striking visuals. This thing Feels like a video game and movies that try to do that rarely pull it off. Like, Ready Player One does a great job articulating that same Feeling but it’s not something that is so easily capture. Free Guy does it better than that one, better than Spielberg. While all of that sh*t i said makes this thing more than worth the price of admission but, for me, it’s the overall writing that gives the movie legs. It’s incredibly well written and smarter than you’ think based on such a pedestrian premise. I’m really enjoyed my time in Free City and I'm glad it got made. Fox was playing with house money when Ryan Reynolds dropped this into their laps. They basically gave him a budget and told him to create because why not? Sh*t would be Disney's problem after the merger, right? Well, surprise-surprise, free of corporate meddling and financial projection, Free Guy turned out to be an amazing, entertaining, original, IP that everyone should support.

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 4 years ago

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29th June >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 16:13-19 for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles: ‘On this rock, I will build my church’.

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Gospel (Except USA)

Matthew 16:13-19

You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’

Gospel (USA)

Matthew 16:13–19

You are Peter, and I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Reflections (8)

(i) Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

If you ever get to go to Rome, you will probably visit the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican. You may be less likely to visit the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls, which is a little outside the historic centre of the city. Yet, both basilicas have been places of pilgrimage because they were built over what is believed to be the tombs of Peter and Paul. In the early centuries of the church, pilgrims went to Rome, not to see the Pope, but to pray at the tombs of the early apostles and martyrs and the most important of these were the tombs of Peter and Paul. Early written tradition from the early years of the second century states that both were married in Rome during the persecution of Nero. In the first reading, Peter’s imprisonment by King Herod is a foretaste of his execution by the emperor Nero some decades later. In the second reading, Paul senses that his death is immanent and declares, ‘I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith’. Peter could have said the same. They were very different characters who didn’t always see eye to eye. According to Paul’s letter to the Galatians, they had a stand up row in the church of Antioch about whether or not pagans who came to believe in Jesus needed to submit to the Jewish rite of circumcision. Even saints have rows with one another. They had very different background. Pet was a fisherman from the relative obscurity of a town on the Sea of Galilee. Paul was a man of great learning from the university city of Tarsus. Peter’s mission was to Jews and Paul’s mission was to pagans. Yet, the Lord worked powerfully through both of them for the spread of the gospel and they were united in their love for the Lord and the church. They remind us that the Lord works through us as we are in all our uniqueness and differences, and he needs each one of us in our uniqueness and distinctiveness. The Lord does not look for uniformity but for unity in diversity.

And/Or

(ii) Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

In many respects Peter and Paul were very different people. Peter was a fisherman from Galilee. His world was the Sea of Galilee and the hilly countryside that surrounded it. According to John’s gospel, he was from Bethsaida, a small town on the Northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. He would have had a basic education and his first language was Aramaic. Paul was from the university city of Tarsus, the capital city of the Roman province of Cilicia, on the south-east coast of what is today Turkey. He seems to have been educated to a high level. He wrote fluently in Greek. His family appear to have been well-to-do as his father was a Roman citizen. He was a zealous Pharisee, who declared himself blameless with regard to the keeping of the Jewish Law. If the two of them had met before they came to faith in Jesus, one senses that they would have had little in common. Yet, today, the church throughout the world celebrates their joint feast day. It is Jesus who brought them together. Yet, he touched their lives in very different ways. Peter heard the call of Jesus by the shore of the Sea of Galilee as he engaged in his daily work of fishing; Paul heard the call of the risen Lord somewhere in the vicinity of Damascus where he was heading on his mission of persecuting people like Peter who were proclaiming Jesus to be the Jewish Messiah. Jesus called Peter to be the rock on which his church would be built; he called Paul to be the apostle to the non-Jewish world, the pagans. Each of them gave their lives in responding to the Lord’s call; Peter was crucified; Paul was beheaded. They were both executed in Rome, a long way from Galilee and from Tarsus. Their tombs have been places of pilgrimage to this day and two of Rome’s four great Basilicas are built over their tombs, Saint Peter’s in the Vatican and Saint Paul’s outside the walls. We celebrate their joint feast today, giving thanks to God for their generous and courageous witness to their faith in the Lord. From its beginnings, the church has worked to be true to the faith of the first apostles, especially the two great apostles Peter and Paul. That is why we speak of the faith as apostolic. Today, we too try to be true to the faith as lived and articulated by those two great pillars of the church. This apostolic faith finds expression in a special way in the New Testament. We keep returning to the gospels and letters and other books that are to be found there so as to remain connected to the faith of those early preachers of the gospel. The Lord continues to speak to us through their lives and through the sacred literature that they inspired. The Lord calls out to each of us today, as he called Peter and Paul. He wants to work through us in our distinctiveness, as he worked through the very different people that were Peter and Paul. We each have a unique contribution to make to the coming of the Lord’s kingdom. In our efforts to respond to this call, Peter and Paul can continue to be our inspiration.

And/Or

(iii) Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Today we celebrate the feast of two of the great pillars of the church, Peter and Paul. They came from very different backgrounds. Peter was a fisherman from rural Galilee. Paul was a learned Pharisee from the university city of Tarsus. Peter’s first language was Aramaic; Paul’s first language was Greek. Peter knew Jesus from the time of Jesus’ baptism and was with Jesus until the time of Jesus’ passion and death; Paul only ever met the risen Lord, in the vicinity of Damascus. For all their differences, they had at least one thing in common. Both of these men found themselves at odds with the Lord. Peter denied Jesus publicly three times. Paul violently persecuted the followers of Jesus, and thereby persecuted Jesus himself. Yet, their resistance to the Lord did not prevent the Lord from working powerfully through them. Peter was chosen to be the leader of the twelve, the rock on which Jesus would build his church. Paul was chosen to be the great apostle to the pagans. We know from the letter to the Galatians that Peter and Paul had a serious disagreement at one point about the direction the church should be taking. They were very different people and the Lord worked through each of them in very different ways. They were certainly united in death. Very early tradition recalls that both were executed in Rome by the emperor Nero who blamed the Christians for the fire of Rome. Today’s feast reminds us that the way the Lord works through us is unique to each one of us. The feast also reassures us that our many resistances to the Lord need not be a hindrance to the Lord working through us. Peter who denied the Lord and Paul who persecuted the Lord went on to become great servants of the Lord. Our failings do not define who we are. Paul would go on to say, ‘the Lord’s grace toward me has not been in vain’. The Lord’s grace towards us in our weakness and frailty need never be in vain if we continue to open ourselves to the workings of that grace, as Peter and Paul did.

And/Or

(iv) Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

According to the gospel reading, what singled Peter out from the other disciples was his God-given insight into the identity of Jesus. It was because of his unique insight that Jesus gives Peter a unique role among his followers. He is to be the rock, the firm foundation, on which Jesus will build his church. Peter’s role is further spelt out by Jesus giving him the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The image of the keys suggests authority. The nature of that authority is expressed in terms of binding and loosing. This refers to a teaching authority. Peter is being entrusted with the task of authoritatively interpreting the teaching of Jesus for other members of the church. Yet, this same Peter immediately tries to deflect Jesus from taking the way of the cross, and when Jesus did take that way, Peter would deny any association with him. Jesus gives a significant role to someone who remains very flawed. If the gospel reading associates teaching with Peter, the second reading associates preaching with Paul. In that reading Paul refers to the Lord who ‘gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be preached for all the pagans to hear’. Paul was the great preacher of the gospel to the pagans throughout the Roman Empire. He preached it for the last time, in the city of Rome, where, like Peter, he was martyred for his faith in Christ. Our second reading today may well have been written from his Roman imprisonment, ‘I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith’. The image of the fight and the race suggest that ‘keeping the faith’ was a struggle for Paul; it did not come easy to him, just as keeping the faith did not come easy to Peter either. Keeping the faith does not always come easy to any of us. Paul was very aware that keeping the faith was not due primarily to his own efforts; it was the Lord who enabled him to keep the faith. As he says in this morning’s second reading, ‘the Lord stood by me and gave me power’. It is the Lord who empowers all of us to keep the faith; his faithfulness to us enables us to be faithful to him. The faithful witness of Peter and Paul speak to us ultimately of the Lord’s faithfulness to us all.

And/Or

(v) Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

The two saints whose feast we celebrate today were key members of the early church. Peter was the leader of the twelve. According to the gospel reading, it was to Peter that Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven, a symbol of Peter’s authoritative role in the early church. Paul never met Jesus before Jesus’ death. Whereas Jesus called Peter by the Sea of Galilee, it was the risen Lord who called Paul on his way into the city of Damascus. Whereas Jesus called Peter to be the authoritative rock on which he would build his church, the focal point of the church’s unity, the risen Lord called Paul to be the apostle to the pagans. Each of these great disciples had very different experiences of Jesus and each received a very different mission from Jesus. Yet, it is clear from today’s first reading and second reading that both Peter and Paul had one thing in common. They both suffered in the exercise of their mission. The first reading tells us that King Herod Agrippa imprisoned Peter and in the second reading Paul writes from prison to Timothy in the awareness that his life is coming to an end. Indeed, both men were executed because of their preaching of the gospel. The two basilicas of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Rome today stand over their tombs and are places of pilgrimage. The particular way the Lord calls us to follow him will be unique to each one of us. Yet, what we can all have in common is a dedication to the Lord’s way, even though it may mean the way of the cross. When Peter and Paul took this way, they both discovered the Lord was supporting and sustaining them. Peter says in the first reading, ‘The Lord has saved me from Herod’, and Paul declares in the second reading, ‘The Lord stood by me and gave me power’. When we try to be faithful to the Lord’s way, we will make the same discovery of the Lord’s sustaining presence in our lives.

And/Or

(vi) Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Rome has been a place of pilgrimage since the very early years of the church. In earliest times, Christians went on pilgrimage to Rome to visit the tombs of the martyrs, in particular, the tombs of Peter and Paul. Both of these great apostles were martyred in Rome during the persecution of the church under the emperor Nero in the year 64 AD. The two basilicas of Saint Peter and of Saint Paul outside the Walls were built over their tombs. Those basilicas, especially Saint Peter’s, remain places of pilgrimage to this day. If Peter and Paul were alike in death, both martyred in Rome, they were quite unalike in life. Peter was a fisherman from Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee; Paul was a very well educated Pharisee from the university city of Tarsus. Peter was called by Jesus as he was fishing by the Sea of Galilee. Paul was called by the risen Lord as he approached Damascus in pursuit of his mission to persecute the church. Peter was to be the rock on which Jesus would build his church; he was to be the focal point of the church’s unity. Paul was commissioned to proclaim the gospel to pagans throughout the Roman Empire. Yet, for all their differences what they had in common, apart from the circumstances of their death, was their faith in the Lord, their willingness to give their lives in his service. The gospel reading gives us Peter’s great confession of faith in Jesus, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’. Paul expresses his faith in the Lord in today’s second reading, ‘I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith’. The feast of these two great followers of the Lord reminds us that our faith in the Lord can bind together people who otherwise might have little in common. Our background, gifts, personality, can all be very different, and, yet, we can be one in the Lord. Paul uses the image of the human body to express this unity in diversity of the church. We give expression to our faith, our relationship with the Lord, in a way that is unique to each of us. Uniformity is not a mark of the church. The Lord’s rich and mysterious identity can only begin to find expression in the many and varied members of his body. As we celebrate the feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, we give thanks for our own distinctive faith journey which the Lord is always calling us to take.

And/Or

(vii) Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Peter, the leader of the twelve, and Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, have been remembered together on this date since ancient times. According to very ancient tradition, both were put to death for their faith in Jesus during the persecution of the church in Rome by the Emperor Nero in 64 AD. Successive generations of Christians remembered where the two leaders of the early church were buried and, when Christianity became legal under the Emperor Constantine, a basilica was built over the tomb of each of them, the Basilica of Saint Peter on the Vatican Hill and the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls. Both Basilicas remain places of pilgrimage to this day. Peter and Paul had very different backgrounds. Peter was a fisherman by the Sea of Galilee in modern day Israel. Paul was a learned Pharisee from the university city of Tarsus in modern day Turkey. Peter journeyed with Jesus from the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry until the time of his passion and death; the risen Lord appeared to Peter. Paul had never met Jesus until the risen Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus in modern day Syria. According to Paul’s letter to the Galatians the two of them met in the city of Jerusalem probably less than twenty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus and they went on to have a major disagreement in the church of Antioch about the terms on which pagans should be admitted to the church. Even great apostles and saints can disagree over matters of fundamental importance. However, what united them, their faith in and love for the Lord, was far more significant than what divided them. They were very different people and they didn’t always see eye to eye, but the Lord needed both of them. He had a very different but equally vital role for each of them to play in spreading the gospel. Today’s feast reminds us that the Lord has a role for each of us to play in his work today. Our very different backgrounds, and even our disagreements over church related matters, is not an issue for the Lord. Rather, it is our very diversity which allows the Lord to work through us in a whole variety of ways. The church is never uniform, but the Lord asks to be united in our faith in and love for the Lord, as Peter and Paul were.

And/Or

(viii) Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

I would like to welcome you back to our first celebration of a public Mass since the middle of March. We have been through a difficult time together and hopefully we are beginning to emerge from our social isolation. Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Peter and Paul. Each of them went through their own times of confinement, of social isolation. There were each imprisoned for their preaching of the gospel. In the first reading, we heard that King Herod arrested Peter and put him in prison. Yet, according to that reading, Peter in prison was supported by the prayers of the church, ‘the church prayed to God for him unremittingly’. The Lord came to him in his imprisonment through the prayers of the faithful. The Lord came to him in an even more dramatic way through an angel who delivered him from his confinement and restored him to the community of faith. Peter declared, ‘The Lord really did sent his angel and has saved me’. Hopefully, the story of Peter reflects our own experience. When we are confined, socially isolated, the Lord does not isolate himself from us. Even when we cannot come to church, the Lord comes to us. The Lord knows nothing of social isolation. He has been with us all this time, and he remains powerfully present to all who continue to stay put in their homes for their protection. Even when we cannot receive the Eucharist, we can say in the words of today’s responsorial psalm, ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’. This was the experience of Saint Paul as well, the other great pillar of the church. In today’s second reading, he writes from prison, fully expecting that he may not get out alive, ‘the time has come for me to be gone’. It was a very isolating experience for him. He writes in a verse omitted from our reading, ‘all deserted me’. Yet, like Peter, he experienced the Lord’s powerful presence. As he says in today’s reading, ‘the Lord stood by me and gave me power’, and he goes on, ‘the Lord will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom’. Like Peter, he experienced the Lord’s sustaining presence when he was at his weakest and most isolated. This is one of the lessons these two great preachers of the gospel can teach us today. The Lord comes to us in our times of weakness and stands by us in our moments of isolation. No matter what distressing situation we may find ourselves in, the Lord is with us to strengthen and sustain us. Even when we are cut off from those who matter most to us, we are never cut off from the Lord, because he is always true to his name of Emmanuel, ‘God with us’. That is why, in the words of today’s psalm, every moment of every day, we can ‘look towards him and be radiant’.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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sselkie · 5 years ago

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C H A R A C T E R S T U D Y ⇁ ( 1 / ? )

They never knew who to blame it on. The gender. The sex. Perhaps the doctor was the best choice. He had always insisted that it would be a boy; a strong, healthy baby boy that would make his parents proud. He would play football, listen to classical music, become a lawyer. God was sending them a saint. The perfect son. Except you were not a saint, or a son for that matter. Someone had to paint the crib pink and buy some dresses. In fact, all the pants would have to go. Even the binkies and the bibs were the wrong colors. And they certainly couldn’t name a little girl Penley. Only a monster would do that.

The first words that graced your ears were from that of the doctor, a statement twisted into a question. “It’s . . a girl?” Then your parents had clamored, began panicking. “Wrap her up in a pink blanket! Get rid of the blue — you told us it’d be a boy!” A baby girl. What a nuisance. They’d raise you as their daughter, and what would you do? You’d just take someone else’s name in the end, continue on a different person’s legacy. Bullshit. Total bullshit. But what could they do?

Yet, they took you home. Long, sleepless nights exchanged between your parents. It should come as a surprise that they refused to hire a nanny with their deep pockets. Part of you might always wonder how they could want you and care for you as a child: screaming, helpless, annoying.

II.

For years, they kept telling you a baby brother was on the way. Their expected prince. But for years they couldn’t seem to make it happen. The longer they failed, the farther pregnancy seemed away. Your hopeful little smile dipped farther from returning each time the announcement was retracted. Nonetheless, your father would go out and buy a bouquet each time he’d think they’d done it. You’d sit by them for a few hours each day, memorizing the different colors and the droop of the petals, until eventually you couldn’t help but touch them. The velvety petals would roll between your clumsy fingers and if you didn’t accidentally take one off, then the next morning you’d return and they’d have retracted.

It tended to be those same days your parents would get into a heated discussion — the doctor informing them that no, they were not pregnant though you’d tried your best to beg him for a different answer. You would proceed to coax the flower back out, talking till your throat was raw, and your mom peppered you with kisses to inform you that bedtime had arrived. The connection was simple to reach for, but you’d always eventually give in and feel the petals between your fingers. You’d certainly love a baby brother with golden hair like yours, but he was not here and you could not solve that. You loved the flowers, and it was too trying not to strain for their embrace.

Other days, Mama would set up a picnic out back, the woods edging against your backyard and the wildflowers calling you from a distance. Those were the times that Dad would be at work all day. You’d fill your mother’s antique tea-set with your special punch — melted popsicles, and sip away under the Indiana sunshine. She’d let you run free, go screaming victoriously into the forest. Those were different times. Sometimes you’d come back without a shirt, your skirt riding high in all your childhood glory and she’d lift you up into her arms and chastise you with a smile. Then, you’d both disappear in the forest looking for the lost articles of clothing as she talked about how children of God were supposed to wear clothes and that you were not a witch, not like the people far down the street.

III.

The news came too soon. Father fumed for days, raving on and on about how that this wasn’t his fault. Given, you didn’t learn till years later that it truly wasn’t. There was no chance for that baby brother you and your mother dreamed about aloud on sunny, summer days. Hope lay stagnant between your parents, but hidden in your underbelly waiting for a new dream to arise. Dormant, realizing that they had hit a wall, Mama and Dad never recovered. Weekends spent watching reruns of Tom and Jerry interchangeably with them were warped into something else. A nightmare you never understood of vodka, rum, wine, beer, anything really.

Being perfectly honest, the difficult part was never tucking yourself in at night. It was that you still loved them when they would not give in to your childish pleas of coming home, going inside, and just falling asleep. So that your worrying may not warp your dreams into nightmares. From there, alcohol was the easiest thing to erase from your future.

But with fifth grade arrived a project. It hadn’t seemed significant at first, just wasteful. You didn’t want to spend the time prepping a tri-fold when you could be running rampant in the woods outside or riding your bike to the park or painting. At some point your parents had even cracked and bought you an easel once they’d tired of constant finger-painting. Of course, you’d rather be tracing dandelions than doing homework. With topics being plucked up within days of the two week assignment, you scrambled for whatever was thrown your way. That was when you knew what you wanted. The job fair had gone smoothly; the idea of being a real life police officer racing through your mind. That concept, the possibility of helping people snagged under your skin.

IV.

Teenage years passed as a blur in your peripheral vision. They were years of confusion, certainly. You definitely weren’t interested in sex, though you assumed you’d just wait till you found the right person. Additionally, you never bothered dating; you’d rather ignore how you’d always need to strike up a conversation with Jen from physics.

Eventually, your parents gave up on trying to sell you the life of a florist as opposed to that of a police officer. In fact, they struggled for anything else they could get you to do. A nurse. A mother. A teacher. A waitress. A secretary. “Please, anything, but a man’s job.” Your mom was known to beg and for a while you had made them happy as a waitress, saving money and waiting till you could move out.

It was no big shock to most in the church community when you were offered a job. You still do not understand your parent’s complete disdain. Many people aren’t thick-skulled. They had accepted the possibility of a woman working a man’s job. Still, the offer was huge to a girl like you. It has been what you’d wanted since forever. You’d have to attend the police academy, not too far from Wheeler, but not within the town limits. In return, you were promised a job at the Wheeler Police Department and half of your tuition paid for.

You accepted without hesitation and with a noticeable lack of any conversation exchanged with your parents on the topic. Inevitably, the good news couldn’t be stifled for long. Believe it or not, you knew right when they knew; father insisted you were to leave. Your mom, as always, only offered a saddening smile behind his back. You took what was important: your flower pots, bed, bike, clothes, painting supplies, and toothbrush. And in a fit of frustration and rage, you dumped their wine stand onto the floor. The glass and alcohol pooled into a mosaic; one that you can still remember, a message from God no doubt hidden somewhere in it. But you were gone, sprinting out the door and swinging into your friend’s pick-up before it could speak to you. As far as you know it still sits there, waiting to be translated.

Two and a half years passed quicker than you expected and graduation occurred late April. It was the ceremony that churned by in two and a half years rather than two and a half hours. You achieved near two disembodied claps after your name rang across the stage. There was no “that’s my girl” or cowbell echoing distantly.

Within the week after, you had your hand on the bible and an apartment. The week after that, your first day on the job. An early birthday present, better than lamenting in the Chinese restaurant for the third year in a row.

Soon though, it seemed that with your hiring came an avalanche of horror. Cassie Klein’s disappearance. You’d broken down in the brush behind the Klein’s house less than an hour after arriving on the scene, praying to God that he need not do this. This karma was reserved for you, not a child. And yet, it appeared he hadn’t listened, not since you had cried till utterly raw with blood dripping from your nose.

These mental breaks were never supposed to become ritual. But ever since her disappearance (one year exactly), you cannot catch a break. You want to do good so badly that maybe you don’t know when to quit, but you’d like to learn how to do better.

#TW: alcholism #TW: sexism #& . ( i could have been a great many things. ) / * bio.#& . ( hearts like flowers cannot be rudely handled but must open naturally... ) / * aesthetic.

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cacoxthes · 6 years ago

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C H A R A C T E R S T U D Y ⇁ ( 1 / 1 )

II.

For years, they kept telling you a baby brother was on the way. Their expected prince. But for years they couldn’t seem to make it happen. The longer they failed, the farther pregnancy seemed away. Your hopeful little smile dipping farther from returning each time the announcement was retracted. Nonetheless, your father would go out and buy a bouquet each time he’d think they’d done it. You’d sit by them for a few hours each day, memorizing the different colors and the droop of the petals, until eventually you couldn’t help but touch them. The velvety petals would roll between your clumsy fingers and if you didn’t accidentally take one off, then the next morning you’d return and they’d have retracted.

It tended to be those same days your parents would get into a heated discussion — the doctor informing them that no, they were not pregnant. You would proceed to coax the flower back out, talking till your throat was raw, and your mom peppered you with kisses to inform you that bedtime had arrived. The connection was simple to reach for, but you’d always eventually give in and feel the petals between your fingers. You’d certainly love a baby brother with golden hair like yours, but he was not here and you could not solve that. You loved the flowers, and it was too trying not to strain for their embrace.

III.

The news came too soon. Father fumed for days, raving on and on about how that this wasn’t his fault. Given, you didn’t learn till years later that it truly wasn’t.

There was no chance for that baby brother you and your mother dreamed about aloud on sunny, summer days. Hope lay stagnant between your parents, but hidden in your underbelly waiting for a new dream to arise. Dormant, realizing that they had hit a wall, Mama and Dad never recovered. Weekends spent watching reruns of Tom and Jerry interchangeably with them were warped into something else. A nightmare you never understood of vodka, rum, wine, beer, anything really.

But with fifth grade arrived a project. It hadn’t seemed significant at first, just wasteful. You didn’t want to spend the time prepping a tri-fold when you could be running rampant in the woods outside or riding your bike to the park. With topics being plucked up within days of the two week assignment, you scrambled for whatever was thrown your way. The job fair had gone smoothly; the idea of being a real life police officer racing through your mind.

IV.

Teenage years passed as a blur in your peripheral vision. Your parents, now better known as David and Sharon, gave up on trying to sell you the life of a florist as opposed to that of a police officer. In fact, they struggled for anything else they could get you to do. A nurse. A mother. A teacher. A waitress. A secretary. “Please, anything, but a man’s job.” Your mom was known to beg and for awhile you had made them happy as a waitress, saving money and waiting till you could move out.

It was no big shock to most in the church community when you were offered a job. Many had accepted the possibility of a woman working a man’s job. Still, the offer was big, but it was what you’d wanted since forever. You’d have to attend the police academy, not too far from Wheeler, but not within the town limits. In return, you were promised a job at the Wheeler Police Department and half of your tuition paid for.

You accepted without hesitation and lacking any conversation exchanged with your parents on the topic. The good news couldn’t be stifled for long and David kicked you out of the house. Your mom, as always, only offered a saddening smile behind his back. You took what was important: your flower pots, bed, bike, clothes, and toothbrush. And in a fit of frustration and rage, you dumped their wine stand onto the floor. The glass and alcohol pooled into a mosaic; one that you can still remember, a message from God no doubt hidden somewhere in it. But you were gone, sprinting out the door and swinging into your friend’s pick-up before it could speak to you. As far as you know it still sits there, waiting to be translated.

Within the week after, you had your hand on the bible and an apartment.

The week after that, your first day on the job. An early birthday present, better than lamenting in the Chinese restaurant for the third year in a row.

Soon though, it seemed that with your hiring came an avalanche of horror. The crow was a joke. The stag head a scare. Cassie Klein though, that was your fault. You broke down in the brush behind the Klein’s house less than an hour after arriving on the scene, praying to God that he need not do this. His wrath would be better inflicted on you directly rather than on that little girl. You would quit. You would resign. You’d do whatever you had to to stop God’s vengeance from harming that sweet child and from tainting Wheeler. You cried until utterly raw, blood dripping from your nose.

#ALCOHOLISM:tw #&&. bio #&&. aes #triple p proud

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diversegaminglists · 7 years ago

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Games with on-screen kisses

Should be considered story spoilers (except for maybe dating sims), so browse at your own peril.

On-screen means a visible kiss on the lips, in-engine, cutscene or, in the case of visual novels, CG art. Games with descriptions of kisses in text only do not count.

This is far from complete but I think I’ve got most of the obvious ones, as always, suggestions and corrections encouraged (but no suggestions for games featuring unavoidable rape please).

I could really use more examples for the M/M only section as it’s currently mostly porn games in there (where all the smoochy games at?). :/

M/F:

Akatsuki No Goei (M/F)(Hentai game)(CG)(Translation patch)

Always Remember Me (Otome CG)

Alpha Protocol (Several kisses with optional romances as leads into fade-to-black sex scenes.)

Amagami (CG)(Translation patch)

Aquaria (Naija and Li)

Assassin’s Creed 3 (Kenway and Kaniehtí:io/Ziio, Myriam and Norris )

Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ezio and Cristina)

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ezio and Caterina)

Assassin’s Creed: Unity

Batman: Arkham Knight (Batman and Catwoman)

Binary Domain (Dan and Faye)

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars (George kisses Nicole while she is tied up and she gives him a rightful bollocking for taking advantage, but later forgives him.)

Brütal Legend (Eddie and Ophalia)

Catherine (Anime style cutscenes)

Contract Marriage (CG)

Dandelion (CG)

The Darkness (Jacky and Jenny)

Dead Rising 3 (Nick and Annie)

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories (In the good ending Adell and Rozalin smooch, CG art)

Dra+Koi (M/F)(CG)(Hentai)(Translation patch)

ef - a fairy tale of the two (dating sim, cg art)

Enchanted in the Moonlight (CG)

Fahrenheit aka Indigo Prophecy (Two optional, one unskippable, two leading into terrible sex scenes, one of which involves QTE thrusting, because of course it does it’s David Cage.)

Final Fantasy VIII (Rinoa and Squall finally smooch in the ending cutscene)

Final Fantasy X (Story cutscene while flying around in a magical lake, very Japanese.)

Final Fantasy XIII (Snow and Sera)

Final Fantasy XV (Noctis and Luna)

GoldenEye (James Bond and Natalya)

Hakuōki Franchise (Otome game)(CG)

Heavy Rain (depends on what choices you pick but they’re all awkward and creepy in context anyway)

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (In the middle of a fight Indiana smooches Sophia, how rude!)

Kaleidoscope Dating sim 1 & 2 (CG)

KatawaShoujo (Hentai game, CG art)

Kissed by the baddest bidder (CG)

LEGO Batman (Batman and Catwoman)

Lego Batman 3 (Poison Ivy)

Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (seemingly out of nowhere romance plots with very little build up or logic but does have awkward ps2 facesmushing)

Max Payne 2 (Max and Mona)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Snake and Eva before a sexy time)

Metel Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Meryl and Johnny)

Metro PD: Close to You (Otome, CG)

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Press X to kiss your wife)

My Guardian Angel (CG)

My Sweet Proposal (CG)

Nameless: That One Thing You Must Recall (CG)

Nicole (CG)(I believe F/F content might be planned in the future)

Office Lover (CG)

Onimusha 2 (Oyu & Jubei)

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Story cutscenes)

Princess Evangile (CG)(There are both All-Ages and uncensored versions of this game)

Psychonauts (Raz and Lili)

Resident Evil 2 (Leon and Ada)

Royal Midnight Kiss (CG)

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (CG)

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (at the end of some levels)

Shall We Date Franchise (CG)

Shira Oka: Second Chances (CG)

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (Infamous scene where a human princess has to smooch an unconscious Sonic)

Snow Sakura (CG)(Hentai game)

Spiderman: The Movie (Spiderman and MJ)

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Starkiller’s pilot Juno plants one on him)

Storm Lover (Otome)(CG)

Sunrider Academy (CG) (Hentai game)

Sweet Scandal (CG)

Telltale’s Batman (Bruce and Selina)

To Heart 1 & 2 (CG)(All ages and uncensored versions)

Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side Franchise (Otome)(CG)(Translation patch)

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Nate and Chloe smooch fairly early on. Nate and Elena finally smooch on screen at the end.)

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (Elena and Nate again)

Until Dawn (Optional between Chris and Ashley)

Valkyria Chronicles (Welkin and Alicia)

Valkyria Chronicles III (Kurt and one of two possible girls)

War: 13th Day

Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga

The Witcher Franchise (usually before a sexytime)

Wolfenstein: The New Order (Anya and BJ)

Yo-Jin-Bo (Otome game, CG art)

F/F:

Flowers -Le volume sur printemps-

Her Tears Were My Light

Highway Blossoms (Both all ages and uncensored versions available)

Kindred Spirits on the Roof (CG art)

The Last of Us: Left Behind (T_T)

A Little Lily Princess

Love is Strange (Life is Strange fanfic)

Nurse Love Addiction

Slumberparty

Starlight Vega (warning for one step-sister romance route)

why is this dragon so fucking cute?

M/M:

Animamundi: Dark Alchemist (CG)(Adult game)

Bacchikoi! (CG)(Adult game)

Coming Out on Top (CG)(Adult game)

Hetalia Sim Date (CG)

Lamento – BEYOND THE VOID – (CG)(Adult game)(Catboys)

No, Thank You!!! (CG)(Adult game)

Silver Chaos (CG)(Adult game)(Translation patch)

Sleepover (CG)(Adult game)

Combinations:

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (Roth and Jacob, Evie and Henry)

Backstage Pass (CG)

Bully (M/F and M/M kisses)

Dragon Age: Origins (repeatable smooches wherever)

Dragon Age 2 (Only in romance cutscenes)

Dragon Age 3 (combination of the two, but repeatable kisses only in Skyhold)

Fable Franchise (social actions)

Fire Emblem Fates occasionally gives your player character first person kissing scenes with your chosen S-rank partner.

Heilleen (CG art F/M and F/F)

Hustle Cat (Main character is NB by default)

Injustice 2 (Poison Ivy has a kiss attack)

Jade Empire (Though please note that the same-sex kisses need a mod to display properly without fading to black, see the mod section below.)

Life is Strange (There are options for Max to kiss Chloe and Warren depending on their relationship values.)

LongStory (CG)

Loren: The Amazon Princess (CG)

Lovestruck (This is Voltages’s newer app for games like Astoria and Castaways) (F/F F/M F/NB) (CG)

Magical Diary: Horse Hall (F/M & F/F CG)

Mass Effect (Cutscenes)

Saints Row IV (Parody of romance cutscenes ranging from romantic kisses, to rough BDSM, to implied robot oral)

The Sims Franchise (So many different ways to smooch!)

Singles: Flirt Up Your Life (This is a game about boinking your room mate, but there’s also smooches and 1 M/M and 1 F/F option each)

Shoujo City 2D (F/M F/F)

Spelunky (Rescuing “damsels” will get you a kiss and an extra hitpoint at the end of the level, you can choose from a lady, a dude, a pug dog, or a combination of all three in the game options.)

Stardew Valley (You can smooch your partner)

Starwars: The Old Republic (Many M/F love interests in the main game. The expansions added some M/M and F/F)

Telltale’s Tales From the Borderlands (Several M/F and one F/F depending on paths chosen)

Mods:

Jade Empire Gay Romance Fix

Kissing - Immersive Lover's Comfort (Smooching mod for Skyrim, no other mods required.)

Icha Love (Alternative Kissing Mod for Skyrim, page is in Russian, requires FNIS, SKSE, and SKY UI mods)

Kiss Em All (Yet another Skyrim kissing mod, requires SKSE)

Kiss Em All SE (Port of Kiss Em All for Skyrim SE, also available for XBox1)

Bastila Romance Enhancement (Adds a visible kiss between Bastila and PC to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic)

Carth Romance Fix (Adds a visible kiss between Carth and PC to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic)

Juhani Romance Enhancement (Adds a visible kiss between Juhani and PC to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic)

Kiss (Adds kissing to Fallous: New Vegas, hosted on an adult site, which needs an account to access downloads.)

Caricature animation (Adds kissing to Oblivion, requires OBSE20)

Special Mentions:

Exstetra is a JRPG where kissing everyone is a key game mechanic, but it’s only been released in Japan and unlikely to be localised into English.

KissMe - Adds Kisses to Minecraft but I don’t know if it’s text only or animations.

LovePlus - First person M/F kissing, only available via translation patch.

nummyz dating sims - Needs more research

Paranormal Kiss - Not in English yet.

Sim Girls Franchise - Needs more research

#list actually #romance games #otome #gay lesbian and bisexual gaming

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viatorix · 8 years ago

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Steam Summer Sale Game Recs

Since the summer sale is on and I’ve gone a bit ham on it myself, I thought I’d rec some fun games. There’s some great games going for ridiculously cheap right now until the 5th of July, so have at it. These are in no particular order, but [*] marks my some of my absolute favourite games.

UNDER 5

[*]Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ($2.49 | £ 1.74 | € 2.49) - Fantastic story with traditional Bioware choice-based decisions, and awesome, memorable characters. This is a classic game and one of the greats. You don’t even need to be a Star Wars fan to enjoy it. It’s an old game, so it’d run on probably most low grade computers.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Sith Lords ($2.49 | £ 1.74 | € 2.49) - Sequel to the first game, and set five years after. This one is just as good as KOTOR, if not better. Be aware that its recommended that you download a mod that restores parts of the story and fixes bugs (found here).

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - GOTY edition ($3.99 | £ 3.19 | € 3.99) - Like a better version of Assassin’s Creed except in the world of LOTR.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ($1.49 | £1.09 | €1.49) - this is criminally cheap for the heartwarming game this is. It’s not too long, as you can finish it in a few hours, but it’s good. Bear in mind you will have to have a controller to play this game as you use the analog sticks to control each brother.

[*]Dishonored ($2.49 | £1.99 | €2.49) - A first person assassin/stealth game with an awesome story. Dishonored is one of my favourites and probably one of the best games out there. It’s highly optimised, so is pretty playable on most machines.

Fallout: New Vegas ($2.49 | £2.49 | €2.49) (Ultimate Edition: $9.99 | £7.49 | €9.99) - One of the best, if not the best fallout game. Awesome story with high replayability, and highly moddable.

[*]Life is Strange ($4.99 | £3.99 | €4.99) - A narrative, Telltale-like game with (yet again) a great story and characters. Warning: you will cry. Heavily. More than once.

[*]The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition ($2.99 | £2.24 | €2.99) - Great game, and great introduction to the Witcher series. Much better story and controls compared to the first game, so don’t bother with that one. A medieval slavic fantasy in which you not only kill monsters but also get mixed up in political intrigue.

Saints Row IV: Game of the Century Edition ($4.99 | £3.74 | €4.99) - insanely fun and hilarious GTA-like game. The moment ‘Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing’ by Aerosmith started playing as I tried to disarm a rocket in the first ten minutes, I knew this game was gonna be great. I also recommend Saints Row III (Full Package: $3.74 | £2.74 | €3.74)

Apotheon ($3.74 | £2.74 | €3.74) - Do you like Greek mythology? Then this side-scroller is great. It’s simple, with fun combat, bosses, and all in a beautiful Ancient Greek vase art style.

Domina ($4.99 | £3.49 | €4.99) - Wanna manage and even play as Roman gladiators? This is a short, pixel style game in which you can!

Kindergarten ($3.99 | £3.19 | €3.99) - play as a kindergartner and solve a murder mystery while trying not to get killed yourself (yes, really). This is funnier and more light-hearted than it sounds.

Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) ($2.99 | £2.39 | €2.99) - Native American story written by Native Americans in partnership with the game studio that created it. It’s a beautiful puzzle platformer about restoring the balance of nature.

Reigns ($1.49 | £0.99 | €1.49) - A simple card choice game in which you are damned by the devil to play the lives of every successive king and try to maintain your kingdom while unlocking more cards through your choices. I’ve had fun with it.

Portal 2 ($1.99 | £1.49 | €1.99) - If you haven’t already got Portal 2, do yourself a favour. This is a fun game (great with friends) and it is ridiculously cheap.

UNDER 10

[*]Borderlands 2 - GOTY ($4.99 | £ 4.99 | € 7.49) - This and Tales are two of my favourite games. It’s a fun scifi shooter that is great playing with friends or just alone. The characters, especially the villain are awesome and the whole thing is so well written (and hilarious). Plus since its GOTY you get all the DLC which is hours upon hours. Don’t bother with the first Borderlands, it’s rather dull compared to the sequel.

[*]Tales from the Borderlands ($6.24 | £ 4.74 | € 5.74) - A telltale game set in the Borderlands world and after Borderlands 2. As a telltale game, it’s mostly a purely narrative game in which you control the character and the choices but don’t have to go shooting at stuff (95% of the time). It keeps the humour of the Borderlands games, and features great characters.

[*]Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition ($7.49 | £4.99 | €4.99) - The first dragon age game is arguably the best. Good story, characters, and something you can sink your time into. It’s a good (and obvious) place to start the three game (so far) Dragon Age franchise.

The Walking Dead ($6.24 | £4.74 | €5.74) - Another Telltale game (they’re great okay?) based on the Walking Dead series. This is one of Telltales best. Be prepared to cry. Also pick up Season 2 ($6.24 | £4.74 | €5.74)

The Wolf Among Us ($6.24 | £4.74 | €5.74) - Well you might as well get this too. Though personally, Tales from the Borderlands will always be my favourite, the Wolf Among Us has been lauded as the best of the Telltale games and is pretty damn good.

[*]Final Fantasy VII ($5.99 | £4.99 | €6.49) - The most famous of the FF games and one that was pretty much my childhood. The nostalgia is unbelievably real. There are stories that stay with you, and this is one of them.

Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition ($6.79 | £5.09 | €6.79) - One of the classic, defining games from which other fantasy games spawned. This is an old game, but the story is still amazing.

[*]The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY ($7.49 | £6.49 | €7.49) - the precursor to Skyrim and just as good. There is a stupid amount to do in this game, not to mention the mod scene which is still alive and kicking.

UNDER 15

[*]Final Fantasy IX ($10.49 | £7.99 | €10.49) - Another of my favourite FF games, and in my opinion, one of the best. Definitely recommend.

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen ($11.99 | £9.59 | €11.99) - an open-world RPG with lots of quests, story, character options and is damn fun.

Bioshock: The Collection ($14.99 | £9.99 | €14.99) - Bioshock is a great franchise, and with this pack you get BioShock Remastered, BioShock 2 Remastered, BioShock 2: Minerva's Den Remastered, BioShock Infinite, BioShock Infinite - Season Pass, and Bioshock Infinite: Columbia's Finest. Holy shit.

If anyone has any other recs, feel free to add them!

#games #steam #steam summer sale

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 4 years ago

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17th April >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on John 6:16-21 for Saturday, Second Week of Eastertide: ‘It is I! Do not be afraid’.

Saturday, Second Week of Easter

Gospel (Except USA)

John 6:16-21

They saw Jesus walking on the lake

In the evening the disciples went down to the shore of the lake and got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the lake. It was getting dark by now and Jesus had still not rejoined them. The wind was strong, and the sea was getting rough. They had rowed three or four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming towards the boat. This frightened them, but he said, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid.’ They were for taking him into the boat, but in no time it reached the shore at the place they were making for.

Gospel (USA)

John 6:16-21

They saw Jesus, walking on the sea.

When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.

Reflections (4)

(i) Saturday, Second Week of Easter

There is a sense in which we are always trying to get to the other side, like the disciples in the boat who were trying to reach the other side of the Sea of Galilee. We often feel the call to move beyond where we are, to reach for a different shore. However, once we set out for that other side, we often find ourselves struggling, like the disciples. In the gospel reading, darkness came over the disciples in the boat, and they found themselves facing into a strong wind and having to sail through a sea that was getting rougher. Whenever we take on some new enterprise, or go in a new direction of some kind, we will sometimes find ourselves battling with the equivalent of a strong wind and a rough sea, perhaps with a kind of darkness coming over us. It was at that moment when they were battling with the elements in the darkness that the disciples saw Jesus coming towards the boat, saying to them, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid’. The Lord comes to us all in our moments of struggle, when we sense our vulnerability, our frailty, when a darkness of spirit threatens to engulf us. That may have been the experience of many during these Covid times. The Lord is there with us at those moments in all his risen power, calling on us not to be afraid but to trust in his presence. Once the risen Lord spoke to the disciples, they seem to have reached the shore they were making for immediately. The Lord’s presence to us and our awareness of his presence always makes the journey to the other side, the far shore, seem that bit shorter. Like Saint Paul, we can find ourselves saying, ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me’.

And/Or

(ii) Saturday, Second Week of Easter

At the end of yesterday’s gospel reading, we heard that Jesus, having fed the multitude in the wilderness, withdrew to the mountain by himself. The evangelist, John, suggests that Jesus needed to be alone with God the Father who had sent him into the world. While Jesus was alone, the disciples set out to cross the sea of Galilee without Jesus. In his absence they found themselves struggling with a strong wind and a rough sea. Even after evening had given way to night they had rowed only three to four miles. They seemed lost without Jesus. It was then that they saw Jesus coming towards them, speaking words of reassurance, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid’. Almost immediately, they arrived at their destination that they had just been struggling to reach. The gospel reading is suggesting that if we are to reach our destination, we cannot do it on our own. We need the Lord’s help. A little later in this same gospel, Jesus will say to his disciples, ‘those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing’. The gospel reading is suggesting to us that on our own journey, our journey of faith, we depend on the Lord to reach our destination. We depend on him especially when the wind is against us and the waters of life get stormy. Today’s gospel reading assures us that the Lord comes to us in those difficult and threatening moments. If we are open to his coming and receptive to his presence we will move on through the storms that come our way and reach our destination.

And/Or

(iii) Saturday, Second Week of Easter

At the end of yesterday’s gospel reading, we heard that Jesus, having fed the multitude in the wilderness, withdrew to the mountain by himself. The evangelist, John, suggests that Jesus needed to be alone with God the Father who had sent him into the world. While Jesus was alone, the disciples set out to cross the sea of Galilee without Jesus. In his absence they found themselves struggling with a strong wind and a rough sea. Even after evening had given way to night they had rowed only three to four miles. They seemed lost without Jesus. It was then that they discovered that Jesus’ withdrawal to pray did not remove him from them. They saw him coming towards them, speaking words of reassurance, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid’. Almost immediately, they arrived at the destination that they had just been struggling to reach. The gospel reading is suggesting that the Lord who lives forever to intercede for us is always coming towards us. If we are to reach our destination, we cannot do it on our own. We need the Lord’s help. A little later in this same gospel, Jesus will say to his disciples, ‘those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing’. The gospel reading On our own journey, our journey of faith, we depend on the Lord to reach the goal of our life’s journey. We depend on him especially when the wind is against us and the waters of life get stormy. Today’s gospel reading assures us that the Lord comes to us in those difficult and threatening moments. If we are open to his coming and receptive to his presence we will move on through the storms that come our way and reach the shore.

And/Or

(iv) Saturday, Second Week of Easter

The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows some tension in the church of Jerusalem. Something of a storm was brewing in this young church, which became the mother church, because it was from the church in Jerusalem that the other churches were founded. The Hellenists, Greek speaking believers, were complaining about the Hebrews, Aramaic speaking believers, because the Hellenists felt that their widows were not being as well provided for as the widows of the Hebrews. The leaders of the Jerusalem church, the Twelve, realized that this problem would not be resolved unless they drew other members of the church into this ministry of providing for all the widows and the other vulnerable people in the church. The Twelve could not do everything; they had to prioritize. They declared to the other members of the church that as the leaders they should be devoting themselves to prayer and to the service of God’s word. As a result, they invited the members of the church to choose people of wisdom and of the Spirit who could attend to this important work of providing for the most vulnerable. Seven suitable people were chosen, allowing the Twelve to focus on what was important in their calling. Here at the very early days of the church we have a good example of how the church must function in every age. No one group within the church can do everything. There is a need for different groups of people to take responsibility for different ministries. This is how the Spirit continues to shape the life of the church. There will always be the kind of tensions or storms within the church that we find in today’s first reading. However, such stormy moments can be times of grace, opportunities for the Spirit in work in new ways in the church. In today’s gospel reading, the Lord came to his disciples as they were struggling with a strong wind and a rough sea and brought them to a safe haven. The Lord is always with his church in the various storms that will assail it. His presence at the heart of the storm can help to ensure that moments of crisis in the church can also be times of new life.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 4 years ago

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19th October >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 12:13-21 for Monday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘Be on your guard against avarice’.

Monday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)

Luke 12:13-21

Fool! This very night your soul will be demanded of you

A man in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance.’ ‘My friend,’ he replied, ‘who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?’ Then he said to them, ‘Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.’

Then he told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.” But God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?” So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.’

Gospel (USA)

Luke 12:13-21

And the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

Reflections (9)

(i) Monday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

There is a wonderful statement towards the end of today’s first reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, ‘we are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it’. When we hear the expression ‘work of art’, we think of the work of some of the great painters or sculptors or musical composers. I suspect very few of us think of ourselves as a work of art. Yet, each one of us is God’s work of art, because we have been created by God in God’s image and, according to our reading, God has also brought us to life with Christ out of his great love towards us. Through faith we already share in the risen life of Christ, and we are destined to share that life fully. We will reach our full stature in eternity, but we are already God’s work of art. God is the supreme artist who created us and then showered his goodness upon us through the life, death and resurrection of his Son. As God’s work of art, we are called to live accordingly. In the words of the first reading, we are to live the good life, which is a life of love, kindness and generosity. We find the opposite of such a life in the gospel reading. In his parable, Jesus portrays a person who is totally preoccupied with himself and completely self-serving. He starts off very rich and as he gets richer his only concern is where to store his surplus. The thought of sharing his surplus with the needy never crosses his mind. When he died suddenly, his fundamental poverty is revealed. Jesus calls on us, in contrast, to be rich in the sight of God, by living as the work of art we are, revealing God’s gracious love and goodness in our ways of relating to others.

And/Or

(ii) Monday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

We all place a high value on security, in its various forms. We like our lives to be financially secure; we like to feel that our job is secure, that our home is secure, that our health is secure, that we live we a secure society. Security is a very legitimate human need and requirement. In this part of the world we are likely to have more security that people who live in other parts of the world. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks about security of life. He says that a person’s life is not made secure by what he owns. Possessions can only give us so much security and no more. The man in the parable we have just heard made the mistake of thinking that possessions would provide him with total security of life. Jesus declares in the gospel reading that it is the person who is rich in the sight of God who will be secure in the ultimate and true sense of that word. We are rich in the sight of God when we live our lives generously, when we give of ourselves, as Jesus did, rather than hoarding for ourselves, like the man in the parable. We pray that the same generous spirit that filled the life of Jesus would also fill our lives, so that we would know true and lasting security.

And/Or

(iii) Monday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

We all know that wills can be very contentious affairs. There has been many a family row over inheritance. In this morning’s gospel reading, such a family dispute is brought to Jesus’ attention. A man comes up to Jesus to ask him to intervene in a family dispute about inheritance. Jesus very wisely declines to get involved, and most of us would do the same in similar circumstances. However, Jesus takes the opportunity to give a teaching on what constitutes true riches or true security. We all like to feel financially secure. Jesus reminds us in that gospel reading, however, that we also need to be rich in the sight of God, because our ultimate security is to be found in God. Being rich in the sight of God means being generous with what God has given us, whether that be our earthly riches, our health, our time, our talents and gifts. The man in the parable is the ultimate hoarder; he hoarded everything for his own selfish purposes. For all his riches he ended up poor in the sight of God; for all his material security, his life was very insecure. This morning’s gospel reading calls on us to pay attention to where true security and lasting riches are to be found.

And/Or

(iv) Monday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Issues of inheritance can be very divisive in a family. Family members have been known to fall out over wills. In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus is portrayed as showing a great reluctance to get involved with a family dispute over inheritance. Instead, he takes the opportunity to give a teaching on the dangers of greed of any kind, and he illustrates his teaching with a parable. The main character in the parable comes across as rather insecure. He has had a wonderful harvest, but he is not happy. He immediately begins worrying about how he is going to store all his extra grain. He begins to be happy when he builds himself bigger barns to store all his extra grain and his goods. He begins to feel secure. However, having built all his barns he dies; he was storing all his goods for himself to secure his life, but it turned out to be a false security. Jesus’ comment on the parable suggests that we find our security not in storing up excessively for ourselves but in making ourselves rich in the sight of God, and we do that by emptying ourselves as Jesus did so that others might become rich. The message of the Scriptures is that God is our rock, our refuge, our security. If God is our security, then we are freed to give generously of what we have been given, after the example of Jesus.

And/Or

(v) Monday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus had a great capacity for telling very short but memorable stories. Many of this stories or parables involve more than one character, but this morning’s parable has only one character in it. He fills the story; there is no room for anyone else in there. That feature of the story reflects the character of the person of the centre of it. This rich man was so absorbed by his possessions, so self-absorbed, that there was no room in his life for others, especially for those who could have benefited from his abundance. There was also no room in his life for God. All his plans are for himself; he speaks only in terms of ‘I’ and ‘my’. Jesus is painting a picture of where excessive greed can lead to. The desire to keep acquiring can leave us blind to other, more important, realities; it can impoverish our relationship with other people and with God. Jesus contrasts that way of life, with what he calls ‘making ourselves rich in the sight of God’. The person who was rich in the sight of God more than any other person was, of course, Jesus himself and that was because, in the words of Saint Paul, ‘he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant’. Elsewhere Paul said that Jesus became poor for our sake, so that we might become rich, rich in the sight of God. We look to Jesus to understand what it is to be rich in the sight of God. We call on the Holy Spirit to form in us what Paul calls ‘the mind of Christ’, so that like Jesus we learn to empty ourselves, to become poor, in the service of others, and, ultimately, in God’s service.

And/Or

(vi) Monday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

We have become more security conscious in recent times. We all want to feel secure in our homes especially when we hear of break-ins in the neighbourhood. At a deeper level we want to feel secure also. We want to secure our lives. We can sometimes look for security in possessions of one kind or another. In the gospel reading Jesus warns against seeking security in accumulating desirable objects. When someone comes up to Jesus asking him to intervene in an inheritance dispute, Jesus informs him that a person’s life is not made secure by what he owns. There can come a time in our lives when we realize this more clearly and we find a freedom to let go of what we have been hanging on to. We realize that possessing things is not meant to be an end in itself but rather what we possess is always for the good of others at the end of the day. This is a lesson that the rich man in the parable that Jesus spoke had not learned. He accumulated the goods of this world for the sake of accumulating. He stored them but they were serving no useful purpose. He made the mistake of thinking that accumulating and storing would make his life secure. However, when God suddenly called him out of this world, he stood before God a poor man. In spite of his many possessions, he was not rich in the eyes of God. Jesus calls us to be rich in the sight of God. This will often entail making ourselves poor for the sake of others, emptying ourselves in some way so that the lives of others are enriched. Jesus shows us the way. Saint Paul says of him, ‘though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich’.

And/Or

(vii) Monday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Inheritance disputes can be very contentious. Families can fall out over such disputes. In this morning’s gospel reading an attempt is made to draw Jesus into a family dispute over inheritance. A man wants Jesus to take his side against his brother in the dispute. Very wisely, Jesus does not allow himself to get drawn into this dispute. Instead, he addresses the issue that is likely to be at the heart of the dispute, greed. Jesus recognizes that underneath the greed that seeks to accumulate can be a great insecurity. Some people accumulate more than they need and hang on to it because they want their lives to be secure. We all need to find some level of financial security. What Jesus warns about is thinking that genuine, enduring security is to be found in accumulating wealth or possessions. ‘A person’s life is not made secure by what he owns’, Jesus declares. This truth is illustrated by the parable of the rich man who put huge energy into accumulating, holding onto and storing large quantities of grain. His was a false security; when his life came to a sudden end, his real insecurity was revealed. He had built his house on sand. Jesus declares that genuine security comes from making ourselves rich in the sight of God. Jesus was the person who was supremely rich in the sight of God. Rather than accumulating, he emptied himself in the service of God and God’s people. Insofar as we can enter into that self-emptying love of the Lord, we too will be rich in God’s sight and our lives will be truly secure.

And/Or

(viii) Monday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus tells a story of a man whose whole focus in life is to accumulate more and more. He is already rich at the beginning of the story. Nonetheless, it seems what he possessed wasn’t enough for him. After an exceptionally good harvest, he decides to go on a building spree. He knocks down perfectly good barns and builds bigger and better ones to store his extra grain and make his future even more secure than it already was. It is a story of someone who is thoroughly focused on himself; his speech is peppered with the words ‘I’ and ‘my’. In commenting on his own story, Jesus declares that even though this man looked very rich, at a more fundamental level he was very poor, because he was not rich in the sight of God. In immersing himself in his own possessions, he had lost sight of God completely. He never spoke to God; he was not aware of God. Yet, God was aware of him, and, at the end of the story, God spoke to him. God never loses touch with us, but we can lose touch with God. When that happens, our life is impoverished, even if we are well endowed with this world’s goods. In a sense, the gospel this morning calls on us to put first things first, to put God before all else. Being rich in the sight of God is more important than being rich in our own eyes or in the eyes of others. We are rich in the sight of God when we live our lives in the Spirit of God’s Son, who, more than any human being, was rich in the sight of God.

And/Or

(ix) Monday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

The parable Jesus tells in today’s gospel reading is the story of a man who sought to make his life secure by holding on to and enhancing what he owns. At the beginning of the story he is already a rich man; he has more than he needs. When he has an even bigger harvest than expected, his only problem is how to store this unexpected bonus. The answer he comes up with is to tear down his perfectly good barns and to build bigger ones. His preoccupation with storing his surplus blinds him to other more important considerations, such as, ‘What might God be asking me to do with my surplus?’ ‘How can I serve others with this surplus?’ He was looking for security in the wrong place. He thought that a greater abundance of possessions would make his life more secure. However, death came to him in the midst of his abundance; his life could not be secured in the way he thought. Jesus is saying to us that what makes our life really secure is making ourselves rich in the sight of God. We become rich in the sight of God by recognizing that all we have is ultimately a gift from God to be shared with others. God graces us so that we in turn can grace others. If we make ourselves rich in the sight of God by living generously out of the abundance that God has given us, then our lives will be truly secure with a security that endures beyond this earthly life into eternity.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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