Autumn is my favorite season of the year. The frosty temperatures, the blazing color of the trees, the smell of wood smoke, and the crunch of leaves underfoot are all expressions of beauty and peace.
Tag: autumn
An autumn reflection
The bare tree outside my office, which only days ago was laden with fiery red leaves, reminds me that autumn is rapidly moving us towards the snow and cold of winter, as nature falls asleep.
This fallow period of dormancy, rest, and apparent lifelessness we know well, both because we live in Wisconsin, where our trees are leafless six months out of the year and because we have tasted the cycles of the Paschal Mystery, the dying and rising of Christ.
The poignancy of these colder and darker November days speaks of the golden summer now past, the brevity of life as we pray for the dead and the cycle of the seasons of the heart.
Time is ticking away: thoughts on life and death
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If you knew the date of your death, how would you live differently?
Such a question may seem strange, but it is one I think about once in a while. Perhaps, I would live fearlessly; knowing how much time I have left would enable me to take risks and face danger more boldly.
If I was facing a premature death, would that knowledge painfully shadow my thoughts and feelings every day? If I was blessed with a long life, maybe I would be tempted to put off conversion, foolishly thinking I have so much time to pull things together.
Obviously, all of these questions and thoughts are moot, since we know neither the day nor the hour of our passing from this life.
Remember the elderly in the autumn of their lives
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October 1 is International Day of Older Persons as declared by the United Nations.
It is appropriate to celebrate this day during the fall of the year in order to focus upon the elderly’s autumn blessings and needs. An elderly Italian couple reminded me of this recently.
Visiting the elderly
On August 9, 2016, in Rome, Italy, four policemen visited the home of Michele, a 94-year-old man and Jole, his 89-year-old wife.
After 70 years of marriage, they still loved each other, but they were suffering from the cross of loneliness, partially because their neighbors were vacationing and also because of upsetting TV reports about terrorists’ attacks and abused children.
Autumn retreat at Schoenstatt Heights
MADISON — “What Have I to Give?” is the theme for the Schoenstatt autumn retreat to be held from November 15 to 16 in Madison. It will be a time to prepare for Advent in prayer and reflection. All are invited to attend.
Fr. Gerold Langsch, a Schoenstatt priest, will be the retreat master.
Matthew 25 and Madison Square
MADISON — So. It’s Autumn. How did you live your faith this summer? Mass? Good. Eucharistic Adoration? Going on retreat? Personal prayer time? Terrific. Love Begins Here and other Mission Trip experiences? Great.
Farmers Market? Fabulous.
Wait. Farmer’s Market?
Yes. Farmer’s Market.
In the autumn of the year: A time to remember some lessons and blessings
Although I love spring, autumn is also a special time of the year. There are things I like about autumn, but there are things that bother me, too.
We live on a street lined with trees on both sides of the road. I enjoy watching the leaves on the trees change from green to yellow, gold, and red. What a beautiful sight!
But those leaves start falling from the trees, and that means lots of blowing and raking. We get our yard clear of leaves and pile them on the curb to be picked up, then we start again as more leaves fall. Of course, they don’t all fall at the same time. It’s frustrating when we think we’ve gotten the leaves all cleared and wake up the next morning to see the lawn full again — many of them having blown in from our neighbors’ yards.
Thanksgiving and autumn harvest reflections
As nature decorates the hillsides with the beautiful autumn leaves, our thoughts turn to the harvest.
No mere artist can model the natural hillside of trees in arrangement and color, nor the bounty that feeds all creatures.
God is revealing himself to people and gives us abundant reason in which to see, honor, and be grateful for the order in nature.
As we behold this autumn of 2010, let us stop to praise God not only for the beauty we see in nature but also for his providential care through crops — corn, soybeans, squash, pumpkins, and all — each of which has a color, form, and purpose.
Autumn reminds us of St. Francis
We celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi on October 4. This is appropriate because Francis loved God’s creation.
During autumn, God creatively works through nature to convert fall’s leaves to a beautiful scarlet and gold. This change reminds us that God changed Francis from a carefree green youth into a committed Christ-like saint. His conversion invites us to ask God to also change us.
Through the ages, Catholics, non-Catholics, and non-Christians have loved Francis. He has influenced millions by his pure Christ-like goodness, love of creation, and joy.