Michele Kearney's Snuffysmith's Blog

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Fr. Bob Warren's Week Reflection

THIS WEEK'S REFLECTION from Fr. Bob Warren, SA

In Graham Greene’s novels, “The Power and the Glory” the unlikely hero is a priest. He is caught by the revolutionary Mexican government, and condemned to be shot.

On the night before his execution, he sits in his cell and thinks back over his life. Greene tells us that tears poured down the priest’s face, not because he was afraid of death, even the fear of pain was in the background, he was crying because he had to go to God empty handed. His life had been a dingy failure. It seemed to him, at that moment, that it would have been easy to be a saint, or an apostle.

In our first reading, we hear about a summit meeting of the apostles. The original twelve are now eleven, one of the twelve has proved unfaithful, his life is a dingy failure. He has not simply denied Jesus, as Peter did. He has not simply run away as all save John did. This one sold Jesus for silver, and in despair hanged himself. It is time to replace him, to replace Judas.

The apostles were to witness in so many ways. They were to teach, to baptize, to do what Jesus did. Put another way, an apostle is a man or woman who has experienced Jesus, encountered God, and is driven to proclaim Him to others.

Apostles are not created by ordination; Apostles are created when water flows over your head at baptism. There is simply not one of you who is not an apostle, and who was not sent.

The reality is the world’s redemption for which the Son of God died is impossible without you. Not just difficult, but impossible! Popes may write encyclicals until the cows come home. Bishops confirm and ordain and produce pastoral letters ‘til the computer gives out. Priests offer the sacrifice of the mass from the rising of the sun to its setting. Theologians compose the most brilliant treatises. But unless the Gospel is preached in our everyday life, preached in the slums of our cities, as well as on Wall Street, preached to the wealthy of the world, as well as to the homeless and jobless, to the politicians as well as the drug addicted, none of the other stuff matters.

Many times it can only be done by you because you are there, and when you bring Christ with you to the office, hospital, school, you are an apostle. Not by preaching in words, but by the way you are, how you treat those who are weak, those who are not bright and beautiful.

You see, Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. We are the Church and what we do, the Church does, and what we fail to do, the Church fails to do.

You have the gift of faith, and to whom much is given, much is expected. Do not be like the priest in the story, who at the end of his life had to go to God empty handed. In the words of St. Francis, preach the Gospel always. Only when necessary, use words.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Bob Warren, SA

P.S. You’re invited to join us in prayer during our special Mother’s Day Mass at Graymoor on Sunday, May 13th. Will you send your most heartfelt petitions to me now for those mothers in our lives who have given freely and selflessly of themselves for their children? I pray that Mother's Day bring the special women in your life many blessings, moments bright with promise and memories warm with love.

www.AtonementFriars.org

GRAYMOOR P.O. Box 301, Garrison, NY 10524

For more information call us at 888-720-8247.

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The U.S. Leads in Artificial Intelligence, but for How Long? - MIT Technology Review

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China’s AI Awakening中国人工智能的崛起 - MIT Technology Review

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Support CRS this Mother's Day

Dear Michele,

Moms around the world are tough.

This year we celebrate 75 years of serving the most poor and vulnerable people in the world. And throughout those years we've seen just how tough mothers can be when it comes to their children. Many moms walk miles every day to make sure their kids have water or health care. Others rise before dawn and go to bed late after working and then taking care of their families at home.

They want simple things for their children: laughter, peace, a future. Isn't this what we all want for our own children?

On Mother's Day, while we recognize the amazing sacrifices our mothers make, I want to introduce you to Leila, a Syrian refugee mother in Lebanon. She lives on rooftop with her husband and five children—two of them have disabilities. A tireless advocate for her children, Leila embodies what it means to be a mother. "My kids are my pride," she says. "I'm their mother. It's my role, and I love it."

Happy Mother's Day to the people who take on that wonderful, tough role of motherhood!

Peace and light,
Sean Callahan

Sean L. Callahan
President & CEO
Catholic Relief Services

Donate Now

P.S. How are we doing? As one of our loyal supporters, your feedback is important to us. Please take our short survey.

Photo by Ismail Ferdous for CRS

The Implications of Voiding the Iran Nuclear Deal | History News Network

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Bishop Barron's Daily Reflection May 9, 2018

Your daily Gospel reflection...

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Sixth Week of Easter

John 16:12-15

Friends, today’s Gospel declares that when the Spirit comes, he will guide us into all truth. There is a story I’ve heard about Jean-Luc Marion that, if it isn’t true, should be. In the midst of a lively lecture on Descartes, a student asked a pointed question about God. Marion looked at her and said, "Go to Sunday Mass for a year and then return and ask me that question again."

Marion’s response was not just a clever one-liner. If true knowledge of God depends upon immersion in the Holy Spirit, then that knowledge is a function of an entire form of life, involving prayer, self-denial, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and the forgiveness of one’s enemies. We don’t think our way to an understanding of God so much as we live our way to it.

Thomas Aquinas always said that he owed his theology far more to the persistence of his prayer than to the acuity of his mind. His penetration of the divine mystery flowed from his life in the Holy Spirit. And so today we pray, "Come, Holy Spirit, come!"

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Lectionary: 293

Reading 1 Acts 17:15, 22—18:1

After Paul's escorts had taken him to Athens,
they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy
to join him as soon as possible.

Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:
"You Athenians, I see that in every respect
you are very religious.
For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, 'To an Unknown God.'
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and all that is in it,
the Lord of heaven and earth,
does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands,
nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything.
Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.
He made from one the whole human race
to dwell on the entire surface of the earth,
and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,
so that people might seek God,
even perhaps grope for him and find him,
though indeed he is not far from any one of us.
For 'In him we live and move and have our being,'
as even some of your poets have said,
'For we too are his offspring.'
Since therefore we are the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image
fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.
God has overlooked the times of ignorance,
but now he demands that all people everywhere repent
because he has established a day on which he will 'judge the world
with justice' through a man he has appointed,
and he has provided confirmation for all
by raising him from the dead."

When they heard about resurrection of the dead,
some began to scoff, but others said,
"We should like to hear you on this some other time."
And so Paul left them.
But some did join him, and became believers.
Among them were Dionysius,
a member of the Court of the Areopagus,
a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.

Gospel Jn 16:12-15

Jesus said to his disciples:
"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you."

The Art of the Regime Change – Foreign Policy

The Art of the Regime Change – Foreign Policy: Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal has one goal in mind — and no plan to achieve it.

Trump's Withdrawal From the Iran Deal Sparks 3 Crises - The Atlantic

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Opinion | I Have a Few Questions for Gina Haspel - The New York Times

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

If Alfie Evans Had Been An American Baby

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Pope Francis one week after Alfie Evans’ death: ‘all possible assistance’ must be given to dying

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-one-week-after-alfie-evans-death-all-possible-assistance-must

Are We Killing Ourselves to Live Longer?

Author Barbara Ehrenreich asks the question in her new book, 'Natural Causes'

https://www.nextavenue.org/killing-live-longer/?hide_newsletter=true&utm_source=Next+Avenue+Email+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ad585d5c4f-05.08.2018_Tuesday_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_056a405b5a-ad585d5c4f-165708781&mc_cid=ad585d5c4f&mc_eid=fd41435b1e

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Alfie Evans' death makes us pause | Columns | timesenterprise.com: Alfie Evans died Saturday, April 28 2018, in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, five days after doctors and medical staff removed all life support, including water, food, and ventilation,

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Which is why I noticed recently that the American Bible Societ...

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Bishop Barron's Reflection May 8, 2018

Your daily Gospel reflection...

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Sixth Week of Easter

John 16:5-11

Friends, once again in today’s Gospel Jesus promises to send us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the fuel of the Church, the energy and life force of the Body of Christ. And we can’t get him through heroic effort. We can only get him by asking for him. That’s why, for the past two thousand years, the Church has begged for this power from on high.

Jesus told us that the Father would never refuse someone who asked for the Holy Spirit. So ask! And ask again! Realize that every liturgy is a begging for the Holy Spirit. Fr. Hesburgh of Notre Dame once commented that the one prayer that is always appropriate—whether one is experiencing success or failure, whether one is confident or afraid, whether one is young or old— is “Come, Holy Spirit!”

He’s right, for this is the fundamental prayer of the Church. Mind you, we pray it, as the first Apostles did, in the presence of Mary and with her support. In the Hail Mary, we say, “Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” What are we asking her to pray for but the Holy Spirit?

Gospel Jn 16:5-11

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:
sin, because they do not believe in me;
righteousness, because I am going to the Father
and you will no longer see me;
condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."

Tomgram: Engelhardt, Extremists "R" Us | TomDispatch

Tomgram: Engelhardt, Extremists "R" Us | TomDispatch: null

The Conservative Case Against Gina Haspel

The man who did 30 months in prison for exposing waterboarding program speaks out on Trump's CIA pick.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-conservative-case-against-gina-haspel/

Monday, May 7, 2018

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Bishop Barrons Reflection Monday May 7, 2018

Your daily Gospel reflection...

Monday, May 7, 2018

Sixth Week of Easter

John 15:26 - 16:4A

Friends, today’s Gospel focuses on the Holy Spirit’s role as witness to Jesus: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.”

All Christian preaching is ultimately about the Paschal Mystery—the dying and rising of Jesus—and the sending of the Holy Spirit. But this last element is especially important for today, because it signals the way that we are able to participate in the life that Jesus opens up to us.

One of the chief marks of the Holy Spirit is the prompting to bold speech. From the Apostles through the great evangelists and theologians, up to Billy Graham and John Paul II, the Spirit prompts people to confess the Lordship of Jesus. Remember that Paul told us, “No one can call Jesus Lord except in the Holy Spirit.”

Who is the Holy Spirit? He is the third Person of the Holy Trinity, but more precisely, the love shared by the Father and the Son. As the love between Father and Son, the Spirit comes most fully to historical expression during the great events of the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery.

Gospel Jn 15:26—16:4a

Jesus said to his disciples:
"When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,
he will testify to me.
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.

"I have told you this so that you may not fall away.
They will expel you from the synagogues;
in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you
will think he is offering worship to God.
They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.
I have told you this so that when their hour comes
you may remember that I told you."

Israel’s Ex-Prime Minister Ehud Barak Says Keep the Iran Nuclear Deal

Rand Paul: Congress Moves to Give the President Unlimited War Powers | The American Conservative

Rand Paul: Congress Moves to Give the President Unlimited War Powers | The American Conservative: In a TAC exclusive, the Kentucky senator warns the new AUMF is a massive abdication by the legislative branch.

Pope’s Video Calls for Action Against Slavery - ZENIT - English

Pope’s Video Calls for Action Against Slavery - ZENIT - English: ‘Slavery is not something from other times.’

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Tomgram: William Astore, The Fog of War in America | TomDispatch

Tomgram: William Astore, The Fog of War in America | TomDispatch: null

Grande: Has society crossed a line? | INFORUM

Grande: Has society crossed a line? | INFORUM: Where is the line that we, as a society, will not cross? Is there a line? Are we so numb to the culture of death that we have surrendered our rights to the government, the collective, the experts?

Regina Coeli Address: To Abide in Christ’s Love - ZENIT - English

Regina Coeli Address: To Abide in Christ’s Love - ZENIT - English: By Keeping ‘His Commandments, which Are Summarized in Loving One Another’ as He Has Love Us

When the state and arrogance combine - The Blade

Saturday, May 5, 2018

What Alfie Evans Unlocked

What Alfie Evans Unlocked: Now that little Alfie Evans has joined the angels, it is worth looking again at what really happened in this event. We saw something extraordinary emerge. It was called “Alfie’s Army” At the hospital crowds gathered to rage against the authorities. Around the world small groups gathered to pray and protest. Social media was set …

–

2 February 2018

Alfie Evans: A brief statement of

the fundamental ethical

principles

http://www.bioethics.org.uk/images/user/alfieevansstatement.pdf

Microsoft Word - alfieevansstatement.docx - alfieevansstatement.pdf

Tensions and Pretensions at the Correspondents Dinner Table: The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner got just too celebrity ridden for its own good, as outfits who don’t know where the White House briefing room is lobbied for more and more tables.…

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Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of EasterLectionary: 293

Reading 1 Acts 17:15, 22—18:1

Gospel Jn 16:12-15

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Pope Francis one week after Alfie Evans’ death: ‘all possible assistance’ must be given to dying

Are We Killing Ourselves to Live Longer?

Author Barbara Ehrenreich asks the question in her new book, 'Natural Causes'

Gospel Jn 16:5-11

The Conservative Case Against Gina Haspel

The man who did 30 months in prison for exposing waterboarding program speaks out on Trump's CIA pick.

Monday, May 7, 2018

Gospel Jn 15:26—16:4a

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Lectionary: 293