Pompeii

Too graphic for a room of adults but totally cool for middle schoolers!
 
 

It’s day 2 of the trial of the century ... 
 

A winter wonderland photo. Was a beautiful Day at my house Cairnbrook,  PA > Leeann Landis

 

Took this on Saturday while walking the towpath between the canal and the river in Phoenixville., Pa. > Jeffrey Goodling

Big Oak - Feb 2024 Bryn Coed Preserve, Chester Springs > Ed Harding

Article #2 -  Eighth Series - January 29th, 2024 by Fr. Ben Daghir
Editor's Note:
Fr. Ben Daghir preached this homily during the 4th Sunday of Ordinary time. This article is a summary of the homily which focuses on the Beatitudes. 
Article:
Today we hear of the Beatitudes but we ought to ask, “what does the word ‘beatitude’ mean?” The Latin word is beatitudo and it means happiness. We heard “blessed, blessed, blessed” with each beatitude today. The word “blessed” can also be translated as “happy.”
Let me restate some of these beatitudes with this translation in mind: happy are the poor in spirit, happy are they who mourn, happy are the meek, happy are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, happy are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. 
Jesus Christ is laying out a blueprint of happiness. 
Aristotle stated that every action we make as human beings is in order to be happy. This includes something as minuscule as brushing one’s teeth to the incredibly important decision of one’s vocation. This also includes actions such as our hobbies, our vacation plans, our retirement approach, our profession, the friends we have and choose not to have, etc. 
Being happy is something uniquely human. Aristotle is right: every decision we make is with the intent to be happy. Jesus Christ presents us with a challenging blueprint of happiness. 
The Beatitudes are also the autobiography of Jesus, especially while He is on the cross. 
Jesus is poor in spirit while on the cross. He mourns from the cross. He is meek on the cross. He hungers and thirsts for righteousness from the cross. He is merciful on the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). He is clean of heart from the cross as the unblemished and perfect sacrifice. He is the peacemaker whose sacrifice brings order to a disordered world. He is persecuted and insulted from the cross while every kind of evil is uttered against Him. 
This brings us to a startling and uniquely Christian perspective. Happiness is found on the cross. The happiest man is found hanging on the cross. 
Jesus Christ, along with the saints, is the happiest person to have ever lived. Let this soak in for a moment. I want these words to permeate our minds because the world provides us with a radically different perspective on happiness. 
The world encourages us to strive for more power, wealth, honor, and pleasure. It promises us that if we have more power, wealth, honor, and pleasure then we’ll be happy. How has that worked out in human history? It never has. If you are anything like me, you’ve noticed that these worldly appetites have never filled you up. Each time we sin we are grasping for power, wealth, honor, or pleasure. And, after committing the sinful act (which we thought would make us happy), we realize the sin didn’t live up to its perceived promise. Sin always fails us and leaves us empty. 
Mind you, power, wealth, honor, and pleasure are not bad things in and of themselves. They become awful and disordered when placed as a top priority. 
Notice that Jesus has no power, no wealth, no honor, and no pleasure on the cross. Maybe it’s because happiness is not found primarily in these worldly things. Perhaps it’s because happiness is not found in attaining and grasping the things of this world but rather in sacrificing and self-emptying ourselves. 
The cross of Jesus Christ, paradoxically, is where happiness is to be found. 
========================
Fr. Ben Daghir is a priest for the Diocese of Erie. He is a graduate of Elk County Catholic High School in Saint Marys, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, and St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He considers writing one of his favorite hobbies.

Sheriff Meeting in DC, briefed by Wray & the FBI ...
Ohio Sheriff Richard K. Jones Warning The Amercian People
After Meeting With Director Of The FBI Christopher Wray, Sheriff Says The Illegal Immigrants Entering America Will Do Us Harm “It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when”
“China has safe houses in every state in the United States”
“They’re bringing something here to cause us harm. You have to believe that. China has safe houses in every state in the United States. My name is Rick Jones. I'm the Butler County Sheriff, Butler County, Ohio. I just came back from the National Sheriff's Training in D.C. three days ago, two days ago. We were briefed by the FBI director Ray, the director of the FBI, and several federal agencies. There's 3,300 sheriffs in the United States. 
The President of the United States refuses to meet with the sheriffs of the 3,300. We have a hierarchy. We have a president. We have a vice president. The President of the United States refuses to meet with the sheriffs.
He also refuses to meet with the police chiefs of the United States. They have a hierarchy also. He refuses to meet with them to talk about border issues or talk about crime that's going on because of the border issue. We were also told by Mr. Ray, the FBI director, that there are more red flags going off now than before 9-11. Okay?
When I say red flags, meaning people that are here in this country that are wanting to do harm to us. We were also explained we're bombing two countries right now. Two countries. These people do not like us before this started. There's thousands of people here from other countries, 160 different countries. They're here not to be our friends.
Some of them are coming because they're wanting to come here to the best country in the world, the way we see it. Some are coming here to do harm to us. And we were told by the FBI director, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. We were also told five sheriffs went to Israel five weeks after the attack. The only thing that saved the Israelis, their government was the local police. They were outgunned, outmanned. They came over. The Palestinians did. They came over. They killed, raped. The sheriffs were there. They talked to the police. The local police are what saved that country. You can't just call, even in Israel, you can't just call the military up, and they're going to be there, okay? They went house to house, raping, killing. The Israeli police.
When our guys got there, the sheriffs said, they just don't hate us. They hate you guys equally. And the same people that train them are the same people that train people to hate us.
The FBI director said when 9-11 hit, there's more red flags now than then. So, and he said, these are people that want to kill us and do harm to us. Now, so you're wondering, I want everybody to know what I know.
I can't tell you everything, but I want the public to know that we are in a terrible way right now. The United States, and I'm going to get to the local.
The United States, we're on the defense. You can't be just defense and not have an offense. We have no offense. We're just defense. We're absorbing these attacks. We're in other countries. We're supplying them with weapons. We're supplying them with our treasure, our money. And we're not doing much back home. So.
With that in mind, we were also told that they're going, this is from the federal government, three days ago. They're going to attack our elections”
 
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/02/must-watch-ohio-sheriff-richard-jones-issues-stark/
 
 

Everyone loved Trump until he WON and they couldn’t buy him off ...
 
 

Yesterday morning's ever-changing, ever-glorious sunrise near State College. > Vicki Holderman Blazer

Portrait of a Bald Eagle (Bucks County ,Pa ) > Judy Lambert Caggiano

I am very surprised with a few republican names below, but we all know now, that MONEY changes EVERYTHING and proves my point that MOST of them are CROOKS.

The warm sun bursting through an old barn > Bill Derbes

On an excursion today into the Allegheny National Forest, I was surprised to find a large flock of Robins at a berry buffet. > SPRING? > Mark's Outdoor Shots

An incredible day in the wilderness, at Endless Mountains, Pa. > Overload Images


 

The pastor of Smithtown Church in Falls Creek was hit head on this morning. He is in icu and he has a cracked sternum, broken ribs, and internal bleeding. He is in severe pain.
 Your prayers would be appreciated. 

Here is a good laugh for the day.
Here is a photo of front page of GoDuBois Feb. 6th, 2000
Back then it wasn't Photo of the Day, it was Pic of the week. 
 

This is a reply from yesterdays POTD. >> We have one like this in Elk Co, PA! - Shauna Peters

Wow - more money to Ukraine & Israel!


Well it looks like everyone has seen all of the proof they need to make this decision..
Both Republican and Democrat are ALL CROOKS!!!!
Like I've been saying the last 2 years ...... 95% of all politicians are either Bought, Blackmailed or just plain EVIL!!!
 
 

This is Ticklish Rock, a 30 ton boulder balanced on a thin column of rocks.  It was shaped by thousands of years of wind and water erosion. This is in Sullivan County, near Eagles Mere, Pa. It is locally famous and many people hike about 1/2 mile through the forest to see it each year. > Bud Andrews

The Continuum is thankful to the community who donated to our 2023 Snack Bags of Joy Collection Campaign. Last week, Dave (American Legion representative) presented their donation check to Jan Johnson (DuBois Village PC Aide & Business Office Assistant.) Thanks again for your donation, which will be put towards the 2024 collection campaign.