New Painting in My Rosary Art Collection

I've added a new painting to my Rosary Art Collection.   It's a painting of The Resurrection, of course!

Changes to my Sunday Observance

I've made a few changes to the way I observe Sunday.  Some of these changes were necessary.

When I moved, several important Sunday items were lost:

My nice Sunday clothes

My electric votive candle

My pretty tablecloths.

Many of my Sunday books

I bought a box of battery-operated candles, so I'm still able light a candle on Saturday evening.  The clothes and the tablecloths can wait; I'm on a fixed income and these things, while beautiful, are not essential.

And, thank God, I still have quite a few of my Sunday books.

My prayer schedule for Sunday, especially in regard to the Liturgy of the Hours, remains unchanged.

On weekdays, I pray one Daytime Hour, usually Midday Prayer, but sometimes, Midafternoon Prayer.  On Sundays, I pray all three Daytime Hours. 

 And I think I've mentioned that I rotate which Hour is current, and which two are complementary.

As for the games I play on Sunday, well, here is an excerpt, slightly edited, from an older post.

I don't think that innocent amusements are wrong on Sunday, in fact, they can help to enhance the observance, as long as they don't take precedence. How many times have we heard, "What's allowed on Monday is allowed on Sunday?"
I love to play games on the computer, and on my TV, but mostly on the computer. However, on Sundays I like to play different games than I do during the week.
On weekdays, I play a variety of games, both online and offline, but on Sundays, I play only
Beach Solitaire (on my TV) and mah-jonng.  I also do several online jigsaw puzzles,
The reason I play different games on Sunday from those I play during the week is that I like a change on Sunday.
This has not changed.

From another old post:

On Sundays, (and that means from Evening Prayer 1 to Evening Prayer 2), I put aside whatever non-Catholic books I may be reading. On Sunday, I read only Catholic books.
The book can be fiction or non-fiction, but it absolutely MUST be something I'll want to carry into the next week. Dull, dry books are not welcome! 

This HAS changed.  I've come to the conclusion, or perhaps the realization, that any good, wholesome book is suitable for my Sundays.  However, there are some books, some lovely books, that I will read ONLY on Sundays. 

Something I Almost Never Do (Please Read)

This is probably the first time that I've added a post AFTER publishing my "Sunday Snippets" post for the week.

However, I feel that this is important... and thank God I can moderate "Guest" reviews before they are published. Here is what somebody wrote about this story: (one word changed)

[BLEEP] YOU THIS IS SO RACIST AND HOMOPHOBIBIB [sic]
 

Huh???? What's racist and/or homophobic about this story?

And yes, that review upset me.  Again, thank God it was a "Guest" review, so I could delete it before it was published.

Sunday Snippets-- A Catholic Carnival

Well, here it is time once more for Sunday Snippets  ! Thanks to RAnn for hosting!  I've discovered some wonderful blogs here.  How about sharing yours? 

I have a special request this week: Please pray for the repose of the soul of RAnn's father,

and the consolation of his loved ones.

Semper Gaudete!: EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network To Air Exclusive Pre-Canonization Specials

Semper Gaudete!: This Week's Fan Fiction
a meditation that turned into a story

Semper Gaudete!: New Picture in Collection

Semper Gaudete!: Practicing Catholics

Semper Gaudete!: Throwback Thursday

Semper Gaudete!: The Gratitude Attitude Game

Semper Gaudete!: Why is This Night Different from All Other Nights?

Semper Gaudete!: Books Read in the Past Week

Semper Gaudete!: Something I Almost Never Do (Please Read)

Books Read in the Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #

"Marion Howard or Trials and Triumphs" #

by May Ramsay
[Catholic fiction]

(free Google book)

"Love God And Do What You Please"

by St. Alphonsus Liguori

adapted by M. J. Huber

[spiritual reading]
a favorite of mine; thank God it wasn't one of the books
lost when I moved!

{Sunday books}

Bible books(s) read this week:
"Sirach"
"1 Corinthians"

  

"Pride and Prejudice" #

by Jane Austen

[fiction]

{carried over from last week}

"Pies and Prejudice" #
{carried over from last week}
"Home for the Holidays" #
{carrying over into next week}

by Heather Vogel Frederick
[fiction]
(Kindle books)

"Emily's Runaway Imagination"

by Beverly Cleary
[children's fiction]
{carried over from last week
(openlibrary.org loan)

"Lily's in London?!"
"Lily's Passport to Paris"
by Nancy Rue
[children's fiction, Christian, Protestant, no denomination specified.] 

"First We Have Coffee
and then we talk"
by Margaret Jensen
[Christian (Protestant) nonfiction]
{carrying over into next week}

Why is This Night Different from All Other Nights?

Earlier this week, in countless Jewish homes, at countless Seders, the youngest son, or, if there was no son, the youngest daughter, (not counting babies, of course!) asked the traditional Four Questions, beginning
"Why is this night different from all other nights?"

(In my family, I was the one who asked those Questions.)

And now, for me, as a Jewish convert to Catholicism, these words have an even deeper meaning as a foreshadowing of the night of the Last Supper... the night on which Our Lord instituted the Eucharist. 

The Gratitude Attitude Game

For those unfamiliar with the Pollyanna books and/or movies, the idea of the "Glad Game"
is to find something to be glad about when things go wrong,
or if you don't like the situation you are in. And that is both the premise of, and the problem with,
the Glad Game. Something has to go wrong before you can play!

Pollyanna herself points this out in Pollyanna Grows Up.
"Always, before, there have been bad things for folks to play the game on, and the badder they are
the more fun 'tis to get them out-find the things to be glad for, I mean. But where there aren't any
bad things, I shouldn't know how to play the game myself."

Well, I decided to take the game one step further, and to start looking, not for reasons to be glad, but for
reasons to be thankful. That way, I don't have to wait for something to go wrong before I can play!

I approach this game from two angles, depending on whether something is good or bad...
or perhaps I should say whether I like or dislike it. I may think something is bad, but God
knows that it is really good.
If it's something I don't like, I try to find something in it to be thankful for. I admit that sometimes
all I can say is, "Thank You, God, for whatever good You have planned for me through this."

As for the good things, it's not so much a matter of LOOKING for them as it is NOTICING them.