2014 was a very productive and satisfying year for me in reading. I read 44 books, surpassing my goal of 40, and many of them were some of the best books I’ve ever read. One of the things I love about using Goodreads to keep track of my reading is how easy it is to see the patterns and trends of my reading habits. Here’s a breakdown of some aspects of my reading for 2014: 80% of the books I read were ebooks (35 out of 44), my...
On this first Sunday after Christmas, the Liturgy invites us to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. And today the gospel presents the Holy Family’s encounter with two elderly people of faith, Simeon and Anna. In the first and second readings, too, we hear about two more elderly people of faith, Abraham and Sarah. Today there is Good News for both the old and the young. Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord, and one at a time, Simeon and Anna...
Here is the audio of my homily from the Christmas Eve children’s Mass. http://traffic.libsyn.com/stpeter/SP-2014-12-24a-461.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
About thirty years ago my mom brought home a puzzle that someone had given her at work. She worked for Montgomery Ward, the now defunct department store chain, and on her lunch hour she and her colleagues would work on these little brain twisters that people would bring in from time to time. She would then bring them home for us kids. Little did my mom know that I would keep all of those puzzles and use them with my junior high students over the years. I’m not...
Here’s a great idea for the beginning of Advent: #GivingTuesday! What is #GivingTuesday? Black Friday. Cyber Monday. #GivingTuesday! We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, December 2, 2014, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give. It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization...
There’s a video that’s been online for about five years now, that I like to show to my students. It starts in a big parking garage with two street basketball teams, one wearing white t-shirts and sweats, the other wearing black. As they stand there in one line, each team with its own basketball, the announcer’s voice begins, “This is an Awareness Test.” “How many passes does the team in white make?” A voice yells, “GO!” and suddenly the teams start running around, weaving in and out, passing...
The five minutes it takes to watch this video meditation by Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast can make all the difference on the remaining 23 hours and 55 minutes. I hope it blesses your Thanksgiving Day.
The first reading and the gospel can be summarized like this: “Do not be afraid to use what has been entrusted to you.” In both readings something precious is entrusted to someone, and in both readings fear plays an important role. The master entrusts his possessions to his three servants. And the husband entrusts his heart to his wife. The third servant is afraid of the master. And the worthy wife has the Fear of the Lord. To entrust is to put something precious into another’s care. The...
If you drive to northern California through central Oregon, you cross the state line on US 199, also known as the Redwood Highway. As you continue into California, you reach a certain point where it feels like you’ve entered a fairytale. It feels like your car has shrunk, and now you’re driving a Hot Wheel, because there are these massive, massive trees stretching above you, over your head, these ancient redwoods. And if you get out of your car and walk around the groves of redwoods you feel...
Some powerful images for the Church are emerging from the Extraordinary Synod on the Family this week, according to Catholic News Service: …one bishop Oct. 7 told the assembly that the light the church brings to its members is not fixed like a lighthouse on the shore but is a torch that accompanies the pilgrimage of those seeking to live the truth Speaking about the challenge of transmitting church teaching on sexuality and married life to modern men and women, the bishop reportedly said the torch of faith...
George and Cynthia Campos of the Philippines spoke before the bishops gathered for the Extraordinary Synod on the Family. Here is their full testimony: Your Holiness, Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Our Call to Vocation: Cynthia and I were married in 1987, blessed with four children. In 1990, we became members of Couples for Christ, a Private Lay Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right. We have committed ourselves to be a living catechesis of our vision to live as “Families in the Holy...
When life starts to weigh me down and feels off-center, I find that what helps me most is returning to contemplating the life of Jesus. But sometimes I get overwhelmed thinking about all the different events in his life, and I get paralyzed deciding where to begin reading the gospels. When that happens, I often simply pick up a rosary and begin praying the mysteries of Jesus’ life. The rosary is simple. The rosary is peaceful. The rosary is soothing. The rosary puts me in touch with Jesus....
Aubrey/Maturin Read-along 2021-2024
Classics Club #32: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevesky
January 20, 2020
Classics Club #21: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
December 28, 2018
Classics Club #20: She by H. Rider Haggard
May 17, 2018
Notes from the Upside Down by Guy Adams
April 4, 2018
Cries from the Earth by Terry C. Johnston
March 20, 2018
Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along
A New Home for the Chapter-a-Day Read-Along
November 28, 2024
Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along
Announcing the 2019 Chapter-a-Day Read-Along
December 26, 2018
