7 Quick Takes Friday

The first 7 Quick Takes Friday of 2009!

1.

Yesterday, as you know, was the feast of Mary the Mother of God. Our priest told us that this is the oldest Marian feast day celebrated by the church. I didn't know that! It was decided upon at the Council of Ephasus. I just read a quote by St. Cyril of Alexandria about this. He said, "I am exceedingly astounded that there could be anyone who has any doubt as to whether the Blessed Virgin should be called the Mother of God. If Our Lord Jesus Christ is God, why should the Blessed Virgin, who gave him birth, not be called the Mother of God?" Seems pretty straight forward to me.

2.

Is this a sign of things to come? Did you hear about the family in Ohio that got raided by armed officers and held captive in their home for 6 hours because they operated a food co-op???? Here is the story from World Net Daily. Unbelievable!

3.

A moment of self promotion: Beginning this month I will be blogging at least once a month on the TORCH homeschooling website. TORCH is a national Catholic homeschooling group and its an acronym for Traditions of Roman Catholic Homes. My posts will center around family formation. You have to sign up in order to access the website, but if you're interested you can check it out here.

4.

For those of you who are Irish, here's a cute story: (be prepared for some wild font changes!)

A story from a person who recently visited Europe:
On vacation in Rome, I noticed a marble column in St. Peter's with a
golden telephone on it. As a young priest passed by, I asked who
the telephone was for. The priest told me it was a direct line to
Heaven, and if I'd like to call, it would be a thousand dollars. I
was amazed, but declined the offer.

Throughout Italy, I kept seeing the same golden telephone on a
marble column. At each, I asked about it and the answer was always
the same: a direct line to Heaven and I could call for a thousand
dollars.

I finished my tour in Ireland . I decided to attend Mass at a local
village church. When I walked in the door I noticed the golden
telephone. Underneath it there was a sign stating: "DIRECT LINE
TO HEAVEN 25 cents." "Father," I said, "I have been all over
Italy and in all the cathedrals I visited, I've seen telephones
exactly like this one. But the price is always a thousand
dollars. Why is it that this one is only 25 cents?"

The priest smiled and said,
Darlin', you're in Ireland now. It's a local call."

5.

The kids got some Barnes and Noble gift cards for Christmas so we took a trip there earlier this week. Our youngest was insisting that the name of the store was really Barnes and Bellyboots. We're not quite sure why he came up with this name. Just a three year old thing, I guess. When we pulled up in front of the store, someone inadvertently read the sign as Barnes and Bellyboots BookSmellers. Well this got us on a roll about how books really do have certain smells and that those smells can evoke strong memories. I insisted that Nancy Drew books have their own unique smell that remind me of my childhood. Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this way???!! However, when we got home, they pulled out a Nancy Drew book and I have to admit that it didn't really have a smell anymore :(

6.

My three year old son has a very vivid imagination and has learned how to tell some very interesting and detailed stories. When he gets into this mode he gets very animated. His voice rises and his eyes get wide and his hands move around a lot. The other day he was in the middle of one of his stories when he told us about a sled that was heading BETORDS his cousin. Later on, the sled was FLEWING over his head. I love his creativity. Just so no one else tries to slip these kinds of words into their writing assignments!

7.

School starts again on Monday. Yikes. I'm still not ready. I guess it doesn't matter, though, since we have something that will take all or at least some of us away from the house every day but Monday! Oh well. So much for thinking that things would slow down after the holidays.

Check out Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

God Bless!