In terms of the calendar, October is packed with important and interesting stuff. The feast day of St. Francis on the 4th. The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on the anniversary of the battle of Lepanto on the 7th. Sts. John Henry Newman on the 9th, Ignatius of Antioch on the 17th, and John Paul II on the 22nd. The anniversary of the miracle of Fatima on the 13th. And this Saturday, the 28th, MILVIAN BRIDGE DAY!!
Yay - I know you are all frantically getting ready for your Milvian Bridge Day parties, but in case anyone missed this lecture in Church History class, the battle of the Milvian Bridge is the one where Constantine defeated his rival to become emperor of the western empire. It's also the one where he had a dream or vision of the sign of Christ, and heard the heavenly Voice say, "In this sign, (you will) conquer!" This victory led to the legalization of Christianity in the next year.
Now, the "sign" may have been the cross (and in some versions of the story, it is), but it was probably the monogram of Christ, perhaps superimposed on a cross. The monogram is the first two letters of Christos in Greek, that is, the letter Chi (looks like an X and includes both the C and the H from the English "Christ" ), and the letter Rho (looks like a P). So the monogram (not Jesus' initials, exactly, but more like an abbreviation), would look like the photo here.
So how will you celebrate Milvian Bridge Day? I checked online and I can't find where the parades are. None of my neighbors invited me over for a costume party (Tammy and I were going to go as Constantine's horse). But that's OK because we will be celebrating the baptism of our grandson, Zachary James, and Tammy and I will be the godparents. So, just a reminder, we won't have The Journey this Saturday, but we will have The Piazza on Sunday evening. So I won't see you on Saturday this week, but I hope you have a very merry Milvian Bridge Day, and a happy All Hallows Eve.
Dear friends - Please take 10 minutes to watch this personal update from me:
I'm back, up and running, and ready to go - I should have a new JOURNEY episode within the next week or so - and because you are my loyal peeps, here is an exclusive, just-for-you, behind the scenes SNEAK PEEK into my new office:
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
The problem with us men is that often we don't have the wisdom to be a father until we're a grandfather.
This may sounds like some ironic statement that makes you nod your head in agreement but shrug your shoulders in resignation, thinking, well there's nothing we can do about that. But the practical application of that is that it demonstrates how important it is for kids to grow up around their grandparents. But as in our culture the family becomes ever more fractured and spread out, that is harder and harder to do.
Lately I've been thinking that part of the problem is the whole concept of college. It used to be that everyone thought a person had to go to college to make a good living. Not only is that not the case (truck drivers make more money than I do) but now college has gone from useless to actually ruining our kids. But when I went to college, what you were supposed to do is figure out what career you wanted (as if anyone knows that at age 18) and then go away to the college ...
And don't forget, if you would like to read my latest novel:
The Sword and the Clover - just let me know by email.
I'm happy to send you the PDF version, even if you haven't been a monetary supporter of the community - all I ask is that you don't share it with anyone else.
My email address:
Keep in touch!
JIm
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