John Janaro's Blog, page 48

Maria Knows Her “A-B-C’s” —And Sings Them Too

This video with Maria is already a few weeks old, but I still want to post it. She’s even better now with her letters. Smart little girl.

The video is on a “private” setting, which means you need to use the link below to view it on YouTube. Do you know that this was the original intention of the inventors of YouTube back in the early 2000s?—to set up a platform on the internet that enabled people to share videos with their friends via an embedded link. Video files were getting too big to attach directly to email, so YouTube was meant to be a website where you could upload larger videos and then share them with your email friends. Click the link, go directly from email to the video. That was all it was meant to do.

But people using YouTube discovered that they could do more than just share videos on emails with their friends about their children or grandchildren. They could share videos that they created with the whole world.

The rest, as they say, is history.

As for me, I still like the convenience of sharing a video link on my little blog. The “Next Big Thing” is probably being invented right now; we humans, after all, are clever and full of surprises. 

But let’s focus on how clever (and how cute) my granddaughter is:

“O Beauty, Ever Ancient, Ever New”

SAINT AUGUSTINE, AUGUST 28:

"Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace" (Confessions, book X).

Ukraine and the “Power of Love”

August 24th marks the 32nd anniversary of Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence from the former Soviet Union. For the second year in a row, this national day will be observed by Ukrainians in the face of the ongoing full-scale invasion of their country (and occupation of parts of it) by Russian armed forces controlled by the Moscow dictatorship of former Soviet K.G.B. agent Vladimir Putin.
As Ukraine continues to fight in self-defense and for its right to national integrity according to its internationally recognized borders, these words from last year’s Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church continue to point to the what must remain the authentic spirit of Ukraine’s struggle:
“These days, we ask ourselves: what gives us the strength to fight and resist an enemy who outnumbers us ten times in military power? If we correct the very question — ‘who’ gives us power, then the answer becomes obvious. God gives us strength, because He is the Lord of strength. Why? Because we love! The power of Ukrainians is the power of love. Our soldiers are guided by the principle of not hating others, but love for their own children, loved ones, parents, friends, land, native streets, dawns, fogs... Love is manifested in tireless work of volunteers, in generous donations of millions, in sincere silent prayer. And in this love we have already won.

“This moral high ground should be preserved. We will finally win only when we continue to love, when we do not deviate one iota from the biblical formula for this victory: ‘We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. He who does not love is in death’ (1 John 3:14). Love creates heroes, and hate creates criminals. The cruelty of war is dehumanizing, so we, as a nation defending itself and the Church uniting the people into Christ's family, must make every effort to preserve our dignity and humanity, without in any case stooping to the inhumanity and atrocities of the aggressor. Let's protect the hearts of our soldiers from evil, so that they remain warriors of light and goodness! Let's take care of our hearts! Let's turn our anger and resentment into courage, indomitability, true wisdom and the victory of God's truth. St. Paul exhorts ‘Do not let evil overcome you, but overcome evil with good’” (Romans 12:21).

Deer in the Field

In the evening, the deer cross the open fields. Beginning with a base of a low-visibility photograph in the twilight, I used tools (applying and adapting filters and doing detailed work “by hand”) to create a digital art portrayal of one of the deer, nibbling the greenery.

Brought to you by JJStudios:

The “Lowly Servant” Who Became Our Queen and Our Mother

“You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem held by your God” (Isaiah 62:3).

On this day — the “Octave” of the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary — the Western Church honors the “Queenship of Mary.” She became the Mother of the Lord of all creation, the Lord of all history, not by exalting herself but by giving herself as a “lowly servant” of the Lord and His wonderful and mysterious plan for our redemption.

"He has looked with favor on His lowly servant. / From this day all generations will call me blessed" (Luke 1:48).

The “yes” of Mary was humble and courageous, because she trusted in the God who loves the poor, the God who cherishes the value of every human person — especially those we tend to ignore, those who seem insignificant, powerless, forgotten. 
"The Lord raises the lowly; he humbles the wicked to the dust. O sing to the Lord, giving thanks; sing psalms to our God with the harp" (Psalm 147:6-7). 
Mary believed in the promise of the God who is Infinite Love, the promise that Love would triumph over sin and evil. Thus God’s love took flesh in her womb, came to dwell with us, to save us, to transform us and make us His brothers and sisters. She became His Mother, and our Mother.

Remembering Him and staying with Him under the tender maternal gaze of Mary, we will remember that we are all brothers and sisters, and that we must love one another, forgive one another, show mercy to one another.

"Mary, ever-virgin, most honored Queen of the world, you gave birth to our Savior, Christ the Lord" (Antiphon, Feast of the Queenship of Mary).

The Difference Between “Firmness” and “Rigidity”

In his Angelus address for August 20, Pope Francis used the Gospel example of Jesus healing the daughter of the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28) as an opportunity to distinguish between the virtue of firmness and the anxiety-driven, dysfunctional attitude of rigidity. This is most illuminating, especially because it pertains to practical judgments about how we live in relation to others, how we regard the person in front of us and attend to his or her real needs, how we are challenged to love the person beyond our own preconceived projects. 

“This is what God is like: he is love, and the one who loves does not remain rigid. Yes, he or she stands firm, but not rigid, they do not remain rigid in their own positions, but allow themselves to be moved and touched. He or she knows how to change their plans. Love is creative. And we Christians who want to imitate Christ, we are invited to be open to change. How good it would do our relationships, as well as our lives of faith, if we were to be docile, to truly pay attention, to be moved in the name of compassion and the good of others….

“The docility to change. Hearts docile to change….

“We can ask ourselves a few questions… For example: Am I capable of changing opinion? Do I know how to be understanding and do I know how to be compassionate, or do I remain rigid in my position? Is there some rigidity in my heart? Which is not firmness: rigidity is awful, firmness is good.”

Firmness is good. The truth revealed by God through Jesus Christ has a firm hold on those who trust in Him. The truth doesn’t need us to build walls around it or be constrained by our narrow-minded fears and insecurities. Rather, firmness of truth flourishes and becomes more fruitful when we are docile to the Spirit of Truth, who changes us and opens our hearts to the creativity of love.

Some “Wonderful Things”….

I noted last week that there are “some significant and wonderful things happening in our family life” — by which I mean events that naturally evoke feelings of gratitude (even though, in its depths, every moment of this life is a gift and a mystery: a gift of Love and an invitation to grow in love, to grow beyond ourselves). Don’t worry, I’m going to write more, but for now I just want to let one of these “cats out of the bag.” Here is a picture of Maria. Lately, she’s started wearing shirts like this….

But what could it mean? Hints: (1) stop scrolling; (2) read what it says on the shirt; (3) think…. 

Awesome! 

Maria has a little sister, whose face she will see before the end of this year. In other words, her Mommy is having another baby girl… in/around December. Obviously, this is not “news” for family and local friends, but this is my first time posting about it… or I should say, about her.

Christmas 2023 is going to be especially beautiful (and busy) for the Janaro family!😊⭐️

August Has Big Clouds But Little Rain

More from the “Summer Skies 2023” series (or whatever I originally called it). “Thunderclouds rolling into an August evening.” 

That one is quite “impressionistic” with its dark colors, but what can I say? These clouds have made an “impression” on me, invading the space of the waning sunlight late in the day.

The fact is that—while we’ve had thunderstorms and dramatic skies all summer—actual rainfall has been way down. “Happy Creek” is not so happy these days. You could walk across it and barely get your feet wet. Old fashioned boring but steady rain would be welcomed around here.

#ShenandoahValley #DigitalArt #JJStudios

The Virgin Mary is “Queen of Media”

The Blessed Virgin Mary. Gave us a “selfie” long before it was cool.😎 

Happy Feast of the Assumption of Mary (or “Dormition” for Byzantines☦️🙂).

#Assumption #Dormition 

#Guadalupe #SheHasABody

#SharingResurrectionOfJesus #HopeOfOurResurrection #CatechismInHashtags

Really, Mary is the O.G. of “social media influencers.” Well, it might be irreverent to refer to Mary as the “O.G.” of anything—the popular abbreviation for the phrase “Original Gangster” is commonly used to refer to people who were the real inspirations and originators of popular trends, but it doesn’t imply any negative or criminal activity. The kids these days use it as a term of respect. Or they used to…I can’t keep up with the “latest” lingo.🙄 Anyway, Mamma Mary, please forgive me—you know what a fool I am!

Mary assumed body and soul into eternal life joined her risen and glorified Son, and in them the Kingdom of God—the New Creation—has already begun in its fullness and in all its implications for human destiny. Mary lives in her glorified body as a sign of hope for all of us. She also provides her maternal love and “makes herself present” in special “visible” ways to individuals and peoples within this present history of space and time.

Such phenomena take various forms (when they are authentic, which is always subject to the judgment of the Church), but Mary has a beautiful way of establishing herself in particular places so that her children have an abundance of ways to draw close to her. Some great shrines are dedicated to the locations of Mary’s prophetic apparitions, through which she has given guidance to peoples and nations and (e.g. Lourdes and Fatima) the whole human race. 

Then there are countless Marian icons (pictures and—in the West—statues) that Catholic and Orthodox peoples have held dear through the ages. They have sought and obtained Mary’s special maternal protection at the many Marian shrines, or through copies of Mary’s images and icons revered in their own homes. Think of Our Lady of Częstochowa (Poland), Aparecida (Brazil), Knock (Ireland), La Vang (Vietnam), Ostrobramska (Lithuania, Poland, Belarus), Vailankanni (India), the Virgin of Kazan (Russia), the Virgin of Volodymyr (Ukraine), and many more.

Then, of course, there’s Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, the Merciful Mother who “dwells” at the center of the Western Hemisphere and communicates her love and solicitude through an inexplicable image that radiates from a 500 year old cactus fiber cloak.

We struggle to invent and master technologies that we think might “extend” our interactions with others and express our love (though, sadly, we all-too-often use them to express everything but love). Let’s look to the intercession of Mary, who lives bodily in the light of God’s glory and finds countless ways to stay connected to us, her children. She needs no technology to communicate with us, and always gives us the love that leads us to the heart of Jesus her Son, our brother.

This is the only real social network—the unity brought about by the Holy Spirit, the unity of our sister-and-brother-hood with Jesus in the Father’s house, the union with God our Creator who loves us and wants to transform us in his likeness. This is what lasts forever. How can we serve the building up of this communion while using the human networks we work with in this life, with all their flaws and disappointments and opaqueness? Our Blessed Mother Mary will help us.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe: Love Triumphs Over Sin

"The real conflict is an inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?" (Maximilian Kolbe, writing shortly before his arrest; he died in Auschwitz on August 14, 1941).