A VERY Belated Happy Easter!

"Phoenix" by Rebecca Koenig
Linoleum block print

He is truly risen! Alleluia!

Good Friday

¹ I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath;
² he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;
³ surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long.
⁴ He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones;
⁵ he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;
⁶ he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.
⁷ He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me;
⁸ though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;
⁹ he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked.
¹⁰ He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding;
¹¹ he led me off my way and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate;
¹² he bent his bow and set me as a mark for his arrow.
¹³ He drove into my heart the arrows of his quiver;
¹⁴ I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the burden of their songs all day long.
¹⁵ He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood.
¹⁶ He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;
¹⁷ my soul is bereft of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is;
¹⁸ so I say, "Gone is my glory, and my expectation from the LORD."
¹⁹ Remember my affliction and my bitterness, the wormwood and the gall!
²⁰ My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.
²¹ But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
²² The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.
²⁴ "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."
²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Book of Lamentations 3:1-26, RSV

We're a Twisted Lot, I Know ...

Oh. my.

The Catholic sense of humor strikes again.

I am indebted to Brenda of The Crazy Stable for this link to LOLSaints.

Snow Day in Raleigh!

This is today's view from the Old Lighthouse's office window.

A rare day in Raleigh -- just a few inches of snow, but enough to make the snowplow-challenged South come to a halt. The philosophy here is "God put it there -- God'll take it away."









Neither the kids nor I have school today, and they're basking in the leisure. Of course, we'll be making this up during Spring Break, but it's a small price to pay ...

Better Check Your Closet

A woman in Iowa was arrested for not returning a library book. I understand the frustration that librarians must feel when library books are not returned, but this seems a bit over the top. The book only cost $13.95, but the woman wound up paying much more than that in bond money, plus whatever court costs she's going to incur.

Y'all had better check around the house for those forgotten tomes before the library police come for you!

Sam Vimes Would Laugh

Congratulations to Sir Terry Pratchett, OBE, on being knighted!

Sorrow Too Soon

Father Richard John Neuhas died yesterday after a brief illness. He will be sorely missed.

Details on funeral arrangements are here, along with some past columns written by Fr. Neuhas on death, dying, and becoming Catholic.

In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus Angelorum te suscipiant, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam habeas requiem.	May the Angels lead thee into paradise: may the Martyrs receive thee at thy coming, and lead thee unto the holy city of Jerusalem. May the choir of Angels receive thee, and mayest thou have eternal rest with Lazarus, who once was poor.

A Happy Literary New Year to All!

"New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual." -- Mark Twain

And on a more hopeful note:

"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective."
- G.K. Chesterton

Our best wishes for a happy 2009 to all of you.