Authors and Books

These static pieces, intended for meditation, do not concern themselves with drawing the viewer into the story, but work to extol Jesus’ grandeur in rising above His persecutors. They bear great similarity to the Byzantine Crucifixes where Jesus is presented alive on the cross, having already conquered death. The red cross of the Resurrection emblazoned on His halo underscores the victorious element in the panel.

Stewardship

In celebration of JP2's life, here's a video about the historic gathering that happened in Iowa because of a simple farmer's handwritten letter inviting Pope John Paul to visit America's heartland. On October 4 of that year, Pope John Paul made a brief stop in Iowa, an addition to his itinerary. Over 300,000 pilgrims, including non-Catholics, gathered in Urbandale, Iowa, to join the Pope in the celebration of the Eucharist.

Music

I imagine that for parents one of the most difficult teaching moments is helping a young child understand death, particularly the death of someone they love. Singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant (if you are of a certain age, you may remember her from her 10,000 Maniacs days) found herself in just this position with her young daughter. Natalie's closest friend who spent a lot of time with the Merchant family died and in the midst of her own pain she was looking for ways to talk about death with her daughter. She used Spring and Fall, a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins and her music to create a hauntingly beautiful song.

Music

After his first album, there was money, international tours, parties, cars and women, Lyell told the audience. But the high life didn't last forever, and his life has been anything but easy since then.

He says that a voice, God, spoke to him and told him 'I did not give you the talent to be spent this way'. He ignored the voice and continued to party and live the often sought after, life of a rock star.

Film

In a time when fantasy films have replaced adventure films, and historical dramas within that, Peter Weir's film, 'The Way Back', stands as an old fashioned epic slogging 6,500 kms from the winter wastes of Siberia, across the Gobi Desert, over the Himalayas and into India to deliver its payload -- the message of the value of freedom and the indomitability of the human spirit to reach that freedom.

Based on Slavomir Rawicz's memoir The Long Walk, the film depicts the long journey he and six others took escaping a Siberian prison during World War II, eventually making their way to freedom in India. Starring Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, and Saoirse Ronan, it's an intense and epic journey, and Weir masterfully presents it onscreen making the audience feel as if they are part of the tortuous trek.

Architecture & Sculpture

Notre Dame d'Afrique (Our Lady of Africa) or as the Algerians call it, Madame Afrique, is a Catholic church that is the basilica of Algiers, Algeria.

The basilica was inaugurated in 1872, after fourteen years of construction. Its architect, Jean Eugène Fromageau, who had been appointed the chief architect for ecclesiastical buildings in French Algeria in 1859, employed a Neo-Byzantine style that was in vogue for church architecture in France at that time. Its floorplan is unusual as the choir is situated on the southeast instead of the usual east side of the building.