Opening Question: What’s the best thing you’re heard lately?

First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-2,10-11

George was a good guy. He had a hearty laugh and a great sense of humor. Most important, George always had a way to make his friends feel better.

One day, George ran into Eddy. Eddy was upset by the argument he had with his father. “My dad yelled at me for the stupidest thing,” Eddy complained. “I lost it and began to yell back. I’m on restriction…again.”

“You look really down, Eddy,” George said. “When do you get off restriction?”

“Two weeks,” Eddy sighed.

“Two weeks. Hmmm. That’s a long time. But it will be just in time for the big party,” George said.

“What big party?” Eddy responded.

CONTINUE READING

What would happen if your friends didn’t trust you? What would happen if they didn’t like what you did? What would happen if they questioned your reasons for doing it? Something like that happened to Sandy.

Sandy had a big heart. She always went out of her way to help others. This Christmas she decided to start a clothing drive at school for the poor. Her teacher loved the idea, but the principal did not. It took a conference with her parents, the principal, and the teacher so she could start collecting clothes.

Some of her fellow classmates loved the idea and pitched in to help. But her friends, like the principal, wondered why she wanted to collect clothes. They peppered her with questions. “Why are you wasting your time?” one girl asked. “You just want the attention, don’t you?” complained another. “You think you’re a big shot, don’t you?” a third chimed in.

To all of the questions, Sandy answered “No!” “No, collecting clothes was not a waste of time. No, I don’t want the attention; I just want to help others in need. No, I’m not a big shot; I’m just a girl like you.”

CONTINUE READING

Closing Question: How can you make a difference for others? How can you make life better for your parents? Your family? Your friends?

SOURCE: Word-Sunday.com – All materials found in word-sunday.com are the property of Larry Broding (Copyright 1999-2022). Viewers may copy any material found in these pages for their personal use or for use in any non-profit ministry. Materials may not be sold or used for personal financial gain.

Here is a story of waiting and wondering about how things might change. One sunny Sunday, when the caterpillar hatched out of a tiny egg, he was very hungry and went about eating everything in sight

and still wanting more. Finally full, the caterpillar builds a cocoon around himself and goes to sleep only to wake up a few weeks later as something totally transformed and different, a beautiful butterfly. There are very clear parallels with the waiting we are called to do during the season of Advent and to wait patiently for what is to come, a joy anticipated and fulfilled.

In the book, Taylor addresses the disputes concerning Willa Cather’s sexual orientation. In today’s near voyeuristic society, this issue continues to be discussed. Cather never married and lived most of her life with her close friend, Edith Lewis. After Cather’s death, most of her letters and some manuscripts were burned by Lewis. The destruction of this correspondence and writing literally eliminates the smoking gun in this matter. It would behoove those fixated on this subject to spend more time reading Cather’s splendid novels and short stories and less on this sexual obsession. 

Few writers have ever been able to describe the geography and physical characteristics of a setting with such beauty and precision as Willa Cather. During a trip in the Arizona desert, I realized that I had already seen this part of the country. The reason for this is I had the good fortune to experience the desert through the lovely descriptions written by Cather in “Death Comes for the Archbishop.” 

SOURCE: Southern Nebraska Register, Catholic Diocese of Lincoln (The image and link to the video embedded above are not part of Terrence Nollen’s review.)