Holy Door of Mercy

I copied this from the St. Meinrad website.  I plan to visit St. Meinrad tomorrow with family.  Should be an interesting experience.

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy

December 8, 2015 - November 20, 2016
Pope Francis has declared a Jubilee Year of Mercy, offering an opportunity for Catholics to receive a plenary indulgence during this special time.


This is a time for the Church to rediscover the meaning of the mission entrusted to her by the Lord on the day of Easter: to be a sign and an instrument of the Father's mercy," the pope declared.


Plenary Indulgence for Jubilee Year of Mercy
Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin, CSsR, designated Saint Meinrad's Archabbey Church as one of two churches in the archdiocese that Catholics may visit to receive a plenary indulgence established by the Holy See for the jubilee year.


To receive an indulgence during the Jubilee Year of Mercy:

• Pass through the doors of mercy of the pilgrimage church.
• Make a profession of faith in the church (either the Apostles' or Nicene Creed).
• Pray for the pope's intentions and the pope himself.
• Meditate on mercy while receiving Communion during a period 20 days before or after visiting the pilgrimage church.
• Participate in the sacrament of penance during a period 20 days before or after visiting the pilgrimage church.

Memorial Day

"Remembering the Fallen"  - by Chris Hopkins

Easter

"Easter at the American Cathedral in Paris" - by Mary Blake

The Evolution of Jack

Does anyone else remember back in the day when we made jack-o-lanterns by pretty much just cutting out triangles?  The standard pumpkin looked something like this...

A couple of weeks prior to Halloween, these happy jacks started showing up on most porches.  Some were bigger, some were smaller, some weren't so round.  But really, this was what most of them aspired to.

But NOW, I rarely see the standard.  Instead, they have much more unique faces.

Some have amazingly detailed faces.

Some don't have faces at all!

Some have faces, but no candles.  This jack-o-lantern wasn't even gutted.  I guess that's one way to keep the top from falling in.

Some have faces that are painted on.  I guess this is a safer option... unless you choose to use lead paint.

Some jack-o-lanterns aren't even pumpkins!  What the heck?!

Some jacks were created using multiple methods.  At first this one started off as a standard jack, but then someone chose to carve the brain.  I didn't know jacks had brains!

Some don't even seem to have anything to do with the theme of Halloween.  I could have put any number of pictures here.  I found pics of jacks with Hello Kitty, Tigger, ESPN, hearts, and all kinds of other things that had little resemblance to the original jack.

And of course, I found a jack-o-lantern that took advantage of the contours of the top of the pumpkin.  This one also has a hat and hair.  It's like a Halloween costume for your jack-o-lantern!

The jack-o-lantern has come so far.  But since I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, my favorite jack-o-lantern looks more like this...

The 12 Days of Christmas [in art]

a partridge in a pear tree

two turtle doves

three french hens

four calling birds

five golden rings

six geese a-laying

seven swans a-swimming

eight maids a-milking

nine ladies dancing

ten lords a-leaping

eleven pipers pipping

twelve drummers drumming

Seven Word Status

"Depression" by Beata Kubik

Dark.  Dejected.
Depressed.  Discouraged.
Disheartened.  Down.  Drowning.

One of those days...

"Drive Through the Night" by David Padworny

Some days, it just doesn't seem worth it to get out of bed.

And I'm not just saying that because I thoroughly enjoy a good night's sleep.

And I actually went to work for three hours and got paid pretty well to be there.  So, I guess one could say that it was well worth it.  But I digress.

I woke up at 4am to a text message from someone I know well.  Fast forward to his last text message just before 8am.  Between those two times, our conversation went downhill fast.  I went from being frustrated and annoyed just minutes after opening my eyes for the day to broken down, exhausted, and in tears.  [sigh]

At the same time, I was in the office.  But I felt like I was in an elevator with a few dozen people.  Everyone talking at the same time, trying to be heard over the din of every other voice.  I can't tell you how many times I wanted to just yell, "SHUT UP!"  At on point I left the office area where my cubicle sits, walked a good 50 paces to the bathroom, and could STILL hear two voices from the office area that I left!

I know these people were mostly working.  But they were making it difficult for the rest of us to hear ourselves think.  I kept turning up my headphones to drown them out...until the volume gave me a headache.

Finally, I decided I'd had my fill.  after being at work only three hours, I packed up some things to work on at home... and home is where I went, where I am, where I'm staying.

I'm not going back there until Tuesday.

And I'm not getting into anymore text conversations like the one this morning either.

Work of Art

"Joy Vibrations" by Rassouli

Almost Home

I write this tonight because I'm away from home.  But in about 25 hours or so, I'll be home.  And I'm REALLY looking forward to it!  I've had another long week.  I have a three-day weekend coming up.  I have family coming in this weekend.  And I get to sleep in my own bed.  I can't wait!

"Almost Home"

by Karen Boyd

From her website...

This was an art class assignment to do a high horizon painting. I was happy that I didn’t “muddy” up the colors as I always struggle with this. The name “Almost Home” was because it takes me back to my Indiana childhood home even though the setting is not quite the same.

Indiana!  Did you read that?!  Home for her is Indiana too!  Love it!

Seven Word Status

THIS JUST IN:  Looks like more rain.

Title: "Rain in Maslovka Street"

Artist: Pavel Rubinskiy

So much...

I saw this picture while perusing the Internet and LOVED it. It's called "Overwhelmed" and was painted by Annie Preece. Check out her story: Annie Preece, Overwhelmed: A Painting from My Journey to Recovery

Okay, I don't have Annie's story. And thank God for that! But my head is just in too many places these days. It's making me a little dizzy. It's definitely keeping me awake at night. So much going on. So much to do. So much to remember. I don't know where to begin most of the time. I'm not even keeping up with the things I really need to be keeping up with. Fortunately, I feel like I'm keeping my head above water emotionally...most of the time...which is saying a lot for me. But I don't feel like I can say that in most aspects of my life. And that in itself is stressful. I just keep telling myself to keep going with the flow. That if I simply keep putting one foot in front of the other, things will ultimately find their right place. I don't know how true that is, but I have to believe that it is. Without hope, without faith, I'd be a basket case, I'm pretty sure. I don't need to be a basket case. I don't WANT to be a basket case. I am NOT a basket case!

Right?

So, in this painting which really speaks to me, each color represents an aspect of my life that my mind tries to process...and each change of direction is my mind jumping from one color to the next. Hard to focus on anything, isn't it?