Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Surf School
One of the things I wanted to do while on vacation was go to surf school...so I did. Here are some picts and a video of my very successful day. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Koala's and Kangaroo's
I am enjoying my break from school here in Australia. It is Christmas Eve here already. Here are some photos from yesterday's visit to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Enjoy and Merry Christmas.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Hayley Westenra- May It Be
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Cat Diaries: The First Ever Movie Filmed by Cats!
Monday, December 06, 2010
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Friday, December 03, 2010
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Happy Advent
Here is a great Pastoral Letter from the Bishop of Salt Lake City...Enjoy!
Waiting in Joyful Hope! A Pastoral Letter to the Church of Salt Lake City on the season of Advent
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Few would disagree that we live in a busy and rushed society. We rush from one thing to the next; in the end, many of us are restless and tired, yearning for stability and peace in our community and family. You may have noticed that in our hurried society many stores have already decorated for Christmas, radio stations are sneaking in a Christmas song here and there, and even some of our own parishes have begun preparing for Christmas parties for early December. In the midst of all this hurry, the Church teaches us to slow down, to be patient, and to wait.
What is the rush? Are we really so eager to get all the decorations up, celebrate the event, and quickly dismantle all the decorations so we can move on to the next event? If we truly believe the Church is the sacrament of Christ in the world (Lumen Gentium, sections 1, 9, and 48), then we must authentically celebrate the story of salvation as it unfolds in the liturgical year so that we can witness God’s profound love and mercy to the world. In these final days of Ordinary Time, I want to take an opportunity to write to you about our celebration of the seasons of Advent and Christmas.
The Church’s year begins with the season of Advent. Advent is a season of preparation, although it has come to be neglected in many places. Too often, the season of Advent is overshadowed by the “holiday season” as we move too quickly into celebrating Christmas. By the time that the actual solemnity of Christmas arrives, many of us are burned out. We are already tired of all the “Christmas hype.” Christmas has become anticlimactic.
The word advent comes from the Latin for “coming” or “arrival”. What arrival are we waiting for? The General Norms for the Liturgical Year helps us understand the season a little bit better by explaining:
The season of Advent has a twofold character: It is a time of preparation for Christmas when the first coming of God’s Son . . . is recalled. It is also a season when minds are directed by this memorial to Christ’s second coming at the end of time. It is thus a season of joyful and spiritual expectation. (General Norms for the Liturgical Year, 39)
You will notice that this is not a penitential season. It is a season of joyful hope, a time of preparation and waiting. “Thus the Sundays of Advent, while commemorating [Christ’s] birth and anticipating his return, celebrate in word and sacrament his coming now in the midst of this world.” (Normand Bonneau, The Sunday Lectionary: Ritual Word, Paschal Shape, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1998, 131.) This season is not just about preparing for the birth of Christ at Christmas, but for the Christ who is continually being born in our midst and transforming the Church ever more into his body in the world.
In the late autumn of the year, as the world darkens, the Church is called to gather and quietly wait in hope for the coming of Christ, her bridegroom, the Light of the World. I am reminded of a song by Marty Haugen: “For you, O Lord, my soul in stillness waits, truly my hope is in you.” (Marty Haugen, “My Soul in Stillness Waits,” © 1982, GIA Publications, Inc. The line is a translation of Psalm 62:2) Is our hope really in Christ? Have we really allowed ourselves to wait in silence and ponder the great mystery of salvation? Have we been changed by our reflection on this mystery so that we live differently as our relationship with the risen Christ deepens? In the darkness, we watch for the coming Lord. We must not let our busyness distract us from that, lest we be caught unawares like the foolish virgins in Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 25:1-13). The season calls us to be attentive to our preparations for the final day and attentive to the quality of our life in union with Christ.
The liturgies for the Sundays of Advent are intended to focus our attention on these realities and to guide our preparation for Christ’s coming. The theme for the first Sunday of Advent “speaks of the Lord’s return and urges watchfulness. (Adolf Adam, The Liturgical Year, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1990, 134.) On the second Sunday of Advent, we hear John the Baptist’s call to repentance and preparation. The Baptizer is calling us to be prepared and vigilant as we invite Christ into our hearts, but also as we await that final judgment. The third Sunday, or Gaudete Sunday, introduces Jesus as the one who will fulfill the covenant and bring forth the kingdom. On the final Sunday, we hear the gospel stories that immediately precede Christ’s birth. During these four weeks, we prepare for the Light, which comes into the world, both in Christ’s birth, and as we await his final return in glory. “In Advent, then, the church is called to be more vigilant in discovering the role of the Spirit in humanity in general and in the life of the church in particular.” (Martin Connell, Eternity Today On the Liturgical Year, vol. I, (New York: Continuum, 2006, 75)
As we renew our sense of the liturgical celebration of time, I encourage you to remain faithful to the celebration of the four weeks of Advent. As I mentioned earlier, it is so easy to be consumed by the hype of the “holiday season:” to decorate our churches and houses for Christmas, to spend more time shopping than in prayer, and to host Christmas parties before the season has arrived. I know it is an enormous challenge to remain faithful to the Advent season when we are surrounded by a society which, while claiming to be Christian, does not take the time to reflect and prepare as the church calls us to do.
As Catholics, we must celebrate Advent differently. Our reckoning of time is itself a sacramental witness to the fullness of the paschal mystery. If we were to skip the Advent season or any other season, we would impoverish that witness. We are very lucky to have a Church who has provided us with seasons to bear witness to the great mysteries of our faith. As Christians, these celebrations and our observance of time help us witness the truth and beauty of the risen Christ.
This Advent, I call on every Catholic in the diocese of Salt Lake City to strive to enter into the spirit of the season. As we move forward, I strongly encourage our schools, parishes, and each individual household to celebrate the four weeks of Advent with rich prayer. We must practice and model what we preach in order to instill the rich traditions of our faith in young and old alike.
Here are some particular examples of what this will entail. Schools should not decorate for Christmas, but can decorate with simple wreaths and greenery. They might celebrate “Gaudete parties” before departing for Christmas break. I encourage each home to display and bless an Advent wreath where the family can gather for prayer either in the morning, at dinner, or some other practical time. I urge you to hold-off on displaying a decorated Christmas tree until the season of Christmas begins. You may want to incorporate a Jesse Tree in your family’s observance of the season. (More information on Jesse Trees can be found at: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=545 or http://www.loyolapress.com/our-jesse-tree-advent-activity.htm.) As the season draws to its close, I also invite you to discover the beauty of the O Antiphons, which are sung as part of evening prayer from December 17th to 23rd, and are most familiar to most of us in the hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
Once Christmas comes, the season stretches far beyond the 25th of December. It continues until the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord on January 9, 2011. We should leave the decorations which are testimonies to our joy up for the entire season. There is plenty of time for us to celebrate our joy at Christ’s birth and we should make the most of it. You might consider having a Christmas gathering in the parish, or at home with family and friends during this time.
First, though, before we celebrate, comes a necessary time of waiting and of preparation. The season of Advent refocuses us and reminds us that Christ has changed the world. Darkness has covered this hemisphere, and the world itself is quiet. Because we know that Christ reigns over all of creation, we strain in the darkness to see the light of Christ, our coming King. May our observance of this season renew us and be an example of patience, silence, and joy to our hurried and anxious society.
With profound gratitude for your service in this local Church and with my promise of prayer as we enter into this holy season of Advent, I remain,
Yours in Christ Jesus,
The Most Reverend John C. Wester
Bishop of Salt Lake City
Given on November 24, 2010
Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest, Martyr, and His Companions, Martyrs
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Chimpanzee Problem Solving by Cooperation
Monday, November 15, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Continuous Chest Compression CPR—University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center
for more info click here
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
One Penny More
www.ciw-online.org
Friday, October 08, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Happy Feast of St. Matthew
This is a shout out to my former parish on their feast day.
Happy Feast of St. Matthew
Monday, September 20, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Climbing up to the tower!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Mitchell Webb Situation - Changing Meals
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
The Bit-52's The World's Greatest Parts Band playing The B-52's - Rock L...
Friday, September 10, 2010
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Glad I was not on this ship.
I will try to dig up some info on the ship later but just watch this...painful!
Back to school
Today is the day I start back to school. It has been a long time since I was the student but here goes! I wanted to tell you about something special going with me this time. When I went to graduate seminary Fr. Jim Miceli gave me a pen to use for important test and note taking. That pen was the pen of former Archbishop James Lyke, OFM. It meant quite a bit to me to have a small piece of history with me, especially since I was not from the Archdiocese of Atlanta. It was a very nice gesture from Fr. Jim who had been my assignment Pastor for the previous year. Well as you know Fr. Jim died earlier this year...may he rest in peace. From some of the things that Fr. Jim left behind I received two very nice gifts thanks to the generosity of Fr. Patrick Kingery and Carol Black. One is a very nice box that I remember that Fr. Jim had.on his desk. The second was the pen you see that in my hand. It is a lovely fountain pen and I will use it and remember Fr. Jim and the priest of the Archdiocese who are my brothers in the presbyterate and all that they have contributed to my life and ministry to this point. My prayers are with you all...please say a prayer for me and my new endeavor.
Monday, September 06, 2010
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Inception Cat
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Roger Federer
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
LH687 --The endless dispute between the French and th...
Monday, August 09, 2010
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Leaving OKC
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Friday, July 09, 2010
Friend from childhood!
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Wedding Photography Fail
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The giant spider crab!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
June 25th is now Arbitrary Day
So you wonder where I get all my crazy video and news of the weird. Well I read a bunch of different sites. The one I read most frequently is Reddit. Well at Christmas time they had a gift exchange. They decided to do it again but this time just pick an arbitrary day. So now June 25th is now Arbitrary Day! It is a secret Santa type exchange and I played along this time. From their web page:
...modeled on the typical Secret Santa exchange, only with more online, and more awesome. Interested parties sign up, people are assigned gift recipients by the computer machine, and then they do their best to surprise and delight their random stranger, and are surprised/delighted in turn.
I have already sent off my gift and received mine as well. I got my gift from someone named zip_000 and I sent mine to a guy named cowlike...he did not give me much to go on so I had to use my creativity. I will include a link when he post receipt of the gift. I have included a picture here of what my gift was and you can go here to see more pictures of my gift and my write up. You can go here to see the gifts that people have gotten that the most people think were the most awesome, one guy got 1500$ and others got iPods and such...oh and plenty of bacon! Anyway I just thought that I would share a bit of my internet life with you. Fun, huh?
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Msgr. Daniel J. O’Connor
I just found out that Msgr. Daniel J. O’Connor died today. May he rest in peace.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Monday, June 07, 2010
My cats
Well you all know of my two wonderful cats. They are two great girls
who behave more like dogs. Since I am going back to school next year I
need to find a place for them to live for a year. So, do you have
space in your heart and home for two really sweet girls for a year? It
would be a great help and I would really appreciate it. We can work
out the particulars later but if think you might be in a place to help
please let me know. THANKS!
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Stanley
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Portugal - Eurovision 2010 - Transcribed
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
What if...
Running on Empty from Ross Ching on Vimeo.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
BEAR!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Eyjafjallajökull
I know it has been a major headache for a bunch of folks...but these images of Eyjafjallajökull are stunning. By the way the proper way to say Eyjafjallajökull is found here. Enjoy
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Mukhtars Fødselsdag
Here are the lyrics...maybe we should redo our song?...'cause this one is great!
Today is "Name of person celebrated"'s birthday
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
He'll probably get a present
For which he has been wishing
All with tasty chocolate and cakes.
Oh, how he smiles; how happy he is
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
But then, this day sure is nice
cuz' "Mom and Dad, whoever birthdayboy lives with" are waiting at home
with tasty chocolate and cakes.
And when he goes home from his "school, place of work"
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
He'll be going home to throw a party
And all those invited as guests
Get tasty chocolate and cakes.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Immigration info-graphic
"Get in line" is said quite a bit about immigration. Here is an info graphic to help you understand what the "line" looks like...oh and make sure to see how long it takes to actually become a citizen. Not like when my grandfather and his siblings came over, it fact it is very very different. We need comprehensive immigration reform and we needed it about 25 years ago! Some more info from the US Bishops and their Just for Immigrants campaign.
Monday, May 10, 2010
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