St. Gianna Molla Shrine Dinner

I had the awesome opportunity to be the photographer for another wonderful fundraising dinner this past weekend.  Our parish is out to build a national shrine to St. Gianna Molla on our parish property.  The shrine will feature a beautiful life-size statue of Gianna and the oldest three children.  It will be a pro-life shrine and a place of peace and healing for those who have lost children or are suffering from a past abortion.

The dinner was held in our wonderfully transformed and beautifully decorated parish hall.

 

We've never done a formal sit-down dinner before, so a lot of planning and help went in to pulling this off.  Fortunately, we have a master chef and a restaurant owner as parishioners so that was a major help.

My hubby got to be a waiter and had a great time doing it.  Lookin' good :)

Drew Mariani from Relevant Radio gave the keynote address and he did a great job.  He talked about prayer and how we need to have complete faith and trust in Him.  He's had some awesome experiences and told a lot of interesting stories.
 

As I said, we haven't ever done anything like this before, so the task of feeding 200 people with a non-professional wait staff in a timely fashion was a bit daunting.  Everyone did a great job and, other than one minor incident, everything went off without a hitch.
 

Here's the chef torching the dessert.  I just love his devious little grin!  I am so bummed that there wasn't any of this creme brulee left over because it is one of my favorites and boy did it look delicious. 

The artist who designed and is making our statue came down from Canada to be with us.  He gave an interesting talk on why he designed it the way he did.  You can see part of it on the screen in the background and in the foreground, he is holding a print he did of St. Gianna that was getting auctioned off. 
 

One of the highlights of the evening had to be when our pastor got up on stage to auction off a dinner he and the other two priests from our parish will be bringing to the lucky winner's home.  They aren't cooking this Mexican fiesta, but they are bringing it, serving it and providing the entertainment.  They got a pretty good price for it, too!
 

It was a great night and I'm pretty sure they did a good job raising money for the project.  If you'd like more information about the shrine, or maybe even would like to donate to it, you can go here.

I am so grateful to have opportunities like this.  It is so fun to be able to take so many pictures and rub elbows with important people!  I thank God for this gift that He has given me and hope to continue to use my talents in His service.

God Bless!

Brain Fog and All Hallow's Eve

Too much to do, too little time and a brain that won't cooperate.  That, my friends, has been my life as of late.  The worst part of it all is the brain that won't cooperate.  I just can't seem to get it to work.  I can get through the morning school work, but when the older kids come to me after lunch with their harder questions, man does that throw me into a fog.  After that...nothin'.  

So today I decided to try to force myself to focus on some tasks that needed to be done.  I made some phone calls, ordered some pictures and then when my dh called to tell me he was on his way home, I remembered that I had forgotten to start the soup for dinner.  Ugh. Now the soup is underway and I came back here to post some pictures from our All Hallow's Eve party last week.  I know I'm kind of late to the party, but I hope you'll still enjoy them.

This whole event is the idea of one of our priests.  He and some very faithful volunteers organize the entire three hour event that consists of a carved pumpkin patch for trick-or-treating, a maze of some sort (this year was through Purgatory), skits, a game show, some kids games and a procession all ending in Holy Mass.

We were a bit more invested in it this year.  For example, Mr 13 yo was an angel that participated in all four skits and then handed out candy to people entering Heaven and to contestants in the game show.  Here he is sporting his wings and halo.
 

His first halo was a silver one suspended above a headband.  We quickly convinced Father that you just don't stick headbands on teenage boys.  Luckily he gave in easily.

Here he is intent on his duties.  What a good little angel :)

I had the opportunity to put all of those hours of sitting at dress rehearsals to good use by directing a short skit.  Our skit was about St. Faustina.  The kids did a great job (no thanks to me, of course, just their natural talent!).  
 

Gotta love my creativity, don't you?  I had Mr 13 yo make those wheels so we could have an authentic looking wheel chair.  Oh well, low budget productions, you know.

At the end of each skit the saint would lead the people in the skit before the Blessed Mother, the two angels and the Divine Mercy image and all would pray.  It really was very well done.

One of the other skits was about Bl Pope John Paul II.  The skit was about one of the miracles that is allowing him to become a saint.  In it, the girl heard a picture of the Pope she had in her room talking to her.  Instead of a picture of the real PJPII, they came up with this one.

Cracks me up every time I look at it :)

So there you have it, a quick peek at how our Halloween went.  We celebrated All Saint's Day with Mass in the morning, went to Mass with my mil on All Soul's Day to light a candle during the Mass for my fil (yep, many of us still cried like babies) and then JUST. STAYED. HOME on Sunday, or at least most of us did.  It was glorious.  

Hope your start to November was a good one.  Here's to hoping my brain kicks in again soon and I'll be inspired to write more.

God Bless!

"Ineffable" is available!

I'm sitting outside at soccer practice right now enjoying the wonderful September weather and watching the boys run drills and laps.  The moms I usually sit and chat with are not here this evening so, in a fortunate turn of events, I happen to have my laptop and MiFi with me so I can bring you this important announcement.

My good friend, Simonetta, and her four talented daughters have produced yet another album, this time of sacred polyphony. The album, Ineffable, is available for pre-order starting today and will be shipped, God willing, on October 7th - the feast of the Our Lady of the Rosary.
 

If you would like to pre-order your copy, you can do so over at their St. Philomena website.  It's only $10 - such a deal for some absolutely beautiful sacred music.  I can't wait to get my copy, although I have to admit that it is kind of strange, in a good way of course, to hear your friend's voice coming from your speakers.  Have a great weekend!

God Bless! 

What is Polyphony?

Well, I'm not going to attempt to answer that question, but I'll let my friend Simonetta do that for you here.
 

In case you missed this in my Quick Takes post this past Friday, Simonetta and her four daughters are trying to raise money for their new musical endeavor.  She has recorded several CDs already by herself, and this time she's taking advantage of the talent in her family to bring us the beautiful sounds of sacred music.  You can find Simonetta's other music via The Saint Philomena Foundation.

If you would like to check out their Kickstarter campaign and consider supporting this wonderful Catholic group, you can do that here.

Before this I hadn't heard of Kickstarter, but now it seems to be popping up all over my radar.  It really is a great way to raise funds for a worthy (or sometimes not so worthy) project!  Thanks for allowing me this PSA.  I think you'll really appreciate the fruits of their labor.

 God Bless!

Support Aquinas and More if You Can!

I am a huge fan of supporting small businesses, seeing as I have a few of my own.  That is why, when I read that Aquinas and More Catholic Goods would be shutting their doors for good, I was saddened.  Not only was a small business going out of business but a CATHOLIC small business was going down.  This is rough, especially when there aren't that many Catholic books and gift stores left.  

Since Aquinas and More has gotten so many emails about them closing down, they've decided to do a two week fundraising campaign to try to raise $250, 000 that would allow them to restock and revamp, thus ensuring that they would be around for all of us for a while longer.

Starting today and running through March 19th, you can go to their Aquinas Angels page and make a donation.  If they don't reach their $250,000 goal, they will not process your donation and will shut their doors.  If they do reach it, they will process your donation and keep their doors open.

Also, whether you can make a donation or not, they are asking everyone to join them in praying that God's will be done for their business.  Every day during this period they will be praying the St. Michael prayer daily for this intention.

In their own words, here is what supporting their Angels campaign means:

Giving to the Aquinas and More Angel Campaign means helping to build and restore an authentic Catholic culture. No where else can you find such a ministry and mission – a living and serving, Catholic approach to shopping.

Aquinas and More is the “New Evangelization” in a nutshell. As part of the Year of Faith, we are called to deepen our faith, believe in the Gospel message, and go forth and proclaim the Gospel. That is the essence of Aquinas and More.

I hope you will be able to help out in this worthwhile endeavor, either through donating or praying...or both!  It is us Catholics who will help other Catholic small business owners stay in business.  Believe me, I know what this feels like!  Together we can help ensure that we will all be blessed by helping to keep this company afloat.

God Bless!

You Must Watch and Share This!

Have you seen this yet??  It is an incredible video that all pro-life people must watch and share!  

God Bless!

Jewelry from Haiti

While at our last craft fair, we had the wonderful fortune to meet some great women.  The first lady I am going to tell you about was at the table next to us.  She was selling bracelets, necklaces and rosaries made from women in Haiti.  These women have been trained to make the bracelets out of empty cereal boxes and newspaper.

 Each bracelet comes with a story about the person (usually a woman) who made it.  

 

The bracelet I bought, however, was made be Francisco.  He is a 19 year old boy who is making jewelry to support his mom, brother and sister.  His dad died and his mom can't work, so Francisco learned how to make this jewelry so that they can live.  He is also working to help pay for his own schooling.

The organization that makes these bracelets available to the US is called Three Angels Children's Relief.  They have an orphanage, a school and a medical clinic that they support in Haiti to help the poor.  Through this group you can sponsor children, give donations or take a less standard route and sell jewelry, just like the wonderful woman who was sitting next to us.  She even went farther and adopted her son from Haiti!  While that is out of the realm of possibilities for most people, providing some assistance probably is not.

I'm putting this post out there in case you are looking for an organization to support this Advent, or even all year round.  If you have someone on your Christmas list who might like a bracelet or a necklace that will help support the poor in Haiti, you can go to their website and find out how to have a jewelry party.

I hope you get a chance to check out this wonderful organization and help support it either through your prayers, spreading the word, or through a donation of some kind. 

 

 God Bless!

The Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels

God gives each one of us a Guardian Angel for our very own - to guide us and to protect us all the days of our life.  Do you know the name of your Guardian Angel?  A long time ago I had heard the story from a friend of mine about how her husband spent his adoration time praying to find out the names of each of his children's Angels.  It took him awhile, as he had quite a few children, but he was eventually able to tell them all. 

I had also heard others say that if you pray for God to reveal the name of your Angel every night before you go to bed that He would do that in the morning.  The first name that pops into your head upon awakening is the name of your Angel.  Now, this might take a few times, because my daughter had a friend who did this and the first few times she woke up with the name of Lord of the Ring characters in her head.  She highly doubted that her Angel's name is Frodo :)  I did this and the name that was with me in the morning was John.  Until I meet the Lord, I will not know for sure that this is his name, but for now, it gives me something to call him.

Each morning you should say a prayer to your Guardian Angel.  Of course the Guardian Angel prayer is a good one :)  I also read somewhere that you should say one Our Father in honor of your Angel every day.  The Pieta book recommends seven Glory Be's to your Angel every day.  No matter what you choose, start building that relationship with your Angel, so that when you need to, it will just be second nature to call upon him for help. 

God gave us angels to help us.  We really need to start utilizing them more by calling upon them in times of trouble or concern or even in joy!

God Bless!
 

Anatomy of a Free 4 All

 
Since a few people asked for more details about the Free 4 All I attended this weekend, I thought I would make it into its own blog post.  Eventually this will make its way over to my website as a permanent page since it is such a worthy apostolate.

This Free 4 All began when a friend and I had the idea (really my friend had the idea, I just helped organize it :) back about the year 2000 or so.  We tried it a couple of times in my church's basement but what ended up happening was that all kinds of people dropped stuff off but no one came to take things away.  We ended up hauling A LOT of clothing and other items to the local donation center.  For that reason, we let the whole idea die.  Our downfall was that we didn't advertise to the local community, just to our homeschool group!

A few years later a friend of ours picked it back up and made it blossom.  She's third from the left in this photo.  These other wonderful women are her minions helpers.  I picked her brain the other night and here are her tips for running an effective Free 4 All:

1.  First find a big hall or gym (preferably one you don't have to pay for) and then find volunteers to help set up all of the tables.  It would be great if the maintenance staff of the hall or men from the church would take that job on.

 

 

2.  Advertise the Free 4 All in the community.  This is obviously the most important part. Her advice is to NOT waste time hanging up flyers all over because she has found that they do not bring in the crowds.  Her most effective form of advertising has been newspaper articles.  It's been easy to get an interview with the local paper because it is a big charity event.  In addition to the newspaper, people have contacted churches, charities and schools in the area, especially in the low-income areas.  They start advertising a few weeks before the event.  Then at the event they advertise for the next one.  

You can also use your 15 passenger van as a moving billboard :)

 

3.  The event is held on a Saturday from 9 till Noon and there are drop-off times on Thursday and Friday evening.  When people drop off their items (which can be anything in GOOD condition - be it clothing, household items, furniture, toys, etc. - anything but used underwear and sharp knives!) there are volunteers there to help organize the clothing and lay it out neatly on the tables.  The clothing is separated by gender and size.  Everything else is organized by what it is - books, household, toys, etc. 

As we're sorting, we throw out things that are stained, ripped,damaged or inappropriate.  Since a lot of the people who drop off items are other homeschoolers, we usually bring our kids and stay to help. 

4.  Another good thing they've learned for getting people to stay and help set up is to have dinner provided (made by more volunteers :) for those who are working.  This way people won't have to go home and eat and are more likely to stay longer to get the job done.

5.  To make it easier for the shoppers to find a volunteer if they need help, my friend has everyone who is working wear a blue apron.  This way the helpers are easier to spot.  Here she is sewing the finishing touches on the aprons the "donut girls" are going to wear.  Yes, they provide donuts and coffee for the shoppers!

6.  They do provide donation receipts for anyone dropping items off.  Since they have the help and participation of their parish, they put the name and address of the church on the receipt, as well as the date of the next Free 4 All.  Right now they hold the Free 4 All in the Spring and the Fall.

7.  After the event is over, and if there is anything left, they load up a van or two and bring it to the nearest donation center.  Usually there isn't much left.

I can't think of anything else!  This is such a wonderful event and so many people benefit from this great work of mercy.  If you have any other questions that I failed to address, please feel free to email me at laura@catholic-homeschooling-resources.com

Vocation Chalice

Our parish began a new ministry a few months ago called the "Vocation Chalice".  Each week a family gets to take home this beautiful chalice and rosary and are to pray for vocations for the week.


The chalice is carved from olive wood from Jerusalem and was personally blessed by Pope Benedict XVI in May of 2011.  It was also placed near the tomb of Blessed John Paul II.

The detail on this chalice is just wonderful.  I've heard that many blessings have come to the families who have had this in their home.  The very holy woman who started all of this urged us to pray, not only for vocations, but for anything we needed or wanted.  No matter what the outcome, it will be an incredible blessing to have this in our home for the week.

 

Happy All Saints Day!

This past weekend, my husband and I took St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Juan Diego and St. Methodius to the All Saint's Day party that our parish was putting on.  This was the brain child of one of our priests, who below, is telling a "Holy Ghost" .

We had the privilege of seeing the most beautiful lady in the world while we were there.

In addition to Father's Holy Ghost story, there were five other little skits that were going on throughout the afternoon.  They included:  

• Saints Alive - where we got to meet St. Patrick and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frasati
• The Happy Death of St. Monica
• The Tragic Stories of Dr. Frankenstein, the Wolfman and Count Dracula - this was a good one where the narrator told us why these three bad guys went bad when, if they had stayed with the sacraments, their lives would have turned out differently.
• Attack of the Grim Reaper
• The Epic Battle

In addition, they had eight different crosses carved into eight different pumpkins.  We walked from pumpkin to pumpkin learning about the crosses and getting candy.


The last part was playing games in the gym.  Games like:

• Pin the Sacred Heart on Jesus
• Pin the Immaculate Heart on Mary
• St. Martha's Cake Walk
• Find the Crosses with St. Helena
• Building the Tower of Babel
• Toss the Ring Around Mary

 

.

And many others.  It was a fun-filled afternoon with a variety of different activities to keep everyone interested.  The kids had an enjoyable time and so did we!


 

Thank You Our Lady of Fatima!

This is so cool that I had to share this article. I don't have the original link, so here it is in its entirety:

Out of the Depths

The 33 miners who were trapped for nearly 70 days in a Chilean gold and copper mine are all alive and safe. They were freed today, on October 13, the day of Our Lady of Fatima. But there is more...

By Robert Moynihan, reporting from Rome

=====================================

"De profúndis clamávi ad te, Dómine" ("Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord"). —Psalm 129, known as the Psalm "De Profundis" ("Out of the Depths"), from its first two Latin words

===============================

The Mystery of Prayer and Redemption

Prose is not adequate to describe what has just happened in Chile. It requires poetry -- like the poerty of the Psalms.

Thirty-three miners, caught in a mine cave-in hundreds of meters below the surface of the earth on August 5, 69 days ago, began to be brought up to the surface today, one by one.

The first man was rescued just after midnight, in the first moments of October 13, and as this is being written, a little after midnight in Rome, 28 miners are safe and the 29th miner is about to be brought to the surface, so it appears all will be brought out within one day.

[Just now, the 33rd miner has been brought up, so all the miners are safe. All were brought up in 22 hours. Here is a link to the BBC live news feed from Chile: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11489439]

All Lost, All Found

At the beginning, it was thought they were all lost, as there was no contact with them at all. Not a sound. Silence.

Then, after 17 days, they were all found to be alive, and safe in an underground cave. But it was still thought that the rescue operation would take many months, until Christmastime, perhaps, and that the men, confined in such a small space, might all go mad before they could be freed.

And now, today, in a feat of engineering worthy of all praise, they have all been brought up safe and in their right minds.

And the entire world has been able to watch as this drama has unfolded.

A Papal Gift

But there is a little known aspect to this amazing story, and that is an aspect related to Pope Benedict, and to the rosary.

The rosary the prayer par excellence of Our Lady, because in its traditional form, it contains 150 Hail Marys in 15 joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries -- the same number as the Book of Psalms.

Benedict offered public prayers for the miners on several occasions, but he also decided to send each of the miners a special gift: a rosary he himself had blessed.

The rosaries were brought to the miners personally by Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz of Santiago, Chile.

It is said that, to survive, the miners organized their life in a disciplined way, even creating a little chapel in the corner of their cave. Praying the rosary, according to a report, became a part of the trapped miners' daily ritual.

(Here is a Rome Reports video which describes this gift of rosaries; it is located at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH5azcuEL_Y&feature=channel)

And now, on October 13 -- the anniversary of the last appearance of the Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal -- the miners are safe.

The Prayer in Westminster

October 13 is also the feast day of Saint Edward the Confessor, in the United Kingdom.

The drilling to free the miners started on September 17.

The Pope was in London on that day, the second day of his trip to Scotland and England.

At the service on September 17 at Westminster Abbey, Pope Benedict and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, prayed before the tomb of Saint Edward the Confessor.

On October 13, Saint Edward's feast day, the miners are free.

A Sign of Redemption

At a Mass in Chile that began just after near midnight on October 13, as the first miner was being brought to the surface, Santiago Auxiliary Bishop Cristian Contreras Villarroel, speaking in El Sagrario chapel next to Santiago's Metropolitan Cathedral, said the lives of the 33 miners should be seen as a sign of the need all people have for redemption.

And the bishop echoed the words of Psalm 129, where it says, "If thou, O Lord, shalt observe our iniquities, Lord, who can stand?"

"There is no saint without a past, nor sinner without a future," the bishop said.

"Out of the depths, O Lord, I cried unto Thee"

The most powerful single line in all the psalms -- arguably the supreme poetic monument of the Jewish, and of the Christian, religious-cultural tradition -- is this one: "Out of the depths, O Lord, I cried unto Thee."

The words sum up all the sorrow of a frail humanity, mortals doomed to inevitable defeat by the power of sin and death.

The words could have been spoken by Jonah in the belly of the whale, by Job from the ash heap in his sufferings, by David surrounded by enemies seeking his life, by Jesus when he was raised, to all outward appearance totally powerless, onto the cross, then laid, limp and cold, in his tomb.

Psalm 129 is part of the Vespers liturgy for the dead, and expresses the hope that the one who has fallen into shadow and darkness, the one who has been overcome by death, will yet be saved, and come again into the light.

Here is moving text of Psalm 129, first in Latin, then in English, which seems to express the prayer of the miners, caught in the dark under half a mile of rock for 70 days:

De profúndis clamávi ad te, Dómine: Dómine, exáudi vocem meam:

2 Fiant aures tuæ intendéntes: in vocem deprecatiónis meæ.

3 Si iniquitátes observáveris, Dómine: Dómine, quis sustinébit?
4 Quia apud te propitiátio est: et propter legem tuam sustínui te, Dómine.
5 Sustínuit ánima mea in verbo ejus: sperávit ánima mea in Dómino.
6 A custódia matutína usque ad noctem: speret Israël in Dómino.
7 Quia apud Dóminum misericórdia: et copiósa apud eum redémptio.
8 Et ipse rédimet Israël: ex ómnibus iniquitátibus ejus.
9 Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine.
10 Et lux perpétua lúceat eis.

Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice.
2 O let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
3 If thou, O Lord, shalt observe our iniquities, Lord, who can stand?
4 For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord.
5 My soul hath relied on his word my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
6 From the morning watch even until night: let Israel hope in the Lord.
7 Because with the Lord there is mercy, and with him plentiful redemption.
8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
9 Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
10 And let perpetual light shine upon them.

===============================================

The Stone Was Rolled Back

In front of the whole world, on this October 13, for these miners, and for all of us as well, who are witnesses of it, the stone has been rolled back.


Praise God and His Blessed Mother!

Movie, Market, Camp out and Seminary

We had quite a busy weekend this past weekend. We started it Friday night with a viewing of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" with Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour. Well, I will admit that I wasn't feeling well on Friday, so that might have tainted my opinion of this movie. Overall I would say that it was quite goofy. I did laugh a number of times, but it still was quite goofy. I was told that I need to watch it again when I am feeling better. We'll see. For those of you who have seen this old "classic".....Sink Me!

We then moved into Saturday and a very slow Farmer's Market. The weather was on the cooler side (finally) so my hubby did great with his Mystic Monk coffee sales. Soap wasn't too bad, but unfortunately the kids had a slow day (which really is too bad since they are now in the black and get to keep all their profits :)

Saturday afternoon/evening brought one of my favorite events of the year...the annual Blue Knights' camp out. We've hosted this event in our yard for the past couple of years and it is always great to watch the dad's and their sons get together and put up their tents, play a ball game or two and then separate into two groups...the dads who cook dinner and sit around the campfire and shoot the breeze and the boys who run around in the dark chasing each other and yelling.

This year the mosquitoes were so bad that even with bug spray, Mr 5 yo had 30 bites just on his neck and face! I heard that the campfire rosary was interesting...dads swatting at the bugs through the whole things while the boys marched and danced around to keep the bugs from landing. I think they voted on cold-weather camping next year!

Sunday brought us to a wonderful event - the going away get-together for the son of one of our friends. He will be leaving this week to begin Seminary in Minnesota. He has wanted to become a priest since he was young so it is such a joy to be sending him off to begin his adventure into the priesthood.

Even though he knew for a long time that he wanted to become a priest, this past year saw him in a battle over his decision. It was hard to watch him struggle with this decision, but God is good and once he got through it and felt certain that his vocation is to the priesthood, you could see his whole countenance change. It was like seeing a huge weight get lifted off his back. I'm sure this isn't the last of his struggles, so if you could add him (his name is David) to your list of people to pray for, that would be wonderful.

Hope your weekend was a good one. It looks like the weather here is going to be beautiful this week (I know...so why am I sitting here typing on the computer????)

A Reminder about Hell...

God often speaks to us through other people, right? So today when, in the span of two hours, I heard the same message twice from random people, I thought I should probably take notice.

1st time: At Mass this morning, the priest told us a story about another priest who, during one very hot Sunday Mass in a church that had no air conditioning, got up for his homily and said, "You think it is hot in here? It's hotter in Hell", and then sat down.

2nd time: A short while later I was walking out of the grocery store and a woman, who I don't know, was walking out with me and said, "Sure is hot out here. I think it's a reminder of how hot Hell is going to be if we don't straighten up", and then she walked away.

I really can't take the heat; maybe I should go to confession soon!

Just thought I'd share that with y'all :)

Thank You...

To all of the men and women who have served our country and who are currently serving our country! May you know that your service is appreciated!

Catholics Come Home Project

Starting on the 17th of December, the three major dioceses (okay, so I'm not sure how to spell the plural of diocese, so help me out here) around Chicago are going to be running two very professional commercials about the Catholic church during prime-time television. If you aren't familiar with this project, you must check out the Catholics Come Home website and watch the two commercials! They are positively awesome.

If I have my facts straight, these have been run in two other areas of the country with much success. I believe that they each saw around 90,000 or so people come back to the faith.

We are so excited for this to be happening in our area. I can't even imagine that many people coming back to check out the Catholic faith. Please keep this project in your prayers, with the hope that it can be run in many other parts of the country.

Wet Pants

I received this cute story in an email so I thought I'd share it here! Have a good day...

Come with me to a third grade classroom.......There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He
thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and
he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives....


The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his
head down and prays this prayer, 'Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat.'

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher
with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named
Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap.

The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful ... But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else -
Susie.

She tries to help, but they tell her to get out.... You've done enough, you klutz!'


Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on purpose, didn't you?' Susie whispers back, 'I wet my pants once too..'
Remember.......Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a
car..

Updated Emily News

For any of you that are still out there, I thought this was worth breaking my sabbatical for. Here is what will hopefully be the last of the Emily updates. I will just post the email in its entirety.

This has been an update that I have been longing to write.

This journey which will continue on for the rest of our lives has been filled with so much humanity. We had ups and downs. We had vomit and cherry pancakes. Emily had weight loss and I had weight gain. All the while God watched closely as our story unfolded. He never stopped giving us hope and we certainly had many miracles.

Thursday, Emily had her PET scan. This scan detects cancer. The doctors were anxious to get the results. You see, Emily developed another sore on her tongue. Same spot as the cancer. It wouldn't heal and started hurting. Of course this happens when my husband has his family reunion at our house. Emily prepared herself for the worst and made a decision that caused tears. She sat down with the family and said She loved us. She wanted everyone to know how much we meant to her. She told us there are not enough "I love you's". She did not want her journey to end, but wanted Gods will more than her time here. She told us to trust.

We left for Joliet on Wednesday morning. We got to the doctor's office and waited to see him. He came in the room and looked at Emily's tongue. As soon as he saw it, he became concerned. He said that he suddenly realized why we had been so worried. He immediately pulled the other doctor out of a meeting she was in. She came down to look and suddenly became concerned. Then, they started feeling her sore and the doctor started smiling. She told us that it was most likely not cancer. She said that was the sight of the original tumor that was biopsied and that she started giving her tongue the highest dose of radiation you can give a person only 2 weeks after the biopsy. Because of this, the sore is not healing properly. She told Emily to continue to gargle with salt water and take salagen pills (which aid her salivary glands to start working more). If the sore doesn't heal by the next visit, then she has to do hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy. Then the doctor suggested she still has the PET scan to give them a more concrete answer. They agreed that it couldn't hurt and it will only give them more information to work with. The doctors clearly explained that the numbers of the PET scan results had to be below a 5 or else it was back to surgery for another biopsy.

Emily had the PET scan at 9am Thursday morning. She said it brought back the memories of radiation. She remembered what it felt like to lay still on the table and the funny smell of the machine. At least this time she wasn't being held down and her movement constricted by the mask or the popsicle stick with foam that always gagged her.

We drove home after the scan was over. The drive home was nerve wracking. Emily didn't feel very well and neither did I. On the drive home Emily started telling me that she wanted a sign from God. She had offered up all she could and trusted him with everything. She stayed strong for everyone. She just wanted to know he was there and listening. We ended up behind a cattle truck. The cattle was gone but the smell remained. Emily asked me to pass it or she would throw up, but I couldn't because it was one lane with a no pass zone. We had corn fields on both sides and a slow moving stinky truck with no where to go. Then God decided it was time to give us something Emily was asking for. A sign.

So here we are driving behind a stinky truck in the middle of cornfields and I started smelling Gardenias. (a very fragrant flower). I told Emily what I was smelling and she said "that's weird, I'm smelling them too." Our whole car started smelling like Gardenias. It was so strong that we couldn't smell anything else. It lasted for several minutes. We couldn't understand what it meant. I called my Mom immediately to tell her what was happening. She informed me that at that very moment, she was also smelling gardenias. She said in fact, every time she sits in her chair to pray for Emily to be healed, she smells gardenias. I hung up with her and the smell went away. The stinky truck turned so we only smelled air. God made sure we got stuck behind that stinky truck, so that when we smelled the gardenias we wouldn't miss it.

Emily received a phone call today at 10am from the doctor. She was spending the night at my mom's because her cousin was there. She told me that she was so scared because I wasn't there as she was getting the news, so she held her cousin's hand as she answered the phone. Her cousin told me how she was shaking as the Dr began to give her the results. The number for her PET scan came back 3. This means that it is not cancer and more than likely just inflammation. Hopefully with a little more time, the sore will heal up or else she will use the oxygen therapy.

Prior to Emily getting cancer she dreamed of her Grandpa, who died 10 years ago. He visited her in her dreams several nights before she was diagnosed. She even called her Grandma in Florida to tell her of the dreams. Here is where the story comes full circle. Today, August 10, is his birthday. He was there at the start and he was there for the end. He's always been there for his little Dolly. It truly is only a thin veil that separates us.

Tonight my tears are of happiness, relief, and awe of God. He loves us and He heard all our prayers. Yes Emily, He knows how hard you fought. For your family, friends, souls in purgatory and yourself. Well done my good and faithful daughter. Well done.

With all my love and gratefulness for your listening to my updates,
Theresa and Emily

Three Holy Events

In the past week we've had a Trinitarian experience - 3 very holy events to attend. Last week I mentioned that we attended the funeral Mass for Bishop Kaffer. A very beautiful tribute to a very holy man.

On Saturday, we once again found ourselves back in the Cathedral for the diocesan ordination Mass. Three men were ordained into the church and, having never been to an ordination before, I have to say it was a very beautiful and moving experience. A friend of mine said he was thinking about how the young men must have felt the night before and that it probably was a lot like how we all felt the day before we got married - nervous, excited and a bit fearful of what it would be like.

At one point during the ordination ceremony, after the men were actually ordained, the Bishop presented each new priest with a chalice filled with wine and a paten with a host on it and said to them, "Understand what you do and imitate what you celebrate". What a beautiful saying for a priest to remember. It was too bad that there weren't as many priests at the ordination as there had been at the funeral, for I think it would be a good reminder to them of what their own ordination had been like and it might help to rekindle any flames that might be dying out (you know, kind of like how a good anniversary celebration with your spouse does the same thing :)

Unfortunately, due to the length of the Mass and the fact that we had another event to go to, we did not get our new priest blessing. However, we often go to the parish where one of the priests is now "stationed" and so I intend on finding him and asking him for it soon!

During both Masses at the Cathedral, the choir was outstanding. They sang a rendition of the Alleluia that I have never heard before. It is called the Salisbury Alleluia. If you've never heard it before, either, it is very dramatic. I was hoping to find someone's rendition of it to put up here but unfortunately I could only find one and it didn't do it justice. Anyhow, during this Alleluia, the Deacon, escorted by seminanrians with candles, processed around the front of the altar and up the steps to the ambo. By the time he got there, you really felt the awe of what he was about to proclaim. With the dramatic music and the deacon holding up the Gospels, you really felt like the Word of God was present. I must pass on the advise given to me: If you've not been to an ordination before, I would highly encourage you to go!

The third event was last night. Two of our daughters received the Sacrament of Confirmation by a Bishop who performed it according to the Latin Rite. While I could not understand any of it, the ceremony was very beautiful. You could just feel the reverence of the Bishop and his love for the church. There were 28 girls and boys that came from three different states to be a part of this awesome experience. I am so glad that we had the chance to participate in this very intimate and holy gathering. Welcome into the fullness of the church, our two new Soldiers of Christ: Joan and Mary-Agnes. (Notice their oily foreheads. The girls said the Bishop made the sign of the cross and then rubbed the oil in with quite a bit of enthusiasm!)

Through all of the events of this past week, I got the sense that God has been showing me the beauty of the Catholic Church. I know that sometimes we get bogged down by the problems we encounter in it, but if we take a moment to search it out, the beauty, the splendor and the majesty of our beloved Church is still there.