The Book of Love

22nd Sunday Ordinary Time - Ps 62

Here's the psalm tune we'll be using for Mass this week. Hope to make a weekly post for those who are interested in using gregrorian chants for psalms!

A Dog's Letter to God

Dear God,
How come people love to smell flowers, but seldom, if ever, smell one another? What are they thinking?

Dear God,
When we get to Heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it the same old story?

Dear God,
Excuse me, but why are there cars named after the jaguar, the cougar, the mustang, the colt, the stingray, and the rabbit, but not one named for a dog? How often do you see a cougar riding around? We dogs love a nice ride! I know every breed cannot have its own model, but it would be easy to rename the Chrysler Eagle the Chrysler Beagle!

Dear God,
If a dog barks his head off in the forest and no human hears him, is he still a bad dog?

Dear God,
Is it true that in Heaven, dining room tables have onramps?

Dear God,
More meatballs, less spaghetti, please.

Dear God,
When we get to the Pearly Gates, do we have to shake hands to get in?

Dear God,
We dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent IDs, electromagnetic energyfields, and Frisbee flight paths. What do humans understand?

Dear God,
Are there dogs on other planets, or are we alone? I have been howling at the moon and stars for a long time, but all I ever hear back is the beagle across the street.

Dear God,
Are there mailmen in Heaven? If there are, will I have to apologize?

Dear God,
When my family eats dinner they always bless their food. But they never bless mine. So, I've been wagging my tail extra fast when they fill my bowl. Have you noticed my own blessing?

Dear God,
I've always lived at the shelter and I have everything I need. But many of the dogs here have names and I don't. Could you give me a name please? It would be good for my self-esteem.

Dear God,
The new terrier I live with just peed on the Oriental rug and I have a feeling my family might blame me 'cuz they think I'm jealous of this stupid dog. Since they have no sense of smell, how can I convince them I'm innocent? Does PetsMart sell lie detectors?

Source: http://www.gloria.tv/?media=186429

Farewell

A farewell gift from my prayergroup

My last day at work would be next Thursday. It has been 2 years and 2 months in this engineering consultant firm.

After 3 weeks break I'll be moving on to a developer instead. Am rather tired and disinterested in all the design work, so want to try out more of management now.

Architecture seems to be behind my mind still. Let's see how this new work turns out for me first.

The right timing for a new change of environment after all that has happened in the last one month or so... goody.

Anyway, the prayer group at work where we meet every Friday during lunch hour to pray and read the bible, gave me a farewell party last Thursday. Ah... I was touched by the trouble they took to get lunch, cake and even a gift! I didn't expect the latter.

Turning the calendar to the day I dread, consolation came to me with this verse, Matthew 28:3.

And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these.

Now if that is how God clothes the wild flowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you who have so little faith?

So do not worry; do not say, "What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What are we to wear?"

It is the gentiles who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on God's saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well.

Prayer of Saint Catherine Laboure

Whenever I go to the chapel,
I put myself in the presence of our good Lord, and I say to him
"Lord, I am here.
Tell me what you would have me do."

If he gives me some task,
I am content and I thank him.

If he gives me nothing,
I still thank him
since I do not deserve to receive anything more than that.

And then, I tell God
everything that is in my heart.
I tell him about my pains and my joys,
and then I listen.

If you listen, God will also speak to you,
for with the good Lord, you have to both speak and listen.

God always speaks to you
when you approach him plainly and simply.

Schumann: Dreaming

Playing on the strings of my heart.

That far away dream.

The sadness.

The longing for that which seems to beyond my grasp.

And all I can do is

... dream.

Launching the Missal: Chant-anxiety

Jaymie Stuart Wolfe
Posted: 8/12/2011

Implementing the new English translation of the Roman Missal is beginning to cause -- and will continue to cause -- a bit of a stir. That's understandable. After all, reasonable people would expect that not every change will be received enthusiastically. And, that when it comes to the prayers we pray, change itself is likely to be a hard sell. For most of us, praying from the heart also means praying by heart. The prospect of being missal-bound, even for a brief period, is probably not something your average Catholic is looking forward to.

Read more here...

I know that everyone can chant because I have heard our own two-year-olds do it. I also know that only a very strange mother would teach her kids Gregorian chant. Maybe so; but chant has been part of our admittedly too-brief family prayers for years. Our kids learned how to chant because they heard it. I used to sing the Gregorian "Ave Maria" to them as a lullaby. (It makes a very good one, by the way.) Over the years, we've expanded our repertoire. Lately, we've been practicing the chants of the new Roman Missal together at home.

As I read this part, I remembered of when my little cousin chanted. And it is true, that it’s not too hard and easily followed even by the little ones.

Ah… when I have a family next time I would like to chant them to sleep too and teach them chants as they grow up. That would be so beautiful – a gift of God for the Catholic family.

Pope's prayer intentions for August 2011

VATICAN CITY, 29 JUL 2011 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for August is: "That World Youth Day in Madrid may encourage young people throughout the world to have their lives rooted and built up in Christ".

His mission intention is: "That Western Christians may be open to the action of the Holy Spirit and rediscover the freshness and enthusiasm of their faith".

Portiuncula Indulgence - 2nd Aug

Today - August 2nd, is the day of the Portiuncula Indulgence.

An indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven.

The Portiuncula Indulgence refers to the plenary indulgence originally granted by Pope Honorious III to those who visit the chapel of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi on August 2nd. (This small chapel is now enshrined in a large basilica.) The indulgence has been extended to Franciscan churches the world over. Father Marion Habig, OFM, explains the history of the Portiuncula indulgence:

A special impulse led St. Francis one night to go to the chapel. There he saw our Lord and His holy Mother surrounded by a great host of angels. Filled with astonishment and reverence, the saint prostrated himself upon the ground and adored the Divine majesty. Then he heard the voice of our Lord urging him with ineffable tenderness to ask some special favor. Nothing was so near to the heart of Francis as the salvation of souls, and so, after a few moments of reflection, he asked for the grace of a full pardon for all who, being contrite and having confessed their sins, would visit this little sanctuary. Mary cast herself upon her knees before her Divine Son, and repeated the petition of her faithful servant. (The Franciscan Book of Saints, Franciscan Herald Press:1979, 570.)

One can obtain a plenary indulgence on August 2nd by visiting a parish church and doing the following:

1. Devoutly carry out the indulgenced work and devoutly pray the required prayers (if there are any) that go along with the action. In this case, visiting a parish church and reciting the "Our Father" and the Creed.

2. Say one “Our Father” and one “Hail Mary” for the intentions of the Pope on the day you perform the indulgenced work.

3. Worthily receive Holy Communion, ideally on the same day on which you perform the indulgenced work or at least within a few days of performing the indulgenced work.

4. Make a Sacramental Confession within a week of (before or after) the day on which you perform the indulgenced work.

5. It is also required that one be free from all attachment to sin, even venial sin.

Read more about the history of the Portiuncula Indulgence here.