Inside Macey's, New York City:

Wooden Escalator steps inside Macey's:

Some decorations:

Mike, Evelyn, Pat, Frank, Patti, Chuck, Carolyn, Jerry (look out New York!)
-- in the lobby of the Edison Hotel

Father Pat and his twin sister, Patti:

Eataly Caffe: a diner we missed:

What's left of the old World Trade Center:

Carolyn feeding the pigeons:

Pat, Carolyn, Patti and Chuck:

Wake up Jerry:

Patti and Chuck:

New World Trade Center rises:

Brooklyn Bridge:

Brooklyn Bridge:

Outside the Restaurant, Harbor Lights, Pier 17, where we stopped for lunch:

After all that walking this is all I get for lunch? Grrrrrrr

In front of Creche inside St. Patrick's Cathedral:
Jerry, Carolyn, Chuck, Patti, Pat, Frank

Evelyn, Jerry, Chuck, Patti, Pat, Frank, Father Pat

In front of Rockefeller Center leaving Mass of the Immaculate Conception at St. Patrick's:

Breakfast, again, at the Edison Hotel

Gettin Ready for Christmas:

Great-niece, Adrianne


Great nephew, Brandon:

Family baking Christmas cookies (wish I were there):

December 14: the Feast of St. John of the Cross

Faith-ful Words:

"God sustains every soul and dwells in it substantially, even though it be that of the greatest sinner in the world."
St. John of the Cross

Faith-ful Words:

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"The nearness of God transforms reality, the dark valley loses its danger - it is emptied of every threat."
Benedict XVI

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Today: The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

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Celebrating Mass in the Basilica in Mexico at her Shrine was simply miraculous, how was I able to experience this moment?! To be there, with Juan Diego's tilma behind me, her image imprinted there for these hundreds of years - truly amazing.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.


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The Third Sunday of Advent

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Faith-ful Words:

"I see in my neighbor the Person of Jesus Christ."
St. Gerard Majella

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Sunday, December 4, 2011: Second Sunday of Advent

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Faith-ful Words:

"Nature chose for a tool ... the tender snow flowers noiselessly falling through unnumbered centuries."
John Muir

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Faith-ful Words:

"Our Lord does not come down from heaven every day to lie in a golden ciborium. He comes to find another heaven which is infinitely dearer to Him - the heaven of our souls."
St. Therese of Lisieux

Faith-ful Words:

"Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you."
Oscar Wilde

Faith-ful Words:

"Love is an endless act of forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit."
Peter Ustinov

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Today is the Feast Day of St. Andrew the Apostle


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Faith-ful Words:

"The law of harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny."
James Allan

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Faith-ful Words:

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The Divine Spirit does not reside in any except the joyful heart."

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Faith and Humility

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It was only yesterday that the Church began using the new translations for the prayers at Mass. Today’s Gospel features the Roman centurion’s prayer we say before Communion and now it’s closer to what Matthew records:“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.”

Such faith. This soldier, whose people didn’t follow Jesus, believed so deeply that he didn’t feel worthy for Jesus to enter his house, whispering in his humility that Jesus need only to “say the word.” I am not worthy. And what a difference Jesus can make when He “says the word” for me!

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Happy Advent:

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Faith-ful Words:

"They who sow courtesy reap friendship, and they who plant kindness gather love."
St. Basil the Great

'Meow'outrage at the Algonquin

The Hotel where I stayed in NYC this past summer:

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The city Department of Health & Mental Hygiene has sunk its claws into another beloved New York institution — The Algonquin hotel’s lobby cat.
Matilda III — the latest in an illustrious line of free-roaming Algonquin felines — has been banished from the lobby lounge, leaving guests fruitlessly searching for her under chairs and sofas.
Prodded by Nanny Bloomberg, the DOH has been socking restaurants with steep fines for minor violations — and slapping dreaded “C” ratings on places where no one was known to get sick.
Some places are taking no chances, eliminating popular features before the DOH can strike them down. The party-pooping agency recently nudged Sardi’s to eliminate cheese snacks at its bar.


Now, thanks to a DOH “reminder,” poor Matilda is on a leash behind The Algonquin’s check-in desk, or out of sight on a higher floor.
The city’s favorite feline, a blue-eyed ragdoll, took up residence last winter. She’s the 10th Algonquin cat since Rusty, a k a Hamlet I, moved into the hotel, legendary home of the “Round Table” literary salon, in 1932.
The pampered pussies are as much a part of The Algonquin’s cozy confines as the oak paneling and upholstered chairs and sofas. Hotel staff have delighted in pointing out Matilda’s hiding places to guests.
Like her predecessors, she had the run of the house, but the lobby, home to the Round Table restaurant and lounge, was called her “natural habitat.”
Hotel staff tried blaming Matilda’s going missing on guests who were abusing her — a claim that gave paws, since it was not a problem for 80 years.
Algonquin General Manager Gary Budge first said the lockup was for Matilda’s own good.
“People seem more aggressive toward her, and she’s responding in a way that’s not helpful,” he claimed. But then he acknowledged, “The [Health] department in the past months suggested to us that pets in food-service facilities are no longer commingled.
“The lobby is an area where we serve food and beverage. We always want to be respectful of the Department of Health.”

A DOH spokeswoman said, “According to the New York City Health Code, live animals are not allowed in food-service establishments unless a patron needs a service dog.”
She said Algonquin managers told an inspector they had an “electronic fence to contain the cat,” and the inspector “reminded them that the cat is not allowed in food-service or preparation areas.”




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Faith-ful Words:

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement."
Helen Keller

Flash Back: Thanksgiving Day at St. Joseph's

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A "Special Thank" you to everyone who helped us in any and every way. God bless you.


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Let us Shop!

Advent doesn’t start until Sunday but for consumers today is the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season. Stores — both brick-and-mortar and on-line — are ready for an onslaught. Hoping for one. And, in some cases, praying for one. This is the day, this is the weekend, that makes a huge difference in retailers’ bottom lines.

It’s easy to grumble about the commercialization of Christmas (or “the holiday season”) but there’s still something wonderful about considering what to get a loved one and then finding it in stock. On sale. (The best things in life are free; second best are those with a hefty discount.) Shopping for a loved one, or with a loved one, can be a wonderful part of preparing for Christmas, even when that shopping begins at . . . yawn! . . . five a.m.!


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Faith-ful Words:

"Sometimes the most urgent thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest."
Ashleigh Brilliant

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Happy Thanksgiving

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Lord, we thank You
for the goodness of our people
and for the spirit of justice
that fills this nation.
We thank You for the beauty and fullness of the
land and the challenge of the cities.
We thank You for our work and our rest,
for one another, and for our homes.
We thank You, Lord:
accept our thanksgiving on this day.

We pray and give thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.


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Faith-ful Words:

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."
Desmond Tutu

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Faith-ful Words:

If I survive, I will spend my whole life at the oven door seeing that no one is denied bread and, so as to give a lesson of charity, especially those who did not bring flour."
Jose Marti

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Wednesday, November 23 ...The Cold, Blunt Truth

Few thoughts on topday's Scripture:
Today’s Gospel offers further proof that Jesus never tried to trick anyone into following Him. Never sugar-coated His message. Never did some fast talking so the poor listener wouldn’t notice the contract’s fine print. “They will seize you and persecute you, they will hand you over to synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors in my name.” This is what can happen if you follow. This is what does happen, to one degree or another, if you follow.

“You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, and friends.” In our own time, that part may strike a little closer to home. You’re not going to be “handed over” when the extended family gathers tomorrow for Thanksgiving but you may have to take some heat because of your beliefs.

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Faith-ful words:

"A painter paints pictures on a canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence."
Leopold Stokowski

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple

I am always free to choose:

One of Our Lord’s greatest gifts to us is free will. Rather than make us puppets, He chose to give us freedom to make our own decisions. Everyone — even the destitute, the sick and the imprisoned — have choices they make daily.

In today’s first reading, Daniel and three friends were offered food and wine from King Nebuchadnezzar’s royal table. After 10 days, they and others were to be tested. Daniel, however, chose to refuse the royal food, asking instead that he and his friends be fed a vegetarian diet. When they were tested 10 days later, they were superior both physically and mentally to those who had dined royally. If I make choices like Daniel, if I do God’s will for me, my life will better glorify Him. What peace and joy would follow!


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