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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 7 months

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16th February >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies for Today's Mass Readings (Inc. Matthew 9:14-15) for Friday after Ash Wednesday: ‘The time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away'.

Friday after Ash Wednesday

Gospel (Except USA) Matthew 9:14-15 When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast.

John’s disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast.’

Gospel (USA) Matthew 9:14-15 When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast.

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

Reflections (8)

(i) Friday after Ash Wednesday

Fasting doesn’t seem to be as prominent in our Catholic tradition as it used to be. The only days we are required to fast are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Fasting seems to have a higher profile in the Moslem tradition. Yet, fasting remains a value in the Christian tradition generally. It is at the opposite end of the spectrum to overindulgence. When we fast we are proclaiming that we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. In the gospel reading Jesus affirms the value of fasting for the period after his death (and resurrection), the time of the church, ‘The time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast’. We fast in order to be freer to serve the Lord and his people. In that sense, fasting is inseparable from pray and almsgiving, from the service of the Lord in prayer and the service of his people, especially those in greatest need. In the first reading, Isaiah stresses the connection between fasting and the service of the Lord’s most vulnerable people. There is no point in fasting while at the same time striking the poor person with the fist, he says. The fasting that is acceptable in the Lord’s eyes is the fasting that makes us more aware of the hungry, the homeless, the oppressed, the naked, the enslaved. Our voluntary denial of something we like is to make us more responsive to those who have little or no access to what we are denying ourselves. Our fasting is to flow over into what the Catholic tradition has called the corporal works of mercy. Then, in the words of the first reading, ‘your light will shine like the dawn’. Or as Jesus says in Matthew’s gospel, ‘Let you light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven’.

And/Or

(ii) Friday after Ash Wednesday

Both readings this morning speak of fasting, one of the traditional Lenten practices. We tend to think of fasting in relation to food. To fast is to deprive ourselves of certain foods for a period of time. In the first reading, however, Isaiah defines fasting much more broadly than that. He understands it as fasting from all those ways of relating to people that damage and oppress them and replacing such ways of relating with working for justice on behalf of those in greatest need. Isaiah seems to be saying that fasting can never be separated from that other Jewish practice that we associate with Lent, almsgiving, the sharing of our resources with others. On Ash Wednesday the gospel reading put before us the three great Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Isaiah reminds us this morning that all three stand or fall together. They are three expressions of one way of life. We cannot focus on any one to the detriment of the other two. Fasting is saying ‘no’ to something. Isaiah reminds us that such saying ‘no’ is always with a view to saying ‘yes’, a ‘yes’ that finds expression in greater service of our neighbour. Such service of others makes our prayer more acceptable to God. In the words of our first reading, ‘Cry, and the Lord will answer; call and he will say, “I am here”’.

And/Or

(iii) Friday after Ash Wednesday

In the first reading Isaiah makes a strong connection between fasting, on the one hand, and almsgiving and working for justice, on the other. The kind of fasting that pleases God, according to Isaiah, is one finds expression in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, letting the oppressed go free. We fast so as to be freer to give ourselves in the service of others. In the gospel reading Jesus affirms the value of fasting for the period after his death and resurrection. He too linked fasting and almsgiving closely together and he linked both with prayer, as was clear from the gospel reading that we read for Ash Wednesday. Within the Christian vision, fasting or abstaining is not about losing weight. Rather it is about become free of what is not essential so as to be able to give ourselves more fully in love to God in prayer and to our neighbour in loving service. We all have something to fast from; it may not necessarily be food or drink. We all have something to let go off so that we can be more available to the Lord for his work in the world. There may be something that absorbs us too much and that blocks our relationship with God and with others, especially those who need us most. Lent is a time when we ask for the grace to fast and step away from whatever that is holding us back, and hindering us from being all that God is calling us to be.

And/Or

(iv) Friday after Ash Wednesday

Jesus’ words in the gospel reading suggest that there is a time to fast and a time not to fast. He speaks of himself as the bridegroom, suggesting that his ministry is like a joyful wedding feast, when the divine bridegroom reaches out in love through Jesus to his bride, God’s people. There is no place for fasting at a wedding feast. There is no need for the bridegroom’s attendants, his disciples, to fast. However, alluding to his forthcoming death, he declares that the bridegroom will be taken away from his attendants and that will be an appropriate time to fast. In the words of Qoheleth in the Jewish Scriptures, ‘there is a time for every matter under heaven’, and we could add to his list, ‘a time to fast and a time not to fast’. Lent has traditionally been understood as a time to fast. It is a time when we identify with Jesus on his way to Jerusalem, the city of his passion and death, the city where he was taken away from his disciples. The first reading from Isaiah reminds us that our fasting is always to be linked to one of the other traditional Lenten practices, almsgiving or service of the needy. According to that reading, our fasting is in the service of letting the oppressed go free, feeding the hungry, sheltering the hungry and clothing the naked. We die to ourselves so as to give to others. We deprive ourselves so as to become more sensitive to those who are deprived and to serve them from our resources.

And/Or

(v) Friday after Ash Wednesday

The gospels suggest that people often asked Jesus the question, ‘Why?’ In particular, the religious leaders asked him why he was doing this or that or not doing this or that. There was clearly something new and different about the ministry of Jesus which gave rise to this repeated question, ‘Why?’ In this morning’s gospel reading, it is the disciples of John the Baptist who ask the question ‘Why?’ They wonder why Jesus and his disciples do not follow the fasting practices of the disciples of John the Baptist and of the Pharisees. In the gospel reading for Ash Wednesday, Jesus affirmed the value of the key Jewish practices of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, provided they are not done to attract attention. In this morning’s gospel reading, he indicates that the celebratory aspect of his ministry means that fasting cannot have the same significance as it does for the disciples of the Pharisees and John the Baptist. Jesus’ ministry is more like a wedding feast than a funeral, with himself as the bridegroom and his disciples as the bride. Jesus goes on to say that this celebratory element of his ministry does not exclude fasting. However, it does give it a different tone and focus. That celebratory element of the Lord’s ministry continues today in the church. The risen Lord wants his joy to be in our lives, a joy the world cannot give. Our fasting is with a view to entering more fully into the Lord’s joy; it is in the service of deepening our loving relationship with the Lord so that the joy of his Spirit may be in our lives. As Isaiah in the first reading reminds us, and as Jesus would confirm, our fasting is also in the service of a more loving relationship with others, especially those in greatest need.

And/Or

(vi) Friday after Ash Wednesday

There are only two days of fast and abstinence in Lent, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Yet, many people chose to fast from some form of food or drink for the season of Lent. According to the gospel reading, Jesus’ disciples were criticized by the disciples of John the Baptist for not fasting in the way they did. John the Baptist was a more austere man than Jesus. Jesus once referred to John the Baptist as one who had come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and to himself as the Son of Man who came eating and drinking. It seems that neither Jesus or his disciples were as much into fasting as John the Baptist and his disciples. There was something more celebratory about Jesus’ ministry in comparison to the ministry of John the Baptist. In the gospel reading, Jesus speaks of himself as the bridegroom and his disciples as the bridegroom’s attendants. Jesus’ life and ministry had something of the celebratory quality of a wedding, and who fasts at a wedding? Yet, Jesus also acknowledges that a time will come when fasting will be appropriate, ‘the time will come…’ Jesus is looking ahead there to the time of the church. When we fast from some food or drink, we are showing that it is not vitally important to us, that we are not dependent upon it. What really matters to us is our relationship with the Lord. We fast so as to as to grow in our relationship with the Lord. In the first reading, Isaiah links fasting to our relationship with those in greatest need. We fast so as to be freer to respond to the call of those who most need our help. Fasting is always in the service of our love of the Lord and our love of others. If fasting is a saying ‘no’ to something, it is always with a view to our making a more generous ‘yes’ to the Lord and his people.

And/Or

(vii) Friday after Ash Wednesday

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus affirms the value of the Jewish practice of fasting for his followers. ‘The time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast’, he says. Jesus is looking ahead to the time after his death and resurrection. He declares that beyond that time fasting will be appropriate for his disciples, but not during his public ministry which is equivalent to the joy of a wedding feast. In today’s first reading, Isaiah declares that fasting must be in the service of just relationships with others. He speaks of a fast that breaks unjust fetters, that leads to sharing our bread with the hungry and sheltering the homeless poor. Fasting can seem like something negative, a saying ‘no’ to something that can be good in itself, but, the prophet reminds us that this ‘no’ is always in the service of a more generous ‘yes’ to the Lord and his people, especially his most vulnerable people. We deny ourselves so that others can live more fully. We have become more aware in recent times that we need to say ‘no’ to others, to fast, so that our natural environment can also live more fully. Pope Francis reminds us of our responsibility to our environment in his wonderful encyclical ‘Laudato Sii’. We deny ourselves not only for the sake of others but for the sake of our natural environment. The Pope expresses this bond we have with all of creation very beautifully in that encyclical, ‘Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures, and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth’.

And/Or

(viii) Friday after Ash Wednesday

In the gospel reading, Jesus says to those who criticize his disciples for not fasting that his ministry is not the time for fasting. Why is it not the time for fasting? It is because Jesus’ short public ministry was too joyful a moment in God’s dealings with humanity. It had something of the quality of a wedding celebration. Jesus, the bridegroom, expects those who attend on him to be joyful rather than mournful. He asks, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them?’ There would come a time when the bridegroom would be taken away, when Jesus would be put to death. That would be a time of mourning, and fasting would be appropriate. However, that time of mourning would be short lived. On the third day after his crucifixion Jesus would be raised from the dead and the celebratory mood of Jesus’ public ministry would be restored. Indeed, it would be greatly enhanced, because form now on death would have no power over Jesus. It is worth reminding ourselves that even in this season of Lent we are living in the light of that first Easter. There is a place for fasting in the Christian life but it shouldn’t be of such a nature that it leaves us and others miserable. The bridegroom is very much still with us and he is constantly inviting us to the wedding feast of the Lamb. In the first reading, Isaiah reinterprets the Jewish practice of fasting as fasting from all forms of behaviour that are detrimental to others and, more positively, being proactive in regard to the full human flourishing of others. It means ‘to break unjust fetters… to let the oppressed go free… to share your bread with the hungry and shelter the homeless poor’. The practice of fasting has morphed into the Jewish practice of almsgiving, acts of justice and loving kindness that serves the wellbeing of others. Jesus would agree with Isaiah that this is the kind of fasting that is always in season and that we are all called to practice every day.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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starry-skies-116 · 1 year

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Personality Facts +More- Samuel Lee Witwicky (AU):

Introverted Pisces INFJ, what more can I say?

Autism, hyperphantasia, alexithymia.

The type of person to drink tea in the morning, also the type of person to prefer picnics on a spring day when the weather hits JUST right-

Also, Samuel’s def the type of person to love white chocolate sm. It’s one of his safe foods. One of his other preferred safe foods are those sour lychee candies/gummies. He actually has a whole list, in fact: among them include mac n cheese, specific sandwiches he buys from the deli, cake, fried rice, mooncakes, pancakes, bread with sprinkles and butter, REALLY well-made hot chocolate, home-cooked hotpot, potstickers, ramen, boba, california rolls, etc. Basically anything that’s warm and comforting.

He does like to eat ice cream, though- but every time he, Mikaela and Heidi go to get some he literally orders the same flavor and toppings every time (god me too).

Stomps on crunchy leaves in autumn when he thinks nobody’s looking 😗

Has way too many house plants that his mother always lets die. He never figures out why they always seemingly revive and regain their vitality near his presence until later events.

Has two or three plushies, one of which he sleeps with (and then there’s Heidi with a whole ass army of them-)

Loves to stargaze at the night sky, daydreaming about the life beyond there and fantasizing/planning obsessively over how his interactions with them will go if he were the one to make first contact (don’t tell him any spoilers now shhshshshhssh-)

Uses lots of emoticons when texting, especially ones like ‘:)’ ‘:3’ ‘:D’ ‘:(‘ and ‘<3’

Perceived as a cat person because of how mellow, non-confrontational and demure he acts, actually loves all animals (drawn to dogs to put some energy in his life because mans fr mimics behaviors similar to a cat sometimes sssshhhhh ♥️)

Typos/spelling errors frustrate him immensely, though he does his best not to show it (it doesn’t work lmao)

Mikaela and Heidi are his next-door neighbors, as well as his friends since childhood: they met when they were all five. Their friendship began to develop slowly due to many other factors in their life, but as they grew older they began to have the opportunities to spend more time together. The events of them crossing their own fates with that of the Autobots only served to make them further inseparable and strengthen their bonds.

They literally evolve from average supportive friendship still blooming awkwardly to ‘THIS IS MY BEST BITCH. WE ARE ONE UNIT. WE RIDE OR DIE.'

Sam primarily holds the role of the ‘default brain cell holder’ in the group. In other words, he holds the brain cell that they all share.

He’s also the shortest in the friend group, even though he’s average height and the height difference is in literal centimeters to the point where it’s barely noticeable (he’s 5’3/160 cm, Mikaela is 5’6/167 cm, and Heidi is 5’4/162.6 cm)

Elusive, enigmatic, secretive and reserved. Has all the traits of a leader and is decisive, despite being rather cautious and always opting for a peaceful solution. Strives to be kinder and wiser every day, so he can finally understand and truly connect with others. Prefers to keep things to himself- always shrewd and observant around people. Exceptionally prodigious beyond his years, master strategist, scientist and leader. He’s used to learning from his mistakes and making the best of bad situations, so he often denies any kind of pain he’s in no matter how severe it is.

That, or he literally does not recognize his pain at all. It takes him at least three to five business days at minimum for him to figure out his feelings and needs if those said sensations prolong for an extended period of time. If intense emotions flare up and then vanish just a moment after, it’ll fly right underneath his identification radar.

He’s sometimes prone to dissociative episodes to escape situations that remind him of trauma. Even with the AllSpark’s/Primus’s memories, anything that remotely triggers the traumatic parts of them causes him to slip into either a meltdown or a dissociative episode because of the emotions he feels and associates with them. Even when the memories are not Samuel’s… they still mean so much to him for no reason at all.

He spent his elementary and middle school years being homeschooled, and then the first time he’s ever been enrolled in public school was his Freshman Year.

His most exceptional traits are his curiosity, his compassion, and the sheer amount of effort he puts into trying to understand and communicate with others purely out of his kindness and care for people.

Samuel is very patient- however, that patience is born out of passivity. His lack of experience in social situations with those other than his friends, as well as a period in that time of bullying and ostracization, made him afraid to stick up for himself and to state his boundaries. When he came out to his parents and asked to transition on his thirteenth birthday, he was genuinely so scared that he was about to pass out.

As a result of his lack of socializing, he has a somewhat poor grasp of social interaction. His limited emotional expression and composed, impartial demeanor comes off as a bit eccentric and distant. Due to this, he admits to needing to study human emotions and ‘regular’ human interaction more. (autistic mood)

Sam loves to make either mental or physical note of things in his head that he deems of interest. Often, surprisingly they are odd but useful details that he somehow finds a way to utilize to his advantage.

Detests conflict, and always tries to negotiate and help people via kindness and not throwing hands. Despite the love he has and gives, he doesn’t really believe that he can ever protect anyone- not in a way that makes a difference. At the end of the day, all he wants is for people to get along.

Very observant of his surroundings- too observant. He jokingly refers to it as ‘gathering intelligence’, which isn’t too far off. Sensory issues essentially force him to pay attention to each and every little detail- but Samuel always insists that it’s fine, because ‘he’s used to it’ (shit explanation my guy-)

His favorite color changes from week to week- oftentimes it’s a whole color palette instead of just one color.

His camera roll isn’t really what you’d expect from someone as quiet and reserved as him: it’s full of cursed images, memes, stimboards, selfies of important moments with his friends, pictures of school notes and his workplace environment, and pictures of his dog.

He comes from a relatively wealthy family, but from the part-time jobs that he takes, he saves up money to buy more books, as well as anything that captivates him/immediately takes his interest hostage upon first glance (like I’m not kidding, it’s legit on-sight)

Whenever he’s captivated or genuinely, truly interested or enamored with something, he reacts like a cat in response to seeing shiny things. His eyes widen and get brighter, and his pupils dilate. He does barely noticeable stims (such as fiddling with his bracelet or jade pendant), and he leans closer, shuffling his feet to approach closer and closer without even realizing it.

He loves finding interesting rocks/geodes on occasion, and secretly making DIY-at-home jewelry at his part-time mechanic job with them and the equipment at his workbench. To get away with it, he arrives early, before his shift begins. He then shares the product with those he makes (whenever he isn’t burnt out): it’s his love language, finding cool rocks and making them into ‘socially acceptable’ gifts because he fears rejection sm 💔

Literally a sci-fi nerd. Gushes over shit like Star Wars and Star Trek and all that: has written novels and drawn fan art before, and basically died inside when Mikaela and Heidi discovered his stash in the closet when he was ten (bullied for his interests because other people can be assholes sometimes). He thought they both would leave him and never want to associate with him again, turns out they spent the next hour squealing over their blorbos, writing up headcanons/theories, and finding makeshift tools to cosplay characters.

Can’t relax his mind to save his life, honestly. There’s always a bottomless pit in his mind of ‘you are not doing enough, do enough so you can relax’ but it’s never enough. Whenever he’s restless, he fiddles with his clay bead bracelet or his jade pendant so that he doesn’t let his mind wander or race to places he doesn’t want it to go.

Low self-esteem, beats himself up for every mishap and mistake- (RSD guys, it sucks major ass-). Still has the occasional intrusive thought that nobody actually loves him, they just tolerate/ ‘put up with’ him, due to his childhood of being somewhat sheltered and socially ostracized by literally every kid except for his only two friends.

Even when he deadass has not only two friends, but a federal agent, the lead researcher of N.E.S.T, and a WHOLE GIANT FCKIN ROBOT ALIEN ARMY ready to straight commit WAR-CRIMES FRESH FROM THE OVEN FOR HIM at a MOMENT’S notice-

Dances as a hobby, loves to sketch scenery. He visits the city’s theater every other Saturday to greet and play with the kids living around that area who also come to visit. Community and connection is important to him, since he was deprived of several life experiences in his childhood.

As smart as he is, he desires nothing more than to learn with hands-on experience. He’s spent the entirety of his sheltered upbringing learning from books.

Literal GOD in the kitchen. He spent his entire childhood being somewhat sheltered, so he’s developed quite the pantheon of hobbies that he revolves his day around in his pastime. Baking sweets for others particularly makes him happy.

Living in symbiosis with the AllSpark embedded in your literal heart is… an experience, to say the least. Nevertheless, he finds a way to navigate the experience with the help of his family and friends.

Has a brotherly relationship with Bumblebee and it’s seriously one of the most wholesome things ever. Like seriously, when he called Bumblebee “gēge” on accident (“older/big brother” in Chinese), Bro just… had to physically resist the urge to straight up curl into a fetal position on the floor and cry pure joy. Mans was straight grinning from pure elation from one side of his visor to the other once he used his translators and realized what it meant-

Literally, Autobots like Ratchet and Optimus and Ironhide, etc etc… they will literally take ONE look at this guy watching the beat of a butterfly’s wings or something and immediately go: “mmmm yes he is very much son-shaped”

He can’t really read tone or social cues, ESPECIALLY when it comes to being directed at him. Whenever Jazz is being sarcastic or makes jokes that he can’t recognize the tone of, Samuel becomes so genuinely confused. And speaking of that, one of his habits when he’s confused and/or straining his mind to try and understand something, is to tilt his head and cross his arms with a finger raised to his lips to tap against it. Once again, it’s one of his stims that pops up when he’s trying really hard to discern an answer, or a proper way to navigate an unfamiliar situation with little clues.

#transformers #transformers au #transformers reboot au #concept stuff #au facts #sam witwicky #samuel lee witwicky #he is an icon #we stan

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victorboullet · 2 years

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Victor Boullet is bursting at the seams. It’s rare to find someone as dedicated to an enterprise, so committed to a life lived inseparable from art. The life of an artist, brutal entanglement.

“Rules to Keep the World away: Do not listen to people (more than is necessary); Do not look at people (ditto); Have as little intercourse with people as possible; When you come into contact with people, talk as little as possible” - Gwen John Papers (March 3, 1912)

***This as an initiatory offering, we will return to it again in a few months.

Chopin Rode a Donkey Part II

Chopin is Victor’s spectral companion. The pianist figured into Boullet’s paintings starting in 2012.

Explosions of joy caught between grotesqueries - this is the condition under which Frédéric Chopin lived and worked. Between long periods of illness and despair he took to the piano and composed what he could with the energy at hand. The man had expensive taste and ever-shifting finances. Worse yet, his ambitions of greatness were corrupted by a failing body.

Chopin: A man bent on proper dress and luxurious conditions - gloves, tailored garments. Chopin: always in vogue.

Chopin’s mazurkas, among his most acclaimed forms, were filtered into the pianist’s compositions. Opus 41 is one such arrangement - consisting of four mazurkas - which engages brisk waltzes, twiddling fingers, melancholic digressions, and absurd experimentations. In a letter composed in 1839, Chopin explains to a friend that this set has achieved something crucial, “They seem as lovely to me as only youngest children can be to an aging parent.” The biographer Benita Eisler recognizes the pieces as achieving “the ultimate romantic requirement: beauty touched with strangeness.” With this composition Chopin’s obsessive nature was “like flayed flesh” - laid bare.

A gray Chopin is reproduced throughout this series - a reflection of both illness and the composer’s request that the walls of his Parisian abode be cast in gray. Margot the Donkey is painted and repeated just the same. Chopin rode Margot in a velvet saddle behind a surrogate family on their walks through Nohant. His perpetually failing health rendered foot travel unfeasible.

The conditions of feebleness and alienation under which Chopin endured life are inextricably linked to the nature of his compositions. Despair, fits of exuberance, and precise sensitivities are but a few aspects of his interior world that yielded expanded boundaries of possibility in his artistic production.

Enter Franz Liszt as friend, competitor, and eventual enemy. Wikipedia holds that they “had some qualities of a love–hate relationship.” Liszt and Chopin: Both prodigious children.

Chopin was introverted, resigned to isolation in times of poor health. Liszt was a cult of personality: excessive, indulging in over-the-top showmanship. Both virtuosos excelled at their instrument and cultivating new pieces of music. Liszt drastically expanded harmonic capacities in his compositions, and basked in the creative potential of themes. Chopin invented new forms and fabricated his own unique versions of musical precedents. Chopin favored the Pleyel, “the last word in perfection,” refined, congruent, fundamental. Liszt favored the exorbitant Erard.

April 26, 1841. Frédéric Chopin gives a concert at Salle Pleyel (Paris, FR). Liszt rushes the stage and embraces Chopin as the piano’s final notes ring out.

May 2, 1841. Franz Liszt publishes a review of the Salle Pleyel performance in the Revue et Gazette Musicale. No mention of Chopin’s compositional acumen or the works he performed. Chopin and company recognized this as Liszt’s attempt to usurp some of Chopin’s acclaim. Friendship terminated.

Chopin won. He focused. He put the poetics of work first. Liszt The Ham wanted the limelight, attention-seeker extraordinaire.

Dreamscapes meet the natural world. A double portrait of Lars Hertervig appears as a disruption to the Chopin-o-sphere. Hertervig: another child prodigy. Chopin was a key player in the Romantic era, while Hertevig inherited its effects. Hertevig suffered from illness of the mind, as opposed to Chopin’s bodily plight. Both exiled, the former by mind, latter by flesh. Consigned to “madness,” the painter devised his own version of nature’s sublimity, one marked by an anomalous filtration system.

The artist toils in solitude.

I am granted a day of solitary play - me versus the paintings. Me alone in a castle, waltzing with compositions. Mandatory endurance I cannot escape until the job is done. These works require situationizing, I am their caretaker. The paintings will rest below their inevitable hanging positions for one night and one night only. Lights off and perhaps in the glow of the moon I will sit on the wooden floor, looking for revelations in the painting’s temporary dispositions.

Victor Boullet gets his own folder in my Google Drive.

Victor’s paintings are crude assuages.Surfaces worked and reworked, the precision of Victor’s marks. Scratches and protrusions. Clotted oils abandoned by the brush as it moves against the linen’s grain. Solemnity next door to the ass’s mocking toothery. A death mask invaded by a long-nosed jester.

Something crucial happens when you can’t make heads or tails. Understanding is processional. Mystery is a virtue, mystery is honest. Submit to it.

Victor Boullet is an artist. You will never see Victor Boullet in a pair of Nikes.

- Reilly Davidson

#reilly davidson #Victor Boullet

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fairycore-gyu · 4 years

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𝒏𝒄𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔

⇒ listen to cake by the ocean by dnce

renjun

arguments literally 24/7

of course it’s lighthearted but still 24/7

literally any topic you can debate about

but honestly you both get along amazing because you are so comfortable with each other

in your friend group you tend to separate but when you are alone together it’s a chillest of vibes

sharing music constantly and probably have shared playlists between the two of you ( ˘ ɜ˘) ♬♪♫

jeno

checking up on each other literally all the time

he texts you little things like “did you eat yet?” or “how are you feeling today?”

whether you are younger or older than him he is still the “mom” friend to you

whenever you leave each other you are always sure to say “i love you” to one another and if one of you forgets he will be sure to text it to you ♡( ◡‿◡ )

most people think you’re dating but everyone close to you knows that’s just how you are

haechan

clowning hours: open

y’all are always joking around and pranking others

you’re both inseparable because your bond is crazy strong

you also both know how to bring out the party in anyone

you can get everyone in your friend group hype in a matter of seconds

bottom line: y’all are partners in crime („ಡωಡ„)

jaemin

bro and sis relationship

period

super protective over you and will side with you 95% of the time

offers you the best advice and is always there when you need him

if you text him and tell him that you’re worried or stressed, he’ll be calling you the next second

super touchy with you and he has a habit of resting his head on your shoulder (つω`｡)

loves to get coffee with you and just sit and talk,,,, best bonding hours

chenle

everyone is sUpEr jealous of your relationship

you have so many inside jokes no one understands what you’re talking about

you do literally everything together

you watch him play basketball at least once a week and he’ll go shopping with you or get boba with you any chance he gets

fake fights™

you both use “bro” more often than your actual names lmao (￢_￢;)

also deep personal convos once it hits nighttime

jisung

gamer buddies,, like fr

you guys stay up til ungodly hours of the night playing video games

if he’s up late playing and he wants you to join, he’ll call you until you answer and make you play

but he also knows by the tone of your voice when you not havin it flshsksn

he values you a lot because you never baby him even if it’s joking cuz he gets a lot of that from the others

movie nights together whenever you’re both free but let’s be real it almost always ends up in a fight cuz he ate all the popcorn (・_・ヾ

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sophiexwrites · 4 years

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The Greek goddess Hera, but she divorced Zeus and she's lesbian?

Hera’s Mirth

(Thank you for the prompt... I love it so, so much.)

Setting: Mt. Olympus and wider Cyprus; time/period is unspecified

Trigger Warnings: Mention of illness and toxic relationship

Euphrosyne is pronounced you-fross-in-ee; yes-goose-find-right-body-zoom-kit-night-free

Mirth (noun): gaiety or jollity, especially when accompanied by laughter; amusement or laughter

Hera was done. Done with her husband,, done with his infidelity and recklessness, done with pretending she liked him at all. She was the Goddess of Marriage and the Family, but that did not mean she stood by bad or toxic relationships.

“I want a divorce.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure babe, go wild.” Zeus said, not listening as always. Instead he was peering down from Olympus, probably with his eye on another poor mortal or nymph. Hera would usually feel obliged to curse the girl and show all actions had consequences, even if she couldn’t curse the King of the Gods himself.

“You don’t understand.” Her hand slammed onto the table in front of him, eyes shining with rage. “I am the Goddess of Marriage. And I’m getting a divorce. As of...” She glanced to the marble sundial behind him, watching the shadow move to the hour. “...Now, I am a free woman, and you will rule alone.”

With the first genuine smile she’d made in millennia, she turned on her heel and stalked from the throne room, peacock gown trailing in her wake. She could already hear her throne crumbling behind her, but felt no grief in loosing her position. It’s not like she was allowed to do much ruling, anyways.

Bitterness clogged her laugh as she materialised in the mortal world, wandering through the streets of Cyprus in pauper’s dress. It was her birthplace, and she was glad the people seemed to be thriving, couples wandering the streets and buying goods with faces stretched into grins. Only one of these pairs, she knew, would have a rocky relationship, and for that small number she was glad.

“Miss!” A cry came from her right, as a small girl tugged one her arm. “Do you have any spare change? My mama’s ill and we can’t afford the doctor.”

“What about your papi?” Hera lent down to the girl - she had always had a soft spot for fully mortal children. “Is he at work to care for her?”

“No, Miss.” The child shook her head and bit her lip. “Papi is sick too.”

Hera felt a pang in her chest, and wondered if this compassion would last. “Then I will pray for them.” She cast a few golden coins into the child’s hands, who ran off a great deal happier than before, and made a mental note to shout at one particular step-son later. Apollo ought to do all of his job, not just the fun parts.

Hera continued down the street, in search of a particular soul. She hummed quietly under her breath as she made her way up the hill, godly speed and strength carrying her up without much effort. It left her mind free to wander, returning to the subject she’d repressed for years. It had been far too long, even for her immortal mind, since she’d felt so powerful and free. Maybe it would be enough this time.

Before her, the hill flattened out and revealed the sunset. It was beautiful, a million shades glowing and pulsing in the warm dusk air. Bright and brilliant, it would have blinded anyone less than a god. Perhaps there was no need to shout at Apollo after all. But it wasn’t the most beautiful sight Hera saw, as she wandered toward the cliff edge, eyes fixed upon a lithe figure bathed in shadow.

The ex-queen’s voice became gentle as she gazed upon the mortal with her watery oxen eyes. Gentle and quiet, to hide its fearful shake.

“Excuse me,” She was glad she didn’t have to breath to survive, because the view of soft brown hair framed in gold stole it all from her. “Is this spot taken?”

“Sorry, I’m waiting for someone.” The whispery voice was music to her ears, so much so she considered falling to her knees there and then.

“What if they’re the one asking, Euphrosyne?” A gasp left her lips as the mortal turned, standing within seconds. Her round jawline trembled, green eyes full of tears that were never meant to be hers.

“You... you came.” Was all she whispered before the dam broke and tears carved their tracks into her dark cheeks, brow furrowing in relief. For the first time in years she laughed, full of her usual joy and mirth.

“Of course, darling.” Hera’s arms were open wide, and the woman threw herself into them. Tears filled the Goddess’s eyes, hidden from her lover’s view, and almost fell into the curls as Hera carded her fingers through them. Soft, gentle and joyous, Hera knew she should outlive lifetimes more.

Like their hearts had.

“I missed you.” Hera admitted, quiet enough so no hidden deity would hear, but clear enough for her favourite person to smile again. That person pulled away to show her smile, white teeth sparkling in the fading light, like the moon reflects the sun. “I swear on the River Styx, Euphrosyne, I’ll never let myself miss you for so long ever again.” The wind howled at her oath, Euphrosyne’s eyes widening because she knew better than most what it meant to break that oath.

“Does this mean you... you know...”

“Am no longer married? No longer Queen? As free as I want to be? Yes.” Hands fitting into each others perfectly, they sank to the grassy floor.

“And how free is that?” Euphrosyne’s voice was wrecked with controlled emotion, but the trademark smile still graced her. She grinned with her eyes, a true smile that Hera could not have longed for more, as the mortal studied their entwined hands. In particular, her thumb rubbed against the Goddess of Marriage’s ring finger, shadow of a ring still visible despite the accessory's disappearance.

“Not free at all, if you would have me.” Their hands were lose once more, suddenly they ached to hold one another again. Yet only Euphrosyne’s palms were empty, because Hera held in her hands a ring more gold than the sunken sunk, topped with a gem shining and sparkling in a peacock’s hue. “Please, love. If I can make you immortal again, we can be together for eternity.” All caution was to the wind as Hera confessed to the one she needed most. “I love you.”

The words barely left before Euphrosyne’s lips were on hers, arms around her neck as Hera’s own made their way to her waist, pulling each other closer, begging to be inseparable. The kiss (oh, how Hera had longed for that kiss!) was short but powerful; the two of them felt more heavenly than any other blessing could have made them.

“Yes.” Euphrosyne rushed, glowing with more than just joy as the ring slipped onto her finger: a perfect fit. “I love you Hera, yes!” Golden light erupted from her chest and she burst into flames, consuming every inch of her mortal prison, hitting Hera full force with fire and ice, leeching into her veins and tugging at her heart. The light soon faded and Hera changed into her immortal figure - a mortal form would do no good as the returned goddess before her laughed.

“Hera! Hera, love, I’m back! You fixed me!” The sound was of birds chirping and choir children singing, waves against the shore and ice cubes on a warm day, melting with Hera’s last resolve.

“You were never broken.” She gushed, tears of joy dripping down her chin. “Darling, you were never anything but perfect.”

“Just cursed into this body for a millennia, right?” The Goddess of Mirth was laughing again, joking and letting her joy reign over anyone allowed near her. And to Hera, it made her the most beautiful being in the universe.

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romancatholicreflections · 6 years

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20th May >> Daily Reflections on Today’s Mass Readings for Roman Catholics on Pentecost Sunday, Cycle B. (Acts 2:1-11; I Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23). Fr. Antony Kadavil reflects and comments on the readings at Mass for the Pentecost Sunday. He says that Pentecost marks the end and the goal of the Easter season. It is a memorial of the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the Virgin Mary in the form of fiery tongues, an event that took place fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus. Acts 2:1-11; I Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23 Homily starter anecdote: "Well, Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore.” It happened in Galveston, TX. A woman was cleaning the bottom of the cage of her parrot Chippie with the canister vacuum cleaner. She was not using an attachment on the tube. When the telephone rang, she turned her head to pick it up, continuing to vacuum the cage as she said, "Hello," into the phone. Then she heard the horrible noise of Chippie being sucked into the vacuum. Immediately she put down the phone, ripped open the vacuum bag, and found Chippie in there, stunned but still alive. Since the bird was covered with dust and dirt, she grabbed it, ran it into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held the bird under the water to clean it off. When she finished that, she saw the hair dryer on the bathroom sink. She turned it on and held the bird in front of the blast of hot air to dry him off. A few weeks later, a reporter from the newspaper that originally published the story went out to the house to ask the woman, "How’s Chippie doing now?" She said, “He just sort of sits and stares." Today’s Gospel tells us that it was what happened to the apostles. They all were traumatized by the arrest and crucifixion of their master and bewildered by his post-Resurrection appearances and his command to prepare for the coming of his Holy Spirit. Many of us can identify with Chippie and the apostles. Life has sucked us up, thrown cold water on us, and blown us away. Somewhere in the trauma, we have lost our song. Hence, we, too, need the daily anointing of the Holy Spirit to keep us singing songs of Christian witnessing through agápe love. Introduction: The Jewish Pentecost: Both the Jews and the Christians now celebrate Pentecost. Along with the Feast of the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, Pentecost was one of the major feasts of the Jews. During these three great Jewish festivals, every male Jew living within twenty miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to go to Jerusalem to participate in the feast. The word Pentecost is Greek for pentecostes which means “fiftieth.” The feast received this name because it was celebrated fifty days after the Feast of the Passover. Another name for the Jewish Pentecost is Shebuot or "The Feast of Weeks“ (the "week" of seven Sabbaths between Passover and Pentecost). It was originally a day of thanksgiving for the completion of the harvest. During Passover, the first omer (a Hebrew measure of about a bushel), of barley was offered to God. At Pentecost, two loaves of bread were offered in gratitude for the harvest. Later, the Jews added to the Feast of Pentecost the element of Yahweh’s Covenant with Noah, which took place fifty days after the great deluge. Still later, they made this feast an occasion to thank God for His Sinaitic Covenant with Moses, which occurred fifty days after the beginning of the Exodus from Egypt. The Christian Pentecost: Pentecost marks the end and the goal of the Easter season. For Christians, it is a memorial of the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the Virgin Mary in the form of fiery tongues, an event that took place fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus. The Paschal mystery -- the Passion, the Death, the Resurrection, and the Ascension of Jesus -- culminates in the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father (at the request of His Son), on Jesus' disciples. The feast also commemorates the official inauguration of the Christian Church by the apostolic preaching of St. Peter, which resulted in the conversion of 3000 Jews to the Christian Faith. Pentecost is, thus, the official birthday of the Church. But years ago, This Rock Magazine reported that there were 34,000 Protestant denominations which means that, on the average, more than sixty-nine new denominations had sprung up every year since the Reformation began in 1517. So whose birthday is it anyway? You could say, Pentecost is the birthday of the Church Jesus established nearly 2,000 years ago. Today’s Scripture readings remind us that Pentecost is an event of both the past and the present. The main theme of today’s readings is that the gift of the Holy Spirit is something to be shared with others. In other words, the readings remind us that the gift of the Holy Spirit moves its recipients to action and inspires them to share this gift with others. The first reading (Acts 2:1-11), taken from the Acts of the Apostles, describes in detail the miraculous transformation that took place during the first Pentecost, thus fulfilling Jesus’ promise to his apostles that they would receive “Power from on high.” There was first “a noise like a strong driving wind.” Then there were “tongues as of fire” resting on the disciples, and each of them was filled with the Holy Spirit. The first manifestation of their reception of the Holy Spirit came when the apostles burst out of doors and began to proclaim the Good News of Jesus; everyone there (regardless of their many different native languages), was able to understand them “in his own tongue.” The Jews in the crowds came from sixteen different geographical regions. The miracle of tongues on Pentecost thus reverses the confusion of tongues wrought by God at the Tower of Babel, as described in Genesis 11. Later, the Acts of the Apostles describes how the Holy Spirit empowered the early Christians to bear witness to Christ by their sharing love and strong Faith. This "anointing by the Holy Spirit” also strengthened the early Christian martyrs during the period of brutal persecution that followed. In the Refrain for the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 104), we pray, “Lord, send out Your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth,” asking God for a “fresh anointing” of the Spirit for all of us. In the second reading (I Cor 12:3-7, 12-13), St. Paul explains how the sharing of the various spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit enriches the Church. He refers to the varieties of gifts given to the Church as coming from the same Spirit Who activates all of them in Christians for the common good. They are described as the gifts, fruits and charisms of the Spirit. They may take different forms like prophecy, teaching, administration, acts of charity, healing and speaking in tongues, and they may reside in different persons like apostles, prophets, teachers, healers and so on. Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit in his Letter to the Galatians “What the Spirit brings is … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (5:22-23a). He continues, “Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit” (5:25). Paul insists that these spiritual gifts are to be used in the present time for the benefit of others, for the common good and for the building up of the Body of Christ. In today’s Sequence, the Church repeats her payer of invitation to the Holy Spirit to come to us all now and details the effects His presence and His gifts will have on all of us, if we choose to receive them. Today’s Gospel relates how the Risen Jesus gave his apostles a foretaste of Pentecost on the evening of Easter Sunday by appearing to them and sending them to carry on the mission given him by his Heavenly Father. He then empowered them to do so by breathing upon them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” On the day of Pentecost, Jesus fulfilled his promise to send the Advocate or Paraclete. The gift of the Spirit would enable them to fulfill Jesus’ commission to preach the Gospel to all nations. Today’s Gospel passage also tells us how Jesus gave to the Apostles the power and authority to forgive sins. “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” These wonderful words, which bind together inseparably the presence of the Holy Spirit with the gift of forgiveness, are referred to directly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But they have a much wider meaning. Those words remind us of the Christian vocation we all have, to love and forgive as we have been loved and forgiven in the world of today, which is often fiercely judgmental and vengeful. Exegetical notes: The role of the Holy Spirit in Christian life: 1) As an indwelling God, He makes us His Living Temples (I Cor 3:16). 2) As a strengthening God, He strengthens us in our fight against temptations and in our mission of bearing witness to Christ by transparent Christian lives. 3) As a sanctifying God, He makes us holy through the Sacraments: a) Through Baptism He makes us children of God and heirs of Heaven. b) ThroughConfirmation, He makes us temples of God, warriors and defenders of the Faith. c) Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, He enables us to be reconciled with God by pardoning our sins d) Through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, He gives us spiritual nourishment by converting bread and wine into Jesus’ Body and Blood through Epiclesis. e) Through the Sacraments of the priesthood and matrimony, He makes the Church community holy. 4) As a teaching and guiding God, He clarifies and constantly reminds us of Christ’s teachings and guides the Magisterium of the Church to present Christ’s teachings correctly. 5) As a listening and talking God, He listens to our prayers and enables us to pray, and He speaks to us mainly through the Bible. 6) As a Giver of gifts, He pours out on us His gifts, fruits and charisms, thus enriching the Church. Action of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and of the Church: How beautiful is the thought that the Holy Spirit lives within us! Saint Paul reminds the Corinthian community of this fact when he asks, "Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?" (I Corinthians 3:16). It is the Holy Spirit who develops our intimacy with God. "God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, ‘Abba!' ('Father!’)” (Gal 4:6). "God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). "No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit" (I Corinthians 12:3). Moreover, we know that it is the Holy Spirit Who teaches us to pray (Romans 8:26). By the power of the Spirit, we also know the Lord Jesus through his Church. Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of the Church. It is the Holy Spirit who enlivens, enlightens, guides, and sanctifies the Church. The Psalm refrain for this Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 104) says it so well: “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.” We know Jesus through the Sacramental Mysteries of the Church, and Holy Spirit is at the heart of the Sacramental life of the Church. Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders are the Sacramental Mysteries through which people receive the seal of the Holy Spirit. It would be impossible for us to receive Jesus in the Eucharist without the descent of the Holy Spirit at the Epiclesis of the Divine Liturgy. Even the forgiveness of sins comes through the Holy Spirit (John 20:21-23). The Holy Spirit both confirmed the apostles in Holy Orders as priests and empowered them to forgive sins by His power, a work which He continues today in each of our priests. Holy Spirit in the daily lives of Christians: The Spirit is that Paraclete (a Greek word that is translated as Counselor, Comforter, Helper, Encourager, or Enabler), Who quietly works in us and through us every day behind the scenes in the basic activities of our lives and the lives of the people around us. He is there in all his fullness wherever people worship and pray in the name of Jesus. When we believe and trust in Jesus we have that Faith through the Holy Spirit’s work in us, filling us with Himself and His Gifts. The Holy Spirit leads us to turn away from our sinfulness and reassures us that we are still loved in spite of our sin, and that Jesus died on a cross just for those moments when we rebel against God's way. He confronts us and urges us to take a good look at ourselves and where we are heading, to make a U-turn, to leave the old behind and try something new. He’s not afraid to challenge us and stretch us to go and do things for Christ – things we have never done before or ever imagined ourselves doing. He’s the One Who says to us, "Stop being so self-focussed. Stop looking into yourself all the time and being depressed by what you see or fool yourself into thinking that what you see in yourself is enough to get you through! Look up, look away, look to Jesus and let Him turn your around; let Him take control!" “The feast of Pentecost celebrates the unseen, immeasurable presence of God in our lives and in our Church – the ruah that animates us to do the work of the Gospel of the Risen One, the ruah that makes God’s will our will, the ruah of God living in us and transforming us so that we may bring His life and love to our broken world. God “breathes” His Spirit into our souls that we may live in His life and love; God ignites the “fire” of His Spirit within our hearts and minds that we may seek God in all things in order to realize the coming of His reign.” (Connections). The Holy Spirit, the Helper is quietly at work: in the sincere concern of a friend for our health; in the generosity of those who give us so much help; in the inner strength we discover in times of crisis; in those moments when we admit that we have been wrong; in the making of a tough choice; in the resilience of people who face one bad thing after another; in times when we have dared to love even though it was hard to do so. The Holy Spirit, the Helper, is quietly at work: in our taking on responsibilities that we once thought beyond us; in our refusing to let the greed of society take over our soul; in our giving thanks always, even though times have been hard; in our rising above past failures and putting past hurts behind us; in our finding a central core of peace in the midst of turmoil; in an adult patiently teaching a child self-esteem and self-control; in the person sitting quietly beside a hospital bed; in a parent praying for a troubled son or daughter. The Spirit calls us to repentance, to turn our lives around; He calls us to Faith and to take up our cross and follow Jesus. Whenever we look to the Holy Spirit, He is within us as our Helper, always assisting us to be what God made us to be. The Holy Spirit helps us to be truly great by becoming servants to one another. Likewise, the Spirit deepens our awareness of Jesus loving us as he lives in our lives; He gathers us around the cross of Jesus; He changes our lives, helping us to be more patient and forgiving, to seek new beginnings in our relationships with one another and to let the power of God's love have the final say over the conflicts and difficulties we get into. He is available to us every moment of every day as we face the choices between being self-centred or being the God-cantered people, the Spirit has called us to be in Christ. Life messages: 1) We need to permit the Holy Spirit to direct our lives: a) by constantly remembering and appreciating His Holy Presence within us, especially through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation; b) byfortifying ourselves with the help of the Holy Spirit against all types of temptations; c) by seeking the assistance of the Holy Spirit in our thoughts, words, and deeds, and in the breaking of our evil habits; d) by listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us through the Bible and through the good counsel of others; e) by fervently praying for the gifts, fruits and charisms of the Holy Spirit; f) by renewing our lives through the anointing of the Holy Spirit; and g) by living our lives in the Holy Spirit as lives of commitment, of sacrifice, and of joy. We are called to love as Jesus loved, not counting the cost. As Saint Paul exhorts us, "Walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16, 25). 2) We need to cultivate the spirit of forgiveness. The feast of Pentecost offers us the chance to look at the role which forgiveness should play in our dealings with others. Thus, we are challenged to examine our sense of compassion, patience, tolerance and magnanimity. Learning to forgive is a lifelong task, but the Holy Spirit is with us to make us agents of forgiveness. If we are prepared on this day of Pentecost to receive the Holy Spirit into our lives, we can have confidence that our lives will be marked by the Spirit of forgiveness. 3) We need to observe Pentecost every day. "It will always be Pentecost in the Church," affirmed Blessed Oscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador, on Pentecost Sunday 1978, "provided the Church lets the beauty of the Holy Spirit shine forth from her countenance. When the Church ceases to let her strength rest on the Power from above which Christ promised her and which he gave her on that day, and when the Church leans rather on the weak forces of the power or wealth of this earth, then the Church ceases to be newsworthy. The Church will be fair to see, perennially young, attractive in every age, as long as she is faithful to the Spirit that floods her and she reflects that Spirit through her communities, through her pastors, through her very life" [The Violence of Love, (Farmington, PA: The Plough Pub. Co., 1998).] [Archbishop Oscar Romero was beatified May 23, 2015 by Pope Francis.] Archbishop Romero’s declaration reminds us -- as does today’s Gospel -- that Pentecost is not just one day, but every day. Without breath, there is no life. Without the Spirit, the Church is a field of dry, dead bones. The Venerable Fulton J. Sheen once said about the Church, "Even though we are God's chosen people, we often behave more like God's frozen people--frozen in our prayer life, frozen in the way we relate with one another, frozen in the way we celebrate our Faith." [Bishop Fulton J. Sheen was declared Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI in June, 2012.] Today is a great day to ask the Holy Spirit to rekindle in us the spirit of new life and enthusiasm, the fire of God's love. Let us repeat Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman’s favorite little prayer, “Come Holy Spirit:” “Come Holy Spirit Make our ears to hear Make our eyes to see Make our mouths to speak Make our hearts to seek Make our hands to reach out And touch the world with your love. AMEN.” [Cardinal Newman was beatified September 19, 2010 by Pope St. John Paul II.] 4) We need to be Spirit-filled Christians: Spirit-filled people acknowledge their weaknesses, ask for the strengthening, anointing and guidance of the Holy Spirit every morning, ask for His forgiveness every evening, and pass on that forgiveness to those who sin against them. Spirit-filled people are praying people. Paul encourages us, "Pray on every occasion as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray for all God's people" (Eph 6:18). They are praying and worshipping God in their families and parishes. They try to grow continually in their Faith, and they seek out every opportunity to discover Christ and what it means to be children of God. Spirit-filled people are people who allow the Spirit to change their lives through their daily reading of the Bible and their frequenting of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. Spirit-filled people speak words that heal, restore, make people happy and build people up instead of tearing them down. Spirit-filled people pass on the love of God to the people living around them by their acts of kindness, mercy and charity. Hence, let us ask the Holy Spirit for a spirit of love instead of hate, a spirit of helpfulness instead of non-cooperation, a spirit of generosity instead of greed and a spirit of gentleness in place of our spirit of ruthlessness. (Fr. Antony Kadavil)

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pamphletstoinspire · 6 years

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Catholic Prophecy - Part 15

42 Catholic Prophecy

After noting that the Council of Trent was a gift of God to enlighten and strengthen the Christians of our times, Ven. Holzhauser goes on to say that another Council is to take place at the time of the Great Monarch. (The Ecstatic of Tours says the same.) Yet, strangely enough, Vatican I and Vatican II are mentioned nowhere. Why? I submit that there may be a number of reasons. Obviously, Ven. Holzhauser can mention only the most significant events of the fifth period. Now, Vatican I may in no way be compared to Trent. It did define Papal infallibility, but its work was unfinished.

Vatican II purposely refrained from being doctrinal; the accent was on the pastoral side of things. But even in a "pastoral" Council it is impossible to avoid all references to doctrinal matters. Vatican II got out of the difficulty by compromise and ambiguities. The Conciliar Fathers were so divided on so many vital issues that it could not have been otherwise, short of a Papal intervention. (The Pope, however, did intervene in a limited way). Had the Council wanted to be doctrinal, it could not have done so either, unless, again, the Pope had imposed his own decisions. It follows that, doctrinally, Vatican II is insignificant.

Pastorally, it could have achieved a great deal, but the climate of permissiveness, hesitancy, timorousness (which is so typical of our times) is hardly propitious for the imposition of firm guidelines. In other words, Rome has failed to impose the correct implementation of the Council's decrees. What has been imposed constitutes a mockery of what had been decided, and it has been imposed by the sizeable proportion of Ecclesiastics, in the world and in the Vatican itself, who are currently subverting the Church.

The liturgy is a case in point: Vatican II permitted an extension of the use of the vernacular, while it commanded that Latin should be retained. There is nothing wrong, really, in extending the use of the vernacular to the reading of the Epistle and Gospel. But when this latitude results in the complete elimination of Latin, when it leads to the abandonment of Gregorian Chant (which is inseparable from Latin), and to the adoption of guitar-playing and hand-clapping, it is then clearly in opposition to what Pope John intended when he wrote his encyclical Veterum Sapientia on retaining Latin.

The result, of course, is here for everyone to see: confusion in the Church, shocking innovations, defections of priests, a sharp drop in vocations and conversions, etc. The Second Vatican Council, therefore, has indirectly precipitated the

Paragraph 46 43

crisis which had been brewing for about sixty years. Far from being a ''renewal", it marks instead the coming end of the fifth period of the Church, mentioned by Ven. Holzhauser.

It must be understood, however, that it is not my intention to oppose in a sweeping statement all the changes which have taken place since Vatican II. Throughout history the Church has had to adopt herself to changing conditions. The changes brought about by St. Pius X, who is now regarded as a Conservative, were unprecedented at the time. Conservatism does not mean immobilism. On the contrary, it implies regular overhauls and renovations. This is so because nothing can be conserved without some work of maintenance and renovation, and the Church is no exception. Obviously, in this changing world of ours some sort of updating was called for. That is why there is no question of rejecting indiscriminately all changes. What is to be deplored, however, is that the wise updating intended by John XXIII has become synonymous with Revolution, and that the necessary changes have become a pretext for a clean break with the past.

Obviously, a Council which asserts nothing doctrinally, at the very time when every doctrine is boldly being challenged, and fails to enforce what it decides pastorally, cannot be a very significant Council in the historical perspective. If we fail to see this just now, it is because we are not yet in the broad historical perspective. We are still in the post-conciliar perspective — far too close for a correct assessment. Ven. B. Holzhauser, however, cast his prophetic eye on the general historical perspective, and this may explain why he did not mention the Second Council of the Vatican.

|[ 47. Venerable Holzhauser (Continued) . "When everything has been ruined by war, when Catholics are hard-pressed by traitorous co-religionists and heretics, when the Church and her servants are denied their rights, when the monarchies have been overthrown and their rulers murdered, then the hand of Almighty God will work a marvelous change, something seemingly impossible according to human reason. . .

"There will rise a valiant king anointed by God. He will be a Catholic and a descendant of Louis IX, yet a descendant also of an old imperial German family, born in exile. He will rule supreme in temporal matters. The Pope will rule supreme in spiritual matters at the same time. Persecution will cease

44 Catholic Prophecy

and justice shall reign. He will root out false doctrines. His dominion will extend from East to West. All nations will adore God their Lord according to Catholic teaching. There will be many wise and just men. People will love justice, and peace will reign over the whole earth, for Divine Power will bind Satan for many years until the coming of the Son of Perdition. . .

"After desolation has reached its peak in England, peace will be restored and England will return to the Catholic faith with greater fervour than ever before. . .

'The Great Monarch will have the special help of God and be unconquerable. . ."

Comment: Venerable Holzhauser correctly saw three hundred years ago that, in our own times, the restoration of Monarchy would seem impossible according to human reason. It does seem impossible. Yet, if we consider the manner in which a handful of doctrinally well-trained and determined Bolsheviks took over Russia in 1917, and if we consider that there exists at present in Europe an equally well-trained and determined association of dedicated Catholics who are sparing no efforts to sow the seeds of renewal and are spreading the sound concepts of Catholic thinkers and philosophers who are just as unknown as Karl Marx was in 1850 — but not less capable, one can see, then, that God has already set the stage for the marvelous renewal which He will work.

|f 48. 1 Bl. Anna-Maria Taigi ( 1 9th century) . "God will send two punishments; one will be in the form of wars, revolutions and other evils; it shall originate on earth. The other will be sent from Heaven. There shall come over the whole earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights. Nothing can be seen, and the air will be laden with pestilence which will claim mainly, but not only, the enemies of religion. It will be impossible to use any man-made lighting during this darkness, except blessed candles. He, who out of curiosity, opens his window to look out, or leaves his home, will fall dead on the spot. During these three days, people should remain in their homes, pray the Rosary and beg God for mercy.

jf 48.2 "All the enemies of the Church, whether known or unknown, will perish over the whole earth during that universal darkness, with the exception of a few whom God will soon

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convert. The air shall be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms.

fl 48.3 "Religion shall be persecuted, and priests massacred. Churches shall be closed, but only for a short time. The Holy Father shall be obliged to leave Rome.

fl 48.4 "France shall fall into a frightful anarchy. The French shall have a desperate civil war in the course of which even old men will take up arms. The political parties, having exhausted their blood and their rage without being able to arrive at any satisfactory settlement, shall agree at the last extremity to have recourse to the Holy See. Then the Pope shall send to France a special legate. . . In consequence of the information received, His Holiness himself shall nominate a most Christian King for the government of France.

fl 48.5 "After the three days of darkness, St. Peter and St. Paul, having come down from Heaven, will preach in the whole world and designate a new Pope. A great light will flash from their bodies and will settle upon the cardinal who is to become Pope. Christianity, then, will spread throughout the world. He is the Holy Pontiff, chosen by God to withstand the storm. At the end, he will have the gift of miracles, and his name shall be praised over the whole earth.

jj 48.6 Whole nations will come back to the Church and the face of the earth will be renewed. Russia, England, and China will come into the Church.

Comment: This prophecy does not add anything new to what we already know from the other prophecies quoted in the twelfth issue of World Trends, but it does bring further evidence concerning the events to come. One might conceivably entertain doubts if we had only two or three different prophecies, but it would be unreasonable to do so when we possess well over one hundred, coming from different sources.

Among the books written on Anna-Maria Taigi, we have Wife, Mother and Mystic, written by Albert Bessieres, S.J., - and translated into English by Fr. Stephen Rigby. In his introduction, Fr. Rigby quotes an interesting passage from Louis Veuillot's book The Fragrance of Rome. This passage is better than anything I could say to acquaint my readers with the extraordinary gifts of Anna-Maria Taigi (I quote):

"Her intellectual gifts were altogether overshadowed by an unexampled miracle. Shortly before she had entered on the

46 Catholic Prophecy

way of perfection there began to appear to her a golden globe which became as a sun of matchless light; in this all things were revealed to her. Past and future were to her an open book.

"She knew with certainty the fate of the dead. Her gaze travelled to the ends of the earth and discovered there people on whom she had never set eyes, reading them to the depth of their souls. One glance sufficed; upon whatever she focused her thoughts, it was revealed to her and her understanding. She saw the whole world as we see the front of a building. It was the same with nations as with individuals; she saw the cause of their distresses and the remedies that would heal them.

"By means of this permanent and prodigious miracle, the poor wife of Domenico Taigi became a theologian, a teacher, and a prophet. The miracle lasted forty-seven years. Until her death the humble woman was able to read this mysterious sun as an ever-open book. Until her death she looked into it solely for the glory of God; that is, when charity suggested or obedience demanded it. Should things for which she had not looked, or which she did not understand, appear she refrained from asking explanations.

"The poor, the great of the world, the princes of the Church came to her for advice or help. They found her in the midst of her household cares and often suffering from illness. She refused neither her last crust of bread nor the most precious moment of her time, yet she would accept neither presents nor praise.

"Her most powerful friends could not induce her to allow them to favour her children beyond the conditions in which they were born. When she was at the end of her resources, she told God about it, and God sent what was necessary.

"She thought it good to live from day to day, like the birds. A refugee queen in Rome wished to give her money. 'Madame,' she said, 'how simple you are! I serve God, and He is richer than you.'

"She touched the sick, and they were cured; she warned others of their approaching end, and they died holy deaths. She endured great austerities for the souls of purgatory, and the souls, once set free, came to thank her. . . She suffered in body and soul. . . She realized that her role was to expiate the sins of others, that Jesus was associating her with His Sacrifice,

Paragraph 49 47

and that she was a victim of His company. The pains of Divine Love have an intoxication no words can explain. After Holy Communion there were times when she sank down as though smitten by a prostrating stroke. To tell the truth, her state of ecstasy was continual because her sense of the presence of God was continual. . . All pain was sweet to her. . . She went her way, her feet all bloody; with shining eyes she followed the Royal way.

"Behold, then, the spectacle God raised to men's sight in Rome during that long tempestuous period which began at the time the humble Anna-Maria took to the way of saints!

"Pius VI dies at Valence; Pius VII is a prisoner at Fontainebleau; the revolution will reappear before Gregory XVI reigns. Men are saying that the day of the Popes is over, that Christ's law and Christ Himself are on the wane, that science will soon have relegated this so-called Son of God to the realm of dreams. . . He will work no more miracles.

"But at precisely this time God raised up this woman to cure the sick. . . He gives her knowledge of the past, present and future. She declares that Pius VII will return. She sees even beyond the reign of Pius IX. . . She is God's answer to the challenge of unbelief. "

|f 49.1 Fr. Nectou, SJ. ( 18th century). (Father Nectou was Provincial of the Jesuits in the south-west of France. The priests who knew him all regarded him as a saint and a prophet. He died in 1777. The following prophecy was made circa 1760.)

#catholic prophecy

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mike-faist-is-the-best · 7 years

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Gone (Connor)

Summary: You were always there for Connor, until he wasn’t there anymore

Warnings: Suicide mention

A/N: This was sad to write, but enjoy :)

masterlist

Connor Murphy. The only boy you met in seventh grade and became friends with immediately. It all started when the teacher announced partners and you and Connor got paired. You were new to school, so you didn’t understand why everybody picked on him. He was relatively nice to you, not that he spoke much. And he was smart. But then, you talked to another person in school and they told you that Connor was a freak. You kept talking to him and eventually he began to talk back to you. From then on, the two of were practically inseparable. In junior year, something happened. You started developing feelings for each other. But, it took a long time for either of you to admit it to each other. When you did though, it made everything so much easier.

“Hey, you ready for senior year?” You asked, smiling to your boyfriend and getting into his car.

“I guess.” He grumbled.

“What’s wrong? Is it your parents again?” You asked, concerned.

“It doesn’t matter.” He said and the drive was silent. This was a typical morning, where Connor spoke a maximum of ten words. But you wouldn’t stop talking.

“I heard Ms. Diaz got fired. That’s pretty interesting. I’m pretty sure it was because she was selling drugs to students.” You said, and Connor said nothing. You gave up trying to make small talk. the two of you walked into school when Jared Kleinman came up to the two of you.

“Hey Y/N, did you get hotter over the summer? And Connor, I’m loving the outfit, very school shooter chic.” He said, smiling, and you rolled your eyes.

“Fuck off Kleinman.” You said, and grabbed Connor’s hand to calm him down.

“It was a joke.” He said. “It supposed to be funny.”

“Oh, I know. I get it. I’m laughing. I am not laughing hard enough for you?” You started to push him away lightly, so he wouldn’t do something stupid.

“Connor, it’s okay. He’s just an asshole.” You said.

“Here, we have first period together. Let’s go.” He started walking away quickly and you turned back to see Jared again. He winked at you and made a gesture with his hand to call him. You flipped him off and jogged to catch up with Connor.

After school, the ride from school was anything but silent. Connor was ranting about home paper he saw.

“Maybe it wasn’t for you. You never know.” You said, re-reading the letter.

“I was the only other person in the computer lab. He could’ve waited till I left, but he printed right at that moment.” He said, his voice getting louder.

“Connor, it’s alright-”

“No! Nothing’s alright! This is another stupid fucking year, and stupid fucking people!”

“Connor, listen. I’m here. I will always be here for you.” You said, and leaned over to give him a quick kiss. He pulled into your driveway, and you opened the door.

“Thanks, I love you.” You said, kissing him again, and exiting the car.

“Love you too.” He said, quietly, before driving away.

The next day, Connor didn’t show up for school. That wasn’t unusual, except for the fact that he usually told you when he wasn’t going to school. It was fine, but you were kinda lonely. And then during math class, you got a text from him.

Con:

Meet me outside of school

You raised your hand to use the bathroom and quickly walked to the front of school and saw him smoking a joint.

“Where were you?” You asked, hugging him slightly. “You didn’t text, so I figured something happened.”

“I just, needed to think.” He said.“Care to share?” You asked.

“Not really, but why not.” He said, and the two of you took a seat on one of the benches. “It all started this morning. Fucking Zoe complaining about how I take too long in the bathroom but she takes fucking five hours! And then, my dad gets into this huge argument about how I don’t try to do anything!”

“That’s rough, but soon, we’ll be done with all of them, and we can move away together and forget about this town.” You said, and he smiled slightly.

“Here. I, uh, actually have something for you.” He handed you a folded up piece of paper. “But don’t read it until tomorrow, promise me.”

“I promise.” You said, and kissed him. The bell rang which brought you out of the trance. “Come on, let’s go to class.”

“Okay.”

That night, you were pacing around the folded piece of paper. What if you read it? What’s the worst that could happen? No. Connor told you to read it tomorrow. To pass time, you tried to think of what could be in the letter. Was it something sweet? Like a love letter? You smiled at the thought. Was it another one of his rants? No, it couldn’t be, whenever he wrote a rant, it would be at least three pages. What could it be? Soon enough, you fell asleep on the table.

Before school, Connor didn’t show up again. Maybe this was a new thing, you met up with him during math class and talked in private there. Your thoughts were caught short when your name was announced on the loudspeaker to go to the principals office. You walked there quickly, eager to know what was going on. In the office, you saw three people. Mr. Murphy, Mrs. Murphy, and a kid you’ve never seen before.

“Take a seat.” Mr. Murphy said, and you took a seat. You quickly looked at your watch and realized that you should probably open the letter Connor gave to you, but you were too confused as to why the Murphy's were here.

“If I may ask, what’s going on?” You questioned and Mr. Murphy sighed, while Mrs. Murphy almost started crying.

“This morning, Connor wasn’t at home. That’s normal, except that we noticed that the medicine cabinet was left open, and some pills were gone.” You didn’t like where this conversation was going. “And then, we found Connor unconscious at the park.”

“So he’s unconscious? When can I see him?” You asked, hoping that you could.

“Connor was dead, by the time they brought him to the hospital.” Your whole world came crashing down. It can’t be true. Connor wouldn’t leave you.

“What?” You asked, and Mrs. Murphy started sobbing. You looked to the boy next to you, who just looked uncomfortable.

“I know the two of you must have been really close with him. Evan, he had a note to you when we found him. And Y/N, you were the person who made him better,-”

“We thought you were fixing him!” Mrs. Murphy yelled, and you wiped at your eyes, but it would do no good.

“Cynthia, please.” Mr. Murphy said to his wife. And the boy, Evan, you were most confused by. Connor never mentioned him hanging out with Evan.

“I-I’m sorry, but, but what letter?” Evan spoke up for the first time.

“The letter that he meant to send to you. ‘Dear Evan Hansen, turns out today wasn’t such a god day’.” They read out the letter and you recognized it as the letter that Connor had taken from the printer. Why was is still in his pocket? Maybe he forgot to take it out and this is all one big misunderstanding.

“Look, Larry. His arm.” Mrs. Murphy said, and you looked over to see Connors name written in big letters on his cast.

“oh, oh it-its one big-”

“You were friends with him?”

“We-well, no-”

“Larry, Connor had friends, and we didn’t know.” Evan shut his mouth and you stormed out of the room to the bench where the two of you were yesterday. You tentatively pulled out the piece of paper and unfolded it.

Y/N,

I’m sorry. You deserve better than me. Please forget about me and live off your dream of moving away with somebody who deserves you.

Connor

You started sobbing. How could he think this way? If you opened the letter sooner, you could’ve saved him.

“It’s all my fault.” You sobbed, putting hands over your face.

You stormed into school the next day and stormed over to Evan Hansen and Jared Kleinman, holding a piece of paper.

“What the fuck are you doing?” You snapped at the boys.

“Wh-what do you, uh, mean?” Evan asked, clearly intimidated.

“What do I mean? You starting this fucking Connor project, you didn’t even know him!” You yelled.

“Woah, calm down!” Jared said and you glared at him. “Look, we can fix this.”

“No, you can’t. You ruined his memory!” You yelled and stormed away.

That night, the Murphy’s invited you to dinner that night. You had been here many times, and this would be the first time that you would go into Connor’s room since his death. You slowly walked up the stairs and were greeted by Zoe, his younger sister.

“Y/N, hi.” She said, and you smiled softly.

“Hi, Zoe. I’m just-”

“no, I get it.” She said, and left. You walked up to the door and shut you eyes. Maybe if you went in there, Connor would be there, and you wouldn’t have to live without him. but, when you got in there, there was only the faint smell of weed and a messy room. There was one thing that stood out to you. On the wall, there was a picture of you. It was small, and Connor must have taken it on a date. You smiled and wiped away a few of the tears that managed to escape your eyes. You found one of his hoodies, an all black one that he wore on the first date. You grabbed it and inhaled his scent. You felt a presence behind you and saw Mrs. Murphy.

“Mrs. Murphy! I am so-”

“It’s okay.” She said, and came to you. “This is my first time in here, after, uh, his passing.”

“I didn’t know about any of this. I thought he would tell me, but he never told me anything like it.” You said.

“He cared about you a lot. We noticed after the two of you started dating, he was better. And he was doing so much better, but then-” She broke down crying and you cried with her. Connor Murphy wasn’t the best person, but he was now gone, and people perceived him to be a better person than he was.

“I was the only one there for him, and, and I thought I was fixing him too.” You said.

“But what about Evan?” She asked and you shook your head.

“Connor never talked to Evan. He never mentioned him either.” You said and she looked confused.

“But he showed us emails and proof of them being friends.” She said and you shook your head again.

“Connor never emailed Evan. He mostly texted and didn’t even know who Evan really was until he took that paper from the computer lab and talked to him for a minute, signed his cast, and left.” You explained and she looked devastated.

“I really thought he had someone that was connected with him.” She said.

“He had me. I can show you real pictures, real conversations and I will make sure that he is remembered properly.” You said, looking at her.

“You would do that?” She asked.

“Of course, because Connor meant the world to me.” And that was true.

#dear evan hansen imagine #dear evan hansen #dear evan hansen imagines #deh #deh imagine #connor murphy #connor murphy x reader #deh imagines #connor murphy imagines #connor murphy imagine #connor x reader #deh fluff #dear evan hansen fluff #connor murphy fluff #dear evan hansen x reader

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clan-of-reaching-stars · 7 years

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@jadedragons @clan-lunstrae-fr

Okay, the Cliff notes version of my Clan’s Lore. And by Cliff Notes I mean this took an hour to write but hey, it’s all written now.

Vale and Orithya are mentioned in Generation Eleven.

Generation One

Iskal and Shalestone found the Clan, picking up Pan, Viridiana and Lethe. The three are fighters, but Lethe retires to be the Clan Hatchling Keeper after Shalestone and Iskal’s kids are born. Iskal and Shalestone share leadership duties, with Pan and Viridiana taking over defense.

Generation Two

Lethe about dies of happiness due to having to look after eight kids. Three of Iskal and Shalestone’s daughters stay (Cerise, Merean, and Likan) one is exchanged with a Nature Clan to foster relationships, who send their son Andric. A baby Imperial, Tazenia is found, and then a baby nocturne, Talin. The Clan takes in a sickly Coatl, Jecto. A rather absent minded Tundra child is taken in, his name is Tayio.

Later, when they’re all the equivilant of teenagers, two others join, Lace and Sykion.

Jecto will always be sickly but the Clan adores him, and does their best to help him. Merean became head huntress, with her sisters help. Andric becomes a scout, and patrols borders and checks out new territories. Tayio likes digging so he takes over expanding the lair, Tazenia is big and good at settling disagreements so she handles the BeastClan familiars and allies. Talin asists her for some time. Lace is the Clan Jester, and Sykion hunts bugs for the Clan.

Some adults join the Clan as well.

They pick up an adult fae, Inez. She takes care of keeping track of the Clan’s hoard.

From the same Nature Clan as Andric comes the Guardian Nora. Her mate Sulor also joins the Clan, joining the guard as trainers.

Most of these two generations will form the Council.

Generation Three

At this point the Clan is Twenty dragons so they start breeding.

Lace, Sykion, and Likan become a polyamorous relationship. Likan and Sykion are the biolgical parents of Deryn and Nela. Nela went to serve the Arcanist, while Deryn is still finding her place in the Clan.

Andric and Merean become a thing and have Orisa and Tyrath. Tyrath becomes a scout like his father, Orisa takes after her grandmother’s diplomatic nature and becomes a merchant/ambassador for the Trading Post.

Pan is aromantic but wants kids, and Viridiana does as well so they have a son Dmitri. He joins Tayio in expanding the Clan’s lair, and his parents just want to see him happy.

Nora and Sulor have three children. Only two remain with the Clan, Gale and Imerial. They and Nora’s half-sister Azzura form a battalion in Pan’s army/guard.

Two teens join the Clan, Tigress and Ariella. They are lesbians and join the lair expansion crew.

A mirror named Duskwind joins the Clan as well. He does finances for Orisa.

Yuniver, the Clan messenger also joins.

This Generation is one of the closest knit, second only to Generation Seven.

Generation Four

Generation four is a mess.

Jecto adopts a daughter, Nebula. She becomes mages and study arcane magic.

Oz, a librarian joins the Clan.

Frostaithan, a very sick guardian is found by the Clan and nursed back to health. He becomes an assistant diplomat to Shalestone.

Sykion and Lace have kids, Birch and Felar. Those two often leaving the Clan for long periods of time.

An extremely foul tempered guardian named Shadowclaw joins the Clan and trains as a fighter.

Nora and Sulor have a nest around this time, but none of the clutch stays with the Clan. This is common for them and this one is only noted because Colrath is one of the dragons. He joins Clan Aegis, a Clan Shalestone hopes to form an alliance with.

Generation Five

Beacon, the grandson of Iskal and Shalestone joins the Clan, Deryn, missing her three siblings and looking a lot like her cousin, adopts him as her little brother. Beacon will later be named heir to Iskal and Shalestone.

Pan and Viridiana have a second child, Ariadne. She joins the Lair expansion group like her brother, becoming the group’s main architect. The Lair expansion look much nicer now.

Orisa and Duskwind have two kids, Tobai and Iblis. Tobai becomes the Clan alchemist. Iblis struggles to find her place for awhile.

Generation Six

After a brief stasis period where the Clan expanded its territory and settled, a few new dragons join the Clan.

Arawn is born, a nocturne with such a poor sense of direction he got lost and turned into a forest spirit.

Vesper is a Shadow Egg and hailed as a blessing from the Shadowbringer. When on his birthday the next year he’s turned into a Nocturne he has a few choice opinions on his deity but accepts his place

Phyllis joins as a healer, focusing mostly on herbal remedies.

Kellan also joins, the first male Imperial of the Clan and the first Lair guard. The second is Rowan, a fae who joins a few days later. The two become inseparable.

Aegean is next to join, the Clan’s main provider of seafood, the coatls rejoice.

Generation Seven

This generation was incredibly close knit and is practically a lair on it’s own.

Gaila is born, the first of the new colors. She trains under Shadowclaw, the two of them fight constantly but seem to be incredibly close as well.

Molan is one of the biggest in the Clan, earning the nickname Thunderhead. He’s the Clan inventor and also a pacifist. He’s blessed by the Stormcaller.

His charge is Nightstar, a nocturne that usually hangs off his horns and assists him.

Valoran joins the Clan. The Grandson of Treesnek he serves as fortune teller and most hated dragon in the lair. He’s actually not a bad guy if you get to know him. And ignore that one kidnapping thing no one knows about. He and Gaila are sworn enemies. That is to say Gaila swears every time she sees him and he loves annoying her.

Myra the bard joins, full of songs and a love of performing.

Faolan is next, a diplomat who briefly enters a dating sim before he and Gaila become a thing.

Iva, a dragon known for her luck joins the Clan as well.

Bracken, the poison master, joins as well. He is the half brother of Phyllis and the two of them bond and quickly begin working together on a garden for their various needs.

Generation Eight

Treesnek and gays

Valoran “finds” a strange spiral named Elita and raises her. Remember that kidnapping thing no one knows about? She’s also his cousin. Elita masters shadow magic like her guardian (lowercase g).

Sylva joins the Clan, and is visited by Treesnek as a child freaking everyone out.

Abiliene, a gardener blessed by the Gladekeeper joins the Clan.

Mask joins the Clan, and becomes the butler, ensure the lair doesn’t fall apart. (Thank the Arcanist we have someone on that.)

Three friends join the Clan, Eclipse, Dawn and Victor.

Victor is a necromancer. Well he prefers scientist. He and Tobai dance around each other for a while before Tobai asks him out. Their science husbands now.

Dawn is a scribe and quickly become entranced by Myra’s story. And Myra herself. They’re wives.

Eclipse joins Iblis in the library and together they discover a new technique for enhancing weapons and items. This spell goes haywire and enhances them. They now have the ability to enhance objects using the runs on their bodies. Eclipse also ends up in a time paradox that messes with his mind and thus why he always has a pocket watch on him.

Zenith joins the Clan at this time, half starved. The Clan nurses him back to health and he joins the Lair guards.

Dominick and Belemus, the twin blacksmiths, join the Clan.

Not part of the Clan but!

Outside of the Clan a highwayman is cursed into a horrifying form and branded with runes detailing his crimes. This backfires horribly as Lune loves his new form.

Generation Nine

At this point Colrath re-enters the story. Barely recognizable, he tells the story of how Clan Aegis fell to a Plague Clan. The Clan is horrified by this, and by Colrath’s single minded determination for revenge. Shadowclaw is put on his guard duty to make sure he doesn’t do something violent or rash.

Colrath’s charge hatches, to his utter horror it is a plague dragon. He names her Panacea (Cea for short). Shortly after, Shadowclaw finds a water egg, which hatches into a guardian Larimar. The two are raised as siblings and are incredibly close. Also yes their two dads are a thing now.

Hollow is brought into the Clan to be spymaster, trained by Imeriel and Valoran.

Volo, an old wind dragon blessed by Windsinger joins the Clan.

Generation Ten

The Clan moves into a new home and discovers it haunted by a dragon named Asteria.

Nita hatches and is adopted as Victor and Tobai’s daughter.

Inverna, a fire mage joins the Clan.

Shadowclaw and Colrath get a third kid, Alina.

During the fight for Starwind bay, a tundra hatches and joins the Clan. Starwind took her name from the bay and grows up to run a pirate crew. This is where Lumen, Absi, Ekhi, Noctis, Lux, Poe, Hadrian, Solstice and Caerwyn end up.

Generation Eleven

The current generation finally.

Vale joins the Clan and the Lair guard. He becomes known for his distant nature and cold behavior.

A short time later, his sister Orithyia joins the Clan as well, fleeing their mother. The siblings do not get along well, Orithyia thinks Vale is cruel and cold, Vale thinks Orithyia is cowardly and weak. Orithyia is determined to save Frostaithan from Treesnek, who seems to have possessed him.

#clan lore #Lore #Okay that is the entire Clan lore in cliff notes version #Leaving out stories #But hey now I have tags for each group because they hang out by generation #Also! Now we have Context for everything #That was a lot of work

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pamphletstoinspire · 6 years

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Reflections for the Pentecost Sunday

Fr. Antony Kadavil reflects and comments on the readings at Mass for the Pentecost Sunday. He says that Pentecost marks the end and the goal of the Easter season. It is a memorial of the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the Virgin Mary in the form of fiery tongues, an event that took place fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus.

Acts 2:1-11; I Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23

Homily starter anecdote: "Well, Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore.” It happened in Galveston, TX. A woman was cleaning the bottom of the cage of her parrot Chippie with the canister vacuum cleaner. She was not using an attachment on the tube. When the telephone rang, she turned her head to pick it up, continuing to vacuum the cage as she said, "Hello," into the phone. Then she heard the horrible noise of Chippie being sucked into the vacuum. Immediately she put down the phone, ripped open the vacuum bag, and found Chippie in there, stunned but still alive. Since the bird was covered with dust and dirt, she grabbed it, ran it into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held the bird under the water to clean it off. When she finished that, she saw the hair dryer on the bathroom sink. She turned it on and held the bird in front of the blast of hot air to dry him off. A few weeks later, a reporter from the newspaper that originally published the story went out to the house to ask the woman, "How’s Chippie doing now?" She said, “He just sort of sits and stares." Today’s Gospel tells us that it was what happened to the apostles. They all were traumatized by the arrest and crucifixion of their master and bewildered by his post-Resurrection appearances and his command to prepare for the coming of his Holy Spirit. Many of us can identify with Chippie and the apostles. Life has sucked us up, thrown cold water on us, and blown us away. Somewhere in the trauma, we have lost our song. Hence, we, too, need the daily anointing of the Holy Spirit to keep us singing songs of Christian witnessing through agápe love.

Introduction: The Jewish Pentecost: Both the Jews and the Christians now celebrate Pentecost. Along with the Feast of the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, Pentecost was one of the major feasts of the Jews. During these three great Jewish festivals, every male Jew living within twenty miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to go to Jerusalem to participate in the feast. The word Pentecost is Greek for pentecostes which means “fiftieth.” The feast received this name because it was celebrated fifty days after the Feast of the Passover. Another name for the Jewish Pentecost is Shebuot or "The Feast of Weeks“ (the "week" of seven Sabbaths between Passover and Pentecost). It was originally a day of thanksgiving for the completion of the harvest. During Passover, the first omer (a Hebrew measure of about a bushel), of barley was offered to God. At Pentecost, two loaves of bread were offered in gratitude for the harvest. Later, the Jews added to the Feast of Pentecost the element of Yahweh’s Covenant with Noah, which took place fifty days after the great deluge. Still later, they made this feast an occasion to thank God for His Sinaitic Covenant with Moses, which occurred fifty days after the beginning of the Exodus from Egypt.

The Christian Pentecost: Pentecost marks the end and the goal of the Easter season. For Christians, it is a memorial of the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the Virgin Mary in the form of fiery tongues, an event that took place fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus. The Paschal mystery -- the Passion, the Death, the Resurrection, and the Ascension of Jesus -- culminates in the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father (at the request of His Son), on Jesus' disciples. The feast also commemorates the official inauguration of the Christian Church by the apostolic preaching of St. Peter, which resulted in the conversion of 3000 Jews to the Christian Faith. Pentecost is, thus, the official birthday of the Church. But years ago, This Rock Magazine reported that there were 34,000 Protestant denominations which means that, on the average, more than sixty-nine new denominations had sprung up every year since the Reformation began in 1517. So whose birthday is it anyway? You could say, Pentecost is the birthday of the Church Jesus established nearly 2,000 years ago. Today’s Scripture readings remind us that Pentecost is an event of both the past and the present. The main theme of today’s readings is that the gift of the Holy Spirit is something to be shared with others. In other words, the readings remind us that the gift of the Holy Spirit moves its recipients to action and inspires them to share this gift with others.

The first reading (Acts 2:1-11), taken from the Acts of the Apostles, describes in detail the miraculous transformation that took place during the first Pentecost, thus fulfilling Jesus’ promise to his apostles that they would receive “Power from on high.” There was first “a noise like a strong driving wind.” Then there were “tongues as of fire” resting on the disciples, and each of them was filled with the Holy Spirit. The first manifestation of their reception of the Holy Spirit came when the apostles burst out of doors and began to proclaim the Good News of Jesus; everyone there (regardless of their many different native languages), was able to understand them “in his own tongue.” The Jews in the crowds came from sixteen different geographical regions. The miracle of tongues on Pentecost thus reverses the confusion of tongues wrought by God at the Tower of Babel, as described in Genesis 11. Later, the Acts of the Apostles describes how the Holy Spirit empowered the early Christians to bear witness to Christ by their sharing love and strong Faith. This "anointing by the Holy Spirit” also strengthened the early Christian martyrs during the period of brutal persecution that followed.

In the Refrain for the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 104), we pray, “Lord, send out Your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth,” asking God for a “fresh anointing” of the Spirit for all of us.

In the second reading (I Cor 12:3-7, 12-13), St. Paul explains how the sharing of the various spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit enriches the Church. He refers to the varieties of gifts given to the Church as coming from the same Spirit Who activates all of them in Christians for the common good. They are described as the gifts, fruits and charisms of the Spirit. They may take different forms like prophecy, teaching, administration, acts of charity, healing and speaking in tongues, and they may reside in different persons like apostles, prophets, teachers, healers and so on. Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit in his Letter to the Galatians “What the Spirit brings is … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (5:22-23a). He continues, “Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit” (5:25). Paul insists that these spiritual gifts are to be used in the present time for the benefit of others, for the common good and for the building up of the Body of Christ.

In today’s Sequence, the Church repeats her payer of invitation to the Holy Spirit to come to us all now and details the effects His presence and His gifts will have on all of us, if we choose to receive them.

Today’s Gospel relates how the Risen Jesus gave his apostles a foretaste of Pentecost on the evening of Easter Sunday by appearing to them and sending them to carry on the mission given him by his Heavenly Father. He then empowered them to do so by breathing upon them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” On the day of Pentecost, Jesus fulfilled his promise to send the Advocate or Paraclete. The gift of the Spirit would enable them to fulfill Jesus’ commission to preach the Gospel to all nations. Today’s Gospel passage also tells us how Jesus gave to the Apostles the power and authority to forgive sins. “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” These wonderful words, which bind together inseparably the presence of the Holy Spirit with the gift of forgiveness, are referred to directly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But they have a much wider meaning. Those words remind us of the Christian vocation we all have, to love and forgive as we have been loved and forgiven in the world of today, which is often fiercely judgmental and vengeful.

Exegetical notes: The role of the Holy Spirit in Christian life: 1) As an indwelling God, He makes us His Living Temples (I Cor 3:16). 2) As a strengthening God, He strengthens us in our fight against temptations and in our mission of bearing witness to Christ by transparent Christian lives. 3) As a sanctifying God, He makes us holy through the Sacraments: a) Through Baptism He makes us children of God and heirs of Heaven. b) ThroughConfirmation, He makes us temples of God, warriors and defenders of the Faith. c) Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, He enables us to be reconciled with God by pardoning our sins d) Through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, He gives us spiritual nourishment by converting bread and wine into Jesus’ Body and Blood through Epiclesis. e) Through the Sacraments of the priesthood and matrimony, He makes the Church community holy. 4) As a teaching and guiding God, He clarifies and constantly reminds us of Christ’s teachings and guides the Magisterium of the Church to present Christ’s teachings correctly. 5) As a listening and talking God, He listens to our prayers and enables us to pray, and He speaks to us mainly through the Bible. 6) As a Giver of gifts, He pours out on us His gifts, fruits and charisms, thus enriching the Church.

Action of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and of the Church: How beautiful is the thought that the Holy Spirit lives within us! Saint Paul reminds the Corinthian community of this fact when he asks, "Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?" (I Corinthians 3:16). It is the Holy Spirit who develops our intimacy with God. "God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, ‘Abba!' ('Father!’)” (Gal 4:6). "God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). "No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit" (I Corinthians 12:3). Moreover, we know that it is the Holy Spirit Who teaches us to pray (Romans 8:26). By the power of the Spirit, we also know the Lord Jesus through his Church. Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of the Church. It is the Holy Spirit who enlivens, enlightens, guides, and sanctifies the Church. The Psalm refrain for this Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 104) says it so well: “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.” We know Jesus through the Sacramental Mysteries of the Church, and Holy Spirit is at the heart of the Sacramental life of the Church. Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders are the Sacramental Mysteries through which people receive the seal of the Holy Spirit. It would be impossible for us to receive Jesus in the Eucharist without the descent of the Holy Spirit at the Epiclesis of the Divine Liturgy. Even the forgiveness of sins comes through the Holy Spirit (John 20:21-23). The Holy Spirit both confirmed the apostles in Holy Orders as priests and empowered them to forgive sins by His power, a work which He continues today in each of our priests.

Holy Spirit in the daily lives of Christians: The Spirit is that Paraclete (a Greek word that is translated as Counselor, Comforter, Helper, Encourager, or Enabler), Who quietly works in us and through us every day behind the scenes in the basic activities of our lives and the lives of the people around us. He is there in all his fullness wherever people worship and pray in the name of Jesus. When we believe and trust in Jesus we have that Faith through the Holy Spirit’s work in us, filling us with Himself and His Gifts. The Holy Spirit leads us to turn away from our sinfulness and reassures us that we are still loved in spite of our sin, and that Jesus died on a cross just for those moments when we rebel against God's way. He confronts us and urges us to take a good look at ourselves and where we are heading, to make a U-turn, to leave the old behind and try something new. He’s not afraid to challenge us and stretch us to go and do things for Christ – things we have never done before or ever imagined ourselves doing. He’s the One Who says to us, "Stop being so self-focussed. Stop looking into yourself all the time and being depressed by what you see or fool yourself into thinking that what you see in yourself is enough to get you through! Look up, look away, look to Jesus and let Him turn your around; let Him take control!" “The feast of Pentecost celebrates the unseen, immeasurable presence of God in our lives and in our Church – the ruah that animates us to do the work of the Gospel of the Risen One, the ruah that makes God’s will our will, the ruah of God living in us and transforming us so that we may bring His life and love to our broken world. God “breathes” His Spirit into our souls that we may live in His life and love; God ignites the “fire” of His Spirit within our hearts and minds that we may seek God in all things in order to realize the coming of His reign.” (Connections).

The Holy Spirit, the Helper is quietly at work: in the sincere concern of a friend for our health; in the generosity of those who give us so much help; in the inner strength we discover in times of crisis; in those moments when we admit that we have been wrong; in the making of a tough choice; in the resilience of people who face one bad thing after another; in times when we have dared to love even though it was hard to do so. The Holy Spirit, the Helper, is quietly at work: in our taking on responsibilities that we once thought beyond us; in our refusing to let the greed of society take over our soul; in our giving thanks always, even though times have been hard; in our rising above past failures and putting past hurts behind us; in our finding a central core of peace in the midst of turmoil; in an adult patiently teaching a child self-esteem and self-control; in the person sitting quietly beside a hospital bed; in a parent praying for a troubled son or daughter. The Spirit calls us to repentance, to turn our lives around; He calls us to Faith and to take up our cross and follow Jesus. Whenever we look to the Holy Spirit, He is within us as our Helper, always assisting us to be what God made us to be. The Holy Spirit helps us to be truly great by becoming servants to one another. Likewise, the Spirit deepens our awareness of Jesus loving us as he lives in our lives; He gathers us around the cross of Jesus; He changes our lives, helping us to be more patient and forgiving, to seek new beginnings in our relationships with one another and to let the power of God's love have the final say over the conflicts and difficulties we get into. He is available to us every moment of every day as we face the choices between being self-centred or being the God-cantered people, the Spirit has called us to be in Christ.

Life messages: 1) We need to permit the Holy Spirit to direct our lives: a) by constantly remembering and appreciating His Holy Presence within us, especially through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation; b) byfortifying ourselves with the help of the Holy Spirit against all types of temptations; c) by seeking the assistance of the Holy Spirit in our thoughts, words, and deeds, and in the breaking of our evil habits; d) by listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us through the Bible and through the good counsel of others; e) by fervently praying for the gifts, fruits and charisms of the Holy Spirit; f) by renewing our lives through the anointing of the Holy Spirit; and g) by living our lives in the Holy Spirit as lives of commitment, of sacrifice, and of joy. We are called to love as Jesus loved, not counting the cost. As Saint Paul exhorts us, "Walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16, 25).

2) We need to cultivate the spirit of forgiveness. The feast of Pentecost offers us the chance to look at the role which forgiveness should play in our dealings with others. Thus, we are challenged to examine our sense of compassion, patience, tolerance and magnanimity. Learning to forgive is a lifelong task, but the Holy Spirit is with us to make us agents of forgiveness. If we are prepared on this day of Pentecost to receive the Holy Spirit into our lives, we can have confidence that our lives will be marked by the Spirit of forgiveness.

3) We need to observe Pentecost every day. "It will always be Pentecost in the Church," affirmed Blessed Oscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador, on Pentecost Sunday 1978, "provided the Church lets the beauty of the Holy Spirit shine forth from her countenance. When the Church ceases to let her strength rest on the Power from above which Christ promised her and which he gave her on that day, and when the Church leans rather on the weak forces of the power or wealth of this earth, then the Church ceases to be newsworthy. The Church will be fair to see, perennially young, attractive in every age, as long as she is faithful to the Spirit that floods her and she reflects that Spirit through her communities, through her pastors, through her very life" [The Violence of Love, (Farmington, PA: The Plough Pub. Co., 1998).] [Archbishop Oscar Romero was beatified May 23, 2015 by Pope Francis.] Archbishop Romero’s declaration reminds us -- as does today’s Gospel -- that Pentecost is not just one day, but every day. Without breath, there is no life. Without the Spirit, the Church is a field of dry, dead bones. The Venerable Fulton J. Sheen once said about the Church, "Even though we are God's chosen people, we often behave more like God's frozen people--frozen in our prayer life, frozen in the way we relate with one another, frozen in the way we celebrate our Faith." [Bishop Fulton J. Sheen was declared Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI in June, 2012.] Today is a great day to ask the Holy Spirit to rekindle in us the spirit of new life and enthusiasm, the fire of God's love. Let us repeat Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman’s favorite little prayer, “Come Holy Spirit:”

“Come Holy Spirit

Make our ears to hear

Make our eyes to see

Make our mouths to speak

Make our hearts to seek

Make our hands to reach out

And touch the world with your love. AMEN.”

[Cardinal Newman was beatified September 19, 2010 by Pope St. John Paul II.]

4) We need to be Spirit-filled Christians: Spirit-filled people acknowledge their weaknesses, ask for the strengthening, anointing and guidance of the Holy Spirit every morning, ask for His forgiveness every evening, and pass on that forgiveness to those who sin against them. Spirit-filled people are praying people. Paul encourages us, "Pray on every occasion as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray for all God's people" (Eph 6:18). They are praying and worshipping God in their families and parishes. They try to grow continually in their Faith, and they seek out every opportunity to discover Christ and what it means to be children of God. Spirit-filled people are people who allow the Spirit to change their lives through their daily reading of the Bible and their frequenting of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. Spirit-filled people speak words that heal, restore, make people happy and build people up instead of tearing them down. Spirit-filled people pass on the love of God to the people living around them by their acts of kindness, mercy and charity. Hence, let us ask the Holy Spirit for a spirit of love instead of hate, a spirit of helpfulness instead of non-cooperation, a spirit of generosity instead of greed and a spirit of gentleness in place of our spirit of ruthlessness. (Fr. Antony Kadavil)

#reflection for pentecost sunday

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