#s.j.

[fairfieldthinkspace]

Easter tells us to embrace the fullness of our humanity

Rev. Paul K. Rourke, S.J.

Vice President for Mission and Ministry

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me…

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

-John Donne

I find comfort in these defiantly hopeful words from one of Donne’s “Holy Sonnets,” which I first read as a high school freshman. Since last Easter, death has been a persistent and menacing addition to my year. Unexpectedly, I lost my brother, John, last June. Over the last few months, I have lost a friend to a violent carjacking and two Jesuit brothers dear to me and the whole Fairfield University and Prep community: Frs. Charlie Allen, S.J., and Jim Bowler, S.J.  I loved and looked up to all these men, and miss them terribly. Death has robbed and humbled me, but I no longer feel in the mood to be deferential.  With Donne I feel defiant, and following his example, I say, “Death, I’ve had enough of you!” Surely, Easter is a time for all of us to join in defying death. For our Jewish brothers and sisters, too, the Passover commemorates the Lord’s deliverance of his people from death. The Angel of Death did not claim the first-born of the Chosen People or defeat the Lord’s covenant, but freed the People of Israel from bondage.

The Paschal Mystery the Church celebrates in the Easter Triduum defies death in a singular way: instead of sanitizing or ignoring it, death is confronted head-on and elevated just as it is consigned to oblivion: gory, ignominious death becomes forever the sacrament of our salvation, a reality utterly transformed and transforming. The Risen Jesus is a Wounded Jesus, but his wounds no longer define his destiny: they led to his death, but the Son of God has given them their ultimate meaning: marks of death’s ultimate powerlessness and proof that he will never abandon his humanity. 

Whether or not we have tasted much death in our lives, we, too, are wounded in a world simultaneously infatuated with, and in denial of, death. If the news out of Ukraine or Israel and Gaza have not wounded us with grief, then death has wounded us even more grievously: with stony hearts. However we are wounded, Easter tells us to embrace the fullness of our humanity as Jesus did (his own and ours). The voice of Death tells us to fear our weakness and hide our wounds in shame, but Jesus reminds us that God wants to raise, transform, and glorify every part of us, not just the parts we are proud of. He wants to do the same for all of us, and we are commanded to embrace the wounded brothers and sisters all around us with sacrificial love. When we hide from their pain, or ignore their dignity, we keep our tomb closed with the stone of indifference.

When we defy death and embrace the fullness of life God offers (in ourselves and each other), Easter becomes more than another day on the calendar: it becomes the center and meaning of every day.  When that happens, we can say in the same joyful confidence of Donne’s poem, “Death, thou shalt die.”

Image by Freepik

#Fairfield University #Rev. Paul K. Rourke #S.J. #ThinkSpace #Easter #Easter Triduum

[sray600]

Art project

#S.J.

[shwco6pojqc5]

Pamela Morrison teen slut like cock in mouth Bigcockcumshot hands free thick creamy cum fountain over my huge balls Stepsis sucked gigantic cock til jizz Salacious woman Nikki does her best to get cum in mouth Student is forced by the school nurse Puffy nippled milf does Kama Sutra on herself with a makeup brush Snapchat Milf Sharpie Harry Pussy Play Amateur Cam Homemade village tamil Aunty force sex Lesbian mormons licking and fingering

#goldbrick #durra #limetta #bettermost #chapping #gold-beater #platysternal #recontinuance #point-event #rockerthon #arterionecrosis #avenges #vespine #superformal #reacidifying #Taiyuan #dhyana #worriless #S.J. #endoscopically

[timetravellingshinigami]

For anyone who likes a good alien romance with plot and smut👌👌 I

happily give some recommendations .

There's one which give me Miles Quaritch x reader/oc vibes 😏

Obviously if you love big blue aliens (Na'vi)

You gotta check out Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

You can also go on the tag #iceplanetbarbarians and you'll find memes and art. It's a big fandom for this series.

There's a spinofff series of this called CORSAIR Brothers

And the first book ADIRON

Has a hilarious hero who's goofy and a himbo. Personal favourite 👌

Next if you want aliens who are very Na'vi like in culture but also don't hesitate to use technology then this one is for you

The Ash Planet Warriors

It's a spin off of the series Garrison Earth.

There are three races here the Vetusian, Jal'zar i.e The Ash Planet Warriors and Humans. The humans and Jal'zar are invaded by the Vetusians.

My favourite book in the spin off is this

Enemies to loves, political marriage. Here's a summary

I won’t touch her. But I will torment her soul. While the other warlords mate with the daughters of our enemy, I want nothing to do with these political marriages. Fate calls me north, searching for what the shamans say will complete my soul.

Now in the Garrison Earth series the last book is very interesting.

It's the Miles Quaritch x reader/oc fanfics but in a book 👇👀👀

Claimed

I conquered her planet and pillaged her body. Now I’m back for her heart.

A decade ago, I brought war to Solgad, home of the Jal’zar. I sacked the planet and slaughtered the people, all to save my race from extinction. Until one of their female warriors hissed defiance, promising me death at her hands no matter how her body longed for mine.

Each night, she came to end me, only to succumb to the raw urges of her mating heat.Each night, I gave her hungry womb what it needed, the way we coupled neither safe nor sane.

I was the enemy she couldn’t kill.She was the female I couldn’t have.

Together, we unleashed chaos.

Many solar cycles after the occupation, I return to Solgad, searching the ashen plains for her: my soulmate. This time, I will claim the Jal’zar female as mine, and nobody will get in the way.

Not even myself.

If you can, do read the entire series first if you want to know a little back story of the male character.

Now on to a villian from a different series

Zorus from Redeeming Zorus by Laurann Dohner.

Here's an enthusiastic comment about the character

Zorus, You Evil Bigot, M*ther F@cking, Sadistic Bastard!!! I have HATED You for SOOO LONG. Now I have to read your Love Story!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Anyway here's what's he's all about: Zorus is a member of the Ruling Council that governs cyborgs. His orders are law and must be obeyed. But Zorus is a sick bastard. He hates humans with a passion, and has been an evil terror to all cyborg males that have attempted to take a human female as a mate. He has gone as far as ordering them to be killed under the pretense that they were Earth Government spies searching for cyborgs.

But in a way his intense hate is justified. It's like if a Na'vi wanted to kill all the humans and Avatars (even the good ones), and all the hybrid children, because of what the RDA has done in Pandora.

Obviously this book is part of a series.

I'm sorry this spiralled into Alien villains but here's the last one

The Fractured Mate

Comments on the book:

Halian was so damned evil in previous books, I couldn't possibly imagine how he could be redeemable. But DAMN if our author didn't come up with the absolute most genius, creative, plot twist of an explanation!

Again part of a series of many interesting alien characters. Best to read those so you get an idea of how bad Halian is.

Now three other good alien books (not a villain main character)

Heart's Prisoner by Olivia Riley

He's not like anything Lana has ever encountered.

Asset X: Massive, deadly, a little terrifying to say the least. A devilish warrior. And a killer. Captured on a hellish world after attacking a military campsite and now imprisoned in a state-of-the-art cell inside one of the military’s top bases--Lazris.

And Lana has been assigned to "study" him. To learn his secrets and gain his trust, if he is ever allowed to set foot out of his cell. As a top behaviorist, it is the biggest hurdle of her career.

Very alien looking hero and mostly from the FMC point of view so there's a whole lot of mystery around him and what he's thinking. When we talking alien this dude is very alien. Also, it's a slow burn. Definitely no attraction at first sight. Actually we're all terrified 😂

Next is Classified Planet: Turongal of The Darvel Exploratory Systems

Cottonwood by R.Lee. Smith

Have you seen District 9? If you haven't please do..one of the best Sci fi alien movies out there. Anyway this book has the same kind of aliens. And a sort of similar plot. It feels like a fanfiction if that movie but it's different from the book too. All the characters are well written and brilliant plot. If 'Hearts Prisoner ' hero is a 7 on the "how alien does he look?" scale, the aliens in this book are a 9.

Argurma Salvager #1 Broken Earth

☝️ Hero's features inspired by the Predator in Alien vs Predator movies.

Saving Askara #1 Saving Askara

This has :

First contact

Slow burn (almost all the books i mentioned are slow burn)

Learning the cultures (Ash Planet also is about learning a different culture.)

Anyway these are some of my favorites and the best sci-fi alien romance i love till date ❤️ obviously there'are many more that I've probably forgotten 😅

#book recommendation #sci fi #sci fi books #sci fi romance #avatar way of water #avatar 2 #miles quaritch #jake sully #miles quaritch x reader #na'vi x reader #avatar recoms #ice planet barbarians #ash planet warriors #ruby dixon #v.k ludwig #s.j sanders #alien x reader #alien boyfriend #alien goddess #lyle wainfleet

[gemville]

Antique Turquoise, Ruby, Diamond and Natural Drop Pearl Cluster Pendant Brooch, Circa 1870

Photo Courtesy: S.J. Phillips

Source: forbes.com

#s.j. phillips #antique multi gem jewelry #turquoise #natural pearl #rubies #diamonds #multi gem brooch #multi gem jewelry #antique high jewelry #high jewelry #luxury jewelry #fine jewelry #fine jewellery pieces #gemville

[lgbtqreads]

Inside an Anthology: Being Ace ed. by Madeline Dyer

Today on the site I’m delighted to kick off Asexual Awareness Week with a peek inside the new anthology Being Ace, ed. by Madeline Dyer! The collection released earlier this month from Page Street, and we’re about to dig into the contributions. But first! A little more about the anthology: Discover the infinite realms of asexual love across sci-fi, fantasy, and contemporary stories From a…

View On WordPress

#Anju Imura #Anthology #Asexual #Being Ace #Emily Victoria #Jas Brown #K. Hart #Linsey Miller #Madeline Dyer #Moniza Hossain #Rosiee Thor #S.J. Taylor

[templegate]

Last two hyperfixations ive had had these main character trends

-inferiority complex because they are surrounded by talented people. (Which they are not)

-got brain surgery to make them smarter/better or to cure some kind of imperfection

-repressed memories cause of brain surgery

-has an alter ego (or just alter) that's literally just the main antagonist of their story

-terrorists

-responsible for apocalypse

Like damn back to back.

#Danganronpa #insignia #danganronpa goodbye despair #sdr2 #insignia trilogy #hajime hinata #tom raines #back to back huh #s.j. kincaid #sj kincaid

[nathanbates]

#2024 #dakota johnson #film #madame web #marvel #s.j. clarkson #SPUMC

[transbookoftheday]

Station Six by S.J. Klapecki

A hard science-fiction space opera with a queer protagonist.

Sixty million miles from Earth, in the orbiting city of Station Six, work still sucks. Max is a dockyard worker (with an illegal sideline in hacking and cybersurgery) in the company town of the future. When the LMC Corporation announces its Automated Future Plan, which will turn Station Six into a vacation destination with as few human personnel as needed to stay functional, Max has had enough. They rise from their complacency and joins forces with an underground revolutionary cell as all hell breaks loose. S.J. Klapecki's debut novel about galactic class struggle against impossible odds delivers action, intrigue, and politics, as Max and their friends face constant surveillance, raids, and armored rent-a-cops. Station Six is a story of battling against exploitation, fighting capitalist moguls, union solidarity, and finding hope in the darkest times.

#station six #s.j. klapecki #nonbinary #trans book of the day #trans books #queer books #bookblr #booklr

[oldfilmsflicker]

new-to-me #202 - Madame Web

#2024 in Films #Madame Web #S.J. Clarkson #52 films by women #directed by women

[fuckyeahwomenfilmdirectors]

#Madame Webb #S.J. Clarkson #2024 #USA #Film poster

[fairfieldthinkspace]

Advent: We can rediscover what it means to wait

Rev. Paul K. Rourke, S.J.

Vice President for Mission and Ministry

Advent invites us every year to take a break from the busyness and mayhem of our holiday preparations and end-of-semester/end-of-year rushing around, to prepare for the coming of Christ we celebrate at Christmas and, ultimately, for the Christ who will come to us at the end of time. 

So often we miss the grace of this season and find ourselves shocked yet again by how quickly it passed. This year, Advent is the shortest it can be under the liturgical calendar, but we can still make this year different. We can rediscover what it means to wait attentively and contemplatively for the Lord. The Christ who took on flesh for us, embracing our humanity in everything but sin, is all around us—coming to us in countless ways, if we look with the eyes of faith. A good Advent can help us to see more clearly with those eyes. In this time of war we need those eyes more than ever.

To help us see with those eyes the Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality is providing us with a series of reflections on the readings of each day of Advent. I invite you to take advantage of them.

May the Christ who comes to each of us come to you in new and special ways this Advent!

#Fairfield University #Rev. Paul K. Rourke #S.J. #Advent #Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality

[notanothersongaboutlovebracket]

#tournament poll #s.j. tucker #the forgetmenauts #notanothersongaboutlovebracket #Youtube

[the-final-sentence]

We each take the next steps into our lives, fueled by the love that can carry us wherever we must go.

S.J. Taylor, from “The Witch of Festa Falls”

#s.j. Taylor #the witch of festa falls

[gnome-minion]

Mama's boy

#insignia #s.j. kincaid #insignia trilogy #tom raines #insignia series #thomas raines #delilah nyland #art #my art #avis's doodles #avis's videos #animatic #animation #i cried like 8 times drawing this. #in fact I've been crying since I finished it. #delilah fucks me up so much. she fucks me up. I can't not cry when I think about her because everything is just so tragic and awful #crying as i type this #she never got a chance :(

[bookwyrminspiration]

when Tom first jokingly called himself Mordred I assumed he'd destroy camco via joining and then being himself and (potentially accidentally) tearing it apart from the inside out. that it would become his insignia.

but it never did. tom didn't outright destroy camco, and his impact wasn't only limited to camco. he destroyed it by enabling the destruction of the system that created and perpetuated camco's existence--and not even on purpose. it's just how thinks worked out

i'm not an expert on camelot mythology, but from what i've looked up mordred and arthur mutually destroy each other. and I cannot help thinking of Blackburn crashing his ship in assured mutual destruction. and I cannot help thinking of how it was first Tom who was the Ghost in the Machine before Blackburn took the title. and how maybe that means the foreshadowing of Mordred was only partially meant for Tom. that the Ghost wasn't the only title Blackburn took

#the insignia trilogy #catalyst spoilers #s.j. kincaid #finally finished this post that's been sitting in my drafts for a hot minute #you'd think a character who jokingly calls himself mordred. the person who destroyed camelot. a character who wants #to /join/ something named camelot company #would be quite foreshadowing #but it's too on the nose #that's not what being mordred means #tom is mordred to an extent #but the titles tom took on were only ever partly his #he created the ghost but blackburn WAS the ghost #he started mordred's arc but blackburn finished it #do you see what I mean do you get what I'm getting at