Good morning, Digital Neighbors! Happy Friday ADD Irregulars and WSN Curators, and Curmudgeons. Hello again Friends & Refugees, Early Birds and Later Dayers, Conversants and Lurkers at the Report; Misfits, Political Homeless and Pham at Tribe Phetasy and finally you Awakening Wonders at Russel Brand.
I grew up with pets, mainly cats and dogs, and went for a long absence without any during my early years of priesthood. In 2012 I rescued Holly-cat and in 2014 Monsignor Jackson. Churchie people mistakenly thought he was a deacon, a slight Jackson was willing to overlook and forgive after treats, but since I was tasked with picking up after him, he knew he was of higher status in the community. He was a great dog and well loved by the parishioners of IHM. Letting him go in 2022 was much more difficult than I imagined. I am well acquainted with death and have buried many people I have grown to know and love. His passing was more personal and his absence more pronounced. I am ever so thankful to have had him, he was the best of boys.
Two weeks after the passing of Jackson, Rylee-girl came into my life. She was the coonhound-mix that belonged to another parishioner and friend of mine, Ginger, who is active in my community at Padre’s. I knew Rylee and had some doubts about her making a good church dog. I had taken Jackson on some walks with Ginger and Rylee and knew too well of her personality. I also knew about her boisterous barking, she is true to her heritage and can howl like nobody’s business. I could not have been more mistaken; Rylee is a natural flirt and melded right into the community. She is the quintessential moochie-poochie, she loves greeting everyone, but she really loves her patrons and peddlers of treats. I have been further demoted to butler and support staff by Rylee, but it is worth it. It is an 80/20 mix with Rylee-girl. 80% of the time I love her personality and energy, she is so smart and attentive, however 20% of the time she pissed me off way more than Jackson ever did. She is stubborn and at time slow to cooperate. I am pretty certain her main thought is “You’re not the boss of me.”
This Monday I adopted Ivy-kit. Ivy is 5 months old and full of energy. The last time I dealt with a kitten was in my childhood. Ivy is mostly isolated from the rest of the pack, but has had some encountered with both Holly & Rylee. Holly hissed and makes guttural sounds, Rylee wants to be friends but is too intimidating for Ivy. The introductions are moving along at a slow but predictable pace. I suspect Ivy will befriend Rylee before Holly grows to accept her. Holly is such a great cat; I am hoping in time she will adopt Ivy as he little sister. Time will tell. Happy Friday Digital Neighbors!
A True Perspective
In order to keep a true perspective of one’s importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him. - DEREKE BRUCE
Today marks the three hundred and thirtieth birthday of the Frenchman François-Marie Arouet, better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire (1694-1778).
Born into a bourgeois family during the reign of Louis XIV, the “Sun King” (r. 1643-1715), Voltaire suffered tragedy at a young age when his mother died. Never close with his father or brother, Voltaire exhibited a rebellious attitude toward authority from his youth. His brilliant mind was fostered in the care of the Society of Jesus, who introduced him to the joys of literature and theater. Despite his later criticisms against the Church, Voltaire, throughout his life, fondly recalled his dedicated Jesuit teachers.
Although he spent time as a civil servant in the French embassy to the Hague, Voltaire’s main love was writing—an endeavor where he excelled in various genres, including poetry, which led to his appointment as the royal court poet for King Louis XV. Widely recognized as one of the greatest French writers, and even hyperbolically referred to by ...
Padre - Tom Miller invites you to a Coffee Talk, Speakeasies, Schmoozes, Tea Times, Afterhours and other gatherings.
https://teams.live.com/meet/93792382189049?p=DiBHsYfuECPgDrG7vO
2026 Coffee Talk with the ADD Irregulars
Thursday, January 1, 2026
6:00 AM - 8:00 AM (CST)
Occurs every day starting 1/1 until 12/31/2027
Coffee Talk - Daily beginning at 6:00 AM Central Time Zone - USA
White Pilled Wednesday - A break from the heaviness of news and current events to focus upon things more personal & positive for the first hour of Coffee Talk.
Afternoon Chats - Most Tuesday, Friday & Sundays 2:00 PM Central
Other chats as posted in the community.
Blessed Sabbath and Happy Saturday to all of you digital neighbors scattered across the internet. In Cath-O-landia we are celebrating the Solemn Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since about the 5th century the devotion has been recognized in various communities within the Church. By the time of St. Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and Bonaventure it was a widespread devotion and belief among the faithful.
In short, at the moment of her death, the Blessed Virgin Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven. Our Orthodox brothers and sisters speak of the Dormition (the “falling asleep”) of the BVM, whose soul was received into Heaven at death and whose body was translated there and reunited with her soul. I am not sure how many, if any, outside of Catholicism and Orthodoxy celebrate it, since it is not explicitly in the Bible. Some see it as “Mary worship,” and sadly there are disciples who mistakenly or errantly place too much emphasis on the BVM and lose sight of the fact that ...
The Beautiful
Said the Disciple to the Lover, “Sir, before I left the world I heard certain men who were held in high esteem and thought to know the will of the Beloved say that those who loved the Beautiful did not love the Beloved but loved idols, yet in the Garden of the Beloved we are ever striving to create beauty for the pleasure of the Beloved. Were they then speaking the truth?”
The Lover answered, “Those who said this had never glimpsed the form of the Beloved nor ever truly sought Him, for all beauty is but the reflection of the beauty of the Beloved, although seen very dimly as in a dark and faulty mirror, even as all goodness is a dim reflection of the goodness of the Beloved. So it is that those who love beauty and goodness recognize dimly in them the form of the Beloved and though often in ignorance those who are seeking the Beautiful and the Good are seeking after the Beloved.”
