BISHOP-ELECT MORRIS THOMPSON RECEIVES CONSENTS

From Lisa at My Manner of Life, comes the news that the bishop-elect of my diocese, Morris Thompson, received the necessary consents to be consecrated 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.

Also, Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce received consents to be consecrated bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the Rev. W. Andrew Waldo received consents to be consecrated 8th bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina on Dec. 12.

Good news all around

"...A WARM CHRISTIAN WELCOME TO THE EVIL DOERS...."

The following quote is from a satire at the The Daily Mash, which is almost too close to the "Love the sinner; hate the sin" mindset of certain Christians to be funny, but the piece hits the target.

CHURCH of England vicars will bless gay couples as long as they are allowed to quote Bible passages about them being abominations who must be put to death.

As the House of Lords voted to allow same-sex church ceremonies, vicars said they would extend a 'warm Christian welcome to the evil doers and their perverted bedtime acrobatics'.

Rev Denys Hatton, vicar of St Gary's in Folkham, said: "I am more than happy to perform a gay blessing as long as I am allowed to pick the reading. And since you ask, I would kick things off with a spot of Corinthians, where St Paul makes it abundantly clear that homosexuals are 'unrighteous'.

"Then I'd crank it up with a quote from Romans where St Paul describes them as 'degrading', 'depraved' and 'indecent'."

Read the rest at the Mash.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

To those who can dream there is no such place as faraway. ANON

"The history of all times, and of today especially, teaches that ... women will be forgotten if they forget to think about themselves." LOUISE OTTO

Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. LANGSTON HUGHES

"A free race cannot be born of slave mothers." MARGARET SANGER

"It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else." ERMA BOMBECK

"So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why don't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?" HARRIET BEECHER STOWE


Prayer from The Sisters of Mercy.

Let us go forth then, O Living and Loving God,

Let us go forth in the power of Your Presence deep in our hearts, and the power of your presence overflowing in our communities,

Let us go forth confirmed and strengthened in our vision

Let us go forth named in Hope and Love, and sustained in these challenging times.

Let us go forth as valiant women of justice and peace. Amen.


Thanks to Doug for the images.

Quotes from Altius Directory. The history of International Women's Day may be found here.

Note: The Sisters of Mercy were my high school teachers. My teacher in my senior year, Sr. Mary Regius, inspired me by her teaching and encouragement to do good work, especially in writing. Since I started my blog, I've used her lessons more than I ever have before in my life.

HOUMAS HOUSE GROUNDS - PART 2

Poseidon in the pool.

Perhaps the statue above represents nobody and is simply an anonymous figure.

The pagoda. And a Japanese bridge?

Another fountain.

Is it just me? The number of statues, structures, pools, etc. (and I did not photograph all!) begins to seem too much. The individual pieces that contribute to the landscaping and building plan are all tasteful. No expense is spared to beautify the grounds, but perhaps more plants and fewer structures would have been the better way to go.

HOUMAS HOUSE GROUNDS - PART 1

Beautiful flower beds. I love the ornamental cabbages.

Neither Grandpère nor I can think of the name of the small, low-growing flowers pictured in the flower bed. (Update: I now know that the flowers are pansies.)

The flowers in the foreground of the photo are nearly black. Again, we've had them in flower beds, but we can't think of the name.

A Houmas House version of Old Faithful?

I did not photograph the attractive formal gardens with low hedges and maze-like paths through the hedges.

LESTER & CHARLIE: Last of the Last Straws

Thanks to bondwooley in the comments for the link to the video about Americans running away to Canada or other places to escape the government if...if...if.... No! It couldn't happen here!

Check out the The Lester & Charlie show, where you can find other satirical videos. You won't be sorry you visited their website.

FEAST OF FELICITY, PERPETUA, AND COMPANIONS

 

Saints Perpetua and Felicity
By Brother Robert Lentz, OFM. © 1996
Courtesy of www.trinitystores.com


Felicity and Perpetua lived in Carthage in North Africa in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries and were martyred, along with several of their companions, for refusing to deny their Christian faith.

El Padre at Padre Mickey's Dance Party has a lovely post about the two saintly women, which includes the icon pictured above, along with another beautiful icon.

The faithful witness of the martyrs, of people like Perpetua and the others, have made it possible for us to hear the Good News, have made it possible for us to learn of salvation, have made it possible for us to have eternal life. May we all share the bravery and faithfulness of Perpetua, Felicitas, Revocatus, Secundulus, Saturninus, Saturas, and all the martyrs.

Kittkatt at Jesus in Love, using the same wonderful icon, posted another beautiful account of the the lives of the saints.

Perpetua was a 22-year-old noblewoman and a nursing mother. Felicity, her slave, gave birth to a daughter while they were in prison. Although she was married, Perpetua does not mention having a husband in the narrative.

There were arrested for their Christian faith, imprisoned together, and held onto each other in the amphitheater at Carthage shortly before their execution on March 7, 203.

I recommend the two commemorations highly.

PRAYER

O God the King of saints, you strengthened your servants Perpetua and Felicitas and their companions to make a good confession, staunchly resisting, for the cause of Christ, the claims of human affection, and encouraging one another in their time of trial: Grant that we who cherish their blessed memory may share their pure and steadfast faith, and win with them the palm of victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

"...THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY THING...." SARAH PALIN

If you can't or won't make it to church today, or even if you go to church, you could do a lot worse, a whole lot worse, indeed, than to read Rmj's post at Adventus for the 3rd Sunday of Lent.

HOUMAS HOUSE, DARROW, LA

 

Grandpère and I attended the awards luncheon for the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. In a later post, I'll tell you about the people who won the awards. We did not. Above is Houmas House on the East Bank of the Mississippi River, where the ceremony was held. We headed up Bayou Lafourche, then over to cross the river on the Sunshine Bridge, and - miracle of miracles! - we arrived early and had time to tour the grounds.

 

Grandpère standing next to a large oak tree. Does he see a spaceship or a vision in the sky? Something up there seems to have captured his attention. He looks good in his suit, doesn't he?

 

Today the weather was mild and sunshiny, a lovely day for an outing and for walking the beautiful grounds at Houmas House. Usually, I don't like photos of myself, but this one I like. Of course, I'm wearing my old, out-of-style blazer, but so what? I'm old and out of style myself.

 

Spanish Moss in the oaks.

 

Do you know what is shown in the picture above?

Since I have more good pictures of the grounds, I'll probably do another post.

OUR JAPANESE MAGNOLIA

 

At one time, the blooms on the Japanese magnolia in our front yard covered the entire tree. I don't know what happened over the years to cause the blooms to be sparser, but the flowers that DO bloom are still lovely.