Search

Results

The inner word

28 Dec 2014 - Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Cycle B

How do you feel about getting older? How does the process of aging feel in your body? Do you pine for your “lost youth” or feel your best years are present—or even ahead of you? As you read about Sarah and Abraham—as good as dead when they have a child and inherit a land—does their story bring you hope about what might lie ahead of you, regardless of your age? With God, all things are indeed possible and age is no obstacle!

age aging

Restricted
Answering the call

04 Oct 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Book of Genesis tells us that when the wild animals and birds of the air were brought before man, he had a name for each of them. Remote villagers in Uganda don't always have the answers they need in their daily encounters with the natural elements. Now, though, they have Question Box, a free, nonprofit telephone hotline that provides information to people in remote areas who lack access to computers. The premise behind Question Box is that a host of barriers keeps most of the developing world from taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge available through Web search engines, said Rose Shuman, the service's creator. That could be a drag on economic development. "So I was thinking, why not bring the information to them in a way that's most convenient and useful to them?" said Shuman, who is based in Santa Monica, California. People in two rural agricultural communities in Uganda can turn to 40 Question Box workers who have cell phones. The workers dial into the call center and ask questions on behalf of the locals, or they put the call on speakerphone so the locals can ask for themselves. The operators then look up the requested information in a database and convey it to the workers, who pass it along to the villagers. The workers are compensated with cell phone airtime. The service is a joint effort of Open Mind, a nonprofit group founded by Shuman, and the Grameen Foundation, which is best known for promoting small loans for the poor. It has received financial backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In June Google introduced a similar effort in Uganda, also involving Grameen, which allows people to find information on topics like health and agriculture via text messaging. Source: An article by Ron Nixon for the New York Times

internet bill and melinda gates foundation grameen foundation open mind rose shuman question box uganda cell phones google text messaging
U.S. scientists win Nobel Prize for Medicine

11 Oct 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the reading from the Letter to Hebrews we hear that the word of God is sharper than any sword, "penetrating even between . . . joints and marrow." Three U.S. researchers have been awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their penetrating analysis into the health of cells and how chromosomes are protected against degradation, work that has proven important for understanding of cancer and other diseases, as well as aging. Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak will share the $1.4 million prize for research on structures at the end of chromosomes called telomeres and an enzyme that forms them, called telomerase. Some scientists speculate that telomeres could play a role in the aging of organisms as a whole. In addition, the telomerase enzyme appears to be overactive in most human tumor cells, lengthening their lives and allowing them to grow out of control. Efforts are now being made to turn that idea into a cancer therapy, including vaccines against cells with overactive telomerase. Certain inherited diseases, in contrast, are characterized by defective telomerase, which results in damaged cells. Source: An article by Carolyn Y. Johnson for the Boston Globe

aging telomerase telomeres jack szostak carol greider elizabeth blackburn chromosomes nobel prize in physiology or medicine cells cancer
Texting while driving is dangerous and shortsighted

20 Dec 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved," says this Sunday's psalm response. The issue with teens texting messages while they drive is quite the contrary: They have their faces turned toward their cell phones instead of the road. A nationwide ban of the practice would save many lives, advocates said. One study found texting drivers were 23 times more likely to be in an accident. But with momentum building in Washington for a federal ban, there is evidence that teen drivers might not pay much attention to it. One study found that where such laws already exist, young people often ignore them. In October, during a three-day conference in Washington on distracted driving, President Obama signed an executive order barring federal employees from texting behind the wheel. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he would seek to expand that rule to bus drivers and truckers who cross state lines and called the conference "probably the most important meeting in the history of the Department of Transportation." The safety issue is not likely to go away soon. Nationwide the number of text messages was up tenfold in the past three years, and Americans sent an estimated 1 trillion messages in 2009. Among teens texting has supplanted phone calls as the preferred way to communicate. "We are seeing a clear trend of huge increases in text messaging," said Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at the Pew Internet and American Life Project. "If teens are a leader for America, then we are moving to a text-based communication system. For them, there is less interest in talking." Texting has even come in for criticism from the National Eye Institute, which this week blamed the practice for contributing to a 66 percent increase in the prevalence of nearsightedness, or myopia, since the 1970s. Source: Articles by Dan Whitcomb for Reuters, Hope Yen for the Associated Press, and Ellen Gibson for Bloomberg.com

teenagers nearsightedness national eye institute pew internet and american life project amanda lenhart ray lahood driving texting teens text messaging myopia
Cartoon promotion of junk food no laughing matter

27 Jun 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Lord is “my allotted portion and my cup,” says the psalmist this Sunday. Given the choice, the vast majority of children are attracted to food that feature cartoon characters, a new study suggests. Because such characters regularly adorn junk food, nutritionists are concerned. Food and beverage companies spend more than $1.6 billion a year to attract kids’ attention. Shrek, Dora the Explorer, and other animated TV and movie stars beloved by children have been moonlighting as junk-food pitchmen in recent years. And they’re good at it. Fifty percent of children say that food from a package decorated with a cartoon celebrity such as Shrek tastes better than the same exact food from a plain package. And when given a choice, the vast majority of kids pick the food from the cartoon-illustrated package as a snack, the study found. The use of TV and movie characters on food packaging is “designed to access certain feelings, memories, and associations,” says Dr. Thomas Robinson, M.D., a professor of child health at the Stanford University School of Medicine who was not involved in the study. “If you associate certain products with things that are otherwise considered fun, it’s going to make those products seem more desirable.” “Parents may not set out to buy unhealthy products,” says the lead author of the study, Christina Roberto, M.S., a doctoral student at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity in New Haven, Connecticut. “But kids can be really, really persuasive. They see them and they want them, and it gets difficult to have that battle in the grocery store.” In related developments, weeks after a Silicon Valley county became the first in the nation to ban toys from McDonald’s Happy Meals and other food promotions aimed at children, a public health watchdog group called on the fast food giant to remove the playthings from all its meal packages. The Center for Science in the Public Interest said that the plastic promotions lure children into McDonald’s restaurants where they are then likely to order food that is too high in calories, fat, and salt. Source: Articles by Sharon Bernstein for the Los Angeles Times and Sarah Klein for Health.com

Children rudd center for food policy and obesity christina roberto center for science in the public interest happy meals packaging cartoon characters food mcdonald’s thomas robinson
An age-old remedy: Walking

19 Sep 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The prophet Amos castigates those “who trample upon the needy” and those who buy the poor “for a pair of sandals,” but for those 60 years of age or older a brisk walk in a good pair of sandals might be just what the doctor ordered. Research shows that walking can boost connectivity patterns within brain circuits, which "decrease as we get older," said Dr. Arthur F. Kramer, who led a study on the topic at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. God “lifts up the poor” the psalmist reminds us. A good walk can be uplifting for a number of reasons. "[Cerebral] networks aren't as well connected to support the things we do, such as driving," Kramer said. "But we found as a function of aerobic fitness, the networks became more coherent." Kramer's walking study, which was published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, tracked 70 adults from 60 to 80 years old over the course of a year. The findings come as no surprise to Dr. Lynn Millar, an expert with the American College of Sports Medicine. She said that while walking might seem like a simple activity, the brain is actually working to integrate information from many different sources. "When we walk we integrate visual input, auditory input, as well as input that's coming from joints and muscles regarding where the foot is, how much force, and things like that," said Millar, a professor of Physical Therapy at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. "It's that old concept: If you don't use it you lose it," she said. "In order for something to be beneficial we need to do it repetitively, and walking is a repetitive activity." Source: An article by Doene Internicola for Reuters

aging brain walking
Sign of the times: Digital prayer requests

20 Jan 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Give to the Lord glory and praise,” the psalmist urges this Sunday. Prayers of praise as well as of petition are coming to the largest group of Franciscan friars in the U.S. in a novel way: via text messages.The Friars of the Most Holy Name of Jesus Province, who staff 40 parishes, colleges, soup kitchens, and food centers along the Eastern seaboard as well as supporting groups in Peru and Tokyo, are among a small but growing number of religious groups offering this type of digital service.Their “Text a Prayer Intention to a Franciscan Friar” initiative, described as “faith at your fingertips,” offers a novel way for Catholics to connect with those in religious life. “People are always saying to friars, ‘Can you say a prayer for me?’ or ‘can you remember my mother who has cancer?’ ” said Father David Convertino, the New York-based executive director of development for the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Name Province."A lot of people text everything now, even more than email, so why not have people have the ability to ask us to pray for them by texting," Convertino said. The intentions are received on a website and are included collectively in the friars' prayers twice a day and at Mass.Most of the 325 friars, whose average age is about 60, are comfortable with the technology, said Convertino. "If the pope can tweet, friars can text. We have a friar who is 80 who was texting today.”Homily hint: What to make of the growing dominance of text messages and online communications in social interaction? Is it a trend to be resisted? Embraced? Is there a middle road we can navigate, adopting and adapting technologies to serve real human needs—without letting them replace real human interaction? Food for thought and perhaps conversation this Sunday. Source: An article by Patricia Reaney for Reuters

prayer requests text messaging texting franciscan friars most holy name of jesus province david convertino
Homily stories

05 Nov 2017 - Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

We should honor all those who give their lives to God's service, not just the “rabbis” or “masters.” But how we do that may change over time. On or near my mother’s birthday, I always visited the family plot at Mt. Carmel Cemetery by myself with a yellow rose, her favorite, to place on her grave. I thanked her for being there when I was born, a little joke between the two of us. Over the years the plot had filled. My sister was buried first back in 1946, then my grandparents. Dad’s death was followed 15 years later by Mom’s. My brother’s ashes were the most recent addition. I prayed, remembered a few stories, smiled and cried, like most mourners paying their respects. And then I’d leave it all until my next visit. In my will a few years back I requested that I be buried over my sister between my parents. Shortly thereafter I underwent surgery with complications that led to a call to the undertaker to be ready for a possible pick up. Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary. I survived. But the visits are different now. The marble stone with the family name still stands upright and solid, showing none of the 70 years it has endured the elements. But I am aging and my mortality grows more obvious to me every year. Of course, I still mourn the loss of my loved ones. But I also mourn my own inevitable decline. And now I leave the cemetery eager to celebrate the days still ahead for me even as I thank God for past memories, present blessings, and what the future will inevitably hold.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

gravesite cemetery aging mortality

Restricted
Exploring the word

01 Jul 2018 - Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

One of the surest ways to lose your audience is to introduce the subject of death. Our culture insulates us from the idea in as many ways as possible, worshipping youth and hiding the sick and dying from us. Even old age routinely gets a makeover so that we don’t have to look at graying hair, wrinkles, and age spots. The memento mori is not welcome. Death is in the room, but it is not acknowledged in polite society. Still, religion is the place where it is supposed to be safe to touch our mortality and confront the limitations of human existence. In the religious conversation, we talk about sin and suffering, failure and need! How can we not talk about the most critical reality of our life here as well, our own certain demise? Yet one elderly person recently complained after Mass, “I don’t want to hear about death in church. I come here to feel good about my life, to be comforted. When you talk about death, it makes me feel sad all over again.” This complaint is the antithesis of the conversation Christianity is holding about death, of course. If we’re at all paying attention, we hear the message that although death is in the room, it is not the end of the story. Our mortality has a champion, and the sting has officially been removed. Formed to be imperishable As the psalmist says, the God we worship doesn’t intend for us to wind up in the netherworld. Weeping comes at nightfall, but rejoicing with the dawn. Christians interpret this image in terms of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Our grief in times of loss is true and reasonable, but so is our hope in the Resurrection. The Wisdom writer takes the argument further, insisting that death was never God’s idea to begin with. We bear the likeness of an undying God in our being. Or as Jesus elsewhere puts it, our God is the God of the living. Death and destruction are the consequences of sin, but that ultimate wage has been paid by the only one rich enough to pay it and undo the effects. The bottom line is that we can talk about death if anyone can, because our faith makes us confident that death has no claim on us. The God who fashioned all things to have being isn’t going to give up creation without a fight. And when it comes to cosmic battles, God always wins. A tale of two females Mark is the shortest gospel, but he packs his stories with more density and intensity than the other evangelists to make up for the shortfall. His classic device is the Marcan sandwich—two stories told simultaneously or parallel to each other that expand the meaning of both. The story of Jairus’ daughter and the woman with the flow of blood are presented as precise bookends of the same truth—that Jesus is the Lord of life. Consider first the 12-year-old girl. Mark alone tells us her age, to alert us that she is on the threshold of maturity when the flow of blood begins and fertility is possible. The tragedy is therefore enhanced: She will never be a mother, never make the passage to maturity. On the other side of the spectrum is the woman suffering the hemorrhage. Her trouble is the mirror image of the pubescent girl, for her flow of blood doesn’t cease. She, too, is therefore infertile, incapable of bringing a child to term or even of being touched by her husband. The dying girl and the suffering woman are both seemingly abandoned by life’s great possibilities. And they are both daughters, one to Jairus and one by Jesus’ own designation. In both stories, faith is crucial to the outcome. The girl’s father, Jairus, comes to Jesus with great faith that he alone can save his daughter. Jairus believes that a touch of Jesus’ hand will be sufficient to affect the cure. The hemorrhaging woman also approaches Jesus with the absolute conviction that contact with his person, even the hem of his cloak, is all that’s needed. Jesus confirms in each case that their faith is not incidental to the healing they seek. Sandwiched between death and life A little girl, a full-grown woman: each at the cusp of life and loss. Jesus has the power to rescue both, but not without the vital participation of personal faith. Where human beings are present, death is always in the room, and it holds great authority over what happens to us. But Jesus is the ultimate authority before whom every knee must bend. When Jesus is in the room—wherever two or more are gathered in faith—death is forced to retreat to the sidelines. But we can’t be passive in the face of these realities. Jairus had to seek Jesus out and make his urgent appeal. The hemorrhaging woman reached out and clutched at Jesus’ cloak without permission and against the rules, since as an unclean woman she shouldn’t be in a public place at all. Both understood that healing and wholeness are commodities to be grasped at, because a fallen world now defaults to crippling influences, what the church now calls the culture of death. Seek life, or remain subject to death. Those are our options, and it takes a dynamic choice for Jesus the Lord to get whole. Applying the Word This gracious act Saint Paul identifies the self-offering of Jesus as the gracious act that overcomes the poverty of our mortality and makes us rich in fullness of life. It in turn spawns our responsibility to be generous: to supply from our abundance and to trust that our needs will be equally met. In a culture passively surrendered to death, we represent life when we speak out against all the ways that it is challenged: against poverty, class conflict, and unequal opportunity; against abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and irresponsible use of genetic resources; against racism and prejudice of every kind. Jesus is Lord of life at every moment along its spectrum. One gracious act deserves another. Related scripture links Death has no sting: Hos. 13:14; 1 Cor. 15:55-56 The God of the living: Matt. 22:32-33; Luke 20:37-38 Wages of sin: Rom. 6:23 Every knee must bend before Jesus: Phil. 2:10 Gathered in faith: Matt. 18:20 Catechism links Faith: CCC 26; 142-165; 170; 222-227; 1812-1816 Faith and healing: CCC 548-549; 992-996

Authors Alice Camille

death Faith hemorrhaging woman Jairus’ daughter

Restricted
In other words

01 Jul 2018 - Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

After Jesus crossed over by boat, a large crowd met him at the seaside. One of the meeting-place leaders named Jairus came. When he saw Jesus, he fell to his knees, beside himself as he begged, “My dear daughter is at death’s door. Come and lay hands on her so she will get well and live.” Jesus went with him, the whole crowd tagging along, pushing and jostling him. A woman who had suffered a condition of hemorrhaging for twelve years—a long succession of physicians had treated her, and treated her badly, taking all her money and leaving her worse off than before—had heard about Jesus. She slipped in from behind and touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well.” The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with. At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” His disciples said, “What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you’re asking, ‘Who touched me?’ Dozens have touched you!” But he went on asking, looking around to see who had done it. The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt before him, and gave him the whole story. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague.” While he was still talking, some people came from the leader’s house and told him, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?” Jesus overheard what they were talking about and said to the leader, “Don’t listen to them; just trust me.” He permitted no one to go in with him except Peter, James, and John. They entered the leader’s house and pushed their way through the gossips looking for a story and neighbors bringing in casseroles. Jesus was abrupt: “Why all this busybody grief and gossip? This child isn’t dead; she’s sleeping.” Provoked to sarcasm, they told him he didn’t know what he was talking about. But when he had sent them all out, he took the child’s father and mother, along with his companions, and entered the child’s room. He clasped the girl’s hand and said, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up.” At that, she was up and walking around! This girl was twelve years of age. They, of course, were all beside themselves with joy. He gave them strict orders that no one was to know what had taken place in that room. Then he said, “Give her something to eat” (from Mark 5). From A New Message 4 Next Week (actapublications.com) based on The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2013).

Jairus’ daughter hemorrhaging woman Faith

Restricted

← Previous 1 2 Next →