Jen's Pen

The Invisible Mom

2012-02-01T15:51:00.002-05:00

One of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be
taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping
the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see
me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of
hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock
to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is
the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?,
What's for dinner?'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes
that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared
into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going,
she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a
friend from England . She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she
was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,
looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to
compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she
turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you
this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly
sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration
for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover
what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could
pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have
no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a
work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and
expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their
faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the
cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird
on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you
spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by
the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, 'Because God
sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was Almost
as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you
make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've
baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to
notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see
right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of
the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work
on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went
so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime
because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's
bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the
morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3
hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a
monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there
is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it
there...'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're
doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel,
not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the
world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

I love this because it is about how we SHOULD be, not always my attitude, but I am working on it!
Thanks Lisa!

What a Hero Looks Like....

2012-01-31T12:52:00.000-05:00

Archbishop Timothy Dolan praying the Rosary outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem...
I am praying for this man and all his brother bishops. This is a very difficult time for the Church in the United States. Our bishops need all our prayers.

A Little Larnin'

2012-01-26T15:08:00.000-05:00

It's going to be a very educational evening!
Tonight John and I are going to be in the virtual front row at a webinar with Regina Doman, a Catholic author, and homeschooling mom.
She has written several novels that have been very popular with the kids in our homeschool group.
The webinar is titled "Which Comes First, the Character or the Plot?"
It's so cool to have a chance to get together in the intimacy of a virtual classroom...

John is currently writing a novel himself, and Giordan Pergola is illustrating it. This is a great opportunity for John to learn from a respected author.
It is so neat to see my boys, John and Paul especially, enjoying the world of writing.
John's story is great! I love the way he is building the characters and the combination of humor and action that is going into it. Giordan is so talented, and he can capture the ideas that John is trying to portray so well!
I don't know when it will be finished, but John works at it pretty steadily.
We are going to have to replace the poor, tired old laptop that he is using. It was mine and I passed it on to him a few years ago when I got this one.
Anyway, we will be online tonight to enjoy the blessings of virtual education.
I love technology!!!

A Man For Our Times...

2012-01-25T14:53:00.000-05:00

We were so privileged to hear this homily at the Youth Rally and Mass.
What a blessing....

God-Given

2012-01-24T11:39:00.004-05:00


A person's a Person, no Matter How Small!

God has given us so much!
Even if all we had were life, and the Eucharist, we would have more than enough.
God's loving care is so evident in our lives, and it is the least we can do to honor Him by sharing His love.
Every year we are called to give witness to the gift of life, at the annual March For Life in Washington DC.
We live too close and we are convicted, in our hearts, that there is no place we can be that will better show forth the dignity of all human life.
I am so proud of my boys!! They got up yesterday morning at 3:15am, and we traveled by train to Washington. We attended the Youth Rally and Mass for Life, and they prayed and offered their presence wholeheartedly. They were exhausted and cold, and they made the march from the Verizon center, all the way to the Supreme Court, with no complaints. Paul even said that it was long, muddy, cold and tiring, but that it was so good to be there!
I can't express how amazing they, and all their friends are.

If there is any hope for a bright future, it is in these young people.

It's Almost time...

2012-01-22T09:07:00.000-05:00

Today begins our March For Life 2012 journey with the Good Shepherd Youth!
We will be going to Mass at 11:00, and Adoration for Life begins right after Mass.
Adoration will go until 4:00, with the youth adoring in the hour between 3 and 4. There will be music and prayer led by our own youth, and Mathias.
Then, after benediction, we go over to the school for pizza and snacks. The parish is invited to the join us for the movie "Changing Sides", the story of Abby Johnson, the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas.
After the movie Tim, Brendan, Paul and I will be coming home, and John will stay over at the school with youth, for the lock-in.
Everyone meets at the train at 4:20 in the morning and we all ride down to Union Station in DC.
The whole group will walk from Union Station to the MCI Center for a huge youth rally, with a Mass and music. Last year there were 20,000 kids, and a line waiting to get in.
After the rally we will walk over to the National Gallery, to wait for the March for Life to begin. This is a great time to meet people. Our kids will have their Cat in the Hat, hats on, so I will get lots of pictures!
Pray for a safe trip and many changing hearts.

Why Is That Funny?

2012-01-19T12:26:00.001-05:00

I am assisting the teacher for the ninth grade Religious Ed class at our parish.
It has been an interesting year, and this really is a great group of kids.
Most of them have been going to public school all their lives, and they haven't had a lot of exposure to authentic Catholic teaching, so they find some of the discussion topics, like abortion, contraception, and social issues, a bit surprising to say the least.
Last night we watched "Changing Sides" which is a video of the story of Abby Johnson, the Planned Parenthood director that left her job to become a pro-life activist.
After the video, I asked the kids what they thought, and if they had any responses to what they had seen.
The conversation came around to the topic of Abby's own abortion, and one young man thought that she was hypocritical because she had had an abortion and now is speaking out against it.
I told him that many, many women have had abortions and now regret it, and are speaking out against it to warn other women.
His frustration became apparent, and he made the point that if girls don't want to get pregnant, they shouldn't be putting themselves in situations where they are at risk, or words to that effect. I was really saddened by the reaction of the rest of the class to his words. They laughed.
They all responded as if the very idea of young people refraining from sex is so ridiculous that it doesn't bear discussion. The teacher said "Easier said than done." And that is true, especially in the environment that these kids are coming from.
But I felt like asking "Why?"
The idol of "choice" is a fickle god.
Why is it that girls must be assured that they should always have the choice to kill a child that has been conceived, but that the choice to be faithful to themselves is an impossible idea?
What is so funny, or farfetched about the idea of chastity?
I guess I have to become capable of understanding, and yet willing to challenge, these ideas that permeate society, at the level of our Catholic youth.
I find it so sad that they find it so funny.

The Creative Process....

2012-01-19T11:51:00.000-05:00

Today is a good day to build something!

It starts with a vision...

And the proper materials...

And here is the result...

Brendan's

No, We're Not Crazy....

2012-01-18T09:05:00.001-05:00

Right now, Paul is singing at the computer while he writes his story, and John is trying to sing over him.
Brendan is doing his English and trying to ignore them.
Maggie is pulling all the little strings out of her rope bone, and watching the door for company.
I got everyone up an hour early in hopes that we would get things done before I have to take John to Co-op, and I guess we are, but everyone seems a bit loopy.
I guess that's OK.
At least they are getting things done...

2012-01-15T23:32:00.001-05:00

Tonight we went over to Good Shepherd School and had a "hat party".
The youth will be traveling to DC for the March For Life next week, and every year we say that we need something that will distinguish us in the crowd.

Well, I think we are onto something this year!

What a Weekend!

2012-01-07T16:22:00.001-05:00

It is turning into a four star weekend for our unsocialized homeschooling family.

Yesterday we went down to Baltimore, to the St Jude Shrine, for our monthly First Friday
field trip/pilgrimage. It was wonderful! The priest that said mass had a beautiful accent, and his voice was just captivating. That, combined with a fantastic message on the need for Grace in doing God's will, was like hearing it straight from the Lord himself! We were Blessed to have about six other families there with us, and we all enjoyed visiting in the lower part of the building afterward. We went to the Mall and had lunch with our friends, the Bowers, and then came home.

I fixed dinner for the Hauf family, and was so happy to deliver it and get to hold baby Ricky for the first time. He is a beautiful boy!

After I got home, our boys had their Friday pizza, and I headed over to Bel Air, to work on the casting of "King Lear" with Paula, Larry and Mary. It was really a great time. A lot of work, but I think we came up with a really good combination of talents. I hope the kids will be happy with their roles.
I am really looking forward to working on it this year.

This morning Brendan and Paul were up bright and early so that Tim could drive them over to Timonium for a Laser Tag birthday party. Their friend Daniel has turned 13, and he invited them.
They apparently had a great time! They have been telling me all about it. There were a lot of kids there and it was a nice place.

John is off to the party of another of his friends, Nathan. They went bowling for the afternoon, and then they will go up to Nathan's house for dinner and cake.
Tomorrow we have another great day planned with lots of friends and fun.
I'll take pictures and update tomorrow night.

This afternoon I am taking down the last of the Christmas decorations. I have most everything put away.
I need to get outside and do some cleanup in the yard. I can't believe how warm it is! I am really loving this weather! Maggie and I had a great walk this morning, and I just wore a sweat shirt!

I am looking forward to a nice evening with my loves....

Here We Go Again!

2012-01-03T17:01:00.000-05:00

Well, it's the first day of school in 2012!
We are trying to get back into the swing of things after a fabulous Christmas break.
It's hard to get back to the discipline of the daily school routine, but at the same time it is nice to be getting back to a routine, and making progress on school.
It's always a little scary getting to this point in the year and realizing how much we have left to do.
January means we have six months left.
All the boys are working hard.
Some are further ahead than others.
It drives John and Brendan crazy that Paul can fly through his work and be done in a couple of hours.
This is partly because Paul is younger and has less on his plate, but it's also because Paul is an incredibly fast reader. He can read and retain information faster than anyone I know, and he doesn't forget it!
Tomorrow is the audition for our upcoming production of "King Lear".
John is hoping for the role of the King of France.
We are going to be casting everyone on Friday night.
I will be working on costumes again this year, and I am really looking forward to it! I have had such a good time in the past productions.

We have a few things in the offing besides getting back to school.
John is very much involved with the youth in our homeschool community, and he has something going on almost every weekend. We are getting ready to go on the March for Life at the end of this month.
That will be a very big event.
We start with Adoration for life all day on Sunday, then there is a pizza dinner over at the school. This year there will be a movie and discussion program after dinner, which is open to the parish. The kids that are going to the March the next day get "locked in" for the night, under the close supervision of the Holy Deacon, and our very observant Ms. Kathy Flood. At 4:00am we will head over to the train station to ride down to DC and participate in the youth Rally for Life, and the March.
In February we will be attending Mount 2000, which is a regional Eucharistic Conference up in Emmitsburg.
I am so excited about these events!

I am getting a bit of work in around the edges of school, mostly for friends.
I am hoping to get a few clients through Sappari Solutions, as we go into the new year, but I have to make sure that they are clients that I can work with over the phone and on the computer. I am not doing on-site organizing right now, because I just can't keep up the momentum with both school and work. I admire those that can work and homeschool, and I am sure that I will be able to manage it as the boys get older, but right now just isn't the time.

So...we start 2012 with a lot of hard work, and we get traction for the long pull from now until June.

Uplifting...

2011-12-29T18:52:00.003-05:00

If this doesn't lift your heart....

Christmas Thoughts

2011-12-28T11:55:00.001-05:00

It's kind of surreal how Advent becomes Christmas overnight. How preparing becomes celebration and we find ourselves in a world where God actually dwells instead of a world that is waiting for Him to come. We step from the Old Testament, into the New with hymns, carols, and bells. Actually the New Testament begins with the Annunciation of God with us, for that is truly when he came into the world, but His birth is the moment that we have a tangible sense of his presence and how much He loves us. Christmas really never ends. He has been with us since that day when he came into the world as a member of a family. We live in a world where God is with us. One day He will return in Glory, but until then we meet Him in the Mass.
Emmanuel, God with us, welcome!

Funny...Once Again

2011-12-27T21:08:00.002-05:00

Feast of St John

2011-12-27T12:04:00.001-05:00

Today is the feast of St John the Evangelist, and our John's feast day!
I have always loved the beloved disciple. He is so close to Our Lord.
We thank God for the wonderful Communion of Saints that we are so Blest to be a part of!

St John the Apostle, Pray for us!

I Couldn't Agree More...

2011-12-25T20:28:00.000-05:00

“It is exceedingly interesting and attractive to be a successful businessman . . . or farmer, or a successful lawyer, or doctor, or a writer, or a president, or a ranchman . . . or to kill grizzly bears and lions. But for unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly makes all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.”
~Teddy Roosevelt

It IS a Wonderful Life!

2011-12-24T19:03:00.000-05:00

Last night we watched the classic Christmas film, "It's A Wonderful Life", as we do every year.
I love the plot, the quirky dialog, the good, the bad and the ugly characters, but mostly I love that it is true!
I know a lot of people today would say that it's idealistic, unrealistic and that the themes and values are from another time.
They still watch it, but they feel that it is some kind of artifact, a tradition that takes us back in history to a time when people still believed in God, sought to be virtuous, and took care of each other.
The black and white on the screen seems to also represent a way of life that was certain and solid. Things were more black and white, and good and evil were easily defined.
People today seem to feel that the lines have blurred to the extent that a story like this one could never happen in the present time.
I disagree.
Sure, George Baily is a classic icon of virtue, whose whole life was centered around what he could do for others, and Mr Potter is a selfish, nasty old man whose whole life seems devoted to what he could do to others to build himself up and make others crawl.
I know there are people of both kinds to be found today, and if we look for "George Baily" opportunities, we can be part of the "wonderful life" that George found when he saw the change he had effected just by being himself.
There are certainly Potters to be found, and there always will be.
But there are so many really, truly good people in our world, right now.
Even if it seems hard to find good people among neighbors, and those that we see on the news, and in day to day living, we must always remember that Our Lord is here, now, on altars and in tabernacles all over the world.
He is there to look upon, to see the ultimate good.
No matter how dark it seems, He is here with us.
No Potter can overcome the Light of Life.

Christ is not a memory, or an historic figure from another time.
He is with us always and with Him in the world, it can't be anything but a "Wonderful Life"

It Can't Be....

2011-12-20T14:49:00.002-05:00

...That we can earn our way to Heaven, because if it were possible to get to Heaven simply by being good, God would have to let Maggie in. It is a testament to the intrinsic value of the human soul, that a person who has done unspeakable evil all his life can have a conversion at the moment of death, be truly repentant for his sins, and gain Heaven, after a time of purgation. That an animal that has lived every moment of her life in total loyalty, obedience and love of others, and yet has no place in eternity, is such a stark reminder of the responsibility that we have, as beings created in the image of God, to try serve Him on Earth as best we can. Yet we have to be mindful of the fact that we can never be "good" enough to be worthy of entering into His presence. We must simply love and love simply. That we will live in Eternity is certain, our place in Eternity is not.
God gave us the animals and their place is here, He gave us Eternal life and our place is there.

Prepare Ye

2011-12-20T10:31:00.001-05:00

This is the last week before Christmas!
I can't believe how Advent has flown.
We are enjoying a nice break from school and the boys are sleeping in, reading, and just enjoying the slower pace.
Having most of the shopping and baking done, leaves me with some quiet, peaceful moments as well.
I feel like we were sick for so long that I missed about a month of normal life! There are things that I find I did that I don't remember doing, and things that I wanted to do that I couldn't. It was a good lesson in patience. I slowed down, let some things go, and still, here I am, the week before Christmas, with most everything done!
I think that preparing myself for the birth of Christ was easier this year, because I have had a lot more down time. I want to remember the lessons of this Advent.
Life can become so frantic, and it is so easy to focus on the macro, when the big picture is where the blessings are.
I have been spending a lot more time talking to my kids, all of them, even the ones in Texas.
I have been putting a meal on the table almost every night, instead of rushing to get everyone fed so that I can run to whatever is pulling me away.
I am much more present in the moment and I am so much less distracted by the details of things that I have no control over anyway.

I hope that I can make a habit out of this!

Williamsburg...

2011-12-18T10:05:00.001-05:00

Last week we headed down to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA for what may have been the best vacation time the boys have ever had.
They are all old enough to really enjoy the park with little supervision, and so many of their friends were there, that it made for a really special trip.
Several of our Homeschooling families went at the same time, and it was the perfect combination.
Our friends the Watkins allowed us to "adopt" their two boys, Liam and Henry, and they are just wonderful kids. The Watkins and the Hoppel families were there, along with the Baldwins, the McCarty Gibsons, and the McClanahans.
I love all these families, and I also love the fact that the Great Wolf is a place that is safe and allows all the boys to just go do what boys do.
This is the third time that we have made the trip to a Lodge, and I am thinking we will do it again next year. Even the parents seemed to be having a great time!
We are so blest with so many good friends.

A few Hoppels...

Watkins love...

My guys!

Off they go!

John? and Liam

Happy Watkins going with the Flow


So much fun!

Tim and the boys climbing to the slides

Here's Brendan and Paul on the Flowrider!

It's the Truth...

2011-12-17T20:43:00.003-05:00

Some Lighthearted Thoughts...

2011-12-10T17:50:00.001-05:00

I love Mark Steyn, because he makes even the most dreary and discouraging geopolitical forecasts downright enjoyable. His book "After America" is a look at the decline of our great nation, if we don't change direction and go back to the founding principles that we started with. I think he is brilliant, but I really hope he's wrong. If he's not, then we are in for...
well, I just hope he's on the wrong track.

Mark Steyn

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December 10, 2011 4:00 A.M.

Statist Delusions
The bill for cradle-to-grave welfare has come due.

The president of the United States came to Osawatomie, Kan., last week to deliver a speech of such fascinating awfulness archeologists of the future sifting through the rubble of our civilization will surely doubt whether it could really have been delivered by the chief executive of the global superpower in the year 2011.

“This isn’t about class warfare,” declared President Obama. Really? As his fellow Democrat Dale Bumpers testified at the Clinton impeachment trial, “When you hear somebody say, ‘This is not about sex,’ it’s about sex.” The president understands that “Wall Street,” “banks,” “fat cats,” etc. remain the most inviting target and he figures that he can ride the twin steeds of Resentment and Envy to reelection and four more years of even bigger Big Government. His opponents, he told us, “want to return to the same practices that got us into this mess . . . . And their philosophy is simple: We are better off when everybody is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules . . . . It doesn’t work. It has never worked.” He blamed our present fix on “this brand of ‘you’re on your own’ economics.”
Read the rest here...

Ave Maria...

2011-12-07T22:47:00.001-05:00

Feast of The Immaculate Conception

2011-12-07T22:15:00.001-05:00

Immaculate Mary,
your praises we sing.
You reign now in Heaven
with Jesus our King.
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!
In Heaven the blessed
your glory proclaim;
On earth we your children
invoke your sweet name.
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!
We pray for our Mother,
the Church upon earth,
And bless, Holy Mary,
the land of our birth.
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!
We pray you, O Mother,
may God's will be done
We pray for His glory,
may his Kingdom come.
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!
Lourdes Hymn

2011-12-07T15:57:00.001-05:00

It can't be a whole week since I posted! Where have the days gone?
Last weekend is a blur, as we were still sick, but able to go out and do things.
We went to Mass Saturday, because the boys had to serve, and we all made it through without coughing.
Sunday Tim took the boys out for the afternoon, while John hung out with his friend Kevin.
They all had a Squires meeting that night, and I had to catch up on Bible Study stuff.
We are all really excited about the upcoming Christmas break.
Monday night I went to a meeting with some of the other parents in our co-op, regarding the upcoming Shakespeare experience. The kids have chosen "King Lear", which presents some rather major challenges in the casting dept. There are not as many roles, there are only 3 female parts, and there are a LOT of kids that are hoping to be given large parts. Paula has some great ideas for dealing with these issues, and we are all working hard to help her.
We have a great team working on the play this year and I love that there is such an interest on the part of the kids.
John is preparing his monologue for the audition, and I think he will do well. He has made great progress since the first one, and he did well that time!
Yesterday we were home slogging away at school. We are trying to get as much done as possible before the break. I want to put the books away for three weeks knowing that we are on track for an end to school in May. It will be a challenge in some subjects, but I think we can do it.
The kids are almost halfway through their math books and that is the subject that I use to determine where we are. John is really working hard in Algebra. Can I just say that we are really not a math family?
John is my hero.
Tomorrow being the feast of the Immaculate Conception, when Mary was conceived without sin in her mother's womb, we are heading down to DC to attend the noon Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, my all time favorite church.
It will be awesome to celebrate with Our Lady, and make a special pilgrimage.
We are also going on a tour at the Franciscan Monastery nearby.
I'll be sure and update with pictures tomorrow night!

Just a Hopeful Thought

2011-12-01T14:55:00.001-05:00

I am really hoping that we are just getting all the health issues out of the way before a new and extremely healthy New Year!
I will stop coughing before 2012.
Paul will stop coughing before 2012.
Laura will be delivered from colitis.
Nina will be spared any more hives/ allergy problems.
I can do anything for a month.

St Pio...Pray for us!

11th Hour Advent...

2011-11-26T17:04:00.001-05:00

It may have come to the attention of my friends and family, that I have been a little under the weather.
In fact, until this morning, I have been pretty much holed up in the house with one sick boy, or another, and then myself, for three weeks.
Needless to say, I haven't been able to do a whole lot of preparation for Advent, and every year I run into the same problem.
I end up running around looking for advent candles WAY too late. Last year I think I did the best. I had them a couple of weeks before.
The reason that I always run into this problem, is that a few years ago I decided that I was through with Advent taper candles. I hate trying to get them straight and then having them burn down before we are even half way to Christmas. I hate that they drip all over everything. So, I started buying nice big pillar candles. I would put them on a plate, with greenery, and they would last until Christmas, and after. I could burn them, one at a time until the middle of summer!
Unfortunately this year there is a dearth of purple, and pink, candles everywhere, unless you want to buy online and pay a ridiculous amount. I should have snatched them up in September! I have looked everywhere, and I was almost ready to buy plum, for the purple and strawberry, for the pink, in desperation.
So today, the day before Advent, I finally feel like I have the energy to get out and shop, and I also have finished my antibiotics, so I don't have to worry about sharing.
We started at a Walmart far, far away. In Fallston, to be exact. I had seen online that they had purple and pink pillar candles in stock. They didn't.
They did have this interesting votive candle holder, with five cups.
John said that an advent wreath doesn't have five candles, and that it looks like a "Catholic Menorah", which is fine with me.
I have actually seen Advent arrangements with five candles. You burn the purple and pink in order, and then you burn the white one on Christmas to celebrate the birth of Christ.
So I bought it, but they only had one beat up purple candle. I didn't buy it, because it was all broken, but I knew they had the right color somewhere.
So we headed to the next Walmart on our route. They had two purple and one pink. Oh and I bought a white. There were lots of those.
We had one more that we could try. I looked in the candle aisle and they had exactly two purple. I bought them both.

So it's a little different, but I like it, and we are ready for Advent, the new Roman Missal and a beautiful season!

The More We Know...

2011-11-26T11:19:00.001-05:00

...The more we realize how little we know.

H/T Creative Minority Report

Today We Are So Thankful...

2011-11-24T20:41:00.001-05:00

For so many good things....

A pot full of potatoes....

A place to cook....

A Turkey once a year....

Coffee in a favorite cup...

A family table....

The guest of honor...

Enough to eat....

Forever friends....

Thanksgiving 2011....

2011-11-24T09:35:00.001-05:00

....Is a bit quiet, as holidays go, because most of us are sick, and Nina and Lilly can't come to dinner. Thanksgivings in our family have always had a reputation for some kind of catastrophe. We had a run of three years where everyone that hosted had some kind of water issue. Last year, well, last year Thanksgiving fell between Mom's death and her funeral. That was tough. This year we are all sick.
I wonder if God is trying to get me to sit down, one day a year, and think about all the things that I take for granted. Like water, family, and health. We are supposed to be thanking God on this day, and it's always so busy. So today I am thinking about how lucky I am that this particular illness is going to go away, and I am thinking about how blest we are to have Tim's job, a warm house, a bunch of healthy kids and grandkids, and yes, a Golden Retriever.
There are so many things to want, in the world today. It's so easy to get bogged down in wanting and wishing and "if only", but there are so many people for whom the things that we consider basic necessities are "if only".
If only...there were clean water within walking distance.
If only...we had a bathroom inside the house.
If only...I could look out the window and see green grass.
If only...my children could eat three times a day.
If only... my kids could go to school.

We have so much. I think a day devoted to giving thanks is a great start.
Let's not lose sight of our Blessings on the other 364.

Dad Has A Blog!!!

2011-11-22T10:33:00.001-05:00

Dad has been getting some pretty intensive tutoring on the laptop while he is at the Cooke's.
Andrew went through the computer and updated everything, got all the passwords straightened out,
and now Dad is good to go.
Laura says that they have been helping him with the things that he wants to be able to use the computer for, like Netflix, Gmail, family blogs, AND they set him up with his own blog last night! Very exciting!
Now he can share all those thoughts that he thinks in his spare time. Blogging is a natural for Dad, I just wish the computer was easier to navigate. It will be....just takes practice.
Here is a link to the blog.....Dick Hendry
Stop on over and say "Hi"!

20 Children Is Not “Too Many.”

2011-11-20T15:26:00.001-05:00

“Selfish, irresponsible, insane, stupid.” “I hope she dies.” “She should have been aborted.” “I hope her child is a vegetable that will fill them with regret.”

Horrible, hateful words spewed about a woman who has likely never wished anything but kindness on others. Words spoken by people who have never met this woman. What heinous crime has she committed that deserves this antagonism?
She and her husband announced that they will be having a baby. Which is not a terribly astonishing announcement for most married couples to make, except…

Courtesy of www.duggarfamily.com

This will be the couple’s 20th child. The mother, Michelle Duggar, is 45 years old. Her pregnancy with #19 involved complications that resulted in her child being born nearly 15 weeks early. These 3 factors (number of children, mother’s age, complications during last pregnancy) have turned this once again newly-pregnant mother into the butt of crude and cruel jokes and downright hateful taunts.**
The mantra of our modern culture: “my body, my choice, don’t judge me”, apparently only extends to women who wish to end their pregnancies by abortion; a woman who wishes to GIVE life to children is mocked and derided by the very people who believe that “I need to do what’s best for me.” In the words of Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the father of a large family himself:
“Why are people impressed that Jay Leno owns 20 motorcycles, but disgusted that some religious families choose to have 10 children?
Let’s not finesse the response. We all know why. A world that has lost its innocence has trouble appreciating beings who are innocent. A world that has become selfish has soured to the idea of leading a life of selflessness. A world that has become grossly materialistic is turned off to the idea of more dependents who consume resources. And a world that mistakenly believes that freedom means a lack of responsibility is opposed to the idea of needy creatures who ‘tie you down.’”
Sadly, many people who condemn this family for opening up their hearts to another child consider themselves Christians, or even Catholic. So, what is the Bible’s opinion on Mrs. Duggar’s elusive #20?

Read on....

Fr Barron- What You Believe Matters...

2011-11-18T14:57:00.001-05:00

H/T- Aggie Catholics

Sick Day....

2011-11-17T20:54:00.001-05:00

Well, Brendan's bug caught four of the five of us....
I got up and started coughing, but I got my coffee and prepared to greet the day.
Maggie was making it clear that she needed a trip outside, so I got her leash and my shoes, stepped out the door and off the porch, as I stepped down onto the walk I rolled my foot and ankle and fell in a heap in the yard. The pain was excruciating, but I have done this before, and I usually just need ice and Motrin to get things back into shape.
I hobbled into the house and yelled for the boys. Maggie still had to go out and she was very confused about why I had fallen and why we came back inside. Her curiosity really wasn't helping.
The boys were all still asleep and they came flying downstairs to see what was wrong. I probably scared them to death. They came in, and John took Maggie, Brendan got me ice and Paul patted my arm and tried to make me feel better.
I was just starting to feel like I might not actually pass out, when Paul's cough caught up with him. He started to cough, and then HE dropped to the floor. He said he had a terrible pain in his groin. He was crying and could barely move. We got him to the couch and I called the doctor. They told us to come in an hour later.
I got in and out of the shower real quick and got Paul dressed and carried him out to the car. Yes, I carried him with a swollen and still very sore ankle.
I took Brendan as well, to help me out, and also because he has had the same bug.
The waiting room was empty and they got us right in. When Dr Hedwig came in, she only had to look at Paul to see that he was in pain. She looked at his chart and asked about his immunizations. He and Brendan have a rather unorthodox vaccine record, due to Brendan's reaction to the DTAP, and neither of them are immunized against Pertussis. This did catch the Doctor's attention! She told me that it is going around in this area, and because of the severity of Paul's cough and the fact that he hasn't had the shot, AND given that Brendan is sick also, we were told to head over to the health dept. for a test.
The doctor also found what she thinks is an inguinal hernia, which would not be uncommon, with all that coughing. We have a slip for a sonogram, but since the test won't come back until Monday or Tuesday, I hesitate to take him in to a place where there are a bunch of unsuspecting people.
I really doubt that it is Whooping Cough. I have the same thing and I have had stuff like this before.
We got a round of Zithromax anyway, and Tylenol with codeine, which I gave to both the boys tonight before bed, If Paul does by some chance have Pertussis, then the rest of us will go on it as well. He will have had three doses by Monday so we will go get the sono then, because he won't be contagious. His pain is a LOT better and he was horsing around with Brendan a little while ago, which we told him is a big no-no.
So it is looking like a quiet weekend with Paul on the couch and hopefully on the mend. If he isn't any better by Sunday, we'll know it was just a virus and it's the same thing that most of the Western Hemisphere is sick with.
Everywhere you go everyone is coughing and telling sad tales about how bad it is and how long they have been sick. It sounds pretty familiar, and they don't all have Pertussis, so I suspect that's what we have too. It's the most horrendous tickle in the throat....
John is totally healthy, and so he gets to go to Co-op and Swing dance tomorrow night. That will be a fun distraction for him. I am going to duck into the Good Shepherd Bazaar just long enough to see Lilly sing and get some of their wonderful spaghetti for dinner. Should be a day at home otherwise.

Hope everyone feels better very soon.

2011-11-15T23:18:00.001-05:00

Around Thanksgiving our focus turns to food and family.

Interestingly, the two things that are given so much emphasis at this time of year, appear to be connected in some very important ways. Recently the internet has provided some articles featuring the results of a study showing how important family meals can be...

According to a study done by the National Center on Substance and Addiction at Colombia University, when comparing adolescents who eat dinner 0-2 times a week with their families and those who eat dinner 5-7 times, those who eat with their families more frequently are 40% more likely to talk to their parents about a problem. Meanwhile, 171% of the teens who don't eat with their families note more tension at home.
Academic performance went up 38%. Kids were 142% less likely to smoke, 93% less likely to drink, 191% less likely to use marijuana and 169% less likely to have more than half of their friends be drug users.

There is an initiative online called "Grace Before Meals", it is a movement that has been started by Fr. Leo Pataglinghug, "The Cooking Priest". He has some great ideas and tips to get things flowing, and he wants to make this a national effort.

These are all great reasons to get started eating meals together, but the most important reason to share a special time each day, is that families grow and change so fast. One day you are spooning strained carrots between the gums of your six month old, and then you turn around and your 16 year old is asking for seconds. The family meal brings us together every day and gives us an opportunity to share, nurture, and learn about the people we love. It may be the only time that Dad gets to hear about the Science Fair project, or it might be a time when Dear Daughter can discuss her difficulty with another girl at school.
Our lives are moving at the speed of electrons these days. It can be tempting to leave something in the fridge, for everyone to grab, and hope to have a quick chat before bedtime, but if this becomes a habit, the days will fly by filled with everything but time together. If we can make meal time our own, claim it for our families, we will have those times to build a foundation for the future.

Awesome....

2011-11-15T22:54:00.001-05:00

A Conversation....Tolkein and Lewis.

2011-11-13T18:13:00.001-05:00

This Magic Moment...

2011-11-11T11:14:00.001-05:00

Yeah, Brendan had one. He's the 11 year old!

Brendan's Annual Fall Picture

2011-11-10T13:39:00.002-05:00

Every year we take a picture of Brendan in the neighbor's trees at the height of their color.
Today was the day.

This was totally Brendan's idea, a few years ago, he just loves climbing those trees!

Today Was...

2011-11-09T22:30:00.003-05:00

Sunny- Fall may be here, but the weather is gorgeous!

Educational- Everyone got all their work done AND I got most of it corrected.

Healthier- Brendan's cough is finally starting to fade. Tonight he is actually having a quiet night!

Affirming- I had a review with my good friend, Nettie, and she gave me some great feedback. It is good to have a direction, and yet to know that I have the freedom to do work I love in a context that fits the vocation that God has given me as a wife and homeschooling mom. Nettie is so willing to help me find ways to contribute to Sappari Solutions without giving up precious time at home.

Musical- John got the book of piano pieces he ordered! I am very excited that I will be able to hear him working them out and eventually playing them the way he wants to.

Grace-filled- I was able to attend a teaching Mass for our Religious Ed students. The high school kids were quite well behaved. I only had to give them my "mom look" a couple of times. The Mass was very nice and Father Jay did a great job with the kids.

Prayerful- We are so grateful for all the families in our TORCH group. There are several families that are going through some really tough trials right now. The moms in this group are so willing to pray and support each other. We are all going to face trials, through the years, but we have a sisterhood of wonderful women, and their families that will lift us up in prayer, and be there to listen and try to understand.

Thanks God, for a day of Blessings and for your presence in every moment....

Words of Wisdom From Elizabeth Foss...

2011-11-08T10:09:00.001-05:00

What I'm Never Going to Tell You

I heard a story the other day from a mother about my age. She's a faithful, hardworking, dedicated homeschooling mother with a loving, faithful spouse. They've done everything they can to raise their children in the light of Christ. She lives her faith authentically and though she's the first to admit that she fails daily, she has absolutely worked hard to have a Christian plan and to live moment by moment faithful to that plan.
And today, she wants to curl up in a ball and die.
The eldest of her eight children, a beautiful girl who has been carefully raised and loved wholeheartedly, is wearing all black, tattooing her back, piercing her navel and her nose, coloring her hair pink, and engaged to be married to a man who is a professed and angry atheist. She is rejecting her family, their values, and their faith.
Her mother feels like her entire life is a shredded heap of failure. This--the raising of children for God--has been her whole life's calling. When she was young and newly married, she sat in church basements and parish halls and listened to energetic, inspiring mothers a few years older than she tell her all about how to be a virtuous wife and mother. They detailed home-management systems and homeschooling curricula. They talked about raising children of virtue. They promised that if she only listened to God's call and lived her life intentionally, faithful to the precepts of her religion, she would raise holy children. Some even went so far as to promise that Catholic homeschooling would guarantee she'd never be confronted with trials of secular teenaged and young adult culture.
She believed those women. They were well-intentioned, good-hearted and living their own lives in the manner they described.Together, they'd all raise a holy generation for the glory of God.
Now. Now she looks at this child-grown-woman, this first beautiful soul with which she was entrusted, and she is sure of only one thing: she has failed. So sure is she that she doesn't even see the point of pressing on. There are seven other children still at home. Why work so hard--try so hard--if all that lies ahead is the inexplicable decision by those children to walk a path that is clearly not the path she envisioned? She wanted to do nothing more with her life than to return to God the children He entrusted to her and now, her child has chosen to live apart from Him.
Whether in this space or in person, there are some things I'm never going to tell you. The longer I live, the longer the list grows. Please don't misunderstand; most Christian homeschooled children are faithful, well-educated, wholesome kids. They're hardworking and engaging and just exactly the kind of friend you'd want all your children to have. But more than a handful are fully grown on the outside and still a long way from what their parents hoped on the inside. So...
I am never going to tell you that if you mother your children with all your heart, embrace your vocation and dedicate home and family to God, instill in your children strong moral values and carefully protect the seeds of faith that the following things won't ever happen. Because they might. I have seen them happen, either in my own home or in the homes of people I know personally.
::I'm not going to tell you that your child won't go to college and party just as hard as the kids who went to public school and never went to church.
::I'm not going to tell you that one day, your grown son won't scream at you it's all your fault that his life is a miserable mess because you didn't send him to school and furthermore, you never let him eat junk food. And he will mean both with equal passion.
::I'm not going to tell you that your twenty-year-old won't be arrested for being drunk in public.
::I'm not going to tell you that your daughter won't get pregnant her first semester in college.
::I'm not going to tell you that there won't be tattoos and piercings and pink hair.
::I'm not going to tell you that your daughter won't send text messages so laden with profanity that they'd make a sailor blush.
::I'm not going to tell you that homeschooled girls don't post mean status updates to Facebook during youth group. I won't tell you that by homeschooling you will avoid any teenage drama at all.
::I'm not going to tell you that despite all your charts and the careful planning of household chores to instill responsibility and work ethic, your twenty-somethings won't drive cars that smell like old Taco Bell and live in rooms so full of dirty laundry that you can't see the floor.
::I'm not going to tell you that you won't learn your daughter has a secret online identity and that she has been cutting herself.
::I'm not going to tell you that one day you won't find a six pack of beer and a Playboy in the back of your seventeen-year-old's pickup truck.
::I"m not going to tell you that you won't catch your highschoolers looking at very questionable websites when they're supposed to be doing online Latin.
::I'm not going to tell you that your daughter won't enlist in the Navy and not go to Mass once in the first eighteen months she's away from home.
The list could go on. The reality is that homeschooling families are not immune to any of these things, no matter how hard we try and how long we pray.
Only one woman in the history of mankind has raised a perfect child and she would be the first to assure you that it was all by the grace of God.
If my mail is any indication, we need to start talking about the fact that homeschooled kids grow up and sometimes they make poor choices.
Saint Peter walked with Jesus. Jesus was his teacher in the faith. Jesus was the Master Teacher. And still, Peter was a liar, a denier, a weak-willed wimp-- right up until the time that Jesus died. He was taught by God Himself, surely the best teacher of all, and he didn't get it at first.
But in the first few moments of the Acts of the Apostles, after he has been filled with Holy Spirit, he is every bit a man of God. He speaks boldly and eloquently. He is a leader for Christ and that very day, three thousand people are baptized at his invitation.
I think, dear ladies, that some of us will be called to wait in faith for the Second Act (or our own version of Acts 2).
We need to encourage one another to walk this walk of faith, but we need to be very careful that we don't rally around a certain prideful arrogance. Sometimes, in our zeal to hold each other accountable to a Christian life of virtue, we step dangerously close to pridefully suggesting that if we just do prescribed things all the right way, we will turn out brilliant, holy children. And we forget that it is not mothers and fathers who make Christians of children; it is God Himself, in His own time, according to His own plan.
Are we prideful enough to believe that if we just do things a certain way we can overcome free will in our children and raise perfect, sinless saints?
Because we can't.
There are no sinless saints.
An important corollary to this idea is the fact that we must be careful not to assume that it's a flaw in parenting that has resulted in a child's decision to live outside the life of faith. Children--even carefully raised children--grow into adults with free will. Every choice a child makes is not a reflection of his parents. It's reflection of that child's own relationship with his Creator.
God isn't finished yet.
Where does that leave us in our mission as parents? What hope do we have?
We can only labor together towards heaven. We can homeschool because we believe that, in the words of Willa Ryan, quoted in Real Learning, " [we]want our family to meet in heaven someday, and [we] think we have a better shot at it if we journey together as much as possible. God put us together for a reason." We can build a strong family culture. We can walk together, just as Jesus walked and worked with Peter, every day, day in and day out, endeavoring to be Christ to one another, sure that we have free will, but we can have grace, too. We can be confident that they will leave home and that they will all make poor choices and some of them will make very poor choices. However, we can cling to the truth that as we wait for God to work in the hearts of these children in whom we've invested so much, it is we who can rely on the grace of all those years of doing.
It is we who soak up the encouragement of the noble, true, right and lovely things we taught them and cling to the faith that the seeds were planted and one day the fruit of potential we know is growing will ripen on this tree we tended lovingly when it was just a vulnerable sapling. We can reflect on the years in our homes and know that that those children--despite their poor choices in the moment--do know who Christ really is. They have walked with Him in the lives of their families. They just don't really think they need Him right now. But soon enough, I think, they will.
And, in the waiting, Mama need not curl up in a ball and feel like a failure. Instead, she can reflect on what those years of careful tending have taught her, on how they've watered her own soul.It's not all about the kids; it's about our journey to God, too. His car might smell like Taco Bell after 24 hours in the Texas sun, but her home reflects an order and an appreciation for beauty that has grown in her soul over the years of her own growing up--the years she has spent as mama and wife. All those days of carrying heavy babies and cranky toddlers to church to be in the presence of our Lord, all those long nights rocking and praying, all those mornings wrestling with commas and apostrophes, all those hours laboring to bring life into the world--they are not for naught. They are the many moments of grace that strengthen us for the pain of the thrice-spoken denial and sustain us in hope for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
So I don't leave you with promises that all will rosy if you just work hard enough at it. I only leave you with the promise of His grace in the hard moments, the moments that you are sure you've failed at the one thing you've worked hardest at your whole life. I leave you this morning with words of hope for mothers in anguish:
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.
James 1:2-5

A Nice Weekend

2011-11-07T10:54:00.001-05:00

We had a great weekend!
On Saturday I went out first thing and got a haircut.
That was a much needed improvement! I went to the grocery store after that.
Tim and the boys were here at home working on the back yard. I missed getting pictures of the leaf raking activities this year.
I was blest to be able to attend a baby shower for my good friend, Celeste. She is due with her fourth little boy in a couple of months. It was so much fun, and there were so many really nice women there. Celeste has some wonderful friends.
I mowed when I got home, and then we had a nice dinner and the boys watched a movie with Tim.

Yesterday John and Tim went to Mass at Perry Point, and Paul and I went up to Good Shepherd. Brendan didn't go because he has a terrible cough. If he isn't better by Thursday, I am going to have to take him in. He doesn't have a fever, and the cough is just in his throat, so I am thinking allergies.

Tim and I went out to dinner last night to celebrate the end of my coaching class. It was really nice.
We went to Sakura, which is one of our favorites.
After dinner we went to Barnes and Noble, and I got a couple of books for Brendan and Paul. When I got home I ordered a book of piano music that John has been wanting.

We are in for a busy week. John is starting another round of braces, so he has to get his spacers put in.
I will be working with several people, but I am not getting paid for these. I have practice clients that I am coaching, and I am really enjoying that, it is a great way to hone my coaching skills and help them out at the same time! I am also working with a friend on getting a couple of rooms cleared.
I will be meeting with Nettie this week to figure out what my goals are for work.
I can't commit to much outside of coaching. We have to keep forging ahead on school. I have to keep my focus there. The boys are working hard, but it is really important to keep up the momentum.

I can't believe we are into the second quarter of school already!

First Friday of November...

2011-11-04T22:44:00.001-04:00

Today was First Friday, and as we have committed to trying to make a pilgrimage of one sort or another each month this year, we decided to go down to Ellicott City, to the Shrine of St Anthony.
Brendan has a very special love for St Anthony and St Anthony seems to have a love for Brendan as well. They are pretty tight.
Our friends the Bowers were there as well. It was great to see Yanna and Val take up the gifts at the Offeratory!
This shrine is wonderful!
I have taken information off of the website, the text in blue is copied from there....

His story is so beautiful. You can read it HERE.

The Jewel of the Shrine

The jewel of the Shrine, and its most important room, is the Chapel. Upon entering the Chapel itself, one should pause, realizing that this is "sacred space" and "holy ground" – where an atmosphere of holy silenceprevails, creating an oasis of peace for the Divine Presence within.

With its beautifully carved gumwood choir stalls, its mosaic Stations of the Cross, and its coffered ceiling, the Chapel is a gem of the early Renaissance.It has four distinct areas: the interior narthex, the nave, the sanctuary, and the apse.

In the narthex is the reliquary of St. Anthony. This gold-leafed bust depicts the Portuguese Franciscan whom the whole world would come to know as the “miracle-worker” and “finder of lost things.”

In the middle of the flame is a precious first-class relic of the saint – a small piece of petrified flesh removed from his sarcophagus in Padua, Italy, in 1995. The friars in Padua sent the relic to the friars of Ellicott City in 1998. Catholics venerate, orpay respect to, relics as remembrances of a saint whose human body was once a “temple” of the Holy Spirit.

Hundreds of thousands of people each year send the friars petitions for the heavenly intercession of St. Anthony – friend of God and friend to humanity.

The nave of the Chapel consists of the choir stalls facing each other. Here the friars would recite or chant the Divine Office, back and forth across the dark flagstone floor. The original choir stalls numbered 72, after the number of disciples sent out by Jesus in the Gospels. With the additional pews in front, the choir now seats 150.

The nave leads to the sanctuary, where Holy Mass is offered on the central Altar. The Altar was designed to evoke the teaching of Jesus “I am the vine; you are the branches”(John 15:1-8). The ambo (pulpit lectern) in the nave has a matching design, linking the Liturgy of the Word to the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

These chapel furnishings attempt to evoke the spirit of St. Anthony, the friar and priest, who used every opportunity to encourage people to hear the Word of God and to participate in the Holy Eucharist.

The biblical tree motif also reminds people of the fact that St. Anthony, towards the end of his life, spent many hours of prayer in a walnut treehouse which his friend Count Tiso had constructed for him at Camposampiero. It was in that walnut tree that Anthony had his vision of the Christ child.

To the right of the altar is a large walnut Tau Cross. St. Francis of Assisi adopted the Tau as his “signature,” after he heard Pope Innocent III preach about it at the 4th Lateran Council. Depending upon the liturgical season of the year, one of two carved images of Christ hang on the Tau: Christ Crucified or the Resurrected Jesus. The corpus of Christ Crucified was carved at Niepokalanow, Poland, by an artist whose guardian and mentor was St. Maximilian Kolbe. The Resurrected Jesus, like many other chapel furnishings, came to Ellicott City from the former St. Hyacinth College and Seminary in Granby, Massachusetts.

The apse at the far end of the Chapel centers upon the Tabernacle– designed with the biblical tree motif, and depicting the descent of the Holy Spirit with its seven spiritual gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety, knowledge, and fear of the Lord.

Persons are welcome to enter the apse for silent prayer and adoration. The sanctuary and apse together form the Shrine’s “oasis of peace,” where Jesus Christ welcomes people of all faiths to experience themselves as infinitely loved by God.

The first class relic:

For centuries great care has been taken to authenticate relics, particularly through the issuing of an accompanying statement of authenticity. In the case of the relic of St. Anthony of Padua at the Shrine of St. Anthony there is no question of authenticity. New relics of the saint were obtained when the saint’s tomb was opened in anticipation of his 800th birthday, which was celebrated in 1995; the relic in the Shrine chapel is one of those. The Latin inscription indicates that it is ex cute, dried skin or tissue.

The relic, and the unique reliquary that holds it, were gifts from the Friars of the Province of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy to the Friars of the Province of St. Anthony in America (the Provincial House, or headquarters, is on the same grounds as the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City). As the property was developing as a shrine the decision to place the relic in the chapel seemed appropriate, and this took place in a special ceremony in the fall of 2000.

Today, visitors to the Shrine, especially those who have a great devotion to St. Anthony, feel close to the great Miracle Worker. With this physical presence of St. Anthony there is a little bit of Padua in America

Tonight the mass was a healing Mass. There were a lot of people there. It was just beautiful!
We are so blest to have places like the St Anthony shrine to visit. It is an awesome testament to the Church and to St Anthony, that for 800 years he has been interceding in special and miraculous ways for people who ask him. He is a special friend of Our Lord and it is good to have him as a special patron.

St Anthony~ Pray For Us!

Fall Afternoon...

2011-11-03T22:56:00.000-04:00

Two boys,

a Golden Retriever,

leaves changing on the trees and

all over the ground.

Mums.

All the best things...

Happy all Saints Day!

2011-11-01T09:03:00.002-04:00

Two Great Minds....

2011-10-31T16:26:00.002-04:00

This is an amazing conversation! These are two of the greatest minds in the world today...What an opportunity!

So Beautiful....

2011-10-30T11:37:00.003-04:00

H/T Creative Minority Report

A Craig's List Win...

2011-10-30T11:15:00.003-04:00

Last week I started haunting Craig's List in earnest for a sofa for the basement.
I knew what I wanted. I wanted a sofa with recliners on each end, but not one that was too long.
I also wanted to hold out for one that is in good shape.
After I got the office furniture at such a great price, I wanted to wait for a good deal.
So on Monday I found an ad for the type of sofa that I was looking for down near Baltimore.
I called and the lady assured me that it was in great shape and "hardly used". She wanted 200.00 for it, which was a good price for what she had advertised.
John and I got our act together after school and drove the 40 minutes to where it was located.
I started to get concerned when we turned onto the first street into the neighborhood. This was not exactly the type of place that people own "hardly used" furniture.
We found the house, went around back to the basement door and went in and found that what the woman had advertised was not what she was selling. The sofa was snagged and dirty and had apparently been there awhile. So much for "hardly used".
When I came home I made a promise to myself that I was going to hold out for a local seller that had what I wanted. I still had the cash, and I just figured I would hold onto it until someone in Harford county showed up on CL.
I watched the furniture ads for a couple more days and on Thursday night, at around 11:00, just before I was going to bed, I found an ad for a sofa that was exactly what I wanted, in Havre de Grace, for 200.00.
I emailed the lady, who said she still had it because she had JUST posted it! I told her I would be down the next day to see it, but it seemed to good to be true.
When I went in, I could smell cigarette smoke, which is a big red flag, but it wasn't too bad, and the room the sofa was stored in was OK.
It was clean. The recliners worked. It was the right size. The price was right, AND it came apart, so that I could get it in my van! Big plus!
I gave the lady a deposit, and told her I would be back that evening to pick it up.
When we got there I noticed a very small tear in one of the cushions that I hadn't noticed earlier, but it was so small that I didn't think it would be too tough to repair. It wasn't.
John, and his friend Liam, and I got the thing down to the basement in pieces and it began to fulfill it's purpose immediately! The smoke smell is going away and is hardly noticeable. I love it. It is so comfy!
Perfect for long winter evenings.

Another great deal from Craig's List!

This Is So Cool!

2011-10-27T18:13:00.001-04:00

Having a Ball...

2011-10-25T22:14:00.000-04:00

The Harvest Moon Ball that is!
On Sunday we were Blessed to attend, and help out at, Good Shepherd's first Harvest Moon Ball dinner and dance.
There was a delicious meal, lots of amazing desserts,

and hours of great music!


Mathias, The Fearless DJ

The youth were the actual hosts of the ball, as it was a fundraiser for their trip to the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis.
They did a lot of serving, welcoming, clearing dishes, and DANCING!

So many great people...

Some of the kids are going to Swing Dance lessons at a local church, and they have really learned some amazing moves!
There was music for any taste.
It was a wonderful time!

Andrew and Hannah

Great Moves!

"Cotton-eyed Joe"

John and Andrew

Youth!

Have You Hugged Your Teddy Today?

2011-10-23T12:35:00.000-04:00

H/T Creative Minority Report.

Blessed John Paul II, Pray for Us!

2011-10-22T14:45:00.001-04:00

Today is the feast of our wonderful Holy Father, John Paul II.
He is a hero within the Catholic Church and the world. We even have a son named after him.
He was the Pope during the most important years of my life. He was truly a Rock that The Church, especially the young Church, found and clung to. The Holy Spirit placed him in the Chair of Peter at a time when we needed someone to stand for all that is right and good, to show us that we could do the same.
He was, and is, a protector and defender of the Faith.
We miss you Papa, but we know that you are interceding for us in Heaven. And that is a comforting thought.

2011-10-15T21:19:00.001-04:00

"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."
~C.S. Lewis

Why I Have Hope....Marc Barnes

2011-10-15T13:55:00.001-04:00

What a great article! Marc Barnes is a freshman at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, where he studies English. There is a fervor for the truth in young Catholicism. What a cause for hope!

Why It’s Great to Be a Young Catholic | Crisis Magazine

http://www.crisismagazine.com/2011/why-its-great-to-be-a-young-catholic

October 15, 2011

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when the young Catholic was obliged to begin any defense of the Church with the phrase, “I know the world thinks Catholicism is old-fashioned, legalistic, and otherwise an oppressive force upon the youthful, budding mind, but in actual fact…” Only then could he move into his apologia, having admitted — and thus avoided — the fact that everyone thought his religion was old, stodgy, and outdated.

It is an interesting turn of events, then, that the world has managed to reach such profound levels of boredom, stupidity, and timidity that the young Catholic is currently in the business of beginning any apologetic with the claim, “I have the answer to this boring, legalistic, and otherwise unsatisfactory modern existence; her name is Catholicism.”
Well then: I have the answer to this boring, legalistic, and otherwise unsatisfactory modern existence; her name is Catholicism, and she makes life in this pagan world hilarious, joyful, and worthwhile. Of course, any “Why I Am Catholic” list can only ever be a shoddy, incomplete way of explaining the one reason anyone is ever Catholic — because Catholicism is true. But nevertheless, there’s nothing quite like a good list.

1. Sex, Sex, and Sexy Sex
In case you haven’t heard the rumors, teenagers are rather interested in this whole concept of sex. This interest, judging by the hormones pumping through my body, is a thing that would exist no matter what the state of the culture they inhabit. But what our culture does have is the breathtaking opportunity to take that excitement and either give it life or kill it. I maintain that our culture kills it, buries it, and then tramples on its grave for good measure.
Think for a moment about what we young people are fed: We hear the entire non-Catholic world gravely admonishing us that sex should be safe, like a suburban mom reprimanding the neighborhood kids for riding bikes without helmets. We hear the entire liberal world telling us that sex “really doesn’t matter; it’s just a natural, biological act,” like sneezing and sweating. (These same people, oddly out of sync with their previous “natural, biological” stance, also kindly add that the whole business can be done just as well with another member of the same sex, like studying or shaking hands). The world of pornography says that sex shouldn’t even have to be real; one can just make it a game of vicarious imagination, with all the passion of online chess. Planned Parenthood adds its noble voice to the fray, working hard (and making millions) trying to link our beautiful, youthful excitement to a business of slaughter and genocide — which is very classy on their part, and certainly makes us all want to grab a few condoms and get right to it.
On top of all this, we are bombarded from every side with innumerable voices screaming that sex should be sterilized in foreign countries, displayed on TV, free from moral scruples, taught in kindergarten, performed in groups, improved by various mechanical devices, used among friends, discussed in magazines and talk shows — until sex has been killed, buried, and trampled upon. By the time the average American boy turns 18, sex has been utterly stripped of all beauty, excitement, danger, and passion — and as a result (wonder of wonders!), it has lost any of the intrigue it once possessed. The result is not liberation; it is abject and acute boredom.
In the middle of this clamor — like a solid rock rising above filthy waters — the Catholic Church makes an incredibly radical statement: that sex should be good. Teenagers everywhere perk up. She says that sex is absolutely beautiful — that it is, in fact, a taste of heaven. She says that it is not safe and sterile, but rather that it is so dangerous, so very potent and powerful, that it should only occur between two individuals who have made dire oaths not to run away from it. She says — restating a truth humanity has forgotten — that sex creates life, and that it is mind-blowingly adventurous for this very reason: Two will become one flesh, and that flesh will learn to walk, love, burn with fire for God, die, and spend eternity with Him.
What an age we live in, when it is old Mother Kirk who lifts her beautiful, wrinkled head and reminds her children to have great sex. And what joy it is to be a young Catholic, to live among the bored and the boring, and to see what marvelous — and passionate — light shines through the darkness.

2. The Lack of Youthiness
There is a problem with the word “youth,” and it is one of definition. One might say a youth is simply a human being in the position of being young. Our world, however, seems to be of the opinion that these “youth” are alien creatures in need of special attention and pandering, lest they devour their societies in a fit of anarchy. Thus we have politicians clamoring after the youth vote, media making literature and art for the youth, modern Christianity spending time and money on youth programs and events; in short, much attention is paid to what the youth want.
But if the youth are simply human beings in the state of being young, then all they want is exactly what all human beings want: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Sure, they might want it with a more obnoxious passion, and with a painful lack of knowledge, maturity, and understanding — but the desire is the same.
The Catholic Church is one of the few institutions that admits this fact. Where else can a 14-year-old and an 80-year-old receive the exact same teaching, view the exact same beauty, perform the exact same rituals, and be brought into perfect communion with each other, besides at the Holy Mass? Certainly, there are youth groups within the Church — teenage Bible studies, prayer groups, religious education programs, and the like — but in their proper function, they teach the same truths that everyone else receives, and explore the same goodness and beauty that their parents seek.
What a refreshing experience this is — not to be pandered to, coddled, buttered, and told the lie that what we really want is some well-designed websites, smart phones, and porn. How awesome it is to be among my peers and realize that I am not a youth; I am a human being, made in the image and likeness of God, and I am seeking Him like everyone else.

3. The Rebellion
Flannery O’Connor noted that “smugness is The Great Catholic Sin.” There are, of course, those Catholics who use the Faith to smugly float above the filth of the world, always too good for it, never under any pressure to touch down. Sometimes that Catholic is me.
But real rebellion does not avoid the world, or simply contradict it. Real, Catholic rebellion is having virtue next to the man who does not. It is to have love, drinking at a bar full of men who know only lust. It is to sow light in the darkness, to throw Hope into this fumbling, despairing world like a Molotov cocktail and to feed its flames with a reckless joy. It is living “in the world but not of the world,” yes — but it is also living in the absolute confidence that the Truth we hold can save the world.
And that, if anything, is why it’s so awesome to be a young Catholic: We will change the world. Not merely as young people — as already noted, we are under no delusions that we are somehow endowed with special youth-powers — but as Catholics. For there is only so long one can hear lies before speaking the truth, or see injustice before administering justice.
To the young Catholic born into a dying age, this feeling of rebellion comes naturally. Think of the March for Life: hundreds of thousands of young people, rebelling into sanity. There is no protest like it, where sheer evil is checked not by anger but by laughter, joy, and beauty. Think of World Youth Day: Millions come, in stark contradiction to a world that claims that the pope is irrelevant, that the Church’s teachings are outdated, and that the Faith is dead. There is no event like it.

G. K. Chesterton summed it up, as he is wont to do: “The Catholic Church is the only thing which saves a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age.” We choose freedom where so many are born into chains, and thus we know what we’ve been saved from, and we love our rebellion all the more. We can see the contrast: The world is dark, truly, but the light shines all the brighter for it.

To Know Him...

2011-10-14T23:34:00.000-04:00

[Martha] came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” Luke 10:40

As a young adult, I spent a year as a full-time volunteer at an emergency outreach center. I worked hard there ~ and felt rather pious and important because of it. One busy day as I flew about helping people, a homeless man started following me around to talk about God.

“Why did God make you?” he asked me. I flipped through the partial catechism in my brain and came up with, “to love and serve him.” “No,” the man admonished gently. “To know him, love him and serve him. You have to know him first.”

And there it was: I was Martha, with full-blown do-stuff-for-Jesus syndrome. Certainly we are called to serve the Lord by loving and serving one another. But it’s possible to get so caught up in being worker bees for Jesus that we neglect other aspects of our faith life, like prayer and exploring God’s Word.

Lord, I want to get to work. Help me remember to sit at your feet as well. (Karla Manternac)

H/T to Lisa via F/B

It is so interesting how Mary and Martha are always popping into my life. I appreciated this little story because it is something that I struggle with daily.

Being a doer isn't a bad thing. Working hard and serving others may be a part of who I am, but Jesus cautions us not to be so busy offering our actions that we don't take time to stop and listen to Him.

When I pray, and when I am simply present to God and listen to what he says to my heart, that is truly a time of Grace. Being with Christ, sitting at His feet, and listening to whatever Truth the Spirit wants to give me, is the best part of any day.

Mary chose to stop all that she was doing, because she wanted to know Christ. She had to hear what He was saying, and be still and quiet so that she wouldn't miss a word.

Martha was a good woman, she was a responsible woman, and I'm sure she intended to spend time with the Lord, after all the duties were done. What she missed was that moment, that Truth, that was waiting to be spoken just to her. Jesus speaks to us personally and He has a message that is meant just for the heart that is still, and quiet and open.

There must be a reason that these two women are becoming such a constant in my life. I know God made me who I am, and He gave me a Martha personality, but I also know that there needs to be time in my day, every day, for more Mary and less Martha.

The Work in Progress...Progresses

2011-10-13T12:11:00.000-04:00

I haven't blogged for almost a week!
Well, it has been kind of busy around here. Projects going in almost every room.
I revamped the entryway again, and got the ugly baskets out of there.

Now there are cubbies and a place to hide shoes when we want to. Most of the time they will be out by the door, because that is where boys leave them...

I have been moving some furniture around. The bookcase in the corner was downstairs holding the videos and dvds, but I love it because it is actually real wood and I wanted it upstairs for books, so we did some musical bookcases. Tim painted the ugly wooden one that was in the spare bedroom, and that is downstairs right now, although it will probably come back up.
The little table is one that I bought on Craig's List from a very nice lady. It's not quite a coffee table, but the area is small and the other table was just too big. It is going downstairs, after we get new carpet.

Speaking of... we were at Lowes the other night, looking at carpet, and we were thinking that we REALLY need to get the drop ceiling redone in the basement BEFORE we put in new carpet. It's a nasty messy job, and painting the supports over new flooring seems like a bad idea. With that motivation, we bought the ceiling tiles, and Tim started last night.

We are slowly clearing out the room to get ready for the installers, but it's going to be a couple of weeks, so we can get all the prep work done.

And then, of course, there's Maggie...

A Full Friday!

2011-10-07T22:41:00.000-04:00

Today started early and was stuffed to the brim, but what a great day we had!
Let's see, it started at 7:00 am, with Lilly arriving to spend the day. She was up WAY before all the boys.
After breakfast we went up to Mass at Good Shepherd for First Friday. It was nice, as usual, and Lilly was very good!
Our friends the Bowers were at Mass with us, and after we planned to hike up the trail along the river.

It was SUCH a pretty day. Sunshine made the turtles come out to sun on the logs in the marsh pond along the trail.

The boys were great hikers, and were way ahead of us the whole way.

Lilly was very proud of her leaf collection!

After we got home we had lunch with the Bowers, and the kids played games while Christine and I figured out the rest of our First Friday activities. It is going to be a wonderful year!
Then we were off to Co-op, where the boys went to their classes, and Lilly and I visited the nursery.
She enjoyed playing with all the other kids.
Tim and I went to a very nice birthday party for a good friend of ours from the Church.
Now we are all tucked in at home, with the boys and Tim playing cards in the kitchen. A nice start to the weekend.

I am SO tired!

Wow...

2011-10-04T13:23:00.000-04:00

I got these in an email this morning...
Feel free to comment!

That's what ovens are for....

I don't cry...I reason

Good for mental development...

A CASE!!

Stepford vitamins!

And you were worried about a little juice?

The official cigarette of Obamacare!

Today is Respect Life Sunday....

2011-10-02T12:07:00.000-04:00

Today, the first Sunday in October, we celebrate life!
October is Respect Life month. We are well into the latest "40 Days for Life" campaign, and we have so much to thank God for already.
Respect Life month is also the month of the Rosary, so we have this beautiful combination of prayer, of the beauty of life, and awareness of Our Lady as a loving mother that we can turn to with our petitions for her Son. We go to her with our needs. She is there with her Son, sitting at His right hand. "Do whatever He tells you....(Jn 2:5)" She says.
In the Gospels He tells us to pray, and in the case of certain evils, to fast and pray. MT 17:21
Until we prostrate ourselves and admit that we depend on God to cast out the evil in our land, we will only have partial success.
There have been many efforts, throughout the years, to loosen the iron grip that the abortion industry has had on our country. Many good efforts. But none of these efforts have had the effect that "40 Days for Life" has had. I believe that this is because this effort is prayer focused and dependent on God, in a way that many other efforts have missed. Many people have joined the campaign because they are able to pray everyday, wherever they are, and they are realizing the power of prayer to effect dramatic and lasting change.

Abortion clinics are closing all over the country, for various reasons. Clinic workers and doctors are experiencing conversion and repentance. (The Centurians is an organization for doctors and other professionals who have come to the truth of the evil of abortion.) Babies are being given a chance at life because their moms are seeing true commitment, on the part of those who profess life. These things, and many other miracles, are the ongoing signs of God's Faithfulness to His promises:
2 Chron 7:14 "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

We celebrate the hidden mysteries in the month of the Rosary...

To GOD be the glory!

Wonders....

2011-09-29T16:18:00.000-04:00

Peter Kreeft: Twelve things to know about angels

As today is the Feast of of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels, here is a post from a couple of years ago that I'm re-posting for those who missed it the first time. It is an excerpt from Angels (and Demons): What Do We Really About Them? (Ignatius Press; 2004, sixth printing) by Peter Kreeft:

The Twelve Most Important Things to Know About Them

1. They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity.

2. They’re present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.

3. They’re not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or “cool”. They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.

4. They are the real “extra-terrestrials”, the real “Super-men”, the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures.

5. They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.

6. They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.

7. There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils. These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real.

8. Angels are aware of you, even though you can’t usually see or hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them without even speaking.

9. You really do have your very own “guardian angel”. Everybody does.

10. Angels often come disguised. “Do not neglect hospitality, for some have entertained angels unawares”—that’s a warning from life’s oldest and best instruction manual.

11. We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity.

12. Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets death. They work especially at moments of crisis, at the brink of disaster—for bodies, for souls, and for nations.

Why do people think it's stupid to believe in angels?

One reason is a mistake about themselves: the failure to distinguish between (1) sense perception or imagination (which is a kind of inner sensing) and (2) reason, or intelligence, or understanding. We don't see pure spirits, and we can't imagine them. That doesn't mean we can't know or understand them. We can see and imagine the difference between a five-sided figure (a pentagon) and a six-sided figure (a hexagon), and we can also intellectually understand that difference. We cannot, however, sense or imagine the difference between a 105-sided figure and a 106-sided figure. Both look to us simply like circles. But we can understand the difference and even measure it exactly. So we can understand some things we can't see. We can't see qualities like good and evil either. What color or shape or size is evil? Yet we can understand them. We can imagine our brains, but not our minds, our personalities. But we can know them.

Many who deny angels deny or are uaware of the spiritual half of themselves. Angels are a touchstone of "know thyself". So are animals.

Aren't angels irrelevant today? This is the age of man, isn't it?

Yes, this is the age of man, of self-consciousness, of psychology. And therefore it is crucial to "know thyself" accurately today. The major heresies of our day are not about God but about man.

The two most destructive of these heresies—and the two most popular—are angelism, confusing man with an angel by denying his likeness to animals, and animalism, confusing man with an animal by denying his likeness to angels.

Man is the only being that is both angel and animal, both spirit and body. He is the lowest spirit and the highest body, the stupidest angel and the smartest animal, the low point of the hierarchy of minds and the high point of the hierarchy of bodies.

More accurately stated, man is not both angel and animal because he is neither angel nor animal; he is between angels and animals, a unique rung on the cosmic ladder.

But whichever way you say it, man must know angels to know himself, just as he must know animals to know himself, for he must know what he is, and he must know what he is not.

A free 80-minute lecture,"Aquinas and the Angels," by Peter Kreeft can be accessed here.

Marley She Ain't...

2011-09-26T14:10:00.000-04:00

....Thanks be to God!

I am rereading "Marley and Me".
The first time I read it, right after it came out, I thought it was cute, and very funny, but I wasn't reading it from the perspective of a fellow dog owner. It was kind of a "better him than me" sort of funny.
Since then we have become the loving owners of dear Maggie. I am reading the book now with an appreciation not unlike the parent of a compliant child. I'm not smug (really!), because her behavior is not due to anything I have done right. She just is....golden.
Maggie is one of those dogs who only makes mistakes occasionally and who has the best of intentions in everything she does, so she is impossible to get frustrated with because she's not a bad girl, she's just misunderstood.

OK, the hair, the hair, the hair....
That is a bit of an issue, but it's kind of like when your baby spits up, it's just part of the package and it's not a big deal.

Marley's story is extremely entertaining, in large part because it's not ours.
I laugh 'til I cry, and it's kind of that uncontrollable laughter that wells up after you realize that you didn't have that accident or just missed falling down the stairs.
We were blest with a lady. We could have gotten a Marley, although I don't think a Marley could have come from Tazzy.
However, we were going to try to find a dog, and if Maggie hadn't come along, there is no telling who we would have ended up with....

Maggie's story wouldn't sell many books.
She doesn't destroy the house, she doesn't create havoc everywhere she goes.
Her day is extremely routine.
Get up, go out to do the business, come in and relax, or harass the cat, while mom is on the treadmill.
Say an exuberant "Good-bye" to dad as he goes off to work, making sure that he takes a little golden hair along on his clothes so that he doesn't forget her.
Then it's time to go upstairs, and eat breakfast and then lay at the bottom of the stairs waiting for mom to exit the shower.
After that it's time for the boys to get up, and someone will come to lay their head on her while they wait for breakfast.
School starts and then it's just up and down the stairs all day to be wherever the family is. There is a walk, the same route and the same neighborhood friends, almost everyday. If we go anywhere, it's a nap by the door 'til we get home.

Maggie is compliant and predictable, and she is just perfect for us.

Next week is St Francis' feast day, and the blessing of the animals. Maggie will be there, and we pray for a good many more years with her.

Open Mike at Good Shepherd!

2011-09-25T22:29:00.000-04:00

Sometimes your kids just amaze you.
We went to open mike night up at the school. It was a youth group event and a lot of the kids prepared some wonderful entertainment.
John had a song that he and his friend Mark did as a duet. The duet idea was a bit shaky, but both of the guys sang well, when they sang.

Paul did a song called "Galaxies". It was with a CD, so there are parts where he stands for a long time waiting for the next verse to start, but he did a great job!

I am so proud of these guys!

There were lots of great performances.

Erin Tellup and Danielle Hoppel- Mime

Blaine and Mathias- "Thriller"

The "Improv Players"

Mathias and Blaine-Air guitar dual

And a great big finish!

Another Great Chess Night!

2011-09-23T23:09:00.000-04:00

September's Chess night appears to have been quite successful!
We had around 18 boys here! They had pizza, a little soda, LOTS of water, and I made chocolate chip cookies.
After we cleared dinner, we set up the rest of the boards and the boys started their matches.

I have no idea who played who, or who won, but that doesn't matter, because they just love to play!
The younger boys were playing the older ones, no one had to worry about how well they play, because everybody just played everybody.

We had nine boards including several that were brought by some of the boys.

We'll be doing this every month, but if it gets any bigger, we are going to have to find another place to play, we'll be out of room!
I want to see if the guys would like to have a tournament at the end of the school year.
I don't want anyone to feel any pressure, but I think some of them would like it.

The Homeschoolers Can't Do It....

2011-09-20T22:40:00.001-04:00

Just in case you are reading this and you are not a homeschooling mom, kid, grandma, aunt, dad, or member of the support staff of a homeschooling family, here is a word from one who is.

It seems that there are quite a few people out there that are under the impression that homeschoolers really aren't doing anything all day, and so they are available for doctors appointments, dentist appointments, babysitting, volunteer work, and lots of other non-academic activities that take place during regular school hours.
I'm sorry, but in this particular homeschool, we are actually spending long days working very hard to get as much accomplished as possible. It's a five-day-a-week job and most days start at 9:00am, with prayers, and end around 4:00pm. John is usually still working at 5:00, or later.
If we take an hour out to run to an appointment, or do something outside our four walls, we have a very hard time getting back on track. We limit phone calls, visitors, and there is no TV, or computer, for the boys until after they finish. It's almost like...REAL school, except that we usually have a dog and a cat in class.

I know there are many homeschoolers who are able to get everyone up, fix a full course breakfast, go to Mass, get home and clean the house, get all the coursework done, and go out for PE, do a science experiment, and an art project, all before lunch, but we are not that family.

I love homeschooling, but I have found that for our family to do it well, we actually have to be home, schooling.

I am in awe of those who are able to be everywhere, incorporating everything they do into an amazing lesson. I am just not that Mom. I need the books, and the lesson plans, and the answer keys, and the clock. God bless you all wherever you are, you are amazing.

Me, I'm just a homeschooling mom, and, these days, you'll find me at home.

2011-09-20T11:59:00.002-04:00

Four days of fun and frolic has made for a rather subdued group of students around this household.
Even the teacher is a little underwhelmed at the prospect of getting back to work.
It's a good thing we went up to the farm yesterday, because the weather was beautiful, and today is rainy and cold. I guess that is adding to the lack of enthusiasm.
I like the fact that we are staying in. Everyone is busy with something productive, except that I have to keep pulling Paul away from his book, but that is nothing new. The dreary weather makes the house feel cozy, even though it's not really cold out.
John is working on art, and Brendan is doing his math. It's always good to get math out of the way for the day.
Paul did his health lesson, which was interesting. He had to dry, yes dry, his tongue, and then put sugar on the tip, to see if he could taste it. Well, he said he could barely taste it until he let his tongue get wet again.
I have a couple of things to do tonight, but things really have slowed down, and I feel like I can really concentrate on school without a lot of other distractions.
I am taking things a day at a time. The boys are doing so well, I don't want to tip the balance by adding anything else to the mix.

Field Trips!

2011-09-19T22:55:00.000-04:00

We took a couple of days to do some traveling around the area, taking advantage of offerings to homeschoolers.On Friday we went down to Baltimore to take part in some classes that the Science Center was offering.

The boys just love the science center, so before the classes began, they spent some time doing "Science" stuff.Then we attended our first class. It was about the Moon. It was probably a bit on the young side for John, but the other two boys, and Henry, seemed to enjoy it. After we had lunch, the guys ran all over the place exploring the exhibits.

There is always an interest in the dinosaurs, and Brendan made a friend!

We went to a presentation in the Planetarium, and it was very interesting.I think it's so great that the boys can have time with their friends, and learn something at the same time.

I had fun too!Today we went to Cherry Crest Farm, for a great day of farm adventure!This place is amazing! There are so many things to do! The drive up was beautiful! The clouds were gorgeous and the temperature was perfect.

There was a great exhibit on bees, which were all over the place.

An overhead "goatwalk", where you could

feed the goats by sending a treat up a conveyor.

Paul coming out of the tube slide.

Brendan having a GREAT time!

Paul and a new friend on the straw bale maze.

A great time was had by all....

We Are CATHOLIC!

2011-09-12T22:08:00.002-04:00

There She Stands...

2011-09-11T16:49:00.002-04:00

St Patrick's Pilot Town

2011-09-10T13:13:00.001-04:00

Today was the annual Mass at St Patrick's Chapel up in Pilot Town.

Here is a bit of the history:

In 1819 the Rev. Roger Smith purchased a halfacre from Daniel Glacken for a church and a burial ground. The church was built and the first religiousservice was held in 1819. Thecongregation consisted mostly of Irish immigrants working in the lumberingoperation bordering the Susquehanna River andthe canals on both sides of the river. They built a new church. Theycalled it St. Patrick’s Chapel.

St. Patrick’s Chapel is a testimonial to thetoil and faith of the early nineteenth century residents of Cecil County. Old Conowingo was a busy thoroughfare; amajor crossing of the Susquehanna River. Here Lafayette and Compte de Rochambeau, withtheir troops, crossed the Susquehanna in 1781 on their way to Yorktown. Here, lumber operations were established andcanals created to foster the growing economic life of the county and herepeople built their church telling us that their faith was as important as theircommerce. For these reasons alone, thechapel is an important landmark deserving preservation.

With the advent of the railroad, canalcommerce diminished and the population shifted away from Pilottown. The chapel was abandoned several times duringits’ 188 year history. In spite ofsporadic “restoration” attempts, the chapel frequently experiencedneglect. A passerby in the 1920sremarked that the grounds were overgrown with brush, the front door swinging onits hinges, and the interior invaded by animals. Most old wood framed buildings would not havewithstood such an assault. However, thisbuilding refused to collapse; refused to die. It still stands, a witness to our past, and a potential refuge to futuregenerations. This is a humble,courageous building, but it needs our help! It stands there saying “I’m part of your history, I won’t let you forgetme.”

The chapel has since been restored, and is under the loving care of some wonderful people from Good Shepherd parish now.

Every year there is a Mass, and now there are more baptisms and other family celebrations for the people in the area whose families are part of the history.

I am so glad we were able to be part of today's celebration.

Brendan and Paul were able to Altar serve,

Fr Jay, Deacon Luke, and Fr John Abrams officiated.

There were actually a lot of people there, given the flooding and other problems in the area.

Interestingly the gospel today was:

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6:43-49.
Jesus said to his disciples : "A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.
Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' but not do what I command?
I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them.
That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.
But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed."

This church is a testament to all those people long ago who built their house of Faith on solid rock.

After Mass the weather was beautiful, and we were able to have a lovely outdoor reception.

And Now....School Year 2011/2012!

2011-09-07T14:47:00.001-04:00

So yesterday we started our 2011/2012 school year.
We are up against a pretty challenging workload, but I know these guys can pull it off.

John has started High School, so he is working to build his transcript. That means that he has to work hard for those credits!
He is doing Saxon Algebra 2, which is a handful, but he has a "Teacher" DVD to use as he tackles new concepts. He did well in Algebra 1, so I am confident that he will get through this math text with no problem.
English is Warriner's Third Course, which the girls did when they were in ninth grade! Right now it is just going over parts of speech and grammar, but as he goes on he will be doing lots of different types of Composition. This, I like!
Literature is going to follow history, so right now he is reading a book called "The Hittite Warrior", then he will be starting a series on the Roman Empire. Each book will be followed by a report.
Science is going to be High School level Earth Science, and I bought a syllabus from Mother of Divine Grace for this one. It starts with Geology, which is something he enjoys.
History is "Light to the Nations" from the Catholic Textbook Project. This is a 9th grade world history course. I bought the workbook CD to go with it, and I really like it! I can print out the worksheets I want and I don't have to have the whole book. I wish more workbooks came this way.
There will be a test at the end of every chapter, and these will be what he will be graded on.
For Religion we are starting a series of four books. This year we are doing "Catholicism and Reason". John is finished with Religious Ed, except for Confirmation Preparation, so we are moving into this series, because we can!
Art, health, PE, Music, and a couple of other subjects, will fill out the electives.
It is going to be a lot, but I know John can pull it off!

Brendan is in 7th grade, and his load is going to keep him busy, which is a good thing for an 11 year old boy!
He is doing Saxon 8/7 for his Math. I really like the Saxon books, because they reinforce the concepts each day, and we can pick and choose how much of each lesson to do. There are plenty of practice pages, for extra help with concepts that are eluding them, but usually we just read the lesson, do the lesson practice and most of the lesson itself.
Brendan has the same language arts program that we used last year. He is doing Seton English 7 and Seton Spelling 7, which has lots of exercises for vocabulary, phonics, alphabetization and spelling proficiency. I have used these books every year for a long time, and the boys are mastering these skills very well.
Writing is going to get more structured for Brendan this year. We are using Writing Strands Level 3, and I am hoping that he can learn to enjoy writing as much as his brothers do.
I am going back the old "Faith and Freedom" readers for Brendan and Paul this year. I used various books last year and did more of a historical fiction theme, but these books have exercises at the end of the stories, and I think both the boys need to think more carefully about what they are reading.
For History Brendan is doing "All Ye Lands" Which is a world history/geography program. I am really pleased with these books. They provide details and reinforcement that help the kids remember the times, places and people of the past.
Science for Brendan is "Concepts and Challenges in Earth Science". I LOVE this text! It is perfect for Brendan. He likes Earth Science, so it should be a natural, so to speak.
Brendan is also doing a standard health book this year, from Seton. I like it because it has a very nice section on pre-born life.
Religion is the 7th grade "Faith and Life" book. He is going to be doing the activity book as well.
Art this year will be "Art 7 for Young Catholics", an excellent book on great art and how to interpret it.
Music will be piano. The boys' teacher is still on Summer break, so they are practicing what they learned in the middle of the Summer.
We haven't picked an official PE yet. These guys are so active all the time, that it seems like they get enough exercise, but I would like to find something that they can do that will help them learn teamwork.

Paul is doing Saxon 6/5, which is 5th grade math. He should be fine with that as long as he can learn to write neatly, line things up, and read his problems carefully!
He is also doing Seton English and Spelling for 5th grade.
He is reading a 7th grade "Faith and Freedom" reader, and doing the exercises.
His history this year is "Sea to Shining Sea", which is an American history text. He is also doing a geography notebook of all 50 states. We use the "Trailguide to US Geography" and it gives a good background as we work through history.
Science for Paul is the Apologia, Young Explorers, Zoology 1. "Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day"
There are a few issues with it, but it's a solid program and I think he likes it. There are enough experiments and projects to keep him interested.
Paul is doing Seton's Health 5 as well.
Religion is the "Faith and Life" book for 5th grade. It covers the creed. The activity book that goes with it is excellent.
Art is also the Seton book for 5th grade.
Music will be piano lessons.
PE, well, we have to decide on what we are doing.

The boys are also going to be participating in a co-op on Fridays. John will be doing Shakespeare again, and the other two are going to be doing a drama workshop.
We have several field trips planned in the near future.
I am PRAYING for a smooth year with few interruptions. I have cut out almost everything that took me away from school activities in the past few years. I am going to try to stay as hands on as possible, and be available for the opportunities that arise.
I want our family life, especially in the evenings, to be more consistent and predictable.
I need to be teacher during the day, and then still have time at night to be wife and mom. Too many nights out means that I am not present to the people that God has given me.
Tim is so patient and he would never complain about my being away, but I can't spend time with him if I am never home, and just saying "I love you" as I run out the door isn't what marriage is about.

So... God willing and with us, we will journey through this school year with Faith, Hope and Love.

Bye-Bye Summer.....

2011-09-07T11:46:00.000-04:00

Last night we said "good-bye" to summer....really.
We had a great weekend.
On Sunday we went to the annual TORCH picnic. We visited with so many great families and it was so nice to reconnect. We met a new family from California, and welcomed them to our homeschooling group. We had great food and the kids got to spend time with many of their friends.
Yesterday I spent time around the house, putting the finishing touches on my school planning.
Tim and John took a bike ride with a friend, and then we headed off to the pool, under a brooding sky, to have one last swim before it closed for the season.
We were there for a couple of hours before the sky opened, and we had some rain. Then it seemed to clear up a bit, so we called a few of our friends to see if they were up for a swim. They were!
So we had the Andrews, Merkel, Baldwin, and Hoppel families all together, we ordered our pizza and the kids swam, just as before the pizza arrived, it started pouring again. Torrential.

But the kids were already wet, and the rain was warm, so we stayed, ate under the umbrellas, and had a blast, until the first bolt of lightning. Then we packed up our gear, and left in a hurry.

It poured for the rest of the night. It is chilly and dreary outside right now, and it just feels like a school day. I am thankful for the weather actually. It's much harder to buckle down while the sun is begging you to come out and play. We will have more gorgeous weather, but today it just feels a bit like Fall.

The boys are back to school today. More about that later.
It is hard to say Good-bye to the rest and relaxation of Summer, but it is good to be getting back to the routine and progress of school. I have to say I am excited about this year. I REALLY enjoyed having time to play with the boys this summer. We had a lot of fun.

I am looking forward, however, to getting back to watching them learn. They never cease to amaze me.

If You Want to Know About the New Roman Missal, Watch This!!

2011-09-03T20:45:00.002-04:00

New Roman Missal for Parents and Adults - Word for Word by Life Teen from Life Teen on Vimeo.

First Friday...September

2011-09-02T19:26:00.000-04:00

Today we traveled to Lancaster for our first First Friday field trip of the year.
We visited a gorgeous church there that has been in existence since the mid 1900's.
The parish was only the fourth parish established in the colonies in 1741.
You can read more here...

The Sanctuary as you come in...


The Main Altar


The organ is amazing!!


The Stations of the Cross...Beautiful Frescos

The Sacred Heart and the Tabernacle

It was wonderful of Christine to set up the tour for us.
We heard an informative talk by one of the parishioners, we were able to go to Confession, pray the Rosary, and attend First Friday Mass!
Because this is a pilgrim church, we received an indulgence! What a bonus!

Afterward, we went to a local park for a short visit. We needed to get home.
It was a day of blessings!

Marco Rubio- You HAVE to Watch This!

2011-09-01T21:38:00.001-04:00

If people would just pay attention. The Truth is in this man's words, and it's not too late.

Thanks to Barbara @ Mommylife!

Our State Fair....

2011-09-01T20:07:00.000-04:00

.....is a great state fair!
Well it's usually a great state fair.
We went today to enjoy the critters and soak up the farmy smells and just see something different, and it wasn't what it has been in past years, but I think the hurricane probably had quite an effect.
There really weren't that many farm animals this time around. The swine and sheep barn was almost empty. Maybe they are bringing more animals in for the weekend.
I was disappointed because the horses were done with all their classes by the time we got there, and there were so few in the barns!
The boys had a great time though.
We saw pigs...

small
medium and

large...1001 pounds of pork here....

We saw cows and watched this heifer bring home the champion in her class.

Paul really wanted to try milking a cow, but they weren't doing that until later. He had to make do with this display.
Hopefully he will get his chance when we go to Cherry Crest Farm later this month.

Paul decided that he wants to be a sheep farmer. He just loved this lamb in particular.

We looked at the little pens of display animals,

An alpaca

A mini-horse

A frilly goose, instead of a silly one...

Black Bunnie's dad...

An Oreo cow...

and it was just a really nice day!

Irene- Wimpy or Wicked?

2011-08-25T22:18:00.000-04:00

See that's the thing with Hurricanes, you just never can tell.
About a week before, you hear about a tropical depression that could form into a tropical storm.
A few days after that, you read that the depression has become a storm, with a name, that could threaten the Bahamas, various small countries, or eventually the east coast. They say this every time.
So then the maps and all the tracking data come out, and nine times out of ten the storm either fizzles out or it turns and chugs off to sea, never to be heard from again.
Once in a while, the maps and tracking data stick around and, within hours, The Weather Channel actually has ratings! The guys that stand there all year, doing their "partly-sunny-with-a-chance-of-rain" schtick, all of a sudden become celebrities. Everyone wants to know what they think.

The weather guy or gal becomes rather like an announcer at Churchhill Downs. The outcome is still fuzzy and impossible to predict, but oh, how they do predict. They call it as they see it about every fifteen minutes.
Comparisons, charts, maps with many-colored tracks to attempt to cover every possible path that the unpredictable weather event may take. With these maps you can whip the maximum number of people into a frenzy, because, well, it could go anywhere...
With things like tornadoes and thunderstorms, you really only have the aftermath to discuss.
A hurricane, however, can pull in a huge number of viewers for days on end.
All the worst case scenarios, pictures from Katrina, the stories of devastation from storms decades in the past are pasted in front of a population starving for something "exciting", served up by an unpredictable mother nature.
And any one of these could, indeed, be "the storm of the Century". Disaster on a scale that will provide footage and fodder for predictions in years to come.

We are now in the final days of the latest disaster in the making, and Irene, the guest of honor this time around, has indeed settled into a path that looks like it could provide for a real wild ride. She is bearing down, all 436 miles of her. She looks like a nasty piece of work, and we have our bottled water, cash, toilet paper and batteries, just in case. It's not looking like she is going to tuck her tail between her legs and run whimpering out to sea.
So we are watching and tracking and predicting. The grocery store weather talk has the sustained winds at anywhere from 35 to 110 mph. Some have heard that it is slated to crash into the outer banks, and others say that it is going to chug up the coast until it hits Boston. Plans have been changed, picnics canceled, family members far away are worrying about the threat to their loved ones.
Some folks are thrilled with the uncertainty, others just want it to pass and be over with.
No one really knows what will happen this weekend. I'll be watching and wondering right along with everyone else.
If there is anything interesting to blog, I'll be sure to post it!
One thing is for certain, we'll pray for safety for all of our friends and family.

Irene...Buzz Off!

2011-08-24T16:24:00.000-04:00

Hiking and Skating and Earthquakes, Oh My!

2011-08-23T22:17:00.001-04:00

It's been a wild couple of days for the Merkel family and the Eastern Seaboard, as a whole.

We have been trying to pack the last couple of weeks of summer full of things that we'll remember.

So yesterday we hiked back up to Kilgore Falls with a big group of our TORCH friends.

It was really a wonderful day. We had lunch up on the rocks,

having fun being with friends,

and the older kids spent the whole day wandering the trails, climbing rocks,
and swimming in the pool beneath the falls.

Apparently a LOT of other people had the same idea...

Today we went down to the ice rink in Abingdon, and the boys got to skate for an hour and a half.

Brendan wants to go back ASAP. There is a "Sticks and Pucks" class that he can drop in on any week, so I think we will definitely do that soon. I think we may have found PE for him for the winter.

John and Paul had fun, but they weren't quite as quick to catch on. Paul definitely wants to go back soon, and maybe John will too, if we take a friend.

So, on our way home we missed the "Big One" of '11. I guess you really don't notice earthquakes when you are driving, unless something falls on you, which, Praise God, didn't happen to anyone.
This one wasn't big by west coast standards, but it surely got everyone's attention!
Hopefully hurricane Irene won't be much to write home about either....we shall see.

Over The Weekend...

2011-08-21T20:06:00.000-04:00

Well, we got a lot done this weekend.
Yesterday was a hot one, but we worked outside all day anyway.
I have been trying to spruce up the patio area and, while it's still a work in progress, it's getting better.

Tim did a lot of projects that he has been wanting to get to.
He still wants to put in a fire pit behind the house and we are thinking about just building it ourselves. Wait did I include myself in that? I usually don't do any of the building, but I add a lot of dialogue just to make things more complicated.
I have the sofa in the basement on Craig's List. We are eventually going to get carpet, and I want to get a different furniture set up. Yeah, it will be more CL stuff, but why not? The price is right, and I have lots of time to find stuff. I just play musical furniture, but when you don't pay very much for it, it makes it possible to switch it out when you need to.

Oh, very cool, John caught a katydid last night across the street. He said there were lots of them. It was getting dark, so the pictures aren't very clear, but they are really pretty!

I don't know if we are saying "good-bye" to Summer now, or what, but the weather is sure wet, and moody. Seems like thunder is always grumbling through. I guess the chill of Fall will be in the air soon. I am usually in the mood for it, but somehow, I feel like summer was just a bit too short this year....

Once More, Craig's List Comes Through!

2011-08-19T19:36:00.000-04:00

After we finished the new face on the old school room, we decided that we needed to finally buy a computer chair. We have put it off for years, because the old kitchen chairs had been working just fine.
Well, they aren't working fine anymore because all the backs are falling off.
So I started haunting CL again. I have gotten so many good deals over the years, that it's always the first place I go.
A couple of days ago I found an ad put up by an office suite in Hanover. They had some really good quality office equipment for really, really low prices. Some of it has been sitting in unused offices!
So, I found a new office chair,
a guest chair,

and THIS chair, which for some reason I love, but which doesn't fit in the office! So I am going to find a place somewhere in the house....
I also got a stool/bench for the piano so that we don't have to keep going around a big chair.

I have most of the materials list for Science finished, now I just have to buy/save/collect all the items on it. I cleaned out the game closet and two of the shelves are going to hold Science supplies for this year. I really like the book that I got for Brendan. It is going to be a great science year, I think!

Tomorrow will hopefully be clear so that we can put down the landscape cloth and mulch and plant in the back. I got new Mums and I hope they will do OK now that the weather is so much wetter. It appears that we are through the hottest part of the summer.

I LOVE THIS!

2011-08-17T21:09:00.000-04:00

Nun on the run: Sister to leave convent for the first time in 84 years to meet the Pope

Nun entered convent on same day Pope Benedict XVI was born

By Chris Slack

Last updated at 11:02 AM on 17th August 2011

She has spent every day of the past 84 years inside the walls of her convent in central Spain.
Now, however, 103-year-old nun Sister Teresita will finally emerge into the outside world on Friday for a very special occasion.
The nun will meet Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the Spanish capital of Madrid to celebrate World Youth Day.

Devout: Sister Teresita will leave her convent in central Spain for the first time in 84 years this week

Sister Teresita is a member of the Buenafuente del Sistal Convent, which is located around 60miles north of Madrid.
She has been a resident at the convent since April 16, 1927. This, by coincidence, is the same day that Joesph Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict XVI - was born.
The last time the centenarian left the compound was during the Spanish Civil war, which took place between 1936 and 1939.
Even then she only fled for a few hours at a time to escape the overnight fighting.

Secluded: The nun has lived at the Buenafuente del Sistal Convent since 1927, only leaving for a few hours to escape fighting during the Spanish Civil War

The convent's mother superior, named only as Maria, said: 'She said she thinks she will make the trip with her eyes closed, so that nothing will distract her.'

Meeting: Sister Terestia will meet with Pope Benedict XVI in Madrid

Sister Teresita is a minor celebrity in the area around the nunnery after a book was published detailing her life inside the convent.
In the book, titled "What is a girl like you doing in a place like that", she is quoted as saying: 'Who can spend 84 years in a convent without being happy? Of course I’m happy.'
She adds in the book that she was encouraged into the Church by her father, who said that it was a way for them to escape extreme poverty.
She claims that when she entered the convent she only had a vague idea of what life would be like and that over the years she found happiness.
Sister Teresita's visit to Madrid comes as thousands congregate there to welcome the Pope.
Pilgrims will camp out under the stars in an area the size of 48 football pitches ahead of his visit, which begins on Thursday.
The city has been transformed with yellow and white banners lining the streets, while religious events and concerts have been planned. Huge screens have also been erected to broadcast the events across the city.

WHAT SHE HAS MISSED

1959-1973: Economic boom known as the 'Spanish miracle'

1975: Death of Franco following 36-year dictatorship
1978: 33-day reign of Pope John Paul I
1981: Assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II
1992: Summer Olympics held in Barcelona
2004: Madrid train bombings
2005: Death of Pope John Paul II and election of Benedict XVI
2010: Spain win the football World Cup
Sister Teresita has also lived through the reigns of seven different Popes, including Pius XII, John XXIII and Paul VI.

An air-base in the south west of the city has also been transformed to hold a huge open air mass on Sunday at the end of the papal visit.
Hundreds of priests, speaking 30 languages, have also been called in to listen to sins in 200 specially constructed confessional booths.
However, the visit has stirred up tensions in the country, with many asking how the Government can afford to spend the money on the visit during its economic crisis.
One group of protestors have set up camps in Madrid to vent their frustration at unemployment and political corruption.
A spokesman for the movement said: 'With the economic crisis we are going through, we can't pay for this. The Church should set the example.'
However the organisers of the event say that an estimate 50m euro cost will be met by pilgrims’ registration fees and corporate sponsorship.
They added that the event could inject around 100m euros into the Spanish economy.

Who Needs Captain America?

2011-08-17T14:52:00.000-04:00

The Twelve Most Important Things to Know about Angels

Posted by Dr. Peter Kreeft • August 16, 2011

Angels — The Twelve Most Important Things to Know About Them

They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity.
They’re present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.
They’re not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or “cool”. They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.
They are the real “extra-terrestrials”, the real “Super-men”, the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures.
They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.
They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.
There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils. These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real.
Angels are aware of you, even though you can’t usually see or hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them without even speaking.
You really do have your very own “guardian angel”. Everybody does.
Angels often come disguised. “Do not neglect hospitality, for some have entertained angels unawares” — that’s a warning from life’s oldest and best instruction manual.
We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity.
Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets death. They work especially at moments of crisis, at the brink of disaster — for bodies, for souls, and for nations.

2011-08-16T08:32:00.000-04:00

He Is the Almighty

"I pray . . . that you may know . . . his incomparably great power for us who believe."
Ephesians 1:18-19, NIV

What problem are you facing that is bigger than you are? Praise God for the omnipotence of Jesus Christ! He is the Almighty - mightier than all. Greater, more powerful, than any problem or situation you or I will ever face. In fact, one reason God allows us to have problems and be in situations that seem bigger than we are is so we can discover His "incomparably great power for us who believe."

If our lives are easy, and if all we ever attempt for God is what we know we can handle, how will we ever experience His omnipotence in our lives?
It is when we are in over our heads . . .
when we are cornered with no way out . . .
when we are facing the Red Sea in front of us, the desert on either side of us, and the Egyptian army in back of us . . .
that's when we discover His power!

Blessings,

From Mission Moment....So Beautiful!

2011-08-15T09:18:00.000-04:00

All Shall Be Well

Today, Catholics throughout the world celebrate a feast and sing a hymn of praise for the gift and beauty of the human body.

This is a feast of hope in the resurrection of the body, and our eyes are gazing in wonder at the beauty of a human body: the Ark of the Covenant, the New Eve, the Mother of Mankind, the Woman clothed with the Son. Mary.

We revel in the beauty of her body, not as the world does, with a beauty only skin deep; we see the big picture, not parts but the whole. Like a crystal that shines throughout, it's the body "capax Dei" - capable of the Divine. The body as a temple, God's dwelling place, open to Grace, now glorified and divinized! Mary is taken up into glory today. It is the Solemnity of the Assumption!

For some this seems a mere fantasy, or wishful thinking, since this mystery seems not to appear in the Bible. Truth is, it's the Song that suffuses the entire Bible! This song of Mary's rising is the crescendo in the original score, the song of life, the Song of Songs, and the music that sin tore apart and twisted. (It's also in the Bible, see Revelations 12)

But even though sin may have torn up the sheet music, we still in this valley of tears remember the melody. Mary's Assumption into Heaven is God's promise for sinners that for us too, if we hold fast in faith, all shall be well. And so we gaze in wonder, and reflect on the fact that for us too, by His Grace, what has fallen shall be raised up, what went sour shall be sweet again, what was broken will be repaired in us. And not by our merit, or by Mary's alone. In the end it is all and always the Son who supplies the Light in this darkness. And it is in Mary that this Light shines the brightest!

The Courage....Yeah He Has That....

2011-08-14T11:34:00.000-04:00

Ordinary Time- Marie Bellet

2011-08-13T13:21:00.000-04:00

I truly and honestly don't understand why some moms rejoice in the fact that school will start soon, and they will say "good-bye" to long days with their children. I am one of the strange folk that actually revels in the activity, noise, laughter, and even the bickering. It's living the life.
I am not criticizing those that await the school bus with giddy hearts. God Bless you! I just don't understand.
This song kind of says it...

It Can't Happen Here....

2011-08-13T12:57:00.000-04:00

....but it could.
Excellent article by Mark Steyn. Really.

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE www.nationalreview.com

Mark Steyn

August 13, 2011 7:00 A.M.

The New Britannia
Big Government corrodes the integrity of a people, catastrophically.

The trick in this business is not to be right too early. A week ago I released my new book — the usual doom’n’gloom stuff — and, just as the sensible prudent moderate chaps were about to dismiss it as hysterical and alarmist, Standard & Poor’s went and downgraded the United States from its AAA rating for the first time in history. Obligingly enough they downgraded it to AA+, which happens to be the initials of my book: After America. Okay, there’s not a lot of “+” in that, but you can’t have everything.

But the news cycle moves on, and a day or two later, the news shows were filled with scenes of London ablaze, as gangs of feral youths trashed and looted their own neighborhoods. Several readers wrote to taunt me for not having anything to say on the London riots. As it happens, Chapter Five of my book is called “The New Britannia: The Depraved City.” You have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat me to Western civilization’s descent into barbarism. Anyone who’s read it will fully understand what’s happening on the streets of London. The downgrade and the riots are part of the same story: Big Government debauches not only a nation’s finances but its human capital, too.
As part of my promotional efforts, I chanced to find myself on a TV show the other day with an affable liberal who argued that what Obama needed to do was pass another trillion-dollar — or, better yet, multi-trillion — stimulus. I think not. The London rioters are the children of dependency, the progeny of Big Government: They have been marinated in “stimulus” their entire lives. There is literally nothing you can’t get Her Majesty’s Government to pay for. From page 205 of my book:
“A man of 21 with learning disabilities has been granted taxpayers’ money to fly to Amsterdam and have sex with a prostitute.”
Hey, why not? “He’s planning to do more than just have his end away,” explained his social worker. “Refusing to offer him this service would be a violation of his human rights.”
Why do they need a Dutch hooker? Just another hardworking foreigner doing the jobs Britons won’t do? Given the reputation of English womanhood, you’d have thought this would be the one gig that wouldn’t have to be outsourced overseas.
While the British Treasury is busy writing checks to Amsterdam prostitutes, one-fifth of children are raised in homes in which no adult works — in which the weekday ritual of rising, dressing, and leaving for gainful employment is entirely unknown. One tenth of the adult population has done not a day’s work since Tony Blair took office on May 1, 1997.
If you were born into such a household, you’ve been comprehensively “stimulated” into the dead-eyed zombies staggering about the streets this last week: pathetic inarticulate sub-humans unable even to grunt the minimal monosyllables to BBC interviewers desperate to appease their pathologies. C’mon, we’re not asking much: just a word or two about how it’s all the fault of government “cuts” like the leftie columnists argue. And yet even that is beyond these baying beasts. The great-grandparents of these brutes stood alone against a Fascist Europe in that dark year after the fall of France in 1940. Their grandparents were raised in one of the most peaceful and crime-free nations on the planet. Were those Englishmen of the mid-20th century to be magically transplanted to London today, they’d assume they were in some fantastical remote galaxy. If Charlton Heston was horrified to discover the Planet of the Apes was his own, Britons are beginning to realize that the remote desert island of Lord of the Flies is, in fact, located just off the coast of Europe in the north-east Atlantic. Within two generations of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain, a significant proportion of the once-free British people entrusted themselves to social rewiring by liberal compassionate Big Government and thereby rendered themselves paralytic and unemployable save for non-speaking parts in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. And even that would likely be too much like hard work.
Here’s another line from my book:
“In Britain, everything is policed except crime.”

Her Majesty’s cowed and craven politically correct constabulary stand around with their riot shields and Robocop gear as young rioters lob concrete through store windows to steal the electronic toys that provide their only non-narcotic or alcoholic amusement. I chanced to be in Piccadilly for the springtime riots when the police failed to stop the mob from smashing the windows of the Ritz and other upscale emporia, so it goes without saying that they wouldn’t lift a finger to protect less prestigious private property from thugs. Some of whom are as young as nine years old. And girls.
Yet a police force all but entirely useless when it comes to preventing crime or maintaining public order has time to police everything else. When Sam Brown observed en passant to a mounted policeman on Cornmarket Street in Oxford, “Do you know your horse is gay?”, he was surrounded within minutes by six officers and a fleet of patrol cars, handcuffed, tossed in the slammer overnight, and fined 80 pounds. Mr. Brown’s “homophobic comments,” explained a spokesmoron for Thames Valley Police, were “not only offensive to the policeman and his horse, but any members of the general public in the area.” The zealous crackdown on Sam Brown’s hippohomophobia has not been replicated in the present disturbances. Anyone who has so much as glanced at British policing policy over the last two decades would be hard pressed to argue which party on the streets of London, the thugs or the cops, is more irredeemably stupid.
This is the logical dead end of the Nanny State. When William Beveridge laid out his blueprint for the British welfare regime in 1942, his goal was the “abolition of want” to be accomplished by “co-operation between the State and the individual.” In attempting to insulate the citizenry from life’s vicissitudes, Sir William succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. As I write in my book: “Want has been all but abolished. Today, fewer and fewer Britons want to work, want to marry, want to raise children, want to lead a life of any purpose or dignity.” The United Kingdom has the highest drug use in Europe, the highest incidence of sexually transmitted disease, the highest number of single mothers, the highest abortion rate. Marriage is all but defunct, except for William and Kate, fellow toffs, upscale gays, and Muslims. From page 204:
“For Americans, the quickest way to understand modern Britain is to look at what LBJ’s Great Society did to the black family and imagine it applied to the general population”.
I believe it is regarded as a sign of insanity to start quoting oneself, but at the risk of trying your patience I’ll try one more, because it’s the link between America’s downgraded debt and Britain’s downgraded citizenry:
“The evil of such a system is not the waste of money but the waste of people.”
Big Government means small citizens: It corrodes the integrity of a people, catastrophically. Within living memory, the city in flames on our TV screens every night governed a fifth of the earth’s surface and a quarter of its population. When you’re imperialists on that scale, there are bound to be a few mishaps along the way. But nothing the British Empire did to its subject peoples has been as total and catastrophic as what a post-great Britain did to its own.
There are lessons for all of us there.
— Mark Steyn, a National Review columnist, is author of After America: Get Ready for Armageddon. © 2011 Mark Steyn

Hard Times and Good People

2011-08-11T21:30:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Matt Archbold at National Catholic Register for sharing this beautiful piece!
Yes, I cried....

Ray Stevens Take on the Economy

2011-08-09T14:49:00.000-04:00

New Digs....

2011-08-08T17:10:00.000-04:00

So Tim spent the last two weekends putting a new look on the schoolroom, and boy, does it look great!
It was really in need of a face-lift. He did the ceiling a while back, and it looked way too nice for the dingy walls and ratty old carpet.
We thought we'd just paint. But after he got the painting done, the carpet looked even worse.
The edges were really bad because the basement is so damp. So he ripped all the old carpet out and we put down new flooring and he painted the baseboards. I put all the stuff back in, except for a few items that we are giving away.
It is going to be so nice to start school this year in a fresh new space!
I also reformatted the computer, because something went wrong with the hard drive. We got Dell to put in a new one, and I upgraded to Windows 7. It runs again! I may have lost a little bit of stuff, but using Google docs for everything really paid off. I had already backed up all the pictures, but we will see if we can get someone to get the things off of it that are still there.

Oh yeah, and speaking of new digs....

THESE have taken up residence in our yard.
They are Cicada killing Wasps, and, indeed the evidence is on my porch.

They like the area in front of the little patio.

They dig burrows like this...
Fortunately, the only thing they harm is the cicada population, so that works for me!

The Painful Truth

2011-08-07T09:38:00.000-04:00

I have this friend.
She is a dear friend, and I am really worried about her. She has such a wonderful heart and she is always so generous, but I am very concerned because she has gotten herself into some serious trouble.

See, she is so generous that people have been taking advantage of her for a long time and she just won't say "no" when they ask her for money. She used to be very well off, but things just haven't been going well for her, and since she is afraid to be honest with the people that come to her, she has been borrowing money so that she won't have to say no.
I'm not sure why, maybe it's pride, or maybe she is afraid that if she doesn't give them what they want they won't be her friends anymore. The problem is, there just isn't enough to go around. She has made these people think that she can support them, and she is being dishonest with herself, and with them.
I know that there are people that have tried to talk to her and explain the situation, but she won't listen.
I also know that the people that she owes money to are not going to be patient when it becomes impossible for her to make her payments. They are going to exact payment one way or the other.

I love her, but I feel like she is just being pigheaded in allowing herself to be bilked over and over, and in letting these "friends" of hers suck her dry to the point of ruination. Maybe she doesn't see how serious the situation has become, or maybe she is just in denial, but the facts are the facts.
She has so many people giving her conflicting information, and she seems unable commit to a plan that will help her solve her problems.
It breaks my heart to watch her go through this, but at this point that's all I can do. She has refused to listen to people much better at helping her than me.

I will pray for her. I hope you will pray for her. She is a great lady and she is in serious trouble.

The Bitter and the Sweet.....

2011-08-03T20:41:00.000-04:00

Life is such a mix of sorrow and joy right now. It seems like the pendulum is swinging so fast that I can't catch my breath.
Last week our friends, the McLanahans lost their unborn baby. They were so excited, and we had been rejoicing with them. Then the news came suddenly, and we were mourning. We pray, make a meal, hope for God's comfort and pray some more.
Then in the midst of the sorrow, there was a time for celebration and fun, as we went up to a local waterfall to join the Hoppels on Kevin's birthday. We are so blest with the friendship of this family and Kevin's friendship with the boys.
Even as we were enjoying the beautiful day and great people, I received word that another sweet baby had passed into the arms of The Lord. It broke my heart. Calvin and Katherine are just the greatest young couple, and they were so thrilled with the gift of little Gabriella. She was only 26 weeks old. Such a sword has pierced their hearts. We pray, again, for the comfort and peace that surpasses all understanding.

We have had the good news that Pat and Ann Waltenburg have a new grandson. Praise for His safe arrival and the Blessing of a safe delivery for Kate!

Lilly's grandpa is very, very ill and is undergoing a very serious surgery. We have been praying for success, and hopefully a time of better health for him.

Yesterday I got a call from Nina, and when I got on the phone, Nina was so upset that I couldn't understand what she was saying. I thought I was going to get more tragic news. I was prepared for Nina to tell me that Lilly was in the hospital. It wasn't as tragic as it could have been, but at the time it must have seemed like a disaster. Lilly had cut ALL her hair off. Not just her bangs, but everything, except a small tail in the back that she couldn't reach. I know that it will grow back, but it is going to be awhile. I felt so bad for Nina!

Last night we had our final session in the "Road to Emmaus" book study that we have been doing on The Mass. Such grace and blessing. The Mass is such an incredible gift and we have been given the opportunity to study it with some of the wonderful people of the parish. More prayers that our fervor will hold on, and that we can share it with others.

Today was another fun-filled day as we traveled to Lancaster County to play laser tag at a place up there. The boys had such a great time! They were with their friends, they were doing something that they love, it was really good.

Tomorrow morning is the service for the McLanahan baby, and then the boys are going to spend the afternoon with their friend Henry, which is something they have been wanting to do for weeks.

Such a mixed bag of emotions, and God is there for us in the midst of it all. He shares every moment with His children. I pray that I will always be aware of His presence and His love through every swing
of the pendulum of this life. He is the point that it swings from.

The Gift of Self...

2011-07-28T22:09:00.000-04:00

"Not only in fulfilling my responsibilities to everyone, not only in charitable work, not only in prayer, but in my whole attitude and way of life. Great and holy ideas and deep convictions often influence others only through the attractiveness of those who embody them. "You will know them by their fruits"(Mt 7:16), our Savior said- by the fruits of devotion, charity and radiant faith, and also by those blossoms that first attract notice and precede the fruit; those are called tender love, graciousness, social refinement, serenity, equanimity, friendliness, joy, and simplicity. A truly holy person-mistress, by divine grace, of her body and it's challenges- without ever speaking, exudes the delicate perfume of these flowers. Such a person attracts others by her gentle influence and prepares them for God's approach, which she eventually obtains for them through her prayers." ~ Elizabeth Lesuer

The Theme of My Generation....

2011-07-28T21:17:00.000-04:00

Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle

Ask....

2011-07-27T18:03:00.000-04:00

....And you shall receive.
Isn't it amazing that we have been told, by God Himself, that He is just waiting for us to ask Him when we need something?
He is our loving Father. He wants us all to be happy and he gives us all that we need for that.
Ask, and you shall receive. Maybe not instantly, maybe not in the form that we think we want or need, but we shall receive....the best.
What do we really need that He would withhold? He gave us His own Son, His very life.

Trust is a hard thing, especially now, in our world where the idea is to get what we want, now.
Trusting God to give us the gifts that He has in store for our lives on earth, and in eternity, is that realistic? What if that job doesn't come through? What if good health doesn't hold out. What if something happens to keep us from fulfilling our dreams?

Who can dream better dreams for us? Can we in our short-sightedness, or the Father who created us and all things and knows every moment, every breath and heartbeat of the lives we have lived, are living, and will live. Every moment in His will is a blessing, even though it may be uncomfortable or may not seem to make sense.

We can have all this and heaven too. All we have to do is ask.

Lord, I Love Your Commands...

2011-07-24T16:43:00.003-04:00

The Psalm at Mass today really struck me in a special way.
I was sitting in the pew listening to my friend Paula sing the psalm, and I was holding Lilly on my lap.

I had been praying before Mass and just thanking God for my family and the fact that we were all there together safe and sound, since Tim was away this past week.
Then I started thinking about things that get in the way of a right relationship with Christ. He is the ultimate Truth and authority. So much can get in between us and Christ in the world we live in today.
I have been reading "The 100 Thing Challenge" which is about a family's journey from commercialism to detachment from material things. It had me thinking about priorities even before Mass.

R. (97a) Lord, I love your commands.
I have said, O LORD, that my part
is to keep your words.
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

So anyway, I was sitting with Lil and I heard that first verse of the psalm and I thought about how she would probably not be here without the love of God's commands. She is so much more precious than silver or gold, this little bundle of love and sweetness. She is a second generation survivor of the culture of death.

R. Lord, I love your commands.
Let your kindness comfort me
according to your promise to your servants.
Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.

Now, I realize that not paying attention to one of God's laws put me in the position of having to decide whether to obey another one. That is a lesson learned. It was a very hard lesson. Mea Culpa. However...given the circumstances....

Had I not known the Lord's commands, I could have been swayed by the siren song of worldly success, and decided to pursue my own goals, to have what the world told me was important, and destroyed a precious gift that God wanted to give to the world. Because I knew that the precepts of the Lord are given to us out of Love, and following them is the only way to go forward, it was a comfort and it gave me courage. If I had chosen another path, Laura, Nina, Lucy, Lilly, Molly and Claire would not be here. No matter how much Jim argued against it at the time, if I had even told him, no matter what kind of promises he made, I could have ended the possibility of six beautiful, creative, loving, wonderful people. I was in MY hands, as a woman. Jim would have suffered as well. So that's another person hurt, and countless others missing someone that they would have loved. My mom and dad, the other grandparents, Buzz, Alice, my Grandpa and Grandma. Laura and Nina were a joy to grandma Alice in her final years. All the aunts and uncles, Andrew and his family. These are all people that love my girls, and their girls.

R. Lord, I love your commands.
For I love your command
more than gold, however fine.
For in all your precepts I go forward;
every false way I hate.

Thank you Lord, for your laws and your Love. Without them I would have had to navigate a very difficult time with the world to guide me. The world can be a dark and scary place. Our priorities can become skewed so easily. You not only give us your commands, you show us the way to the pearl of great price. You cast your light out so that we can see it. We are simple, and easily confused, even more reason to cling to your law.

R. Lord, I love your commands.
Wonderful are your decrees;
therefore I observe them.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple.

I love your commands. They have saved me, and mine, from myself.

Slow Down Summer!

2011-07-23T22:22:00.000-04:00

I am feeling that middle-of-summer energy that always sets in this time of year. It's the halfway point, a little past actually, and I am looking at planning the coming school year.
The booklist is complete, orders placed, and new boxes are rolling in every day.
I know for the boys, this is an awful sign. The death knell of Summer. They want to put off even thinking about studying, and every time they turn around the UPS guy is knocking at the door, and mom is cheerily thanking him for another load.
"Hey, it's your Science book!"
Somehow they seem less than enthused.
True, it seems like we just started our summer break.
Pool time, warm weather, and late nights are the theme for this season.
I love it, but I am watching the time sifting through my hands. There were so many projects that I was going to get to this summer. Painting the schoolroom walls, possibly carpeting. I want to get more of the house purged and open up space in the pantry and on bookshelves.
I had been thinking about really going over the utility room, but that was while we were thinking that Bosco would be "moving", turns out he's still here, so the utility room doesn't get a facelift.
I need to make a list.

This school year is going to be more serious, as John is entering High School. We are finally at the point where we can fine-tune his education. We get to start really using all that spelling, vocabulary, and Grammar for in-depth writing assignments. Literature will be at a much higher level, and we can do deeper discussion and critical thinking exercises. It's so neat to hear the thoughts and ideas that come out of this young man! Now he gets to start really thinking about what he wants to do with that fabulous brain!

Brendan is going to have to buckle down and write a LOT more. He is a very good writer, when he puts his heart into it. Math is no problem for him, and Science is going be a lot more challenging, but I think he will enjoy it. He doesn't struggle, but he isn't as academic as the other two. As long as he gets everything he needs to be able to choose to do whatever he wants with his life, I will consider him a well educated lad. He has the mind for it, that's for sure. I don't ever want my kids to feel that there is something they don't want to try because they don't feel confidant in their education.

Paul is going to be in the fifth grade. We have a lot to cover this year. He will also have to do more writing and he has the usual language arts materials to get through. I am really happy with the fact that the Parish is going to allow me to use the Faith and Life religion books that I love! I have been trying to balance two books every year and it has been a challenge. I can finally enjoy the program that I have been wanting to do all the way through.

I myself am going to take a bit of a leave of absence from most of the non-school activities that I have been so busy with. I will be taking courses in organizing coaching, on the computer, but I really have to be home with my family at night and not going out to appointments and meetings.
I am hoping that this will make for a more focused school year.
I always have great hopes for that, but this year I am taking steps to set it up that way.

So on Monday I guess I will see what kinds of projects I can find to fill up the last few weeks before I run out of "Summertime".

And Now, The Weather....

2011-07-21T23:20:00.001-04:00

We have been busy trying to keep cool theses last few days!
I have been trying to keep the boys busy while we wait out this horrible heat wave.
It's actually dangerous to stay out and try to do anything physical.
Maggie doesn't even want to go outside!
I have been working around the house, and then the boys and I usually go to the pool in the afternoon.
This morning we went to Ikea and did a little bit of looking around, and ate lunch at the little cafe there.
We came home and I made some muffins for the potluck at the pool.
The boys swam for hours with their friends and Lilly and Nina were there too!
Lilly is really coming along with her swimming.
Tomorrow is looking like an even hotter one. UGH!
Glad Dad got to come to visit last weekend instead of this one!

2011-07-18T15:47:00.000-04:00

Is You Is, or Is You Ain’t a Saint? A Meditation on the Gospel for the 16th Sunday of the Year

By: Msgr. Charles Pope

We live in difficult times for the Church, and from many sectors the very legitimate cry for reform goes up frequently. Beyond the sexual abuse scandal, there are also deep concerns regarding the uncertain trumpet of Catholic preaching, lukewarm and nominal Catholics, an overall lack of discipline among Catholics, and a lack of disciplining by the bishops and clergy of Catholics, clergy and lay, who cause scandal. In a way, the list is quite long and has been well discussed on this blog, which is, overall sympathetic to the need for reform, and greater zeal in the Church.

But today’s Gospel issues a caution in becoming over zealous to root out sin and sinners from the Church. It is the memorable Parable of the Wheat and Tares. The Lord’s cautionary rebuke to the zealous farmhands who wanted to tear out the weeds, was that they might harm the wheat as well. Wait, says the Lord, leave it to me. There will come a day of reckoning, but it is not now, wait till harvest.

This does not mean that we are never to take no notice of sin or never rebuke it. There is need for discipline in the Church and other texts call for it (see below). But this text is meant to balance a scouring that is too thorough, or a puritanical clean sweep that overrules God’s patience and seeks to turn the Church from a hospital for sinners to a germ-free (and hence people-free) zone.

We are going to need to depend on a lot of patience and mercy from God if any of us are going to stand a chance. Summoning the wrath of God to come on sinners, as some do, may well destroy them as well. We all have a journey to make from being an ain’t to being a saint.

So let’s allow this Gospel to give us some guidance in finding balance between the summons to reform and the summons to patience. The guidance comes in Four Steps.

Read On....