Yesterday, happened to catch Fr. Mike Schmitz' keynote address at Seek 2025 ... very interesting ... just thought I'd toss this out to anyone who'd like to hear him ... really love Fr. Schmitz!

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outloo...reserved=0

A very blessed Feast of The Epiphany to you!

I wish everyone a happy new year!

More than half my life ago I had a short dream which I still remember vividly. I laughed about it with my mother and sister. I don't remember all the particulars, but I recall feeling absolute apathy with my job, my prospects for prosperity, and any ability to support a family.

I saw a corroded old metal cage, with a dejected miniature parrot sitting in the cage. I then noticed the bars of the cage were wider apart than the small bird was wide. 

"Stupid green bird! It can leave any time it wants!"    I said this in my sleep and woke from the dream. I realized the dream was about myself, and realized that the bird's situation was my own.

Life can beat you down and steal your energy, confidence and aspirations. If we just passively allow that to happen, we are that stupid,
morose, dispirited bird. Most of the time, we can simply step out of the cage, at least to some extent. There is no such thing as total freedom or contentment in this fleeting life, but we sure can improve things.

Several of us here have expressed dissatisfaction with our jobs recently.

Jobs are ephemeral. They never remain the same, and in the end they provide and are necessary but cannot be fulfillment even in this life. 

There are many jobs, but only one you. Every day is a new day. Tomorrow is a new year. If you are presently in a cage which you can walk out of, do so.

There is always a better job. Only once did I leave a bad job and end in a worse one, and that worse job was the spur to go back to school for proper training in fine arts, a boon to me my whole life.

Happy New Year. Resolve to advance yourself if you are discontented.

Merry Christmas everyone

Much of the stress that I'm experiencing at work is due to the codependency of my coworkers and managers. Codependency is a term that I recently learned about, though I have always recognized signs and symptoms of it. I don't recall it was ever a topic on the CM forums, at least when I was participating on it.

We're all broken people. I even recognize some codependent behaviors within myself. But experiencing other people's codependency can be extremely taxing. So, I have to figure out how to protect my own interests and sanity and to set boundaries.

I had never seen the term social media "lurker" until a few months ago, when a lady posted that she had been a CM Forum "lurker" for many years. She posted for the first time just a few days before the sunset of CM Forums to express her regrets that the forums were ending. I see the same phenomenon here. For a given thread, there are many, many more views than posts. The disparity is perhaps greater here than on CM Forums. I don't know what the total membership is here but it appears to be far greater than the number of regular posters. Anyway, if you look at these forums regularly, please consider posting. Maybe you could even start your own thread on a topic that interests you. If you have posted in the past and have not posted in a while, it would be great to see you again.

I normally don't have the radio on in my vehicle except during the holiday season. There's one station here that touts having "Christmas music", 24/7. It appears to be the only station that does that, so I listen to it in spite of their playlist selection. It is all about Santa, gifts, making love and jingle bells, but it's rare when they even play "Silent Night". I guess they don't want to offend someone playing a carol or a song about the birth of Jesus. Many popular movies skip that part as well. I put my radio on "scan", and by golly, there was another station playing, "O Come all you Faithful". Problem was that whoever was singing yelling it sounded like a cross between rock and rap. I will keep scanning, I have a couple of leads of stations that are playing Christmas music, I just don't know what type. praising Santa or praising the birth of Christ.

So, maybe between now and Christmas, we can provide links to some real Christmas music and maybe list a few of our favorite Christmas movies.

There has been a number of threads relating to Christmas. What are you all doing for Advent?

There are a couple of books that I plan to read from a long list that my local priest recommended:
-Welcoming the Christ Child with Padre Pio: Daily Reflections for Advent by Susan De Bartoli
-Celebrating a Merry Catholic Christmas: A Guide to the Customs and Feast Days of Advent and Christmas by William Saunders

The Hallow app also has an Advent prayer challenge. I'm sure it would be helpful, but I personally don't want any more apps.

On Dec 24th, 2024, Pope Francis will open the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica to signify the start of the new Jubilee (Holy Year). The last time was in 2016, also by Pope Francis. The year will end on Jan 6, 2026 with the closing of the Holy, or Papal, Door.

"We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision," stated Pope Francis while announcing the 2025 Jubilee. In a letter, Pope Francis titles the papal bull "Spes Non Confundit," meaning "Hope does not disappoint," with hope being the central theme of this Holy Year.

The main activities will take place in and around Vatican City, with an estimated 35 million people traveling for this milestone year. It's been my dream to visit Rome and I would personally do anything I could to be among these folks, but unfortunately, traveling that far is out of the question right now.

Does anyone have plans to go to Vatican City during this Holy Year?

cannot resist folks as I have absolutely several


appetizer with cream cheese.....spicy sauce and shrimp with crackers

[my autistic son must be closely supervised........ ]