Pipes. Beer. Theology. Philosophy. Movies. Music. Literature = Good cheer. You get the idea. Join the club.
You may not hear from me very often but that is partially because I don't want to post simply for the sake of posting, or for the sake of popularity. When I post, I want it to be of value. Plus, I think as a society we spend far too much time on the internet and social media anyway. But today, I do have something to share and I'd like to share with you a little poem, beautifully written by Malcom Guite, about how careful we all need to be over our speech (and our thoughts). If you are not familiar with Malcom Guite, he is an Anglican priest (but with a lot of very Catholic ways of thinking at times) as well as an amazing poet and pipe smoking enthusiast from Britain. This poem is titled "What If" but could just as easily be titled "Every Idle Word". Anyway, without any further ado, here is his poem.
“But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Mathew 12:36-37
What if every word we say
Never ends or fades away,
Gathers volume gathers weigh,
Drums and dins us with dismay
Surges on some dreadful day
When we cannot get away
Whelms us till we drown?
What if not a word is lost,
What if every word we cast
Cruel, cunning, cold, accurst,
Every word we cut and paste
Echoes to us from the past
Fares and finds us first and last
Haunts and hunts us down?
What if every murmuration,
Every otiose oration
Every oath and imprecation,
Insidious insinuation,
Every blogger’s aberration,
Every facebook fabrication
Every twittered titivation,
Unexamined asservation
Idiotic iteration,
Every facile explanation,
Drags us to the ground?
What if each polite evasion
Every word of defamation,
Insults made by implication,
Querulous prevarication,
Compromise in convocation,
Propaganda for the nation
False or flattering peruasion,
Blackmail and manipulation
Simulated desparation
Grows to such reverberation
That it shakes our own foundation,
Shakes and brings us down?
Better that some words be lost,
Better that they should not last,
Tongues of fire and violence.
O Word through whom the world is blessed,
Word in whom all words are graced,
Do not bring us to the test,
Give our clamant voices rest,
And the rest is silence.
With a little comedic intro... Our Church and our Nation need our prayers, especially now, in light of the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump. This prayer was composed by the first bishop of the USA, John Carroll, cousin to Charles Carroll, the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Welcome to Septuagesima! For those of you who don't follow my other channel, Gregorian Chant Academy, here is a video I made last year explaining the amazing mysteries and significance of the season of Septuagesima and Lent, etc. Needless to say, this is just a brief overview and there is soooo much more that could be said about this. Enjoy!
For anyone seeing this, I'm BACK! I've been super busy the past several months but I'm finally back with another interview, Independence Day Special Edition! Originally, I was supposed to be interviewing Dr Alan Harrelson of The Pipe Cottage, but due to his brand being attacked by the Cancel Culture recently, he has decided to cancel all interviews for the time being. Taking his place and returning to the show is my dad, William F. Jasper. We will be recording tomorrow, July 2, and I hope to release on July 5th or there abouts. So, if you're reading this, stay tuned and I'd delighted to have you join us! God bless America!
Lent is here. It is a time for 'slowing down' (from the Latin 'lento/lentus/lente' meaning 'slow/slowly') and a time for penance. As the time of Lent is roughly 1/10 of the year, the Catholic Church often refers to it as a 'tithe' of our time - and our pleasures - to the Almighty God, and this necessarily involves sacrifice, both voluntary and involuntary.
Suffering is an unavoidable part of the human experience. Physical, emotional, psychological, even spiritual suffering... we all encounter challenges that push us to our limits. In the face of such difficulties, our Catholic faith offers a unique perspective: the practice of "offering up" our sufferings.
But what does this act truly mean? It goes beyond mere resignation. Offering up suffering involves a deliberate, conscious and intentional choice, with a supernatural motive, to unite our pain with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. This union isn't a passive acknowledgment, but an active surrender. We embrace our struggles, not with stoicism, but with faith, trusting ...
