nationaldaycalendar.com/national-hat-day-january-15/
You can see all the cowboy (and cowgirl) fashions each summer at Cheyenne Frontier Days. Of course, this includes the cowboy hat!
There seems to be a day dedicated to anything and everything. You can learn more about National Hat Day at this link: nationaldaycalendar.com/national-hat-day-january-15/ You can see all the cowboy (and cowgirl) fashions each summer at Cheyenne Frontier Days. Of course, this includes the cowboy hat! Have a blessed weekend!
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It was my privilege last Saturday to lead a retreat for the ladies of the Cathedral Guild and Bishop's Guild at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Cheyenne. It was also my Sunday to preach at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Fort Collins, Colorado. On Friday, my wife said that I needed to shave before leading the retreat and preaching at Mass. (Photo on the left was taken last Friday after our conversation, but before I reluctantly shaved. Photo on the right is from somewhere around 1990.)
I will spare you some of the details of the conversation, but it ended with her saying, "You need to shave. You look rough." I pleaded my case that it had only been two weeks since I started growing my beard. It would take a couple more weeks for it to fill out. She said, "When I said you look rough, I meant that you look like a bum." I simply thought to myself, "My retirement goals have been reached. Where is the nearest beach appropriate for this bum?" Alas, I am not retired. I complied for now and shaved so I would not look like a bum at the retreat or at Mass. However, the beard will return again at some point in time. My beard may not be as blonde and brown as it was 30 years ago. Actually, it appears that it will be predominantly white. I will either look distinguished, or I will resemble a bum. Is it strange that I feel content with either description? The digital highway sign on I-25 just inside the Wyoming border headed northbound seemed to be saying the same thing every morning on my way to work. "I-25 is closed to light and high profile vehicles from Cheyenne to Wheatland." A couple of days it also added, "Wind gusts of 60+ mph." The last couple of days it flashed an additional sign that said, "I-80 is closed from Cheyenne to Walcott for light and high profile vehicles." Even in my little car it was necessary to hold onto the steering wheel with both hands. I have seen more tractor-trailers blown over in the last month or so than what I had seen in my previous nine years of living here combined.
Today, I thought I would give my steering wheel a little extra protection by double-masking. I wanted to be prepared in case the wind was blowing Omnicron around. (Just kidding. Lighten up.) I was prepared for the usual advisory about crosswinds as I approached the digital billboard, but I could not believe my eyes when I crossed the border. The sign had finally changed. It said, "Don't pick up hitchhikers." Now I am wondering who escaped from prison. Nobody chooses to hitchhike in the winter in Wyoming. What is going on? Double-masking my steering wheel probably won't help in capturing an escaped convict. Thus, I should probably keep it on the lighter side of things. Did you know that today is "National Sticker Day"? Read all about it. www.yahoo.com/now/celebrate-national-sticker-day-sticker-184400072.html#:~:text=LOS%20ANGELES%2C%20Jan.%2011%2C,the%20birthday%20of%20Stan%20Avery. Every sticker has a story. nationaldaycalendar.com/national-sticker-day-january-13/ Even if you are carrying a heavy burden right now, I hope you can find joy in the midst of the suffering. Give yourself a sticker. Have a blessed day! The bell at MD Anderson Cancer Center at The University of Texas My wife finished her chemotherapy treatments yesterday. There was no opportunity to ring a bell. There was no applause. There were no celebratory hugs and cheers. We quietly exited the building just as we had done after every other chemo treatment. I guess I should not have watched so many videos of others celebrating the end of this chapter. Why doesn't the hospital cancer center have a bell? I did some research about the bell ringing tradition. Apparently, not everyone is in favor of this particular practice. We may have unknowingly saved ourselves from some long-term trauma according to this article. www.astro.org/News-and-Publications/News-and-Media-Center/News-Releases/2020/Is-it-time-to-stop-ringing-the-cancer-bell Ringing a bell was not a thing when I finished chemotherapy back in 1986, or at least I was unaware of it if it was being done. Furthermore, I was so sick when I finished the treatments that I could not have celebrated too much anyway. I ended up back in the hospital just a few days after finishing treatments due to an infection. Thankfully, chemo has made some progress since I went through it 35 years ago. Margaret has completed two steps in this journey, with one step still staring her in the face. Surgery--done! Chemotherapy--done! Radiation--do we really need to do that too???? There will be some time for Margaret to recuperate from this last chemo treatment before moving to the next step. If she goes through six weeks of radiation treatments, I still think I will have to find a bell that she can ring. I want to have a video of the celebration so we can be popular on social media like the cool kids. Actually, I view it as a helpful tool in celebrating a small victory in a challenging battle. These days, I think we can all use a boost to our mental and emotional health. Check out these positive stories about the bell: www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/why-do-cancer-patients-ring-a-bell-after-treatment.h00-159306990.html arizonaccc.com/cancer-treatment-bell-ringing/ Here we are back to Monday again. While I am a bit on the sluggish side today, I am grateful for the wonderful weekend.
I made the trek back to Cheyenne on Saturday morning. (Apparently, making the 45 minute commute five days a week isn't enough.) I arrived at the Cathedral of St. Mary a little before 7:30 am to prepare for Mass and the opening of the Day of Recollection with the Cathedral Guild and Bishop's Guild. It was a true joy to reconnect with so many people after being gone for three and a half years. I arrived back home Saturday afternoon just before 3:00 pm. A short nap seemed like the logical thing to do next. I grabbed a few winks and then began putting the finishing touches on my Sunday homily. I altered my homily just a bit for Sunday based upon feedback I received from the ladies at the day of recollection. As I greeted people after each Mass on Sunday morning at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Fort Collins, Colorado, it was obvious that my changes to the homily were a good choice. People are hurting, and it is my desire to bring the promise of God's healing to every person who is suffering in any way. We need a healthy dose of hope in modern society. My decision to name my blog (2013) and my book (2017) "Articulating Hope," has been reaffirmed for me time and time again. My goal for this weekend was to build hope and spread joy. As we move back into Ordinary Time today, I hope each of us can find true healing in Jesus Christ! Today is National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.
According to the National Fraternal Order of Police, there were 346 police officers shot in the line of duty in 2021, 63 of whom were killed. "'Ambush-style attacks' against officers were up 115% in 2021 compared to 2020." According to Fox News, there were 130 officers shot in 103 ambush-style attacks. 2021--346 shot--63 killed 2020--312 shot--47 killed 2019--293 shot--50 killed I can't even imagine the level of stress that officers and their families have felt over recent years. While we need to show our support more than one day a year, let us make today very special for all law enforcement officers as we pray for their safety and protection. nationaltoday.com/national-law-enforcement-appreciation-day/ I arrived at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Cheyenne, Wyoming this morning before 7:30 am. I walked into Hartmann Hall and saw that everything was already in place for our day of retreat. I want to thank everyone who worked behind the scenes to make the environment very welcoming. As always, we owe a debt of gratitude to all who were involved with food preparation for both meals that we enjoyed.
I am grateful that Fr. Tom invited me to preach at Mass this morning to begin our retreat. It is always a privilege to preach at Mass, and I never take that privilege for granted. At the conclusion of the retreat, I knew that I had been given the wonderful gift of renewal. Being surrounded by people of faith is a true blessing indeed. I hope and pray that the retreat attendees received a similar blessing of an abundance of God's grace and love during our gathering as well. To all of the ladies of the Cathedral Guild and the Bishop's Guild, thank you for your witness to the faith. Blessings and peace to each of you! The retreat is today! I have been looking forward to this for weeks now. Did you know that the Dow Jones closed above 2,000 for the first time on January 8, 1987? What did it close at yesterday? It closed at 36,231.66 on January 7, 2022. I wish I would have had money to invest back in 1987. I could be retired now. On January 8, 1974, gold hit a record $126.50 an ounce. The price of one ounce of gold today is $1,804.90. I was still in elementary school in 1974, but I can still dream about being this magnificent investor in my early teens. Voyageurs National Park was established on January 8, 1971. International Falls, Minnesota is a beautiful place in the summer. However, if you like winter, you could possibly see the northern lights from this park. www.nps.gov/voya/index.htm Have a great weekend. Blessings and peace! It was nine degrees when I got up this morning. Thus, I thought a photo from Florida would work well today.
I have a full weekend in front of me, and my thoughts seem to be scattered in multiple directions. I have been preparing two homilies, one for Saturday morning, and one for Sunday morning. It has been a while since I have had preaching responsibilities on back-to-back days. I am clearly out of practice, because the two homilies keep running together. Anyway, I am preaching at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Cheyenne, Wyoming at 8:00 am on Saturday as we begin the women's retreat. I will then lead the retreat immediately after Mass. We will end just after lunch at 1:30 pm. I preach at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Collins, Colorado on Sunday morning at the 9:45 and 11:30 am Masses. I am looking forward to reflecting upon our own baptism as we recall the Baptism of the Lord. The Christmas Season draws to a close and we enter back into Ordinary Time on Monday. On another note, since I grew up not far from St. Louis, Missouri, I want to take a moment to remember a horrendous event that happened on this date in 2010. According to Wikipedia, "A mass shooting occurred at an ABB power plant in St Louis, Missouri, on January 7, 2010. An ABB Power employee, armed with multiple firearms, killed three and injured five others, two critically, and killed himself before police arrived." Although it has been 12 years, please offer a prayer for these families. I am sure the pain of this anniversary is still quite real. I did not know any of the people involved, but the news reports are still in my mind. Since I delivered ABB transformers on a regular basis in my work at AmerenUE, I guess this shooting impacted me in a bit of a different way. Finally, I close with another piece of unrelated material. On January 7, 1963, first class postage in the United States rose from 4 cents to 5 cents. How is that for some nostalgia? I told you my thoughts were all over the place. Rest assured, I will be more focused as I put the finishing touches on my homilies and retreat preparation for the weekend. Blessings and peace! QUEMADMODUM ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII PLEADING FOR THE CARE OF THE WORLD'S DESTITUTE CHILDREN TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN: THE PATRIARCHS, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHIOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES HAVING PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE It is now 76 years later. How are we caring for God's children today? Please take the time to read the Encyclical of Pope Pius XII. You can find it here: www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_06011946_quemadmodum.html |
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