"If You're Happy, Let Your Face Know"
John Powell, SJ, once said, “If you’re happy, let your face know.” It is a reminder to look in the mirror occasionally and see if we look like someone who believes the Good News of the Gospel, someone who believes in God’s unconditional love for us, someone who truly believes the Easter mysteries we have just celebrated: Jesus’ triumph over sin and death.
There was an ancient tradition in the church that the Monday after Easter was “Joke Day.” In honor of the Good News of the Resurrection, Christians told jokes to each other. Since we are still in the Easter season, I’m offering some items that I hope bring a smile to your face. Let’s begin with a few things little children have said:
A father was telling his 6-year-old daughter that someday she would have feelings for boys. She said, “I already have feelings for boys. He said, “Really?” “Yes,” she replied, “They make me mad.”
A four-year-old asked his mother, “Can we get a kitten?” She said, “No, I’m allergic. We can’t be in the same house.” He said, “You could sleep outside.”
A 5-year-old said, “Grandma is so good with kids, why doesn’t she have any of her own?”
And here are three comments kindergartners made to their teachers:
“You’re pretty–for an old person.”
“You aren’t as mean as some kids say you are–only loud.”
“I named my bunny after you.”
Let’s move on to three short videos. The first is a video of a 70-year-old woman who–in the midst of hurricane strength wind and rain, dutifully returned her grocery cart to the corral in the parking lot at Walmart:
She was featured on the news for her good deed. Walmart awarded her a trophy with a little grocery cart on it and free groceries for a year–and the groceries would be delivered to her car! Coincidentally, the name of the place where this happened is Hurricane, West Virginia! (Do you always put the cart into the cart corral?… just wondering!)
Video #2 shows a 19-year-old young man giving CPR to an injured squirrel. The action was caught by police body camera and reported by the local news.
And now, here’s Mary Maxwell, delivering the invocation for the “Home Instead” dinner. I think you’ll enjoy her 7 minute prayer to God about growing older:
PS: A big thank you to all the men and women who attended the retreat day for the St. Petersburg Diocese last Saturday in Tampa. About 80 people came–and they inspired me by their presence and their various ministries in the Church. Thank you to Sabrina for inviting me and for taking care of so many of the details for the day. Also, I enjoyed my time with Pat Livingston and her husband Howard… and with all the SND’s ministering in Florida. And finally, special thanks to Sisters Donna and Renetta for their wonderful hospitality!
If you’d like to respond to today’s reflection and/or videos, please do so below. In keeping with the joyful Easter spirit, perhaps you might have a joke or two to share with us. We always love hearing from you!
“If You’re Happy, Let Your Face Know”
John Powell, SJ, once said, “If you’re happy, let your face know.” It is a reminder to look in the mirror occasionally and see if we look like someone who believes the Good News of the Gospel, someone who believes in God’s unconditional love for us, someone who truly believes the Easter mysteries we have just celebrated: Jesus’ triumph over sin and death.
There was an ancient tradition in the church that the Monday after Easter was “Joke Day.” In honor of the Good News of the Resurrection, Christians told jokes to each other. Since we are still in the Easter season, I’m offering some items that I hope bring a smile to your face. Let’s begin with a few things little children have said:
A father was telling his 6-year-old daughter that someday she would have feelings for boys. She said, “I already have feelings for boys. He said, “Really?” “Yes,” she replied, “They make me mad.”
A four-year-old asked his mother, “Can we get a kitten?” She said, “No, I’m allergic. We can’t be in the same house.” He said, “You could sleep outside.”
A 5-year-old said, “Grandma is so good with kids, why doesn’t she have any of her own?”
And here are three comments kindergartners made to their teachers:
“You’re pretty–for an old person.”
“You aren’t as mean as some kids say you are–only loud.”
“I named my bunny after you.”
Let’s move on to three short videos. The first is a video of a 70-year-old woman who–in the midst of hurricane strength wind and rain, dutifully returned her grocery cart to the corral in the parking lot at Walmart:
She was featured on the news for her good deed. Walmart awarded her a trophy with a little grocery cart on it and free groceries for a year–and the groceries would be delivered to her car! Coincidentally, the name of the place where this happened is Hurricane, West Virginia! (Do you always put the cart into the cart corral?… just wondering!)
Video #2 shows a 19-year-old young man giving CPR to an injured squirrel. The action was caught by police body camera and reported by the local news.
And now, here’s Mary Maxwell, delivering the invocation for the “Home Instead” dinner. I think you’ll enjoy her 7 minute prayer to God about growing older:
PS: A big thank you to all the men and women who attended the retreat day for the St. Petersburg Diocese last Saturday in Tampa. About 80 people came–and they inspired me by their presence and their various ministries in the Church. Thank you to Sabrina for inviting me and for taking care of so many of the details for the day. Also, I enjoyed my time with Pat Livingston and her husband Howard… and with all the SND’s ministering in Florida. And finally, special thanks to Sisters Donna and Renetta for their wonderful hospitality!
If you’d like to respond to today’s reflection and/or videos, please do so below. In keeping with the joyful Easter spirit, perhaps you might have a joke or two to share with us. We always love hearing from you!
Celebrating Earth Day 2019
April 22, 2019 is Earth Day. The day was established in 1970 in the United States. Its purpose is to demonstrate and promote environmental awareness. On that first Earth Day, over 20 million people joined in observing the day. That first commemoration of Earth Day is credited with influencing the U.S. Government to create stronger laws to protect the environment. Today Earth Day is celebrated in 192 countries worldwide.
One of the slogans that emerged from Earth Day is this: Reduce. Recycle. Reuse. Reduce your consumption of natural resources; recycle items such as metal, glass, and paper; and reuse items instead of throwing them away. People are encouraged to participant in celebrating Earth Day in all kinds of ways: picking up garbage, planting trees, cleaning roads and parks, educating themselves and others on the effects of climate change, signing petitions, writing members of congress, etc.
Pope Francis has spoken and written extensively on the care we must have for creation. His second encyclical, Laudato Si, is entirely devoted to this topic. Issued in 2015, the encyclical critiques consumerism and irresponsible development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls all people of the world to take “swift and unified global action.”
Here are a few excerpts from that encyclical for your reflection today:
“A true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” (#48)
“…the earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone.” (#93)
“We need to strengthen the conviction that we are one single human family.” (#52)
“What kind of a world do we want to leave to those who come after us, the children who are now growing up?” (#160)
“The ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion…. Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” (#217)
For reflection:
Do any of the Pope’s words stand out for you today? If so, which ones? Why?
Do you consciously and concretely live the words: Reduce, Recycle, Reuse? If so, how?
How do you celebrate Earth Day?
PS: I ask your prayers for a retreat day I am giving for the St. Petersburg, Florida diocese on Saturday, April 27. The theme for the day is “Living Hope in Our Troubled Yet Beautiful World.” While in the area, I am connecting with some of our SND’s living there as well as with my good friend and fellow writer, Pat Livingston and her husband. I can’t wait! Thank you!
The video I chose for today is called “Beautiful Nature Around the World.” It consists of 5 1/2 minutes of stunning nature shots accompanied by the haunting music “Conquest of Paradise” by the Greek composer Vangelis. He works almost exclusively with electronic music and is probably best known for the sound track for Chariots of Fire.
Now it’s your turn. Won’t you share your thoughts below?
Three Short Reflections for Holy Week and Easter
Here are three short reflections for Holy Week and Easter. They are adapted from my book, By the Way:
“The Times We Live In”
Some of the Saints lived during terrible times. Take Catherine of Siena, who lived in 14th Century Italy. During her times, the Black Death raged throughout Europe killing 26 million people (an estimated 30% to 60% of Europe’s total population!), mercenary armies prowled the countryside cutting a path of death and destruction wherever they went, and Pope Gregory XI was cowering in Avignon, France, leaving the Church in the hands of corrupt legates. In many ways, Catherine’s times were “the worst of times.”
But Catherine did not bemoan her times. She did not say, “If only the Black Death would go away… If only the world were at peace… If only we had perfect Church leaders, then I could really live my Christian faith.” No, Catherine became a saint by accepting her times as the context in which she was called to live her faith. She did not run away from the critical issues of her day; she engaged herself with them.
Sometimes we are quick to bemoan our own times. We assume that the world used to be a kinder and gentler place, and our ancestors had it easier than we do. But a quick perusal of history shows that every age, for one reason or another, could be called “the worst of times.” But, as Christians, we believe our age is precisely the context in which we are being called to live our faith. Like Catherine, we are being called to respond to the critical issues of our times with attentiveness, courage, love, persistence, and great faith in Jesus.
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“Love Is not Fair”
As children, most of us had a keen sense of fairness. If our brother got a bigger cookie, if our sister was allowed to stay up later than we were, if it wasn’t our turn to feed the dog and yet we were told to feed him, we were quick to protest, “That’s not fair!”
No wonder Jesus’ teachings on love are so hard for us. “When someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other one to him as well… from the person who takes your cloak, don’t hold back your tunic as well… Forgive your brothers and sisters not seven times, but seventy-seven times..” We protest: “But that’s not fair, Jesus!”
But when we recall God’s incredible love for us, we realize: that’s not fair either! That the God of Goodness and 
Power and Beauty and Truth should create us, should love us, should love me, a sinner, is not fair. But both our existence and our salvation are rooted in the unfairness of God’s love and mercy. And here’s the hard part: As Christians, we are called to love others as God loves us: compassionately, consistently, inclusively, and forgivingly. (To do otherwise, would not be fair!)
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“Quotations on Spring”
“If spring came but once a century, instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake, and not in silence, what wonder and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change.” (Henry W. Longfellow)
“Spring is God’s way of saying, ‘One more time!’” (Robert Orben)
“I wish each of us Easter eyes, able to perceive in death, life; in guilt, forgiveness; in separation, unity; in wounds, glory; in the human, God; in God, the human; and in the I, the you.” (Bishop Klaus Hemmerle of Aachen)
I wish each of you a blessed Holy Week and a joyful and glorious Easter!
Today’s song is a new song by Josh Baldwin, “When I Stand in Your Love.” There’s something about this song that really speaks to me. After I hear it, the refrain “haunts” me—in a good way. This version was recorded at a live concert. Standing in God’s love gives us hope and courage—especially when we are experiencing a Good Friday in our life…
Do any of the reflections, quotations, or the song elicit any response from you? As always, I welcome you to share a response below:
Quirky (but True) Stories from History
Here are six quirky (but true) stories you may not have heard in history class. I found these in Rick Beyer’s book, The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy.
It was the time of the Civil War in the U.S. A young man was standing on a crowded train platform in Jersey City. The train started to move. The young man was pushed forward by the crowd and was about to fall between the platform and the moving car. Suddenly another man reached down, grabbed the collar of the young man, and pulled him to safety. Who was the young man? Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s son. Who was the man who pulled him to safety? Edwin Booth, the older brother of John Wilkes Booth who would assassinate Lincoln the following spring.
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In 1314, King Edward II of England banned the game of soccer. Back then, the game often pitted one town against 
another and entailed hundreds of players on each side running madly around the fields. The King’s new edict threatened players with severe prison terms. Other English kings also banned the game. Some also banned golf. Why? The kings believed these sports were distracting the men in their realm from archery practice. And archery was essential to the defense of the nation. In time, though, the laws were ignored and even forgotten. (P.S. Not all British royalty opposed golf. Mary Queen of Scots was an avid golfer!)
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How do new words get into a language? This word comes from Ireland. In 1880 Irish tenant farmers were so enraged over high rents, they organized against the British estate owners. The group devised a new tactic that has become a part of nonviolent organizations down to this day. They targeted one estate owner, refusing to sell him supplies, harvest his crops, or even talk to him. Eventually the estate manager was forced to leave the country. But his name lives on. He was Charles Cunningham Boycott.
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Do you start your day with a cup of coffee? If so, you can thank a pope for making that possible. About 600 years ago coffee was wildly popular in the Middle East. But coffee soon became controversial. Early coffee houses were noted for producing radical ideas. Soon the authorities in Mecca and Cairo tried to ban the drink, but they were unsuccessful. When coffee came to Europe in the late 1500’s, some Vatican priests thought the drink should be banned because it was associated with Muslims. But Pope Clement VIII tasted a cup of coffee and liked it so much, he gave it his blessing.
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How did the Frisbee get its name? In 1947 a California inventor, Walter Frederick Morrison, created a toy that looked like a flying saucer. Sales were disappointing, so he improved the toy and called it the Pluto Platter. Eventually a toy company named Wham-O began marketing the toy on college campuses. At Yale University, one of the Wham-O founders learned that college students had been playing a lawn game for thirty years, tossing around metal pie tins. Instead of calling out “Fore!” before throwing the pie tin, they called out “Frisbie!” the name of the pie company that was emblazoned on the tin. Wham-O adopted the name for their toy, changing its spelling to Frisbee!
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In the 1600’s, Europe was hit with a critical shortage: rags. Rags were vital because they were used to make paper. And paper was in great demand. The situation was so dire, that, in 1666, England banned the use of cotton and linen for the burial of the dead, stating the cloth must be saved for making paper. Then a French scientist named Rene-Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur, “took a walk in the woods.” He came upon a deserted wasps’ nest. As he examined it closely he had a sudden insight: it was made of paper—without the use of rags. How did wasps make their paper? By chewing wood and plant fibers. His realization inspired inventors to create methods for making paper from wood pulp! (P.S. Concern for deforestation has led scientists to find new ways to produce paper. Years ago, one of my retreatants gave me some paper made from stones!)
Did any of these stories stand out for you?
Do you know any other quirky stories from history that you would like to share with us?
Today I chose this song by Matt Redman: “Blessed Be Your Name.” It seems like a good Lenten song to me, reminding us that no matter what is going on in our life, we can still choose to bless God’s name, knowing God is with us through it all.
I invite you to respond to this reflection below. We love hearing from you!
