Zechariah was unable to speak.  That doesn't mean he was unable to hear.  So why are the good fellows around him communicating in some sort of sign language?  Self-consciousness in difficult social situations can lead us to to do strange things (may I say "dumb" things?).  We recognize the un-self-consciousness of John the Baptist, whose vocation was to point to Jesus, Messiah and Savior.

Finally we get to a post-death "destination" -- although it's not a final destination.  Purgatory is the antechamber to heaven, and the concept of this state of purification is difficult to understand.  More to the point are the words of Jesus to Simon the Pharisee and of Nathan the prophet to King David.  God is merciful.

Last night at 9:40 pm I finished reading The Word of God and the Word of Man by Karl Barth, thereby finishing my reading of the entire 1990 edition of Great Books of the Western World.  My goal had been to finish by my fiftieth birthday.  I made it with 22 days to spare.

I had bought the set in 1993; I did not begin reading in earnest until early 1996 -- over eleven years ago.

Now that I have read the "Great Books," I have the rest of my life to engage in scholarship: dipping back into these books for the sake of my ongoing enrichment.  It's going to be good.

In this time-bound existence of ours, we touch the timeless as we open our hearts to our God.  The Holy Eucharist proclaims to us that we are fed and nourished in Jesus' Paschal Mystery in ways which are not readily perceivable.  We remember that sacrament and mystery are equivalent terms.

How well developed is your sense of play and celebration?  Can you experience life with the enthusiasm of God the Creator?  He made us that we might in some way reflect the love shared among the persons of the Trinity.