1,721,126 research outputs found
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full textIn Mexican tradition there is a saying that people die three deaths. We experience the first death when our physical bodies die, the second death occurs when our bodies are lowered into the earth out of sight. The third death occurs years later when there is no one left on earth who remembers us. In Catholic tradition, there is no third death. The faithful dead, as members of the body of Christ, are seen as members of the communion of saints. Therefore, the living and deceased are yet alive in Christ. Power comes from the prayers of this communion of saints which we celebrate annually on November 2nd, the feast of All Souls Day.|Many of you reading this reflection will be aware that the Creighton community will commemorate All Souls Day with an especially heavy heart this year due to the recent tragedy that struck our community. Four young women from Creighton were killed in a car accident on Saturday October 24th. Yoselin Deleon, Jennifer Guzman, and Akuel Majouk were current juniors at the Heider College of Business and Marina Ramirez who was not currently enrolled but scheduled to return to classes at Creighton in the spring semester. They were all killed when traveling together to visit a friend at a different college when they swerved to miss a deer on the road and hit an oncoming vehicle.|As a member of the campus ministry staff and as part of the Creighton community I have attended several of the funerals for these students. I have been overcome with emotion at the loss of such vivacious and inspiriting young women while comprehending the gaping hole that is left in the lives of their family and friends.|When I was just 23 years old, my own father died. It has been almost 25 years ago now and I really relate to the Mexican saying about the three deaths. My dad died of terminal cancer and I was not present the moment he died but I vividly remember the call telling me that he was gone. I can only imagine what the families must have experienced when the police chaplains called or knocked on their doors informing them of their daughter's death.|I fully experienced and will never forget the intense pain of that "second" death for my dad- seeing the casket lowered into the ground on a cool windy autumn day. It brings tears to my eye just picturing it in mind now as I write this reflection. I am keenly aware that both Jennifer's and Mariana's bodies were placed in their graves on Thursday. Yoselin's body was placed Wednesday and Akuel's body was laid to rest on Saturday. |And the "third" death. Almost twenty-five years later, so few people in our tight-knit community remember my dad. Hard to believe. Just last month I met a professional colleague of my dad's and who remembered my dad with fond memories. I can hardly describe how powerful it is for me when I meet someone who still remembers my dad these days. As the years go on it happens less and less. |How long will people remember these four young women? They had so much less time than my dad to make their mark on the world. Yet they did! Each of these four women was incredible in her own right and will not quickly be forgotten. But join with me- won't you? Let's remember our dead; this communion of saints. Let us remember the; young and old, recently deceased and those long-ago forgotten, members of our families and close friends, as well as people we have never met. |Perhaps you have also recently lost a dear one in your life. Along with the families of our dear young women ,let us hold one another up in prayer on this feast day of All Souls. Let us take comfort that our deceased loved ones are praying for us as well. We stand connected in our faith in Jesus and with the communion of saints. In this way, we do not experience the third death. |Let us together have hope and faith in the words of Jesus from today's Gospel, "that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day." (John 6:40)
Preparation for Catholic Marriage through Creighton University and St John’s Parish
No full textMarriage Preparation Ministry is a strong and vibrant tradition at Creighton University and St. John’s Parish. This important ministry supports Creighton’s mission of upholding the living tradition of the Catholic Church through embracing and furthering the sacramental, social and spiritual development of couples in the Creighton community. The Creighton/St. John’s Marriage Preparation Ministry strives to uphold the sacredness of family life, the inalienable worth of each individual and the call to life-long committed love relationships
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full textWhen I read the gospel for today, I was impressed with the sheer audacity of the paralyzed man's dedicated and zealous friends. The scene portrayed in the gospel must have been chaotic. Luke 5:17-18 summarized how people had come from every village in the area and that the power of the Lord was with him for healing. The friends who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus for healing could not get past such a large crowd. Many people at the house must have been pushing for a touch, word of encouragement or healing from Jesus. Imagine how the crowd must have responded as this feisty group of friends cut a hole in the roof and lowered their friend to the feet of Jesus. I wonder if the friends considered the owner of the house as they tore open a hole in the roof large enough to let a stretcher through. The friends not only cut in line, but they cut to the front of the line by coming in through the roof.|And Jesus rewarded them greatly for their faith.|Jesus not only healed the paralyzed man physically, but he took the occasion to show the great glory and splendor of God that is described so eloquently in the first reading. By healing not only his body, but forgiving his sins, Jesus taught the crowd, which included the Pharisees, that God is more generous than we expect. When Jesus proclaims the man free of his sins, he teaches the crowd that God is more powerful than our human-made designations of blasphemy. Jesus teaches the crowd, and us today, that God loves us with such abundance that he heals our bodies, forgives our sins, and knows our hearts.|God loves us with abundance and in the Psalm, we are reminded that God comes to save us. God came to us in the person of Jesus and continues to come to us and save us in ways we may not expect. During this season of Advent, we are reminded that Jesus came to save us in the form of a baby born to Mary in a manger. The Jews of the time were waiting for the coming of the Messiah, but they did not expect the King and Savior to come into the world the way he did; in poverty and simplicity.|The Gospel concludes with, "Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, 'We have seen incredible things today'" (Lk 5:26). What incredible things is God doing today that leave you astonished and filled with joy and gladness? If you haven't felt astonished by God recently, may I suggest you do something audacious and zealous to help someone, perhaps a friend, in need?|As the Christmas gift-giving season approaches, this might involve spending time with someone in need of your "presence" more than your "presents". Or in this culture in the U.S. of status and recognition, it is audacious to give to someone in need anonymously. I simply encourage us all to be bold in our faith and in our giving, like those friends of the paralyzed man. |Questions to ponder:|What "roof" in our lives needs to have a hole torn through it so that Jesus can be reached?|Have I ever had a dedicated and zealous friend or family member who had the audacity to pave my way to Jesus?|Have I ever been that friend to someone who needed the presence and healing of Jesus?|Do I know of a person who needs an audacious and zealous friend to show them Jesus? Can I be that friend
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full textI have the honor of writing the reflection for today, September 21st, which has been selected by the United Nations Organization as the International World Day of Peace. In order to prepare to celebrate this day students, staff and faculty here at Creighton University have gathered in groups to fold origami cranes in an effort to create 1000 paper cranes to display on campus to encourage all to pray for peace in our world. Praying for peace is so important that the Catholic Church has established January 1st as the Annual World Day of Peace.|I am not good at folding origami paper. |I also struggle with creating peace in my life let alone the world. |Before I reveal the wonderful inspiration for peace that the scriptures give us today let me share the brief story of how the origami crane peace movement came about from one of the most horrific acts of war humans have experienced.|The ancient Japanese tradition of a wish or a gift of healing being granted to the person who folds 1000 cranes was revitalized by a young girl by the name of Sadako Sasaki. Sadako survived the Hiroshima bomb when she was only two years old, but was diagnosed with Leukemia at the age of 12 and died within the year. Sadako set out to fold 1000 cranes to express her wish for healing and peace but died before she finished. Her family finished the rest and in 2007 the organization called "Sadako Legacy" began donating Sadako's paper cranes around the world to places in need of healing.|The US has our own places in need of healing. Thousands of cranes had been left at Ground Zero after the Twin Towers came down on September 11th 2001. In 2010, Sadako's brother gave Clifton Truman Daniel, the grandson of U.S. President Harry S. Truman, (who ordered the 1945 atomic bombings) the last crane Sadako ever folded. He placed it in Daniel's hand and asked him if he would help them send a message of peace.|In the Gospel from today when we read about Jesus calling Matthew the tax collector we hear the words, "Follow me" (Mt. 9:9). In this passage Jesus refers to himself as the physician sent to be with sinners. He was the physician of peace and healing and he called Matthew and continues to call us today to follow him. I can only imagine that 12 year old Sadako simply wanted peace and healing when she began folding her cranes.|So what does it look like for me and you to follow Jesus who are living today in this world that still lacks peace? In today's First Reading from Ephesians, St. Paul gives the instructions on how to answer Jesus' call to "Follow me". St. Paul instructs us on how to not just fold paper cranes with our fingers but to fold paper cranes with our heart. He said, "live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Eph 4:2). |I revealed at the beginning of this reflection that I am not very skilled at folding origami cranes. But I did practice and created a pretty decent looking crane eventually. I also revealed at the beginning of this reflection that I struggle finding peace. Yet, as I practice living out my vocation of wife, mother, co-worker and friend with humility, gentleness, patience and love. I find that I am able to truly follow Jesus and provide opportunities for the physician of peace and healing to be felt in our world.
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full textMy family which consists of myself, my husband and my three sons ages 15, 14 and 11 have said the rosary almost every night for about 7 years now. Therefore I knew my youngest son would relate to this gospel from Matthew 6:7 in which "Jesus said to his disciples: 'In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.'" I can tell from the boredom he shows when we pray the rosary that he perceives it as babbling and he doubts the importance of their meaning. Honestly, as an adult who has said the rosary and numerous memorized prayers on and off throughout my life I also sometimes wonder if I am wasting my time babbling off these prayers. |And yet I know there is value to having words like those from the "Our Father" that come so easily when my heart and mind are frozen, unengaged or bored. Sometimes I simply am not in the mood to pray from the heart. Often as I finish a busy day of work, motherhood, being a wife and perhaps getting a few house chores done I would rather watch TV, surf the net or go straight to bed than gather with my family in the living room to pray for what can be 15 to 40 minutes. Don't get me wrong. There are many evenings when I cherish the time together with my family doing the Ignatian Examen or reading a scripture passage and discussing it or reading the story of a saint and even saying the loving prayerful words of the "Hail Mary" or "Our Father" in the form of the rosary.|But sometimes I am like my youngest son and perceive the prayers to be just babbling. Why then, do I do this nightly ritual, you ask. |The first reason is the power. I will never forget the first night when I learned of my father's unexpected terminal cancer diagnosis. He had emergency surgery that day and I was told he had less than 3 months to live. As I spent that first night in the hospital on a cot next to my dad's bed, I desired to pray more sincerely than I had ever in my life. And yet all I could mouth were the words to the rosary as the tears rolled down my cheeks. I said those babbling words as fast as I could over and over again for hours that night. God knew that my heart's prayer was "let him live" and yet my verbal words were the "Hail Mary" and the "Our Father" over and over again. I babbled but God heard the power of my prayer
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full textIn the first reading from Acts we see Paul's comments to the people of Athens after he has spent some time walking around their city looking carefully at their shrines. Paul must have made quite an impression as a first century tourist! Like me, when I tour a strange or new place, Paul must have wanted to see everything, not just the well-known tourist spots. I surmise this about Paul because he reports having discovered a shrine "To an Unknown God" in verse 23. I imagine this shrine was not on the beaten path of a busy street in Athens but a small, simple shrine off on a side street. Paul affirms the people of Athens by saying in verse 22, "You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious." It seems to me that they are so religious that they wanted to make sure all the religious "bases were covered." They did not want to miss any deity who would become angry because the Athenians did not recognize it, even though the deity did not have the courtesy to reveal its name to them. You have to give those Athenians credit. |At first glance, all of this religiosity might seem a bit silly to us living in the 21st century, but is it? Out of fear or ignorance do I ever seek to "cover the bases" in my religious or spiritual life? I have certainly absent mindedly recited an "Our Father" or a "God help me" or "God forgive me" prayer out of a sense of obligation to God rather than a true desire to praise or communicate with my Lord. Paul seems to understand this very human tendency in the Athenians and all humans, including myself, when he proclaims in Acts 22:24 that we do not have to pray to a unknown God but invites us to move past that fear to discover, "The God that made the world and all that is in it."|So that begs the question, how do I know this previously unknown God who created the world and all that is in it so that I might know, love and serve Him? Paul draws on the wonder of creation to describe who this previously unknown God is (how very Ignatian of him). When I asked myself the question of "who is God and how do I more deeply know God?" my mind immediately went to the story from the gospel of Luke called the road to Emmaus. This story describes how after explaining the story of salvation from the Old Testament Jesus revealed himself in the breaking of the bread or Eucharist. "Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread." (Luke 24:31) The previously unknown God became known instantly right in their midst! I, too, have the privilege of knowing God through the regular reception of the Word of God and the bread and wine of the Eucharistic table.|God wants us to know him and has gone to great lengths to reveal himself to us through the church, the Eucharist, scripture, prayer, family, friends, creation, hard times as well as good times, etc… How has a previously unknown God made himself known to you, your family, your community, and our world
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full textLord, great and awesome God,|you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you|and observe your commandments! (Daniel 9:4)|My position at Creighton University is the Coordinator of Marriage Preparation. One of the things I love about my job is working with engaged couples as they talk through the dynamics of their relationship before they get married. At times I have been so amazed by a couple's ability to give "with good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing." I have seen couples give each other the benefit of the doubt over and over again. I have witnessed couples talk about difficult things in their relationship and come to the conclusion that they love each other enough to accept the difficulties in stride. These couples so often let go of the judging, condemning, and selfishness that they know will implode their loving relationship. Witnessing this kind of love gives me a glimpse into the kind of love, compassion and forgiveness that God has for us. This is the merciful covenant.|The gospel from Luke gives us a blueprint for experiencing loving and generous relationships with others. This is also the kind of relationship God wants with us and for us—no condemnation or judging—but mercy and compassion. We are promised a covenantal relationship with God and can only fully experience it when we get out of our own selfish way. God is love and God is overwhelmingly generous. "But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!" Daniel 9:
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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