Calendar Class of July 3, 2025
- Andrea Kirk Assaf
- 4 minutes ago
- 5 min read
A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
Meet Magical Mr. Mistoffelees! The canny cat re-entered our lives the other day after a few years' sojourn at the Miller family's home under the alias "Tewkesbury". As you have probably ascertained by now, I inherited my Dad's obsession with cats, which was encouraged by the viewing of the musical "Cats" as a child, and my subsequent memorization of all the lyrics of every song (including the one in the quote category below. Feel free to sing along!).
Liturgical: Thursday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
John 20:24-29
Bishop Barron's Homily:
Friends, today’s Gospel tells of Thomas’ doubting the Resurrection. Indeed, Catholicism has a rich tradition of questioning, seeking understanding. Aquinas, another great St. Thomas, spent much of his life asking and answering hard questions about the faith.
Do you remember Hamlet’s great line, “There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy, Horatio”? If we stubbornly say—even in the area of science—that we will accept only what we can clearly see and touch and control, we wouldn’t know much about reality.
There is, in most areas of life, a play between knowing and believing. It is not unique to the religious sphere of life. Blaise Pascal summed it up: “The heart has its reasons that reason knows not.”
It is not that we who have not seen and have believed are settling for a poor substitute for vision. No, we are being described as blessed, more blessed than Thomas. God is doing all sorts of things that we cannot see, measure, control, fully understand. But it is an informed faith that allows one to fall in love with such a God.
Sanctoral: Thomas (1st Century – December 21, 72)
Poor Thomas! He made one remark and has been branded as “Doubting Thomas” ever since. But if he doubted, he also believed. He made what is certainly the most explicit statement of faith in the New Testament: “My Lord and My God!” and, in so expressing his faith, gave Christians a prayer that will be said till the end of time. He also occasioned a compliment from Jesus to all later Christians: “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29).
The Roman Martyrology also commemorates St. Leo II (d. 683), one of the last Popes of the early Middle Ages. His short pontificate (682-683) was marked by the confirmation of the sixth ecumenical council at which the Monothelite heresy was condemned. St. Leo II also perfected the melodies of the Gregorian chant for the Psalms and composed some new hymns.
Human: 321 AD – Roman Emperor Constantine the Great issued an edict which forbade proceeding trials on Sunday. In the first edict of March 3 the same year, he introduced a Sunday rest for all categories of workers with the exception of farmers.
324 AD – the victory of Constantine the Great over Licinius in the battle of Adrianople. Both emperors (according to Zosimus) were to gather powerful – for this period- forces of over 120,000 people and several hundred ships. This number seems to be overstated, but the emperors had numerous armies. According to Zosimus, 34 000 residents of Licinius died in the battle, and the rest fled in disarray from the battlefield. The defeated commander withdrew to Byzantium, and the remnants of his army found refuge in Asia.
Natural: The Dog Days of Summer are upon us! July 3 - August 11
In ancient Greece and Rome, the Dog Days were believed to be a time of drought, bad luck, and unrest, when dogs and men alike would be driven mad by the extreme heat! Today, the phrase doesn’t conjure up such bad imagery. Instead, the Dog Days are associated purely with the time of summer’s peak temperatures and humidity.
Hot Summer of 1966: Hartford, Connecticut, reached 102 degrees F – 1966, New York City reached 107 degrees F – 1966, Allentown, Pennsylvania, reached 105 degrees F – 1966
Italian: Accanito (relentless / obstinate)
Quote: Mr. Mistoffelees
by T. S. Eliot 1888 –1965
You ought to know Mr. Mistoffelees!
The Original Conjuring Cat—(There can be no doubt about that).
Please listen to me and don’t scoff. All his
Inventions are off his own bat.
There’s no such Cat in the metropolis;
He holds all the patent monopolies
For performing surprising illusions
And creating eccentric confusions.
At prestidigitation
And at legerdemain
He’ll defy examination
And deceive you again.
The greatest magicians
have something to learn
From Mr. Mistoffelees’ Conjuring Turn.
Presto!
Away we go!
And we all say: OH!
Well I never!
Was there ever
A Cat so clever
As Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!
He is quiet and small, he is black
From his ears to the tip of his tail;
He can creep through the tiniest crack
He can walk on the narrowest rail.
He can pick any card from a pack,
He is equally cunning with dice;
He is always deceiving you into believing
That he’s only hunting for mice.
He can play any trick with a cork
Or a spoon and a bit of fish-paste;
If you look for a knife or a fork
And you think it is merely misplaced—
You have seen it one moment,
and then it is gawn!
But you’ll find it next week
lying out on the lawn.
And we all say: OH!
Well I never!
Was there ever
A Cat so clever
As Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!
His manner is vague and aloof,
You would think there was nobody shyer—
But his voice has been heard on the roof
When he was curled up the fire.
And he’s sometimes been heard by the fire
When he was about on the roof—
(At least we all heard somebody who purred)
Which is incontestable proof
Of his singular magical powers:
And I have known the family to call
Him in from the garden for hours,
While he was asleep in the hall.
And not long ago
this phenomenal Cat
Produced seven kittens
right out of a hat!
And we all say: OH!
Well I never!
Was there ever
A Cat so clever
As Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!
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