He, Christ

Blaze

The Great Split

Painting: Blake, Ancient of Days

Do Not Blush

If We Do Not...

Never Alone

Painting: Winslow Homer, Boy on a Raft (1879)

Strength!

Looking for Adventure?

A New Horizon

A Sign for the Humble

"The brightness of the sun is no sign, but an eclipse is. 

He said that on the last day, His coming would be heralded 

by 'signs in the sun,' perhaps an extinction of light. 

At Bethlehem the Divine Son went into an eclipse, 

so that only the humble of spirit might recognize Him."

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

Painting: Howard Russell Butler, in US public domain due to age PD-US

In Wordless Infancy

'He was created of a mother whom He created. 

He was carried by hands that he formed. 

He cried in the manger in wordless infancy. 

He, the Word, without Whom all human eloquence is mute.'

St. Augustine

Painting: Marianne Stokes

Our Seasonal Expectations

'Christmas is fast approaching. And now that Christ has 

aroused our seasonal expectations, He will soon fulfill them all!'

St. Augustine

Painting: Henry Mosler, Christmas Morning, 1916

To Learn Everything

Painting used is by Eastman Johnson

To Cling to What is True

'Christian abnegation
is not composed
completely of renunciation; 
it leads to something
tangible and definite.
We abandon what is false 
to cling to what is true. 
We empty our hearts
of earthly things 
to make room for eternal. 
We lose our selves 
to gain Christ.'

Father William Doyle

















Painting: Jules-Joseph Lefebvre

So That By His Birth

'Christ is born, 

so that by His birth

He might restore your nature.'

St. Peter Chrysologus

Painting: Julian Alden Weir, The Christmas Tree, 1890

The Producer's Cameo Appearances

Even though I grew up watching Alfred Hitchcock movies, I was an adult before I learned one of their most charming little secrets. Mr. Hitchcock not only produced and directed the films, he also made cameo appearances in his works. To those paying close attention, he could be found milling among crowds of extras, or hopping on a bus, or even interacting with a character.

I'd had no idea. No one ever told me the director might show up anywhere, at any time.  Those who cared to find him just had to keep eyes open and watch. A bit of a challenge, I'm sure, in those days before videotapes and rewind buttons, back when the only way to see a movie was to go to an actual theater at the times it was shown.

In my early days of movie viewing, I never saw Mr. Hitchcock in his films. For one thing, I didn't have a very clear idea of what he looked like. For another, I had not been told to look. No one said he'd be there. If I had known, perhaps I would have taken on the hunt as a challenge:  a kind of "Where's Waldo" for those of us in the Baby Boomer generation.

Thinking of this recently, I couldn't help but make comparisons.

The One responsible for the world around us, the One who not only produces and directs but is the actual Author of life Himself, does not remain at a distance.  He doesn't stay "off screen." He is there in the simplest as well as the most profound of all our moments. He is always there, and occasionally He even lets His presence be seen.

In order to find him, however, we have to know to look.  We must be told He is here.

We also have to know what He's like. We must have some idea of His nature. How do we learn this? We spend time with Him in prayer. We read Scripture. We learn His ways through the Catechism and in writings of saints known to be with Him. We see how He relates to mankind.

If we care to find Him, we just have to keep our eyes open. It can be a bit of a challenge to do so, especially when many around us seem not to be looking for Him or thinking of Him, or even giving Him credit for the world in which He has placed us.

If we pay attention, we just might catch a glimpse of Him. Possibly in something about which we find ourselves thinking "that just can't be a coincidence."  Maybe in the sound of rain outside our window. Maybe when we open a page of Scripture. Perhaps when we see an answer to prayer.

The Producer of all we see is never far from us.  We have only to look.  

"This Son is the reflection of the Father's glory, the exact representation of the Father's being, and He sustains all things by His powerful word." (Hebrews 1:3) 

public domain photos from Wikimedia's "Hitchcock's cameo Appearances" page

And So I Choose......

'Life with Christ is an endless hope; 

without Him, a hopeless end.'

(anonymous)

Painting:  Luis Astete y Concha, Woman in Wheat Field

Try it and See

'Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure.'

St. Pope John Paul II

Painting: Hans Thoma Einsamer Ritt (1889)

Thank You...

It's still awards season in the blog world.  I suppose it always is, as long as someone has been kind enough to pass along such treasures as the Semper Fidelis Award.  Thank you, Anabelle at Written by the Finger of God, for nominating The Breadbox Letters for this!

But alas.  It seems this blog does not technically qualify.  Intrigued by the words 'may you never howl alone,' I checked on the award, and from what I can tell it's for Word Press blogs.  Which The Breadbox Letters is not.  However, I hope no one minds if I slip a teeny picture of the award on this teeny post, along with a teeny bit of information about ... well, about never going it alone.

Semper Fidelis is Latin for always faithful.  Wolves are used to exemplify this (here) because they have strong links with their pack.  Put simply: they need one another.

A quick look at blogs listed under 'we have mail' on my sidebar will reveal a number of bloggers whose companionship I 'need.'   There is quite a variety.  Homeschoolers, crafters, prayer-sharers, apologists, priests, cooks, poets, nuns, grandparents, painters, photographers, and a few who cause their readers to laugh out loud.  Different ages, personalities, writing styles; yes, it's a remarkable mix.  But all have the same core goal.

Sainthood.  

'The most wonderful thing about the saints, after their dissimilarity, is their similarity, which is a golden chain binding them all together.  In the Calendar of saints we find all sorts and conditions of men: all trades and professions, from the tramp to the king, from the former wanton to the virgin, from the child to the centenarian.  Some particular vice, or tendency to vice, had to be overcome by nearly all of them.  But when all is said and done, the bedrock principle underlying each life is an intense, personal love of God, showing itself outwardly in sanctity of life, and in zeal to bring souls to Him.  To get to Heaven each of us must be a saint...

'The saint is one who makes Christ his Friend, Confidant and Companion; who walks arm-in-arm with Christ through life; who makes God's opinion his opinion, God's laws his laws, God's judgments his judgments, God's will his will...

'Is this easy?  By no means.  Try it for awhile, and see what daily, hourly repression of self it implies; what stabs of self-love and self-esteem, what patience and sweetness with others.'  (from Fervorinos From the Lips of the Master, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1940, pp. 339-341)

I thank God for the faithful bloggers who help me on the path to heaven.

And I thank God for the saints who have already made it Home.  They are the ones who inspire and pray for us as we continue to stumble along. 

If I were able to accept this award, I'd pass it on to some of my friends the saints.  I would link to their stories and their writings.  So thank you, Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal, Margaret Mary, Faustina, Teresa of Avila, Paul of the Cross, Therese of Lisieux, John of the Cross, Bernard of Clairvaux, Francis of Assisi, the writers of the Gospels (and dear Sts. Peter and Paul), and all saints of Heaven.  Thank you for your prayer, your witness, and for the writings you have left us (and we all know you're the primary writers of this blog, so this one's definitely for you).   

I've only mentioned a handful of your number, but you are our Heavenly family.  You are our 'pack.' 

Thank you that we need not walk alone.

Painting:  James Sant, A Thorn amidst the Roses 1887

We Wander in a Solitary Way

                                      "To every one of us from time to time
                                      there comes a sense of utter loneliness,
                                     'There is no one who really understands, 
                                      Not one to enter into all I feel:'
                                      Such is the cry of each of us in turn.
                                      We wander in a solitary way,
                                      no matter what or where our lot may be.
                                      Each heart, mysterious even to itself,
                                      must live its inner life in solitude.
                                   
                                      ....when we feel this loneliness, it is
                                      the voice of Jesus saying 'Come to Me.'
                                      And every time we are 'not understood,'
                                      it is a call for us to come again.
                                      For Christ alone can satisfy the soul,
                                      and those who walk with Him from day to day
                                      can never have a solitary way."

                               (from Sheltering the Divine Outcast, by a Religious, Peter Reilly Co., Philadelphia, 1931, pp. 43-44)

Painting by Konstantin Yegorovich Makosky, 1839-1915, from Wikimedia Commons, public domain
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