Rambling on Home Blessing and Chicken Blood (27th Sunday in Ordinary Time [A] [cf. Mt21:33-43]

In hindsight, hinting that the Catholic ritual for blessing homes included chicken blood may not have been the essence of wisdom. It was a nice usual meeting of the local ministerial association and the local Methodist and Lutheran pastors were having a deep discussion as to the merits of prayer location (or prayer bilocation […]

Rambling of Bingo vs. Assumption; 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

A new crisis of biblical proportions has gripped the Parish of St. Josaphat’s in Loup City, Nebraska—the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on Bingo night! For the non-cognoscenti, this means the Holy Eucharist will displace the Holy Calling of the Numbers for one night. Some of the natives have become […]

Ramblings on the Transfiguration and Outhouses

Is it more proof of the general resurrection to come, the presence of outhouses in cemeteries? It was a beautiful day when I went searching for a small out of the way Lutheran cemetery in the middle of Sherman County Nebraska. Finding the plots took some time but worth it to view a relatively old […]

Ramblings on Raccoons and the 14th Sunday of the Year (A)

So what do you do when two raccoons move into a grave someone else is supposed to occupy? In the rural town of Rockville, Nebraska (When you say Rockville, Nebraska do you have to say rural?), the Catholic Church has a small cemetery called St. Mary’s. The church itself was sold a few years ago […]

Rambling on Corpus Christi (A)

Just try to grow a beard in the parish and the questions become endless: Why did you do that? Isn’t it too hot to grow a beard in the summer? How come you’re not wearing a flea and tick collar? You know you’d be less ugly without the beard? People mean well, but I always […]

Rambling on Easter Faith and Cupid

The greatest lover of the modern era has passed beyond our sight, or so his obituary intimates. In a local newspaper this morning ran the details of a man’s life and somewhat early demise (early 60s). The paper describes the gentleman “marrying his sweetheart from high school a few years after graduation.” It goes on […]

Rambling for the 5th Sunday of Lent (A)

It’s hard to believe that my Mom would cheat on my Dad, but the guy who delivered the mail when we were young was named something like Lars Halvorson. So why the suspicion? The various companies who specialize in DNA analysis say you might be surprised what your genetic profile shows, in my case they […]

Ramblings on People vs. Places

What’s more important to you, people or places? Before you answer recall the development of the neutron bomb some years ago that promised the advantage of exploding and killing all people in the area but sparing the buildings and other assorted infrastructure. There’s a pragmatic solution to population control and conservation of resources. In a […]

Ramblings on the Fourth Sunday of Lent (A)

For complete honesty, you need to have a children’s collection during Mass. There will be some who say that such a collection is liturgically improper or, on the other hand, you’re corrupting young innocence with filthy lucre. However, how are you going to hear the unvarnished truth from a guileless youngster without the aid of […]

Rambling on the Third Sunday of Lent (A)

In retrospect, the identity of my great, great grandfather’s half sister’s father-in-law was not high on the list of people I needed to know in my genealogical line. For those of us with simple linear minds, tracing our roots back in time seems simple; OK, who was my great grandfather’s father? Who was his father […]

Fr. Richard's Ramblings

Catholic Commentary with a Curious Curve

General Ramblings