Birthday, Name Day

Lectio Divina

... where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3:17

I am much drawn to the person of the Holy Spirit in my prayer these days. Today, this verse will lead me.

Library

Eager to continue Miranda, Being and the Messiah, this afternoon. Commonweal and National Catholic Reporter await from the night-table.

Log

It is the feast of Anthony of Padua, who with Bonaventure is one of the earliest Franciscan theologians. It is only a coincidence that I share the same name as this Franciscan saint. I was named after my paternal great-grandfathers, Anthony Ulanowski and Lawrence Zuba. However, I believe firmly that everyone's name truly becomes them, and uncannily so. Without being fatalistic about it, I can believe that names do in fact augur our destiny and carry a peculiar power and influence on our lives. Thus, whatever their motivation for naming me -- familial loyalty, piety, tradition -- God inspired my parents' decision, more than they could ever know.

Last night, baked two pans of non-dairy brownies, one of them from an off-the-shelf vegan brownie mix, the other from scratch with a recipe I found on the Internet. (It contains eggs, so it is not vegan. I found the flax seed, an egg substitute for its binding properties, in our kitchen only after the fact.) It's for our birthday brother, Brother Joe. May your 86th year of life be your best year of life, a life lived more perfectly in Christ.

This morning, I sent my province a list of addresses. The brother in charge of the communications office is sending invitations to the July 20 ceremony for first profession of vows.

Please note that having sent the province my invitation list does not mean I have been admitted into simple vows! Still waiting for official word with thirty days to go. But the preparations for the ceremony are moving forward, and being asked to submit an invite list must surely augur well.

Later this morning, going to Old Mission Santa Ines for lunch cookout with Bro. Brendan Buckley. Put a veggie burger and corn cob on the grill for me, brother!

This evening, the birthday social and dinner. Let the day go gently.

Weather

Unusually gloomy-looking this morning with sky overcast. But guess what? The sun has returned. The sun always prevails in these parts. Now the temperature is rising five degrees hourly. That's life in the desert valley.