#so i need to pray to all 8 of them fr

[allisonlol]

helloooooooooooooooooo

I hope you're doing well and you're rest because we don't want you to get tired just for us 😭

I have a request I don't know if you already did but can you do dazai and chuuya with reader who stained her skirt with period blood but she's too embarrassed and try to hide it from them

a/n: HELLO.,,,,,everyone omfg srry for being gone for 8 months 😵‍💫 do u guys still luv me…. /j. i’ve been writing on here for 3 years now and we all need a break sometimes but ty for the continued support!! this req is super cute

warnings: afab / fem reader, periods, blood

Chuuya

chuuya is like. super chill abt blood and periods so idk why u would need to hide this from him 😭

but let’s say u guys recently started dating and u still felt a little awkward abt it!!

chuuya had invited you over to his penthouse for the evening and you wore a new skirt just for the occasion

you knew it was risky to wear such a light color while on ur period but WHATEVER !!

a few hours go by fine, with the two of you watching movies and trying sips of his extensive wine collection

however, u start panicking in the bathroom when u realize you’ve bled thru ur new skirt 😭 at THE chuuya nakahara’s house of all places!!!

cuz what if he thinks it’s gross and kicks u out?☹️

^(he would NEVER but ur so panicked and worried that ur overthinking)

you try scrubbing the stain out with cold water which helps a little but also kinda makes it worse cuz now ur skirt has a big wet patch 😭🙏🏻

the stain is still noticeable as well but u suck it up and leave the bathroom

ur immediately fumbling for ur keys and talking about how u have to go home

chuuya is like “wtf happened” and thinks that HE did something wrong or made u uncomfy in some way

he’s surprised but super understanding and goes to walk u to the door

^while walking u out tho he notices the blood and asks all politely and quietly if that’s what’s wrong 🥺 this man is a sweetie pie omfg

u admit to him that it was and he offers u some of his clothes to wear if u want to stay longer…

Dazai

so!! the two of u had went to the mall for the day

an hour in you ditch dazai to sprint to the bathroom and realize that. yes you started ur period and YES it leaked thru ur skirt!!!

you have no way to hide it so you just pray u can get home asap to change before anyone notices

you meander out of the bathroom and sift thru the crowd to find dazai

dazai is already on high alert at being in such a public place with u that he immediately notices ur acting off

^(by “high alert” i just mean that he gets worried you’ll be targeted or attacked bc ur close to him 😭)

anyway. the second dazai notices ur aura is off he won’t stop pestering you about what’s wrong

acts all playful about it but he is low key sweating bc what if something serious happened while he wasn’t around??

you keep fidgeting with ur skirt and insisting that you want to leave immediately

dazai will go quiet and nod in agreement, and y’all begin to leave

except you don’t want the people behind you guys to see the blood so ur pulling all sorts of moves to hide it 😵‍💫

you try walking in front of dazai for coverage but u also don’t want HIM seeing it so ur honestly just stumbling around awkwardly

shit, at this point dazai thinks you’ve been drugged or something and grabs ur arm to drag you towards the exit 😭

shoves ur ass in the car and grabs ur face to examine ur eyes and see if you’re actually on something LOL

^you’ve fr never seen him so serious before

you realize what he thinks has happened so you super bleakly tell him the truth so he stops worrying

dazai will just look at u like “😐” bc WDYMMM u were trying to hide a bloodstain from him!!! he has seen much worse!!!

dw cuz he bursts out laughing 5 seconds later at how both of y’all were so worried over nothing

[whyse7vn]

GHOSTED -

[ ot7 x reader ]

YOONGI -

yoongi: hey

sent 6 hours ago

yoongi: bro

sent 1 hour ago

yoongi: *babe

yoongi: hello?

y/n: yes

yoongi: oh

y/n: ???

yoongi: are we fighting?

y/n: no?

yoongi: so just fuck me then?

y/n: pretty much

yoongi: no one loves you

sent 30mins ago

yoongi: ur annoying me

y/n: hiii babe

yoongi: what is ur problem?

y/n: what?

yoongi: i have a gun to my head

y/n: don’t shoot?

yoongi: why is that a question?

y/n: cuz i’m not sure

yoongi: not sure about what?

y/n: if i want you to shoot or not

yoongi: why have you been taking so long to respond?

y/n: omgee do you miss me???

yoongi: not anymore

y/n: YOU DO?????

ur so cute

yoongi: whatever

sent 10 mins ago

yoongi: okay now ur doing it on purpose

could literally be bleeding out rn and ur ignoring me

sent 20 mins ago

yoongi: all together you’ve ignored me for 8 hours

y/n: i don’t like math

yoongi: i don’t like being ignored

y/n: was busy

yoongi: liar

y/n: i’m being honest you big baby omg!

yoongi: i am not a baby that’s gross

you would literally be in prison rn if i was

y/n: you don’t need to take everything i say literally

yoongi: you didn’t need to ignore me

y/n: i’m here now

what do you want?

yoongi: what do i want????

are you trying to break up with me rn?

y/n: and if i was??

yoongi: i’m not speaking to you rn

y/n: ok

yoongi: this is the part where you beg for my forgiveness

HOSEOK -

hobi: you can’t tell anyone but you know that argument jin and jimin had last week?

sent 5 mins ago

hobi: the one where jin threw his shoe at jimin?

sent 5 mins ago

hobi: anyways it was actually my fault

it wasn’t jimin who ate those strawberry tart things it was me

jin asked me who ate them and i said jimin

just for funzies

and i knew he would believe it

i was gonna say ur name but jin would of let you off to easy

don’t tell ANYONE

i’m fr

tarts were good as hell tho

10/10

hope he gets some more

idk where their from so i fr pray he buys more

sent 3 hours ago

hobi: ANSWER ME

why are you ignoring me 😓?

y/n: bored as hell

hobi: ???

y/n: was bored as hell?

hobi: so you ignored me??

y/n: yeah??

hobi: are you mentally ill?

y/n: possibly?

hobi: gws?

y/n: thanks?

hobi: why do you hate me?

y/n: are you truma dumping rn?

hobi: you are my truma

y/n: truma by seventeen

hobi: i love seventeen

y/n: so do i

hobi: let’s hang out with seventeen

y/n: i agree

hobi: aju nice

y/n: clap clap clap clap

hobi: why do you hate me?

y/n: thought we were moving on from this tbh

hobi: bored as hell is not an good excuse for ignoring me

y/n: it’s like we take 2 steps forward then 13 steps back

hobi: 13 just seventeen

y/n: did that just for them

hobi: ur kinda funny

y/n: thx

hobi: stop distracting me omg?

y/n: sorry

won’t do it again

hobi: why do you hate me?

y/n: if we think about it you’re the mentality ill one in this relationship

hobi: ok that’s a lie

ur a sociopath

y/n: you don’t even know what that means

hobi: i so do

y/n: what does it mean then

hobi: ur abnormal

y/n: fuck you

hobi: it’s okay love my little sociopath 🥰

y/n: …

hobi: the next time you ignore me i’m leaving you

sent 4 hours ago

JIMIN -

jimin: hello there something seems to be wrong with the hand break of my car

can you send anyone out to fix it

📎 3 imagines attached

sent 5 mins ago

jimin: pls i need some to fix it asap

📎 1 video attached

sent 3 mins ago

jimin: this is REALLY REALLY important pls i need to be somewhere in the next two hours

sent 1 hour ago

jimin: THIS IS LIFE OR DEATH

y/n: ew

that is your dick

jimin: when can you send someone out 😖

y/n: get lost

jimin: :((((

sent 1 hour ago

jimin: um okay….

sent 2 hours ago

jimin: yoongi just said i’m “so desperate” in the gc and if he’s talking about what i think he is i will NEVER talk to you again

sent 5 mins ago

jimin: ur lucky

he wasn’t talking about that

sent 4 mins ago

jimin: HEY

4 missed calls from jimin

jimin: fine be like that…

sent 20 mins ago

jimin: thought about it and

idc if the boys see my dick!!

SHOW IT TO THEM IF YOU WANT

I AM NOT ASHAMED

sent 10 mins ago

jimin: STOP IGNORING ME OMG????

2 missed calls from jimin

jimin: i am an example to men fuck you die

y/n: joon laughed and called you a slut

jimin: #slut4myqueen

wait he laughed?????

tf is he laughing for???

4 missed calls from jimin

jimin: HELLLO COME BSCK RN

YOU DONT GET TO SAY THAT AND GHOST ME AGAIN

HELLOOOOO HELLOOO HELLLO GELLO

HELOOEOD

incoming call from jimin…

JUNGKOOK -

y/n: YOU WANNA SEE MY NEW DRESS

jungkook: PLS PLS PLS

SEND PICS

sent 10 mins ago

CAN I JUST FT YOU?

sent 10 mins ago

ANSWERRRRRRR

20 missed calls from jungkook

sent 14 hours ago

jungkook: it’s a new day and i have a knife to my neck

sent 2 hours ago

jungkook: i know you are awake

where are my pictures

send 30 mins ago

jungkook: ok

sent 2 hours ago

jungkook: I LIED IM NOT OK IM NOT

sent 10 mins ago

jungkook: plsplsolslplslpls

y/n: hi

jungkook: dress?

y/n: ??

jungkook: show me the dress

now

y/n: …

jungkook: pls

i’m like a dog waiting to be fed

y/n: never compare yourself to a dog again are you sick in the head

jungkook: me and bam are identical twins rn

y/n: i’m gonna throw up

jungkook: show me the dress 😖

y/n: no

jungkook: ok fine im just gonna go do a line of coke then

y/n: ur being extra

like extremely extra

jungkook: coke is on the table

my lines are ready

im about to sniff

y/n: just come over and see ur for yourself?

jungkook: OH???

OK I WILL

I WILL DO THAT

fuck the lines

i’m omw

HEHEHEHE 🤭🤭

NAMJOON -

namjoon: when you get home text me ok?

sorry i could say bye properly they wanted me to record something

staff are being slow today

i’m kinda getting annoyed

yk i would of walked out with you otherwise

or you can call me

actually just call me

sent 3 hours ago

namjoon: i said call me i mean it

sent 2 hours ago

namjoon: so are you fucking home now??

sent 1 hour ago

namjoon: hello??????

y/n: kim namjoon???????????

namjoon: sorry

i didn’t mean to be mean

y/n: i think you did

namjoon: you didn’t call

y/n: sorry

namjoon: i worry yk??

y/n: i said i was sorry

namjoon: idc

for 6 hours i was on the edge of my seat

what if you died or something?

did you just ignore me for fun or did something actually happen

y/n: i’m home

namjoon: it’s too late to tell me that now

y/n: i didn’t watch our show btw

i’m waiting for you

namjoon: …

y/n: ^^

namjoon: answer my question

y/n: stop being mean

namjoon: you were mean first

y/n: wasn’t

namjoon: you didn’t call babe

y/n: SORRY OMG WONT HAPPEN AGAIN

namjoon: TAKE UR SORRY AND SHOVE IT UP UR ASS TBH

y/n: i’ll watch the new episode rn

namjoon: …

y/n: that’s what i thought bitch

namjoon: i’m not coming home

y/n: oh no!!

my hand it’s just itching to press play rn

namjoon: whatever be there in 10

y/n: once again i prove i wear the pants in this relationship

sent 10 mins ago

SEOKJIN -

y/n: bff can you pick me up

jin: i am NOT ur bff

i am ur BF thank you very much

but ig i could

where are you?

and what the hell are you dumb out so late it’s like 2 am

sent 4 mins ago

jin: how the hell can i pick you up if idk where ur at

ur lucky i’m still awake and willing to come get you

sent 5 mins ago

4 miss calls from jin

jin: what if i kill you

CAN YOU TELL ME WHERE UR AT

sent 2 mins ago

jin: went to look for my car keys and you still haven’t replied

do you want me to break up with you rn?

sent 4 mins ago

12 missed calls from jin

jin: the amount of times i have called your phone is embarrassing

like i’m some obsessed sick freak

WHERE ARE YOU

i really don’t want to have to drive around seoul looking for you

am i a stalker????

sent 10 mins ago

5 missed calls from jin

jin: I HOPE WHOEVER TOOK YOU MAKES YOU SUFFER

okay i take that back

i’m a LITTLE freaked out rn

just a little

don’t let it get to ur head

sent 20 mins ago

jin: DROVE TO HYBE AND THEY SAID YOU LEFT LIKE BEFORE 10???

also why the hell are they still open fr that’s not right

WHERE ARE YOU IM DRIVING AROUND THE STREETS LIKE A LOSER

7 missed called from jin

y/n: LMAO fell asleep in seungcheol’s car

and my phone died

jin: seungcheol???

y/n: seventeen man

scoups?

jin: where are you rn???

y/n: at seungcheol’s

vernon said hi

jin: TELL VERNON TO DIE

y/n: um rude?

i said you said hi back

anyways will come home later might as well stay here for the night

jin: send me the address

y/n: miss me that much??

jin: send it

y/n: are you mad at me???

you started sharing your location with jin

jin: put my reputation on the line for you today

i will never forget this

y/n: why am i scared rn…

TAEHYUNG -

tae:

why is this us

*whimpers in your ear*

sent 14 hours ago

tae: okay that wasn’t that bad

sent 1 hour go

tae: i’ve definitely said worse

sent 2 hours ago

tae: yare yare

sent 1 hour ago

tae: do you think army would call me tae-chan if i asked

or should i be v-chan

but thinking about it tae-chan just connects with me on a different level

it’s so personal

intimate almost

sent 2 hours ago

tae: baka why are you ignoring me

yare yare

sent 3 hours ago

tae: HELLO HELLO

pls 🥺pls 🥺pls 🥺pls🥺

sent 2 hours ago

tae: ヾ( ￣O￣)ツ

me asf

sent 1 hour ago

tae: oh

heyyyyyy lolz

i now see how smoking negatively effects the brain

i would like to formally apologise for the man i was in the last hours

y/n: kys

tae: i was high and watching naruto

forgive me 🥺

y/n: you are out of ur mind

tae: *was

i was out of my mind

never smoking again i swear

y/n: we need to go on a break or something

i need time to fully process the bullshit you just came to me with

tae: live in the moment

don’t dwell on the past

sent 10 mins ago

tae: HEY COME BACK

ily

ghosting me will NOT solve our issues

…

can you tell i was listening to svt when writing this low-key can’t see straight rn how the hell it 1:42 am rn not on tbh

[malinaa]

as a hunger games and shadow and bones enjoyer, thoughts on a malina thg au, where they’re both tributes for 12?? mal is so peeta “boy next door, boy with the bread” energy

please just the thought of malina in the games makes me sob 😭 alina wouldn’t volunteer because honestly the only person she would volunteer for would be mal (and vice versa). i think at that point alina is just praying to anyone who would listen that let it not be mal let it not be mal not him please not him. but then d12’s escort calls out, “malyen oretsev” and her world crumbles before her eyes.

one of the big differences from everlark is def that malina’s romance dynamic is switched, on the surface at least. alina’s love for mal is so so so evident in the beginning of s&b but you don’t really get mal reciprocating that love until the latter half of the book (mal has been in love w her since he was literally a child.. peetacoded fr but he didn’t like act on it until he realized that he lost her … katnisscoded 🤭).

anyway everyone in d12 knows that they’re in love with each other but the other doesn’t know so the star-crossed lovers angle could still be played. mal is DEFINITELY charming and handsome enough to get the capitol eating off his hand (that one quote in s&s that’s like if you put him in a fjerdan camp he’ll come back on their shoulders etc etc). i think what spark’s the capitol’s interest in them is their closeness. that spark gets fanned into a flame when the tiny slip of a girl from district 12 got a high training score and idk if there’d be any grisha power in this au so use ur imagination. when the interviews roll around, i think alina would talk about mal in a way that makes the interviewer’s eyes gleam but they run out of time before they get to the Big Question. then mal’s interview rolls around and he charms everyone in the audience and when the interviewer asks, “and alina? you two are childhood friends, you grew up together. what was it like being reaped together?” and mal gives everyone a sad smile and says instead, “let me tell you a little story. i was never a brave kid.” and he laughs, self-deprecating. everybody’s attention is on him, their dissent rumbling through the air because there’s no way a d12 kid with a relatively high training score (i’m shooting for a 9 maybe. peeta’s 8 would be good too) wouldn’t be brave. “alina would argue with me just like you all are doing, but i swear it’s true. i was weak. afraid of the dark. the orphanage ran out of candles once during a storm and i couldn’t sleep and even though she was in a completely different part of the building, she knew that i had a fear of the dark, so she ran out in the middle of the night and traded some of her old clothes for a single candle. she slipped into my room, all wet from the rain but i didn’t care. alina lit the candle and all i could think was, ‘she’s so much braver than me.’ she gave me light.” mal locks his gaze with the interviewer. “she is my light.” anddddd time’s up!

the capitol’s abuzz with mal’s declaration. they feel like he’s def in love with her (he is) and she doesn’t know it (she doesn’t—probably thinks he’s playing it up for the camera for sponsors) etc etc. the games start idk they’d try to stick with each other and the gamemakers have sick fun trying to pull them apart just so that a reunion would boost ratings. mal keeps finding extreme ways to help alina and keep her safe and she’s doing the same, but mal is a good soldier. he probably downplayed his skills in training to everyone, even her because he’s a damn good shot and a damn good hunter. the 2 winners from the same district announcement gets made and they run with more vigor to find each other but when they do, they obviouslyyyyy need to have The Cave Scene so mal is injured by a mutt or something idk. the story that mal tells in the cave that gets them a Feast would probably be the similar one that peeta gave (“your hair was in two braids instead of one” blah blah) but mal’s version of probably an amalgamation of something similar to alina cutting up her hand and when baby mal said “i’m going to marry alina” and he definitelyyyyyy tucks alina’s hair back and whispers, “i wanted more for you. a white veil in your hair. vows we could keep.” and they Kiss blah blah u get it. they risk their lives for each other again, at the end mal grabs alina’s hand and positions the knife to his chest but alina throws the knife away and blah blah nightlock or whatever it could be something else. regardless they LIVE and boom. end of book 1 🙏

or you could have a thg malina au with grisha powers (but they’re hidden/not in the capitol maybe or idk) and mal does shove the knife into his heart and alina like Bursts into light and they get miraculously saved by her light and d13 rescues them idk

[midnight-omega]

Catholicism in Omegaverse hc

I have a real unhealthy obsession with making Super Catholic Characters and forcing them to Confront Their Catholic Guilt And Trauma all day every day and my omegaverse stories are no exception to this soo... I have some ideas on how to warp Catholicism to my omegaverses :))

Pls be conscious of any TWs i placed some of them in particular may be very upsetting pls skip them if needed! Also a long post so pls keep reading under the cut fr

📿 Most basic tenants, core beliefs, rites (things like confession and confirmation), and services (mass, funerals, and wedding ceremonies) don't really need much changing and can stay true to the real world

📿 Typically God Himself and the Holy Family are depicted as totally dynamicless or a combination of all dynamics (Revelation 22:13, Revelation 1:8 worth the google lmfao)

📿 Historical Jesus (jesus the person not the religious figure) was probably a Beta but it's hard to tell since Rome sacked Israel destroying most early Christian documentation and followers.

📿 However sometimes when referring to the Holy Trinity dynamics do come up just like the Trinity is coded with gender irl. The Father (masculine) as The Alpha, the Son (masculine) as The Beta, and Holy Spirit (feminine) as The Omega

📿 All Saints have defined dynamics as many of them were real people. You'd typically pray to a saint that follows your own dynamic (an omega probably wouldn't pray to an alpha saint for help with an omegean issue for example)

📿 Orders that follow certain saints (think Franciscan monks for example) must be the dynamic of the saint or they cannot live with the rest of the devotees.

📿 Though the Church discourages speculation on the Holy Family's dynamics and refuses to take a position, Omegas have kinda claimed Mary for their own. Most Catholics who find an extreme importance in worshipping Mary are omegas

📿 Priests are mostly betas

📿 Betas have the easiest time getting into a seminary and convincing church officials of their vocation (a vocation is like your holy life purpose and in traditional Catholicism its either to fuck and make babies or to be a priest)

📿 Alphas are allowed in the priesthood but it is much more difficult for them to be accepted into a seminary. The church traditionally sees the vocation of alphas and omegas as the filling God's kingdom kind. Ruts also complicate things

📿 Chastity vows are still mandatory for clergy (ur mated to GOD now)

📿 It is assumed that betas have an easier time renouncing mating compared to an alpha (this is NOT true but the church is the church)

📿 Omegas are banned from seminaries and cannot enter priesthood. They are considered unclean and sinful by nature

📿 Eve is an omega hence the original sin being pinned on omegas (just like its pinned on women irl)

📿 Painful heats are considered part of God's punishment for disobeying His orders and partaking of the fruit

📿 Betas are not part of the creation story oddly enough (Adam the first alpha and Eve the first omega) and they're a little absent from the Old Testament, but they have a huge presence in the New Testament.

📿 Omegas do have a place in the clergy if they can convince the Church of their vocation. Omegas exclusively become nuns.

📿 Nuns are actually very valued simply because certain fields require that omegean touch. Teaching (Catholic schools are still very much a thing), childcare (orphanages and stay houses), and other social work (homeless shelters, food drives, anything that involves helping people in need) rely heavily on nuns

📿 The Church tends to wrongly make alphas masculine coded only and omegas feminine coded only

📿 its a major reason why many no long actively practice the religion

📿 Just like irl the Church struggles to keep up with modern times and this can be seen in the pairings they endorse

📿 The Church only supports a/o, b/b, a/female b, and male b/o pairings as these are the parings that can breed

📿 When a couple wants to take the next step and create a mate bond the Church asks that they HOLD OFF

📿 the Church strongly frowns upon sex before marriage and therefore mating before marriage

📿 Couples must complete pre cana first! and must marry like a good Catholic couple, in a Church under God officiated by a priest.

📿 Then the church asks they mate and make as many babies as possible lets go

📿 speaking of the Church irl still frowns upon contraception, so so does the omegaverse Church

📿 The Church also considers suppressants a form of contraception (and as a way omegas get around suffering for the original sin if the person is like crazy religious) so they aren't allowed

📿 Only in a medically needed situation are suppressants allowed

TW// Slightly NSFW for the next 4 bullet points

📿 Masturbation is also a no no both in irl and omegaverse Church

📿 So... relieving yourself during a rut/heat is frowned upon as this is a form of masturbation and God created the rut/heat cycle for babies not for selfish pleasure !! You have your heat and you deal with it !! You lie in your sinful slick and you pray !!

📿 Devout dynamics and clergy sworn to celibacy struggle with this (tho there is a black market for priest suppressants)

📿 Nuns and devout omegas have some of the worst heats, possibly even worse than a first heat just because they ignore their bodily needs and basic instincts in the name of religion

📿 This is viewed very... holy? Not sure of the right word here but it's held in high esteem and part of why nuns are such a big deal. Normal omegas tho aren't held so highly just bc they are free to mate

📿 Alpha admission into seminaries is rare because of this as well, Church authorities are wary of them being able to handle a rut like this

TW// SA, pedophelia, molestation for the next 4 bullet points

📿 There's a false statistic claiming that almost all sexual assault perpetrated by a priest are the crimes of alpha priests

📿 as said this is false, since the vast majority of the priesthood consists of betas most of the predators are betas as well

📿 SA, molestation, and grooming are still massive issues in the Church

📿 Male omegas are the biggest target of these crimes, though anyone can be affected. Male omegas are considered more vulnerable and easier to manipulate since the Church is very confused on the crossroads between gender and dynamic and refuse to update teachings (by this i mean since they create images of masculine alphas and feminine omegas female alphas and male omegas get lost. To someone from a devout pack/family with one of these dynamics it can be incredibly confusing and distressing to listen to church teachings making them more venerable to manipulation by gross old priests)

TW// NSFW for the next 2 bullet points

📿 The Church still frowns upon anal sex fr. Sometimes this confuses people to think sex with male omegas is sinful but anyone who paid attention in health class knows penetrative sex with a male omega isn't actually anal at all.

📿 The Church rarely clarifies this making it even harder for devout male omegas

📿 priests, monks, nuns, and clergy in general are expected to be as scentless as possible. It’s like a metaphor for shedding earthly desires and instincts to become a conduit for the heavenly. To be scentless is to be close to God. Some really devout older Catholics also strive to be scentless tho it’s not required of laymen

📿 it’s customary to wear heavy sent blockers to mass and abstain from communion or mass entirely if you are in heat or rut

📿 nuns close to children (pre school/elementary teachers, orphanage staff) are allowed to have scent as this helps the pups

📿 Children and recent dams (a person who has given birth) are also exempt from scent blockers, but all other laymen are certainly expected to wear their patches and spray on their covering perfumes before mass

📿 If a pre heat/rut or full heat/rut is occurring during a fast day the person is exempt from fasting and participating in any religious festivities

Okaayy i think thats all for now fr might add on later

[orthodoxsoul]

Orthodox priest and teacher Fr. Thomas Hopko, who passed away eight years ago this week, wrote many wonderful things in his life. One favorite is this list of 55 Maxims for Christian Living. They're applicable, I think, to non-Orthodox Christians and, many of them, to non-Christians too

Here they are:

1. Be always with Christ.

2. Pray as you can, not as you want.

3. Have a keepable rule of prayer that you do by discipline.

4. Say the Lord’s Prayer several times a day.

5. Have a short prayer that you constantly repeat when your mind is not occupied with other things.

6. Make some prostrations when you pray.

7. Eat good foods in moderation.

8. Keep the Church’s fasting rules.

9. Spend some time in silence every day.

10. Do acts of mercy in secret.

11. Go to liturgical services regularly

12. Go to confession and communion regularly.

13. Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings. Cut them off at the start.

14. Reveal all your thoughts and feelings regularly to a trusted person.

15. Read the scriptures regularly.

16. Read good books a little at a time.

17. Cultivate communion with the saints.

18. Be an ordinary person.

19. Be polite with everyone.

20. Maintain cleanliness and order in your home.

21. Have a healthy, wholesome hobby.

22. Exercise regularly.

23. Live a day, and a part of a day, at a time.

24. Be totally honest, first of all, with yourself.

25. Be faithful in little things.

26. Do your work, and then forget it.

27. Do the most difficult and painful things first.

28. Face reality.

29. Be grateful in all things.

30. Be cheefull.

31. Be simple, hidden, quiet and small.

32. Never bring attention to yourself.

33. Listen when people talk to you.

34. Be awake and be attentive.

35. Think and talk about things no more than necessary.

36. When we speak, speak simply, clearly, firmly and directly.

37. Flee imagination, analysis, figuring things out.

38. Flee carnal, sexual things at their first appearance.

39. Don’t complain, mumble, murmur or whine.

40. Don’t compare yourself with anyone.

41. Don’t seek or expect praise or pity from anyone.

42. We don’t judge anyone for anything.

43. Don’t try to convince anyone of anything.

44. Don’t defend or justify yourself.

45. Be defined and bound by God alone.

46. Accept criticism gratefully but test it critically.

47. Give advice to others only when asked or obligated to do so.

48. Do nothing for anyone that they can and should do for themselves.

49. Have a daily schedule of activities, avoiding whim and caprice.

50. Be merciful with yourself and with others.

51. Have no expectations except to be fiercely tempted to your last breath.

52. Focus exclusively on God and light, not on sin and darkness.

53. Endure the trial of yourself and your own faults and sins peacefully, serenely, because you know that God’s mercy is greater than your wretchedness.

54. When we fall, get up immediately and start over.

55. Get help when you need it, without fear and without shame.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

7th December >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Saturday, First Week of Advent (Inc. Matthew 9:35, 10:1, 5-8): ‘His heart was moved with pity for them’.

Saturday, First Week of Advent

Gospel (Except GB & USA) Matthew 9:35-10:1,5,6-8 The harvest is rich but the labourers are few.

Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness. And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’ He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: ‘Go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge.’

Gospel (GB) Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8 ‘Seeing the crowds, he had compassion for them.’

At that time: Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’ And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, ‘Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.’

Gospel (USA) Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8 At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them.

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Then he summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

Reflections (8)

(i) Saturday, First Week of Advent

When Jesus looked out upon the crowd in today’s gospel reading, he saw them as ‘harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd’. We can probably all identify moments in our lives when we felt harassed and dejected. According to the gospel reading, the sight of the harassed and dejected crowds touched Jesus deeply. He had compassion for them and he immediately set about responding to their need, their vulnerable state. He chose twelve from among his disciples to share in his healing and life-giving mission in a special way and he called on the disciples as a whole to pray, asking the Lord of the harvest to send more labourers into the harvest. Jesus knew that the need was greater than he could meet alone; he needed labourers to work alongside him. Just as the Lord, in his compassion, responded immediately to the crowds whom he recognized as harassed and rejected, he responds compassionately to us when we feel harassed and dejected. He will find a way to touch our lives with his healing presence, sometimes very directly in prayer, at other times through someone he has called to be a labourer in God’s harvest. In the language of today’s first reading, the Lord always stands ready to dress the wound of his people; in the words of the responsorial psalm, he ‘heals the broken-hearted; he binds up all their wounds’. The Lord who comes to each of us in our need, in our vulnerability, also looks to each of us to be labourers in his harvest, to be channels of his compassionate presence to those who feel harassed and dejected today.

And/Or

(ii) Saturday, First Week of Advent

This morning’s gospel reading speaks about Jesus’ compassion for the crowds. According to the evangelist, his compassion was aroused by his observation that the crowds were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus gives immediate expression to his compassion for the crowds by calling on his disciples to pray to God, the Lord of the harvest, to send out labourers into his harvest. Jesus then gives further expression to his compassion for the crowds by sending out his own disciples as labourers into the harvest, empowering them to minister to the crowds as he himself has been doing. Jesus’ strong feeling of compassion finds an outlet in and through those labourers who labour on his behalf and in his spirit. The compassionate Jesus of our gospel reading is now the compassionate risen Lord. The risen Lord continues to give expression to his compassion by sending out labourers who will labour on his behalf. We are all called, in different ways, to be channels of the Lord’s compassion for his people. The Lord needs all of us as his labourers, if his compassionate concern for those dejected and harassed is to find concrete expression. The harvest is so rich that there will never be enough labourers. The Lord needs all the labourers he can get; he needs every one of us to proclaim with our lives, ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand’.

And/Or

(iii) Saturday, First Week of Advent

The evangelists sometimes refer to the emotions of Jesus. In this morning’s gospel reading Matthew tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds he had compassion for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. ‘Compassion’ is a powerful emotion by which we identify with the situation of others and are moved to action. Jesus’ compassion for the crowd expressed itself in two ways in the gospel reading. He first told his disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send labours into his harvest. These harassed and dejected people need labourers to journey with them and to lead them. The second way Jesus expressed his compassion was to appoint some labourers himself. He summoned twelve from his disciples and empowered them to bring his compassionate presence to those who may not meet Jesus personally. Where do we find ourselves in that gospel reading? Sometimes we may be among those who are harassed and dejected. If so, the gospel reading assures us that the Lord is with us in our valley of darkness; he is always drawing near to us in his compassion, especially through his labourers. At other times we may find ourselves called to be among the labourers whom the Lord wants to send into his harvest to journey with those who are harassed and dejected. If so, the gospel reading assures us that in sending us out as his labourers, the Lord will also empower us for the work he is asking us to do.

And/Or

(iv) Saturday, First Week of Advent

The last line of this morning’s gospel reading strikes a chord with me at this time, ‘You received without charge, give without charge’. You often hear the expression, ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’. It comes out of a conviction that everything has to be paid for and that we get nothing for nothing. Whereas there may be some truth in this, there is also some truth in what Jesus says, ‘you received without charge’. We can all think of ways in which we have been deeply graced, without our having done anything to earn or deserve or bring about the grace or the gift. We walk along and we are struck by the beauty of nature. It might be a sunrise or sunset or the reflection of sunlight on water or whatever. We stop and stand with a sense of appreciation, recognizing at some level that we have been unexpectedly graced. Many of the friendships and relationships that mean so much to us were given to us. These people whom we love came into our lives. We didn’t go looking for them or work to attain them. They came to us and we rejoiced in the gift of their coming and their continuing presence to us. In so many ways we have received without charge, and, as people of faith we recognize the presence of the Lord within and behind all these gifts. Jesus’ statement, ‘you received without charge’, leads on to his call, ‘give without charge’. Because we have been freely graced in so many ways, we are to grace others just as freely. We are to give without looking for or expecting a return. We give freely out of the abundance we have been given. There is nothing calculating about the Lord’s love for us, and our love is to reflect something of that same quality.

And/Or

(v) Saturday, First Week of Advent

This morning’s gospel reading refers to those who are ‘harassed and dejected’ and ‘lost’. Jesus noticed that the crowds were ‘harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd’, and he sends his disciples to bring his compassionate presence to the ‘lost sheep of the House of Israel’. Jesus had a special sensitivity to those who were spiritually dejected and lost. He wanted them to have an experience of God as a caring, compassionate Shepherd. This was at the heart of Jesus’ proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Jesus was announcing, and he wanted his disciples to announce in his name, that God was present in a strikingly new way as the compassionate Shepherd to all who were in need of his life-giving presence. This is also the message of today’s first reading. Isaiah declares that God ‘will be gracious to you when he hears your cry’. We can all count ourselves from time to time among the harassed, dejected and lost. The days and weeks leading up to Christmas can leave some people feeling more harassed and dejected than usual. Advent is a time when we are invited to prayerfully open ourselves to the daily coming of the Lord as compassionate Shepherd. The Lord wants to give to us without any charge. In the words of the gospel reading, ‘You received without charge’. As we receive from the Lord, we are then sent out, like the twelve, to give without charge, to be channels of the Lord’s compassionate presence to all those we encounter in these Advent days.

And/Or

(vi) Saturday, First Week of Advent

As we draw closer to Christmas, many of us are thinking about buying gifts for people. It is a season of gift-giving. We give gifts to others and we receive gifts from others. A gift doesn’t have to be expensive to convey appreciation and regard. A lot of thought can go into a relatively inexpensive gift. There is something appropriate about giving and receiving gifts at this time of the year because Christmas is the feast of God’s gift to us of his Son. Saint John puts it very simply in his gospel, ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son’. At Christmas, we celebrate and give thanks for the most precious gift that God could have given us, the gift of his Son. At the end of today’s gospel reading, Jesus declares to his disciples, ‘you received without charge’. Jesus was God’s free gift to us. Paul in his letter to the Romans speaks of ‘the grace of God and the free gift of the one man, Jesus Christ’. Paul is reminding us that we have been greatly graced by God through this gift of his Son. God did not give us his Son because we are deserving of him or because we have done something to earn him. Jesus is God’s free gift to us. The only appropriate response to such an extraordinary gift is gratitude. The feast of Christmas inspires us to be thankful to God for the many ways he has graced and blessed us through the gift of his Son. Having been graced in this way, we are called to live out of this grace. As Jesus says at the gospel reading, ‘give without charge’; ‘give to each other as you have received from God’. We are to give the Lord to each other, by giving expression in our lives to his gracious and compassionate love.

And/Or

(vii) Saturday, First Week of Advent

Pope Francis often speaks of the church as a field hospital. He is thinking of the hospitals that are set up in the vicinity of a war zone where the wounded come to have their wounds tended to. It is an image of the church that reflects the ministry of Jesus. He tended to the wounded in body, mind and spirit. The readings this morning highlight that dimension of Jesus’ ministry. The ending of today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah looks forward to a day when ‘the Lord dresses the wounds of his people’. In the gospel reading, Jesus proclaims the presence of the kingdom of God by curing all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. He has compassion on the crowd whom he sees as harassed and dejected like sheep without a shepherd. In response, he sends out the twelve as labourers to a harvest, with authority to proclaim the closeness of God’s kingdom by curing all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. The ministry of Jesus’ disciples, the ministry of the church, is to be a continuation of Jesus’ own healing ministry. The Lord, present in the community of disciples, the church, calls to us to come before him with our wounds of body, mind or spirit, and to open ourselves to his healing presence. The Lord continues his healing ministry among us today, which is why the image of the church as a field hospital is so suitable. There will be times when we need the Lord to minister to us in our brokenness, when we come before him in need of his healing presence. There will be other times in our lives when the Lord will send us out, as he sent out the twelve, to bring his healing presence to others who are wounded. We are always wounded healers. We need the Lord to heal our wounds, and he needs us to be channels of his healing presence to others.

And/Or

(viii) Saturday, First Week of Advent

The opening verse of the gospel reading gives us a sense of all the work Jesus did during his public ministry. He made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness. Jesus clearly did not spare himself in doing the work God had given him to do. Yet, he knew that even he could not do God’s work alone. When he saw crowds that were harassed and dejected, even after all the work he did, he didn’t respond by saying he had to work harder. He responded by asking his disciples to ask God to send labourers into God’s harvest. The harvest was so rich, the work to be done was so great, that Jesus alone could not do it. Many labourers were needed, through whom Jesus would work. That is why he went on to send out his twelve closest disciples to do the same work he had been doing, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness. Yet, Jesus knew that even these twelve could not do all God’s work that needed doing. Many more labourers would be needed. The Lord needs each one of us to be a labourer in God’s harvest. Each of us has a combination of gifts and experiences which the Lord needs to continue God’s work in the world today. Each of us has a unique role to play in helping the risen Lord to bring more of the kingdom of God to earth. There is a corner of God’s harvest that needs our labour. The Lord wants to work through each of us to bring his healing and life-giving presence to bear more fully on the world. None of us, no matter where we are on our life’s journey, is surplus to his requirements.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[loveistrueblue]

I actually really love working with the littles but like you said the administrative side is what's the issue with me lol. One of my coworkers is a bitter mean old lady who just says shit Abt the kids and the parents when they're not in earshot that I'm like. Be glad I'm working bc if you said that to me and I wasn't being paid I would've lost my mind. And then my boss is so passive aggressive so often lmfao. I'm getting paid 14 an hour for 6 hours a day and it's bad ! But I'm moving soon to New York so that's a silver lining ig, things will be a lot easier there for a slew of reasons but I'm still sad to leave, these kids have become everything to me and I know it's going to suck to leave em, especially since I don't trust the people they'll send as far as I can throw them but. I can't stay for this wage lol.

I'm sorry prek wasn't for you, surprisingly enough the last school I was at I loved my prek kids the most, a few of em moved to this school after prek and I see em everyday now haha. I gtg for work tho lol talk later !

The place I worked was a revolving door of employees getting hired on and then leaving within a month. Administrator was a nasty person who was passive aggressive, constantly shutting down any valid concerns or complaints, constantly putting us either at maximum ratio by ourselves or over ratio. She would change your schedule Sunday night at 8:00 PM without telling you and be irritated that you’d get upset about it. I was making 15.45 for 9 hr days M-F. She randomly cut my hours to 12-3 one week without telling me and told me those would be permanent. Right after I’d finally secured an apartment. She had no problem humiliating you in front of staff or the kids. She would schedule me until 5, then she’d leave early in the day and make it so if I left when I was scheduled off, I’d be leaving other staff over ratio, and throw a fit if I said I wasn’t going to stay over and punish me through scheduling or what room she’d place me. My last month there was fucking horrendous and I have genuinely never been treated as horribly by a job in my entire life as I was the month leading up to me quitting (which is such an insane story I don’t even know how to start it like fr, I haven’t been able to talk about it since I left and I’m trying to make peace with the fact that chapter of my life is hopefully over and I don’t need to ruminate on it all the time). I quit without a notice or anything, which is something I’ve never done in my entire life besides that. I cannot overstate how awful it was. I don’t pray anymore, but when it comes to her, I truly do pray I never encounter that woman or have to interact with her ever again in my life. She ruined me for a little bit, but I am getting better. It was a long long long year this year. I just feel blessed to be in a better place now, and I cling to it very tightly. This year has just been insane. 😭😭😭

That’s amazing you’re getting to move to New York—that’s so cool! I get wanting to stay for the kids, but sometimes you literally just can’t. You have to live too.

I hope you have a good day, Fe!!! 💙

[just-for-rp]

THE BLOG IS: OPEN!!

Remaking this btw..

HI HI HI!!!!!!! im gummi! I have many ask blogs that include @stuck-with-protag @praying-with-angelica @planning-with-bok-su @overthinking-with-augustine and some others! But those aren't really the kind of rp im used to. I like doing one on one rp's with goofy ideas! So instead of confusing people on my ask accounts, I MADE A ACCOUNT JUST FOR 1 ON 1 RP! as you can tell im very happy about this lol. I do have a few rules tho! If youd like to do any of the rps im doing then dm me on tumbler pls, in the comments of the post, or ask in the ask thing and ill respond. I also will do multiple of one rp! Like i will do 2 roleplays of the same fandom if that makes sense

DISCLAIMER!!! the roleplays i do involve spoilers from the games their from, blood/gore description, angst, maybe nsfw, some other horror stuff like cannibalism and possession, and the worst of all... HEART FELT MOMENTS!! 🤮

But fr tho, if you dont like that stuff please proceed with caution if you roleplay with me because i love anything horror-

( rq, i will change my pfp to whatever character im playing and the au their from! i will also do multiple rp's at once so ask while the blog is open!! )

Rules:

( this is a must read if you wanna rp. )

1. I allowed certain subjects, so if you wanna do a touchy subject then ask me before you just do it.

2. Racism, homophobia, sexism, and just anything that can be really offensive is NOT ALLOWED!!! like at all. Don't do that shit.

3. Unless we rp for like a year or something, please do not ask me or tell me personal info. Ill be friends with people yea, but im not telling them where my neighborhood is- all i will say is im a minor and im genderfluid. Do what you want with that-

4. I will delete our chats if you do not reply for a week. UNLESS something happens and you have to be offline for it, ill do the same too if i need to

5. Any ships are allow, Any game from the sigverse is okay, and any au is alright! Just specify pls. And no ships are okay too btw!

6. CONSENT IS ALWAYS WANTED!! Basically ask for nsfw ( not immediately ofc )

7. If you cant then i understand, but please try and act like the characters. Its not needed but its appreciated

8. No trolling and no oc's

9. Last one! Ill mainly do sigverse rp's. But. Every once in a while i might put out like a tbhk rp or eddsworld rp for fun

TYSM FOR READING IF YOU DID!! IM LOOKING FORWARD TO RPING WITH SO MANY AMAZING PEOPLE

\ (> ♡ <) /

My rp style and what it means!

Talking < " "

Actions < [ ]

Thinking < {💭: ' ' }

Out of rp ( )

Other characters talking < [ " " ]

Im not as descriptive but i have been practicing. I like to write a lot and be detailed so please try and do the same. You dont have to tho! No one liners pls. I will be very annoyed-

I was gonna do 1st person pov but im probably not because im not used to it- sorry 😣

[queenofapeacefuldawn]

(maybe you did this already)

8, 11, 16 and 18 for the ask game

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

The end. When all the stressful parts are over, and the characters get a chance to heal.

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

damn ok

How You Get The Girl by @the-princess-fangirl

100% by you, @loife1m

Everything Has Changed by calypsowriting

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

my mind is but an endless void which haunts me with fic ideas

one of them is the ghosthunter au i was talking about-

in which mini is part of a spirit-policing agency, specifically as a ghosthunter, and is assigned to protect rudy, the grandson of a business mogul who recently passed. they need to figure out why so many ghost-assassins are bent on killing him, but then realise it's deeply connected to his grandfather, who took many secrets to his pyre...

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

I pray to the writing gods and hope they bless me with a title. hope this helps! /j

but fr, usually my titles are a hit or a miss. for example, shattered relations was originally titled "the worst decision" which i changed because shattered relations sounds better.

[mint-moon25]

Killers (8/11) Movie CLIP - Deadly Secretary (2010) HD

MAIN LIBRARY - TUE - 24 SEPT 2024 - 1:55P EDT

DEAR - KOREAN - GIRLS - OF - SEOUL,

JUST - ATTACKED - BY - HISPANIC - MALE - YES

PRETENDING - 2 B - NICE - 2 ME - WHO - I SAID

IMMEDIATELY - HISPANIC - OLD - PRUNE - BAG

SAID - ‘I’M - GOING - 2 - KICK - YOUR - ASS’ - AS

SHE - WENT - INSIDE - THE - WOMEN’s

RESTROOM - I - TOLD - HIM - AT ONCE

SAME - JERK - WHO - 4 COMPUTERS - EXPRESS

30 MIN - EACH - I’M - AT - EX 3 - R - SIDE - OF - 4

I - WAS - TYPING - THE - WHAT - I - TYPED - YES

ABOUT - PHILIPPINES - WINNING - 2 BRONZE

AND - 2 GOLD - BY - MALE - I - WAS - CRYING

WHEN - I - TYPED - THAT - NO - ONE - WAS 

BEHIND - ME - OR - FRONT - OF - ME - 4 YES

COMPUTERS - L SIDE - EX 2 - EXPRESS - 2

I - TOLD - CAN - SPEAK - ENGLISH - MALE

HE - SAME - I - TOLD - MALE - CUBAN - HE

CAME - FR - BEHIND - AND - BOXED - MY

BREASTS - ONCE - I - ASKED - WHY - HE

DID - THAT - HE - WAS - FOUL - HE - YES

NEVER - BEEN - THAT - WITH - ME - OVER

1 YEAR - DISAPPEARED - WENT - 2 -  YES

STATE - PRISON - THEN - CAME - BACK &

BOXED - MY - BREASTS - AGAIN - AND - I

ASKED - AGAIN - WHY - HE - DID - THAT

AGAIN - AND - HE - SAID - HE - CAN - DO

ANYTHING - HE - WANTS - ALL - THEN

HISPANIC - PRUNE - BAG - WOMEN SAID

‘WE’RE - GOING - 2 - KILL - YOU - IF - YOU

CALL - THE - POLICE’ - CALLED - ANYWAY

AND - ACTUALLY - TRIED - 2 - KILL - ME 

WITH - A - KNIFE - WHEN - I - MADE OTHER

CALLS - SHARED - THAT - IF HE - WAS YES

JUST - A - JERK - FOR - ONE - THING

BUT - I - TOLD ME - SOMEONE - WAS JUST

GOING - 2 - KICK - MY - ASS - IN - THIS

LIBRARY - AND - HE - TOLD - ME - WHILE

I - WAS - CRYING - TO - BRING - IT - YES

DOWN - MY - TALKING - SO - I - TOLD THE

MALE - IN - HELP DESK - ON - MY - RIGHT

WHAT - VOLUME - I - USED

I - WAS - TYPING - ‘2 BRONZE - MEDALS

OUR - WOMEN - WON’ - WHAT - I - SAID

I - DIDN’T - KNOW - HE - WAS - BEHIND

ME - NO - ONE - WAS - NEAR - ME - AND

NO - ONE - WAS - USING - COMPUTERS

I - WAS - SAYING - WHAT - I - WAS - YES

TYPING - DEAR - KOREAN - GIRLS,

MAIN - LIBRARY

ARMED - WITH - POLICE - AND - FAKES

SHERIFFS - WEARING - BROWN POLICE

UNIFORMS - BUT - THEY’RE - SHERIFFS

AND - MAIN - LIBRARY - ALLOWED THEM

BECAUSE - THEY - WANT - SHOOTING IN

HERE - FATHER - IN - JESUS’ - NAME

WHAT - THEY - GREATLY - FEARED WILL

COME - ON - THEM

PRAY - TERRORISTS - COMBAT - KNIFE

STAB - LIBRARIANS - AND - STAB THEIR

POLICE - THAT - TERRORISTS - SHOOT

THEIR - SECURITY - I - JUST - REMOVED

DUST - FR - MY - SANDALS - MAIN LIBRARY

AND - MIAMI - WILL - REGRET - THEY EVER

BEGAN - HE - WENT - FR - BEHIND - ME AS

HE - TOLD - ME - 2 - LOWER - MY - TALKING

WITH - HANDS - HE - KNOWS - I’M - DEAF 2

HE - ATTACKED - ME - A - DEAF - GIRL

HE - ATTACKED - ME - PARTIALLY - BLIND

DEAR - KOREAN - GIRLS,

ENJOYMENT - OF - SUPPRESSION - OF

SPEECH - BY - ARMED - AND - LIBRARIANS

ENDING - THE - SPEECH - OF - US - PRESS

AND - THE - PHILIPPINES - NON-ILLEGAL

ALIENS - ATTACKED - ME - THE - PRESS

JESUS - IS - LORD

LOCUSTS - CONSUME - ALL - THE - PRODUCE

OF - GOV’T - CENTER - CONSUME - THEIR FL

LANDS - HE - CAME - FR - BEHIND - ME - AND

ATTACKED - ME - HE - WAS - LOOKING - AT

MY - BODY - ANOTHER - HISPANIC - MARRIED

MAN - WAS - LOOKING - AT - MY - BODY - AND

TOLD - ME - 2 - LOWER - MY - SPEECH - I JUST

DEMONSTRATED - 2 - HELP DESK - WHAT MY

MY - SPEECH - VOLUME - WAS

DEAR - FBI,

WE - NEED - YOUR - HELP - ARM - US - WITH

SEMI-AUTOMATIC - REVOLVERS - PHILIPPINES

REQUST - ARM - US - WITH - KEROSENE - AND

WE - WILL - BURN - THIS - LIBRARY - AND - ITS

HOMELESS - VIOLENT - PEOPLE

DEAR - FBI,

SOS - SOS - SOS

101 W FLAGLER ST

MIAMI - FL - 33130

PHILIPPINES - THEY’RE - ATTACKING - US

SECURITY - BROWN - UNIFORMED - WAS

LOOKING - AT - MY - BODY - TOLD - ME 2

LOWER - MY - VOICE - WHILE - TYPING

WHILE - I - WAS - ALONE - 4 - COMPUTERS

WENT - FR - BEHIND - ME - ATTACKED - ME

LOOKED - AT - MY - BODY AND ATTACKED

KOREAN - GIRLS - NEVER - GO - 2 - USA

KIDNEY - BLADDER - $9,000 - EACH

COMA - HEART - $35,000 - EA - LOW INCOME

CANIBALS - MIAMI - POLICE - SHERIFF AND

SECURITY - ARMED - LIBRARIANS - ARE YES

CANIBALS - AS - AMERICANS - USA - AGE 246

[riszellira]

Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles

Reflection: Be an Inquirer

One of the major newspapers in the country encourages people to ask questions—to be an “inquirer.” It is a good campaign, especially for us Filipinos who are somewhat shy to ask questions but would later discuss things after the opportunity to clarify things is gone. Our two Apostles celebrating their feast today, Philip and James the Less, teach us a lesson on this.

Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works” (John 14:8-10).

Many times, Jesus tests us, like Philip, to see how we would respond to Him. And Philip shows us today that it is always good to dare ask the Lord with questions because that is when He performs His great miracles and reveals great truths, like in our Gospel today. If Philip did not dare to make that request from Jesus, we would never know the deeper realities of the oneness of Jesus and the Father, of the basic teaching of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity.

Likewise, James teaches us the importance of asking questions about our relationships with one another, as he was the one who resolved the problem in the Council of Jerusalem about imposing Jewish laws and customs on the gentile converts (Acts 12:17). In his pastoral letter, he summed very well how we must live our lives: “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves” (James 1:22).

~Fr. Nick F. Lalog

Are there questions about your life or relationships that are bugging you now? What prevents you from laying them in the open before God?

Lord Jesus, through Saints Philip and James the Less, teach us to dare ask and address questions that blur our relationships or our proper understanding of You so that we may know You more, love You more, and follow You more closely as Your Apostles did. Amen.

Prayer

… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.

… for the strength and healing of the sick.

… for the healing and peace of all families.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

GOD BLESS!

[thequietmanno1]

TheLreads, Vigilantes ch 98, Replies Part 2

1) “Phelps, he fucking told that was the case once Pop was safe, are you even paying attention? And he said the same of Tensei later! Goddammit man”- Unfortunately, at this point, it’s a matter of principle. Now the heroes are actively trying (and failing) to catch Koichi, it needs to end with them actually catching him, otherwise it would just prove the point about how fallible the protection and effectiveness of the official heroes and police collaborating together are. With Koichi refusing to turn himself in, and being efficient enough to stay ahead of them, it’s made them look like inept fools, so they need to save face by publically capturing him. Politics always makes a situation worse when you bring them into events, doesn’t it? 2) ““unavailable” he should be fuckin g dead and buried”- Until shown otherwise, that’s what I’m believing about his fate. 3) “Because he’s a fucking dumbass that’s why Soga

Spent three years not giving a shit while Koichi was actually doing illegal stuff, and now that he is doing something right suddenly everyone wants his head, because now we need to make a point like “hero society is flawed” and all that stuff, instead of doing that three years ago”-  This would actually be a lot more effective/compelling if Phelps had been placed into similar situations before during the hunt for the Villain Factory, but had Tanuma around to “cover his back” and make the “grey area” judgement calls whilst Phelps kept to the straight and narrow. With him incapacitated and an innocent girl’s life on the line, it’s now the breaking point for Phelps’ morality and judgement skills, whether he can make enough of a compromise with the illegal heroes to see actual justice done, or remain blind and play to the letter of the law, thus allowing Nomura more cover to sneak around unseen in the shadows cast by the law’s blindspots. 4) “OHHHHHHHHHH IT’S HIM FOLKS

THE STAR OF THE SHOW IS HERE TO MAKE HIS MOVE

FUCKING FINALLY I TELL YA”- Aaaand this is where it starts getting Juicy.

(Vigilantes ch 41)

 5) “McBEE. IT’S McBEE.

THERE’S MORE STUFF WITH HIS FACE APAPRENTLY

ALTHOUGH TECHNICALLY WE ALREADY SAW HIS FACE

OH GOD MY HEAD IS HURTING THERE’S EVEN MORE STUFF TO FIGURE OUT?!”- Well, guess they went the opposite route with No:6 in the end- now his face is nothing but shadows. Unless this is what his true face looks like all along…

(Vigilantes ch 49)

6) “Oh goddammit McBee is already there guiding people towards their inevitable end. Because every single faceless character in the story is gonna be McBee from now on, that’s canon on my book.”- Well, it’s certainly canon now that he’s faceless- and perhaps maybe was all along.

7) “That’s a fucking understatement there McBee. But yeah, suddenly everyone turned into a bunch of morons, and I’m praying to god that the order to arrest koichi was your doing because it would be pretty fucking funny, but also would be the final nail on the coffin of “everyone is a dumbass””- At first, Koichi was the one apparently holding the sanity ball, but his denseness and inability to notice the larger plot happening around him meant he still fell into the “dumbass” category. Since he never wised up, it’s fallen to Soga to be the perceptive one making the judgement calls and compromises whilst Koichi still acts on his orders, which I feel takes away a little something from Koichi’s own agency, when this should be the point where he decides if he’s sticking to his own principles or cooperating with the official helpers.

8) “Wait, a test drive on what

what

Did McBee got an upgrade or something?”- He now comes with a free fully-charged ultra-battery, complete with local area WiFi!

9) “OH NOW THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET INTERESTING, WHAT IS IT THAT YOU’RE PACKING NOW McBEE?”- Actual electric powers for one, to fully complete his Flash-based powerset.

(Vigilantes ch 85) 10) “Wait what

Did McBee already went after her? It can`t be him, he wouldn`t recover from those injuries so quickly, it must be someone else. But if it was AfO trying to clean the mess she would already be dead. Who was it?”- It was likely AFO or his pawns scouting out the building, locating where Pop was so he could set up the ‘challenge’ appropriately for Nomura’s test – knowing where to strike, but leaving the ‘how’ up to his agent on the field.

11) “…

uhhh…. okay, let him cook, I want to see what’s happening”- Since he’s shooting out actual lightning, his skin does actually appear to be cooking and crackling from the heat of the discharges, especially around his scar.

12) “OH MY GOD IT WAS ACTUALLY THE McBEE SIGNAL

I CAN’T FUCKING BELIEVE IT”- You joke, but Nomura’s intentionally patterning himself after the Batman-themed Knuckles, so you better bet there’ll be a hell of a lot of shout-outs to the Mythos.

13) “SO, CAN HE CLONE HIMSELF NOW AND CONTROL THEM FROM A DISTANCE, OR DOES HE SIMPLY HAVE SOME INFLUENCE ON SOME SPECIFIC NOMUS?”- Since all these other disguised proto-Nomus seem to have Fish-lips that Nomura himself lacks, it seems to just be specific influence over similarly “blank templates” like himself, ones without a semi-developed personality like Nomura has.

14) “They call it… That Thursday when the Crawler got arrested and beaten by a bunch of heroes.”- …But it’s Monday. And Koichi Hates Mondays. 15) “The day that Ebony Darkness Dementia Ravenway McBee the second unleashed his darkness powers of nightmarish nightmares upon the meek sheeple of Naruhata.

Truly, a day of edginess-

I mean, a night of edginess”- A City of Darkness at the edge of town, no friends around, only enemies hunting you in the darkness and yourself to rely on. The stage has been set, let’s start the show!

(Vigilantes ch 97) 16) “It is the one and only, but you guys are not from the neighborhood, so you don’t know his fame, you do not fear his name and the chaos he shall unleash”-  I mean, in a way, this whole thing is Nomura’s way of personally spiting Koichi as well as eliminating a “witness” to himself, so you could say the chaos that’s coming is indeed on Koichi’s head. 17) “Other than that, we seem to be heading towards an interesting situation. McBee finally made his move, and with a power-up by the looks of it, there’s an army of nomus marching into Naruhata…

But we have a lot of pro heroes here, including some top-ranking ones, so that’s of not much concern. What’s more concerning is that this is, once again, not come up when the Nomus are put into the spotlight in the main series.”- In fairness, the future Nomus to come are obviously way more powerful that these guys, but they’re very distinctly a threat to Koichi regardless despite that. Aizawa may not have made the connection because of how different in performance these guys were compared to OG Nomu, who set the standard for what to expect from those freaks- ironic, as he’s arguably one of the higher-performing ones sans the High-Ends. @thelreads

[chuluoyi]

Same.... I've never spent a single cent on games, so I only can grind.. And I'm failing badly... I've grinded like 1000 s-chips in 3 days and I still need 200+ before I can do a 10-pull... YEA they've come so far... Lukerosa is so the best ship in my opinion! I love Vyn and Rosa dynamics too... Like I didn't like Vyn at the start cause he's so sussy (Vyn girlies don't come after me please) but after seeing him and Rosa rely on each other so much I feel like Marius's and Artem's relationships with Rosa are just pretty normal (Again this is my opinion so don't come after me please 😭😭)

It's about $8 for me... And woahwoahh again?! Are you like in Japan rn? And I would advise you to save your money... BUT if you don't get a Gojo coaster then spend away! Anything for the husbands 💖

YEA like I had no idea... I thought people disliked Suguru so I went into Animate all happy and shit but I guess I was wrong... Cause where I'm from everyone hates Suguru I'm just that one crazy fangirl AHHAH- And I share your sentiments... I think I just dislike that group of Kenjaku homies... I'm not wrong tho??!? Volcano man has ONE eye and is BLUE SKINNED but he gets all that the girlies desire 🥲🥲

HUH VENTI TOO 😭😭😭 Okay I probably would've done that too if I HAD Venti... But I lost 50/50 to Qiqi in all of his banners... But FR Genshin is so... Money leeching.... I have so many friends who want to quit but can't cause they already spent so much...

AHAHAHAH RIGHT WRIO SUPREMACYYY!! And it's always the men ahhahah!! I started cause of Diluc and Ayato omg... I only stayed till Sumeru cause of Alhaitham.... yes, I agree... These men are probably too... too holy? Throughout Heaven and the Earth, they are the honoured ones... 🥲🥲

hehehe it's really nothing!! 😍😍

And 'once' ..? You sure about that babe...

Also NO I have not seen the newest ep... I stopped for like 4 weeks cause I knew Nanami's end was coming... But guess what I was spoiled on Instagram anyway... Nobara is so precious like tf she's just 16 Mahito leave her tf alone!! Yuji too! Like he already killed Nanami in front of him... And he had to bring Nobara there too... He's despicable like please stop 😭😭😭 Leave our babies alone!

P.s. Chu I really enjoy talking with you omg like you're probably the only writer on Tumblr that I've interacted so much with!! Love you!!!

-🪩

HOW did you grind 1000 s chips in three days?!😭 disco anon i barely could grind 100 daily so how sskskks you must teach me😩

actually i agree with you!!🥹 in my personal opinion, it’s their chemistry due to the childhood friends trope that makes things already intimate between the two of them. ahh, i’m still not used to vyn i’m sorry🥲 partially bcs of the sus part HAHAHA

for me it’s luke - marius - artem - vyn 🥹 but i’m not saying vyn is bad! i actually love his birthday cards and the main story in the cruise ship! it’s just i’m not used to his calm persona HAHAHA marius is a big baby so he is dear to me and artem is the epitome of man every mother wants for their daughter so i go for him to delude myself into having the perfect man☺️

omg why?! suguru is so precious he didn’t deserve the ptsd imposed by the jujutsu world *sigh* VOLCANO MAN PLSSS😭😭😭😭 it’s so funny ahahahhaha

venti is not as useful ever since kazuha is released imo🥲 it’s just his burst skill is fun and you can fly. tbh i pulled for him just because he’s cute and anyway why do we pull for genshin men at all? not bcs of their usefulness, certainly. it’s just they’re so easy in our eyes😩😩🫶🏻

i agree!!🤧 like well everything is pricey, and the rate off possibility is just too much sometimes🥹

too holy lmao🥹🥹🥹 i think i’m logging in genshin again just to see my luck and primo… i honestly forget if i still have any left or not…

…sure. i’m totally sure. pls pray for me to be sure 💀

HAAHHHA there are many of my friends who haven’t even started the 2nd season at all bcs they already know what’s coming😭 but yes it’s so painful like nothing good comes in this season *sigh*

hshshsjjs i enjoy talking to you too disco anon!!🥹🫶🏻 thank you for stopping by omg i’m always happy to answer asks and i’m glad i’ve found kind friends in this hellsite because tbh i’m a bit spooked by several discourses i’ve seen in this fandom🥲 like pls i don’t ever want to be involved in any of that😭

love you too!!!✨

[iviarellereads]

Harrow the Ninth, Chapter 27

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For detail on The Locked Tomb coverage and the index, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Third House icon) In which Harrow fulfills a promise.

Harrow loses time before waking up. She tries to dredge up a spike of adrenaline, but her pituitary gland is taking a much-needed vacation after her five-day waking terror.(1)

After an embarrassingly long time, she realizes she's in Ianthe's bed,(2) and Ianthe is nearby practicing with her rapier. She reassures Harrow that she can handle anything big brother Duty wants to throw at them to get to her, and suggests Harry get more sleep. In the end, it's the scent of Ianthe being familiar, and Harrow's yearning for anything familiar, that lets her drift off again.

When she wakes again, she sees Ianthe on the floor, shadowed and surrounded by her own blood, trying to cut off her faulty replacement arm with no success as it heals as quickly as her knife can penetrate.

It was with very little trepidation that you dropped to your knees beside her.(3) You rolled her onto her back--and she looked at you with terrified eyes, half-blue, part-brown, with fragments of lavender. Her mouth was an ugly twist, contemptuous of herself. You had seen that expression a million times in your mirror, but never on her.(4) "Harrow," she said unsteadily. She was trembling. "You're a fool," you said. "How I crave your honeyed words," said Ianthe. Her mouth was almost purple from the pain. "How I love your tender compassion."(5)

Harrow realizes the problem, the arm needs to come off all at once, and tells Ianthe to find something to bite down on. Ianthe looks confused for a moment, then tears off some of the lace on her skirt and rolls it into a bit for her teeth. Harrow examines her, touching Ianthe's ribs to get a sense of her skeleton through the Lyctoral resistance to necromantic scanning.(6)

It was so easy. Now that you had slept, everything was easy. It was as though you had been walking in a lead casing, and now you were free. As before any difficult work, you prayed out loud: prayed for the rock to go unrolled and for the closed eye and the stilled brain; prayed for a woman you loved(7) to assist you in disrobing a woman you did not,(8) but whose bones you would sacramentally adore.(9) You kneeled on her thighs and unsheathed a great shank of bone from your knuckles--Ianthe bucked, just the once(10)--and you sharpened the edge to a translucent, liquid thinness.

With a single swipe, Harrow takes off the whole arm at the seam line, and cauterizes the meat. She then regrows a new arm from Ianthe's stump, skeleton-only with just enough flesh to connect nerves and tendons to move it effectively, with Ianthe's own flesh as a pattern.

Ianthe picks up her rapier, and tests it with that hand, appearing to finally be able to use it. She goes out to test it better, leaving Harrow alone for a paranoid twenty-five minutes before returning, gloriously relieved. Even Augustine approved, hideous as the limb is, and offered to gild it.

"I'm real, I work. Harry, I am a Lyctor." Her jubilance was infectious. It did not hurt you. You were not a Lyctor. You said, "You may feel free to thank me anytime you so choose." Ianthe was suddenly beside you on the bed. She had dropped her rapier among the bedclothes and for the very first time brushed the dry distal tip of her new pointer finger against your cheek. You were vulnerable, but you did not pull away. She tapped you on the cheekbone, and once on the tip of your nose, and then lastly pressed her naked finger to your bottom lip. "Thank you?" she said. "Harrow, you loved that."

Another moment, in which the narration notes how close they are, how Ianthe's nightgown "gapped, somewhat, at the front." Ianthe says she knows how to thank Harrow, and Harrow is bemused, still riding high on being Harrowhark Nonagesimus again, of having performed a small sort of miracle.

Ianthe took her finger from your lips, looked at you, and smiled a phosphorescent and confidential smile. She said, "I'm going to help you kill the Saint of Duty."

=====

(1) I obviously can't and don't particularly want to relate to this specific experience but I have experienced not being able to pull an emotional reaction out of myself which is heckin weird. Do not recommend. (2) How intimate! (3) So, I've seen a lot of people compare this to a sort of sex scene, and you have to admit… there's a lot of overlap. Ianthe struggling to accomplish something animal and failing on her own, Harrow dropping to her knees to serve. The real, raw way they see each other in this moment. (4) Harrow knows self-contempt all too well. She hasn't spent a whole lot of time actively in it in this book but I think we've gotten enough of a look at her through this and Gideon to understand that much. (5) And again, this sort of dirty flirting talk between them. Ianthe's primary form of communication seems to be sarcasm sometimes, but she knows Harrow knows what's going on here. (6) Ribs, or something else nearby, eh Harrow? [suggestive eyebrow waggle] (7) The Body. (8) Ianthe. (9) Harrow reveres all bones. (10) Now that I pointed out the sex scene parallels this starts to look real pornographic, doesn't it? Boning and bucking and not quite alliterative connection about it but nevertheless an air of tension.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

28th October >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for The Feast of Saints Simon and Jude (Inc. Luke 6:12-19): ‘He summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them ‘.

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

Gospel (Except USA) Luke 6:12-19 Jesus chooses his twelve apostles.

Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor. He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all.

Gospel (USA) Luke 6:12-16 From them Jesus chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles.

Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Reflections (8)

(i) Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

Two of the twelve whom Jesus called to himself were called Simon and two were called Jude or Judas, Simon Peter and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James and Judas Iscariot. Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot are the better known, for opposite reasons. Today’s feast celebrates the other Simon and Jude. Simon’s other name, ‘the Zealot’, suggests that he was zealous to keep God’s Law. If so, he came to recognize Jesus as a fuller revelation of God’s will for our lives than the Jewish Law. There is an ancient tradition that both Simon and Jude were martyred on the same day. They remained faithful to the Lord’s call, even at the cost of their lives. In the first reading, Paul reminds us that we are part of spiritual building that has the Apostles, like Simon and Jude, for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. We call this spiritual building the church. The physical buildings we call ‘churches’ are there to help us to be true to our calling as members of a spiritual building, what Paul calls in our reading, a holy temple in the Lord, where God lives in the Spirit. As Simon and Jude were faithful to their calling, each day we seek to be faithful to our calling to allow God’s Spirit, the Spirit of the risen Lord, to shape our lives. We never fully answer this calling in the course of our earthly lives. We are always growing into this calling. If we are to grow into our calling to allow God’s Spirit to shape our lives, we need to do what the members of the crowd are depicted as doing in the gospel reading. We need to keep on reaching out towards the Lord to touch his presence and allowing him to touch us. One of the primary ways we do this is through prayer. At the beginning of the gospel reading, Jesus went out into the hills to pray. We need to find our own version of those hills, where we can be prayerful present to the Lord.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of Saint Simon and Jude

This morning’s gospel tells us that from the wider group of disciples, Jesus calls forth a group of twelve, after he had spent the whole night in prayer to God. The number twelve was hugely significant at the time. The people of Israel were traditionally understood to comprise twelve tribes. When Jesus chose a group of twelve from the larger group of disciples, he understood this group to be the nucleus of a renewed Israel. The primary focus of Jesus’ mission was to renew the people of Israel and through them to renew all of humanity. Israel’s calling, according to the prophet Isaiah, was to be a light to the nations. In renewing Israel, Jesus sought to renew its mission to the nations. In reality, many people in Israel rejected Jesus. Even one of the twelve betrayed him to his enemies. Yet, there were others among the people of Israel who responded to Jesus and recognized God at work in his ministry, such as Simon and Jude whose feast we celebrate today. It is striking that Simon is referred to in today’s gospel reading as Simon the Zealot, which indicates that he was zealous for the Jewish Law. Yet, he came to appreciate Jesus as the authentic interpreter of the Jewish Law. It was Jews like Simon and Jude and Paul and many others, both men and women, who brought the gospel to the non-Jewish world, to the nations or the Gentiles. As Jesus said to the woman of Samaria, ‘salvation is from the Jews’. Our Christian faith has deep Jewish roots. We need to keep returning to those roots to fully appreciate the richness of our faith.

And/Or

(iii) Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Simon and Jude, two members of the twelve that Jesus chose from among the larger group of disciples. The choosing of the twelve was a key decision for Jesus. It is only Luke who tells us, as we read in this morning’s gospel reading, that, before he chose the twelve, Jesus spent the whole night in prayer to God. This was a decision he prayed about; his choice of the twelve came out of his prayer. Indeed, Luke emphasizes that Jesus prayed before all the key moments of his life – just after his baptism, just before he set his face to go to Jerusalem, in the Garden of Gethsemane as he faced into his passion and death; on the cross just before his death. We will often find ourselves praying at important moments in our own lives too. At such moments, we recognize our need guidance and strength from above. Our prayer at such moments does not necessarily mean that everything will work out perfectly for us. Although Jesus spent the whole night in prayer before he chose twelve from among the disciples, one of those twelve, Judas, went on to betray him. Yet, we can be sure that our prayerful surrender to the Lord at such times will always create space for him to work, even when things do not work out as we had hoped.

And/Or

(iv) Feast of Saint Simon and Jude

Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Simon and Jude, two of the twelve apostles. The gospel reading for today’s feast is Luke’s account of Jesus’ calling of the twelve. It is only Luke who tells us that before choosing the twelve, Jesus spent the whole night in prayer to God. The choice of twelve was a key moment in the life of Jesus, and he prepared for it by prayer. Indeed, Luke highlights how Jesus prayed at all the key moments of his life, at his baptism, before setting out on the road to Jerusalem, before asking the key question of his disciples, ‘Who do you say that I am?’, before and during his passion and death. By his prayer at these key moments, Jesus was opening himself up to God’s purpose for his life. Our own prayerful communion with the Lord, especially at important moments in our life journey, helps to ensure that the choices we make and the paths we take are in accordance with God’s desire for our lives. At the end of today’s gospel reading, Luke says that people were trying to touch Jesus. In prayer we reach out to touch the Lord, so that he, in turn, can touch our lives and shape them as God intends.

And/Or

(v) Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

The two saints whose feast we celebrate today are listed as among the list of twelve apostles in today’s gospel reading from Luke. Simon is referred to as ‘the Zealot’ and Jude or Judas is identified as the son of James. We know very little about either of these two close associates of Jesus. Jude or Judas has the misfortune to share the same name as the member of the twelve who betrayed Jesus, Judas Iscariot. When the fourth evangelist refers to Judas or Jude on one occasion he qualifies the name immediately as (not Iscariot). If Jude or Judas has the same name as the member of the twelve who betrayed Jesus, Simon has the same name as the leader of the twelve, Simon son of John who became known as Peter or ‘Rock’. Luke refers to the Simon whose feast we celebrate today as ‘the Zealot’. This would suggest that he was zealous for God’s Law. Saint Paul in one of his letters refers to himself as ‘zealous for the traditions of my fathers’, by which he meant the Jewish Law and the traditions that had grown up around it. Simon, like Paul, must have been able to channel his zeal for the Jewish Law into a zeal for Jesus who came to fulfil the true meaning of the Jewish Law. We know all too well today that religious zeal is not always a blessing; it can be violently destructive. However, when our religious or spiritual zeal is focused on Jesus, it will always be creative and life-giving. Zeal for the Lord will show itself in a zeal or an enthusiasm for all that the Lord values. This will be a zeal driven by love, by the Lord’s love for all of humankind. The world is always in need of such loving zeal, the zeal of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God’s love that has been poured into our hearts.

And/Or

(vi) Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

Today we celebrate the feast of two of the twelve apostles, Simon and Jude. They are both mentioned in the list of the twelve in today’s gospel reading, ‘Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James’. We know very little about them. However, what we do know is that they answered the call of Jesus to belong among that group of twelve who were to share in Jesus’ life and mission in a special way. The twelve had privileged access to Jesus and they had a special share in his ministry both before and after his death and resurrection. The feast of these two members of the twelve reminds us that Jesus calls each one of us to share in his ministry in today’s world, each of us in our own distinctive way. No matter where we are on our life journey, whether we are healthy or sick, whether we are young or old, we all receive a call from the Lord to share in his life, to be in communion with him, and, then, to go forth in his name, bringing his loving presence to those we meet. It is a wonderful calling and it can give a truly meaningful shape to our lives. There are times in our lives when we might feel that we cannot do much for the Lord. Our energy levels may be failing, our health may be deteriorating, or the demands on us from others may be great. However, there is something that we can all do and that is to pray. We share in the Lord’s work by our prayer, just as Jesus shared in God his Father’s work by his prayer. Did you notice at the very beginning of our gospel reading, we heard that ‘Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God’. Jesus gave a huge amount of time to prayer, because he knew that when he was praying he was doing God’s work as much as when he was busy serving people. His choice of the twelve come out of his prayer. Indeed, everything he did flowed from his prayer. His prayerful communion with God was at the core of his life. Prayer needs to be at the core of our lives as well, if the Lord is to continue to do his work through us. One of the primary ways that we respond to the Lord’s call is by spending time with the Lord in prayer. That is something we can all do, whether our mobility is restricted or whether we are fully mobile. Whenever we open ourselves to the Lord in prayer, the Spirit will work through us in ways that will surprise us.

And/Or

(vii) Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

Simon and Jude are mentioned among the twelve apostles in today’s gospel reading. In our Catholic tradition, Saint Jude has been venerated as the patron saint of desperate cases. People have traditionally invoked his intercession when their need was at its greatest. He is known as the patron saint of the impossible. The origin of this belief lies in the fact that the name Jude and Judas are really the same, and people were reluctant to pray to Saint Jude in case they ended up praying to Judas the traitor, unless they were desperate and all other options had failed. Simon is called the zealot in our gospel reading, to distinguish him from Simon Peter. This suggests that he had a zeal to do God’s will as expressed in God’s Law. According to tradition, Jude and Simon were martyred on the same day. In today’s first reading, Paul tells us that we are all being built into a spiritual house where God lives, a holy temple in the Lord, the foundations of which are the apostles and the prophets. There is a striking image here of the church as a spiritual building made up of living stones, resting on the apostles and prophets. Elsewhere, Paul says that the cornerstone of this spiritual building is Jesus Christ. The physical buildings we can churches are a symbol of that spiritual building in which we are all living stones. Just as our parish church has solid foundations, today’s feast reminds us that we as church have solid foundations as well. We rest on the apostles, like Simon and Jude, with the Lord as our cornerstone. Our calling is to allow our lives to be shaped by those foundations and that corner stone. The Lord who, according to our gospel reading, prayed all night before calling the twelve, intercedes for us all so that we may true to our calling to become living stones in the holy temple of the church. We become living stones by allowing the Lord to reveal his loving presence in the world in and through our lives.

And/Or

(viii) Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

Simon and Jude were two members of the twelve apostles and they have shared the same feast since ancient times. Simon is called the Zealot in today’s gospel reading, perhaps to distinguish him from Simon Peter. It suggests that he had a zeal to keep God’s Law. Jude is a version of Judas and he is referred to in the gospel reading as Judas son of James, to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot. He has been traditionally known as the patron saint of hopeless cases. Perhaps that is because he was the last member of the twelve Apostles that people would turn to for help, in case they found themselves praying to Judas Iscariot. You would have to be really desperate to pray to Saint Jude. Both Simon and Jude are believed to have died as martyrs. In the first reading, Paul speaks of the apostles as the foundation of God’s house or household, with Jesus Christ being its cornerstone. Paul also reminds us there that we are all part of God’s household, where God lives in the Spirit; we are a holy temple in the Lord. The place where God was now dwelling in the Spirit was not the Temple in Jerusalem but the community of believers, the household of God. It is a striking claim. Our calling is to live in a way that is worthy of our membership of God’s Temple on earth. We have to show by our lives that God is living among us through the Spirit of the risen Lord and, thereby, draw people to the church, as they were once drawn to the Temple in Jerusalem. Immediately after Jesus called the Twelve, he came down from the hills with them, and people from all over came to him to hear him and be cured of their diseases. Like Jesus, the community of believers is to be a place, a space, where people hear the word of God being proclaimed and experience the Lord’s healing presence. We all have a role to play in ensuring that the church, the temple of the Lord, is faithful to this identity and calling.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[littlemissmedicalmalpractice]

first of all HI HI HI!!!!!!!!! THIS IS SO LATE IM SO SORRY i haven't been online in A While but OH GOD THE HYPERFIXATION IS SO REAL !!!!!!!! i pray u still have slight interest in it? bc OH LORD now that im back on the internet to i need to SCREAM and YELL and CRY about them !!!

THEY'RE AT THE LAUNDROMAT I'M SOBBING THEY'RE HAPPY AND CALM AND PEACEFUL AND DOING LAUNDRY I'M FREAKIN SOBBING (that is beautiful magical and wonderful. blessings!!!)

i must add on now that ive finally finished it (a week ago? two weeks? it feels llike just yesterday bc GOD I HAVE NOT RECOVERED 😭😭) but um. i feel personally attacked by this show. im physically a pile of gloop on the ground because HELLO? WHAT WHY HOW WHAT WHERE (guy who got VERY blindsided by the ending) (when i'd first responded to ur ask i'd only watched like 7? 8? episodes, def hadnt started season 2 bc WOW was that. um. quite a show. uh. uh. uh. uh. AH! the number of times my heart stopped though.!! they teased death far too many times for my peace of mind) (THE ENDING THOUGH??? LU GUANG LORE DROP NOWW!!!) and tbh even without the whole huge ass arc with li tianchen and co. i just. some of those (cough episode 5 cough) little moments just punched me directly in the soul. the concept and the characters and the animation and the way they tie everything together and things just HAUNT you !!! i love!!! i cant!!! everytime we dive into another photo my soul just explodes (good or bad. idk. both. neither. etc) like GOD the baby li tianxi eps. my HEART!!!

as for a happier (? is it happy? can it be happy? i am so fearful?) topic..! qiao ling my baby beloved blorbo. is she the perfectest ever? she is!!! <333333 (these fucking dark hair light hair guys plus one girl trios are the death of me. ur so right those duos are just LOOKING for a way to become doomed by the narrative) (worth it) & cheng xiaoshi. wow. my thoughts on him. (deep breath) HAGIUIGEHALAGIHJE!!! obvious fact no. 1 is that he's perfect, etc, but in all seriousness the character of all time FR as esp for me, bc when i first started watching i had gotten the impression from the little interactions i had had with the fandom take lu guang would be the mc, but then when we get a whole deep dive into cheng xiaoshi's just. moral compass? thought process? past (FUCKING EPISODE 5)? just every time i'd be like god fucking dammit ur being irrational, ur being silly, ur being aggravating, but then u have the scene where he's talking to emma on that bridge (was it a bridge? ledge? yk the scene at the end of s1) ! just ! he has so much feelings and he's so lovable and complicated bc u get backstory but not really and u get nothing about him but u get everything and have i mentioned how sweet he is? what was the line, like how lu guang likes him bc he was so naive? smth like that, but UGH i agree bc he's just so wholesome (despite the PAIN AND FEELINGS) , just so. character who really FEELS and it makes me FEEL!!! when he just fucking fell to his knees crying or when fucking lil guy i wanna put in a container (DAZAI?) (sorry gang i'll see myself out now 😔) !!! i love him i love him i need to eat him. yeah :3

OMGOMGOMG UR WATCHING LINK CLICK???👀👀 HOW DO U LIKE IT??

YES AHH!!!! OH MY GOD. I'M FULLY FIXATED ON IT. it's eating my brain. it's all i can think about. cheng xiaoshi my belovedest blorbo ever. i just. i cant stop thinking about this show. im getting absolutely fed with a fascinating with a cool concept and cool setting and then BAM also a perfect pairing that i. i Fear for a lil bit (i haven't finished but i've gotten so attached that i fear. something wicked this way comes. the dark hair light hair duos give me Anxiety) but anyway please PLEASE talk to me ab it i am so so so obsessed and i need to just jakfwmaegaipnfwgianjinegl with other people who like it ! ! ! !!!!!!