Twilight Twitches

Dear Family,
Pentecost! Fifty Days Later! Extra alleluias are put in reserve. Eastertime has pushed us into the Ordinary Time.

If that seems like it means “Okay, now we can take it easy,” think again.

Listen to some of the words of Pope Francis I took from his homily for Pentecost 2018. I am embarrassed to tell you that I didn’t read them last year, and I suspect many of you might not have either.

In any case, Pope Francis surely manages to inspire me with his thoughts and I hope you have the same experience.

Dear Family,
I think this reflection by Father Donagh O’Shea O.P. of the Dominican Retreat Centre, Tallaght Village, Dublin, is a great insight into the Ascension of the Lord. I edited a bit with apologies to Fr. Donagh. Here he is.

The Ascension... is not mentioned at all in Matthew’s or in John's gospels. Mark mentions it, but... almost certainly relies on Luke’s account. Luke is the specialist, giving two accounts of it: in his gospel, and in the Acts of the Apostles.

Dear Family,
I “borrowed” the following write-up from a site called Calendar-12.com. It’s a great summary of Memorial Day’s origins and its significance.

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the last Monday of May commemorating men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Initially (officially since 1868 - proclaimed by General John Logan) Memorial Day was a holiday in memory of the soldiers who died in the Civil War. The feast was supposed to be a step towards national reconciliation. The original name (Decoration Day) comes from placing flowers on the graves of the soldiers.

Dear Family,
The first thing on my agenda is a very overdue heartfelt thanks to Ted and Cheryl Abernethy for their kindness in restoring the basketball hoop and backstops that got whacked last Fall by a young person who we haven’t seen since. I’m okay with that because he also did figure eights with his truck on the green field after a rain. For a while it made it very hard for the visiting doggies to find their balls tossed amid the ruts.

Ted did a very cute design on the little kids’ hoop. Somehow, I see Cheryl’s fine hand in this.

I was talking with someone recently about how easy it is to lose a sense of history. Thank God Annie has a good memory. That’s how I found out that Abernethy’s had done the kid’s playground, the basketball court and the tennis court as well. You wouldn’t hear about it from them.