How do you react to things? Let's say you get an email that gets your blood pressure to rise. Maybe your kids refuse to listen to a thing you say all day. How about hearing that someone has been saying false things about you.
Do you immediately fly off the handle? Do you type that volatile email and send it right back? Do you bite the next kid to disobey's head off?
OR
Do you sit back and take a deep breath before you respond?
I can tell you that I do not do the latter and it has come to my attention through prayer and discernment that because of that, I am seeing this common trait in most of my children. It's kind of like a Catch 22. They misbehave so I react and then they react because that's what I've trained them to do through my reacting.
A vicious cycle that needs to be stopped.
If you react like this, have you ever tried not to? If you have, you realize how incredibly hard it is to do. Most of the time the words are out of my mouth before I even realize that I spoke them. Many times I send a response in an email and realize that if I had just thought through the situation I would have responded differently. Ugh, what to do?
This sounds like something good to work on during the upcoming Advent season. I spoke to a priest about it and his advice was to ask for very specific help from the Lord each day and to realize that we cannot depend on our own abilities to conquer, or even subdue, things like this.
Total dependence on God; humility when we fall; slowing down so that there is time to think. These are the things that will help me to even come close to remembering to stop and think before I react.
What about you? Have you had this problem and if so, have you come close to dealing with it? If so, how?
God Bless!
Showing posts with label Spirituality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spirituality. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Monday, April 6, 2009
Holy Week Meditations
As you know if you've read my blog for the past few weeks, we are still in the midst of performances. I would like to use some of the photos I've taken, as well as text from the Gospels, as Holy Week meditations for my posts this week. Since we still have one performance left tomorrow evening, I will not be putting up any of the more dramatic pictures until Wednesday so as not to spoil it for those readers who will be seeing it on Tuesday.
For today's pictures, we will look at scenes from the introduction song, where Mary is having a flashback of Jesus as a small boy. This scene is based off of the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help where Jesus sees two angels approaching Him with the instruments of His Passion. Out of fear, He runs to His mother.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Our Little Way
Happy Feast of St. Therese! She is one of our family's favorite saints.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to put on another one of my workshops (entitled "A Plan For Joy in the Home - if you are interested, drop me an email!) for seven wonderful women. During the workshop, we spent a nice amount of time talking about how important prayer is in the life of a Catholic homeschooling mother. Oftentimes it is tempting to let other "things" get in the way of our daily prayers - the kids, their schooling, the household chores. In reality, those things will be accomplished in a more perfect way if we take the time each day to pray.
I was thinking about this when I ran across an email my friend sent me after the workshop. It contained this quote and I liked it so much I had to share it:
She didn't say where the quote is from, but it is quite a wonderful image. I know that we are all temples of the Holy Spirit, but I never quite thought of my children as being tabernacles of the Real Presence. Hopefully I will remember this the next time one of them gets my blood pressure up :)
This even ties in with St. Therese who was the promoter of the "Little Way". As mothers, our sanctification can come by way of our little (and not so little) children. It is the small acts that we perform every day that will help us to become saints. It is through performing these small acts with love that we can make everything we do a prayer.
God Bless!
This past weekend I had the opportunity to put on another one of my workshops (entitled "A Plan For Joy in the Home - if you are interested, drop me an email!) for seven wonderful women. During the workshop, we spent a nice amount of time talking about how important prayer is in the life of a Catholic homeschooling mother. Oftentimes it is tempting to let other "things" get in the way of our daily prayers - the kids, their schooling, the household chores. In reality, those things will be accomplished in a more perfect way if we take the time each day to pray.
I was thinking about this when I ran across an email my friend sent me after the workshop. It contained this quote and I liked it so much I had to share it:
"Let us imagine the case of a young mother who is busy with the multiple cares of her children. She must not say, "Union with God is impossible for me." She is surrounded with tabernacles of the Real Presence. Her little ones are baptized? Yes! Then God is living in them."
She didn't say where the quote is from, but it is quite a wonderful image. I know that we are all temples of the Holy Spirit, but I never quite thought of my children as being tabernacles of the Real Presence. Hopefully I will remember this the next time one of them gets my blood pressure up :)
This even ties in with St. Therese who was the promoter of the "Little Way". As mothers, our sanctification can come by way of our little (and not so little) children. It is the small acts that we perform every day that will help us to become saints. It is through performing these small acts with love that we can make everything we do a prayer.
God Bless!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Meditation of the Day
Last year when we had the reading at mass about the herd of swine that Jesus sent the demons into, the priest who was giving the homily said that Jesus must have thought that the souls of those two people possessed by the demons were worth destroying the economy of an entire territory. Jesus knew that the people who lived there depended on that herd of swine for their livelihood, yet he did not hesitate to destroy it for the sake of those two people.
Today again we have that reading. There was a meditation in the "Magnificat" today that is by Richard Wilbur, a former poet laureate of the United States. His entry gives you an interesting perspective of what the people whose livelihood Jesus destroyed thought.
"Rabbi, we Gadarenes are not ascetics;
We are fond of wealth and possessions.
Love, as you call it, we obviate by means
Of the planned release of aggressions.
We have deep faith in prosperity.
Soon, it is hoped, we will reach our full potential.
In the light of our gross product, the practice of charity
Is palpably inessential.
It is true that we go insane;
That for no good reason we are possessed by devils;
That we suffer, despite the amenities which obtain
At all but the lowest levels.
We shall not, however, resign
Our trust in the high-heaped table and the full trough.
If you cannot cure us without destroying our swine,
We had rather you shoved off."
I got to thinking about whether or not this is the position that the powers that be in America have taken. I have a feeling that in order to save us now, our swine will need to be destroyed. Dear Jesus, have mercy on us.
God Bless!
Today again we have that reading. There was a meditation in the "Magnificat" today that is by Richard Wilbur, a former poet laureate of the United States. His entry gives you an interesting perspective of what the people whose livelihood Jesus destroyed thought.
"Rabbi, we Gadarenes are not ascetics;
We are fond of wealth and possessions.
Love, as you call it, we obviate by means
Of the planned release of aggressions.
We have deep faith in prosperity.
Soon, it is hoped, we will reach our full potential.
In the light of our gross product, the practice of charity
Is palpably inessential.
It is true that we go insane;
That for no good reason we are possessed by devils;
That we suffer, despite the amenities which obtain
At all but the lowest levels.
We shall not, however, resign
Our trust in the high-heaped table and the full trough.
If you cannot cure us without destroying our swine,
We had rather you shoved off."
I got to thinking about whether or not this is the position that the powers that be in America have taken. I have a feeling that in order to save us now, our swine will need to be destroyed. Dear Jesus, have mercy on us.
God Bless!
Monday, June 30, 2008
The Micah Project
A while back, my husband's aunt gave us a set of DVDs by Michael Cumbie as a gift. Last night we finally got around to watching the first of them. Michael is a very entertaining and passionate convert to Catholicism. He used to be an Evangelical Protestant Minister. We watched his conversion story where he tells how he was brought back to the faith through the study of the early church fathers and the Eucharist (works every time!).
He has a vision for himself and others of evangelizing Catholics and Protestants alike which he calls the Micah Project (after the prophet Micah - who was a prophet to both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel). I found it interesting that we watched this now, when I have been reading so many things that are saying the same thing that he was saying: that America is headed for disaster unless we, the Christians, do something about it. In his case, he was saying that we need to educate both Catholics and Protestants about the true church that Jesus founded - the Catholic Church - and that in order to save our country, we need to unite together under the Eucharist. This is very similar to what Mark Mallet has been talking about for awhile now. If you have an interest in this topic of the unification of Christians, I would definitely recommend checking Mr. Cumbie out.
I would like to share with you an example he gave in this talk that I had never heard before and found quite compelling. He was discussing how his Protestant brethren could not believe that he had come to believe that mere bread and wine were actually changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, even though it still looked like bread and wine. He would tell them, yes, he did in fact believe in this miracle, even though he did not understand it and could not prove it. He went on to talk about how Protestants have no problem believing that a person who does not believe in Jesus Christ can have an encounter with the Holy Spirit that completely changes that person's heart and makes a believer out of him. Even though the person looks the same on the outside - he still looks like the same old person he always was - they believe it possible for a miracle to have taken place within that person that changed his heart and made him into something new. So, Michael will point out to them, if that can happen to any ordinary man, why can it not happen with some bread, wine and Jesus himself?
I would like to try this example out on someone who is Protestant and see if it makes as much sense to them as it does to me. If anyone has ever used it before, I would love to hear what the outcome was.
God Bless!
He has a vision for himself and others of evangelizing Catholics and Protestants alike which he calls the Micah Project (after the prophet Micah - who was a prophet to both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel). I found it interesting that we watched this now, when I have been reading so many things that are saying the same thing that he was saying: that America is headed for disaster unless we, the Christians, do something about it. In his case, he was saying that we need to educate both Catholics and Protestants about the true church that Jesus founded - the Catholic Church - and that in order to save our country, we need to unite together under the Eucharist. This is very similar to what Mark Mallet has been talking about for awhile now. If you have an interest in this topic of the unification of Christians, I would definitely recommend checking Mr. Cumbie out.
I would like to share with you an example he gave in this talk that I had never heard before and found quite compelling. He was discussing how his Protestant brethren could not believe that he had come to believe that mere bread and wine were actually changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, even though it still looked like bread and wine. He would tell them, yes, he did in fact believe in this miracle, even though he did not understand it and could not prove it. He went on to talk about how Protestants have no problem believing that a person who does not believe in Jesus Christ can have an encounter with the Holy Spirit that completely changes that person's heart and makes a believer out of him. Even though the person looks the same on the outside - he still looks like the same old person he always was - they believe it possible for a miracle to have taken place within that person that changed his heart and made him into something new. So, Michael will point out to them, if that can happen to any ordinary man, why can it not happen with some bread, wine and Jesus himself?
I would like to try this example out on someone who is Protestant and see if it makes as much sense to them as it does to me. If anyone has ever used it before, I would love to hear what the outcome was.
God Bless!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A Tree That Yields Bad Fruit
I came across an interesting section in my "In Conversation with God" book this morning. The author was discussing the tree that yields good fruit vs. the tree that yields bad fruit. When speaking of the tree that yields bad fruit, he says,
"A State from which religion is banished can never be well-regulated. In it the phenomenon of laicism appears, with the desire of supplanting the honor due to God. A system of morality based on transcendent principles is replaced by the merely human ideals and norms of conduct. These inevitably end up as less than human. God and the Church become purely internal matters of conscience and the Church and the Pope are subjected to aggressive attacks, either directly or indirectly, through persons or institutions unfaithful to the Magisterium.
Not infrequently as a result of laicism the individual citizen, the life of the family, and the commonwealth as a whole are all removed from the beneficent and wholesome influence of God and of his Church. Then, day by day, the symbols and symptoms of those errors which corrupted the heathens of old, declare themselves more plainly and more lamentably. And all this in parts of the world where the light of Christian civilization has shone for centuries." (vol. 3 p. 662)
It sure sounds like the world we are living in today, doesn't it? So what are we to do? I find that it can be so easy to despair at times because things just seem to be getting worse and the trials are longer and harder to deal with. I know that we are to have hope and that in order to maintain that hope we have to keep up a strong prayer life and have frequent recourse to the sacraments. The author also says that
"...we Christians must respond generously to the call we have received from God to be salt and light wherever we may be, however limited might appear the field of activity in which we live our lives. We must show by our deeds that the world is more human, more cheerful, more honest, cleaner, the closer it is to God." (p. 663)
I believe we can also take heed the warning by Dr. DeMille that we must teach our children to become the future leaders of our country - people who will lead their small or large corner of the world with faith and morals.
God Bless!
"A State from which religion is banished can never be well-regulated. In it the phenomenon of laicism appears, with the desire of supplanting the honor due to God. A system of morality based on transcendent principles is replaced by the merely human ideals and norms of conduct. These inevitably end up as less than human. God and the Church become purely internal matters of conscience and the Church and the Pope are subjected to aggressive attacks, either directly or indirectly, through persons or institutions unfaithful to the Magisterium.
Not infrequently as a result of laicism the individual citizen, the life of the family, and the commonwealth as a whole are all removed from the beneficent and wholesome influence of God and of his Church. Then, day by day, the symbols and symptoms of those errors which corrupted the heathens of old, declare themselves more plainly and more lamentably. And all this in parts of the world where the light of Christian civilization has shone for centuries." (vol. 3 p. 662)
It sure sounds like the world we are living in today, doesn't it? So what are we to do? I find that it can be so easy to despair at times because things just seem to be getting worse and the trials are longer and harder to deal with. I know that we are to have hope and that in order to maintain that hope we have to keep up a strong prayer life and have frequent recourse to the sacraments. The author also says that
"...we Christians must respond generously to the call we have received from God to be salt and light wherever we may be, however limited might appear the field of activity in which we live our lives. We must show by our deeds that the world is more human, more cheerful, more honest, cleaner, the closer it is to God." (p. 663)
I believe we can also take heed the warning by Dr. DeMille that we must teach our children to become the future leaders of our country - people who will lead their small or large corner of the world with faith and morals.
God Bless!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Have Hope
I've been thinking a lot about that can of peas lately because I have found myself in that dry place once again. Some days it is easier than others to drag myself out of it. I just read somewhere recently that when a person finds themselves struggling to do or think anything even remotely holy, the best thing for that person to do is to focus on the present moment. Don't think about your problems or your spiritual dryness, don't think about tomorrow or a week from now. Just focus on the present moment and do what needs to be done. Eventually you will come out of it and I have found that this very narrow focus really does help.
Of course we all have heard before that we should end the day by thinking of all of the things that did go right, or if that is not possible, then hopefully we can find at least one thing that we can look at and see it as the blessing that it was, even if it seems very insignificant. For example, I filled up our big blue van with gasoline on Thursday morning. We then drove back and forth to the conference for three days, plus church on Sunday and errands on Monday and Tuesday. When we filled up last night, we found we had gotten 16.9 miles to the gallon. If any of you have a 15 passenger van like we do, you know that that is totally unheard of. In fact, in the seven years we have had this van, it has never happened! Praise God! He can even increase your gas mileage!
I guess I'm writing all of this because if there is anyone out there now, or in the future, who reads this and is in the midst of falling into despair: Have Hope. God is still there and He does pay attention to every little detail of your life, even if it does not seem like it right now.
One particularly tough day I was at a friends house and I walked into her kitchen and out jumped a little card they had taped to their cabinet. It said,
"Sacrifice, to be real, must cost, must hurt, must empty us of ourselves." Blessed Mother Teresa
Not what I particularly wanted to hear right at that moment, but now that I have it hanging in my kitchen, I find it is a good reminder to me. Also hanging on a Post-It note in my kitchen is my favorite Bible verse:
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
And then last week my husband put up this quote from Bl. Charles de Foucauld:
"God uses adverse winds to blow us into port"
Whenever I come across a helpful or uplifting thought, I find that it usually ends up hanging up somewhere in my kitchen. Subliminal advertising, I suppose. Hopefully some of these have been a help to one of you.
God Bless!
Of course we all have heard before that we should end the day by thinking of all of the things that did go right, or if that is not possible, then hopefully we can find at least one thing that we can look at and see it as the blessing that it was, even if it seems very insignificant. For example, I filled up our big blue van with gasoline on Thursday morning. We then drove back and forth to the conference for three days, plus church on Sunday and errands on Monday and Tuesday. When we filled up last night, we found we had gotten 16.9 miles to the gallon. If any of you have a 15 passenger van like we do, you know that that is totally unheard of. In fact, in the seven years we have had this van, it has never happened! Praise God! He can even increase your gas mileage!
I guess I'm writing all of this because if there is anyone out there now, or in the future, who reads this and is in the midst of falling into despair: Have Hope. God is still there and He does pay attention to every little detail of your life, even if it does not seem like it right now.
One particularly tough day I was at a friends house and I walked into her kitchen and out jumped a little card they had taped to their cabinet. It said,
"Sacrifice, to be real, must cost, must hurt, must empty us of ourselves." Blessed Mother Teresa
Not what I particularly wanted to hear right at that moment, but now that I have it hanging in my kitchen, I find it is a good reminder to me. Also hanging on a Post-It note in my kitchen is my favorite Bible verse:
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
And then last week my husband put up this quote from Bl. Charles de Foucauld:
"God uses adverse winds to blow us into port"
Whenever I come across a helpful or uplifting thought, I find that it usually ends up hanging up somewhere in my kitchen. Subliminal advertising, I suppose. Hopefully some of these have been a help to one of you.
God Bless!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
A Can of Peas
There have been times in my life over the last 14 years when God has chosen to hide Himself from me; sometimes for long periods of time. Early on in my conversion was like living a dream. I was on fire for the Lord and wanted to learn everything that I possibly could about the faith I had neglected for so long. So, in an effort to catch up I read everything I could get my hands on. I made many a blunder in my early enthusiasm to tell everyone how great it was to know the Lord. Nevertheless, I continued on for a while growing in knowledge and faith.
And then, the Lord began to show me what it was like to not feel His presence so acutely. It was just a little, at first, and for short periods of time, but I was devastated because I didn't know what was happening or what I was supposed to do about it. During one of these times, I remember being in the grocery store feeling very sorry for myself because I felt so lost and alone (in my spiritual life, not in the grocery store:) when God took the tiniest moment to let me know that He was still with me, even though I could not grasp His presence. We have a dish that we eat that my husband has affectionately dubbed Tuna Soup (most people call it tuna casserole). The only way that we can remotely enjoy it is if I put a can of peas into it, but usually I would end up forgetting to buy the peas and then we would have to suffer through it without them. So, back in the grocery store I was walking down the vegetable aisle trying to remember what it was that I had wanted to buy when a young girl walked up to her mother who was right in front of me. She asked her mother, "Mom, what are you doing? Oh yeah, that's right, I forgot you don't like to eat your tuna casserole without peas." With that she promptly left the aisle. Her mother never even looked up or said a word, just kept right on taking cans off of the shelf. I grabbed my can of peas and burst into tears (discretely of course!) I left that store knowing that even though I felt that God had abandoned me, He was still there looking out for me.
I am still grateful for that little incident because whenever it gets really tough and it seems as if God has finally had enough of me and has left me for good, I think back on that can of peas and remind myself that He really does still care about even the smallest of my desires. I mean, really, if He took the time to remind me to buy a can of peas so that we could enjoy one dinner out of thousands, then why should I worry about whether He'll take care of everything else? Probably because I am a sinner and have to keep being reminded over and over again.
God Bless!
And then, the Lord began to show me what it was like to not feel His presence so acutely. It was just a little, at first, and for short periods of time, but I was devastated because I didn't know what was happening or what I was supposed to do about it. During one of these times, I remember being in the grocery store feeling very sorry for myself because I felt so lost and alone (in my spiritual life, not in the grocery store:) when God took the tiniest moment to let me know that He was still with me, even though I could not grasp His presence. We have a dish that we eat that my husband has affectionately dubbed Tuna Soup (most people call it tuna casserole). The only way that we can remotely enjoy it is if I put a can of peas into it, but usually I would end up forgetting to buy the peas and then we would have to suffer through it without them. So, back in the grocery store I was walking down the vegetable aisle trying to remember what it was that I had wanted to buy when a young girl walked up to her mother who was right in front of me. She asked her mother, "Mom, what are you doing? Oh yeah, that's right, I forgot you don't like to eat your tuna casserole without peas." With that she promptly left the aisle. Her mother never even looked up or said a word, just kept right on taking cans off of the shelf. I grabbed my can of peas and burst into tears (discretely of course!) I left that store knowing that even though I felt that God had abandoned me, He was still there looking out for me.
I am still grateful for that little incident because whenever it gets really tough and it seems as if God has finally had enough of me and has left me for good, I think back on that can of peas and remind myself that He really does still care about even the smallest of my desires. I mean, really, if He took the time to remind me to buy a can of peas so that we could enjoy one dinner out of thousands, then why should I worry about whether He'll take care of everything else? Probably because I am a sinner and have to keep being reminded over and over again.
God Bless!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Happy Mother's Day and Happy Pentecost
I thought I would take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day! As I thought about this upcoming weekend, it just dawned on me that Sunday is both Mother's Day and Pentecost Sunday (I'm kind of slow, it has been a very busy week:) What a great time to pray that all mothers will be infused with the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that they may carry out their God-given duties in a more Christ-like way.
When I look back on my "former" life and my desire for only two children, I am so grateful that the Holy Spirit helped me to find my way to the path that God had for my life. I often look at my children and think about what life would be like without the last five kids. (Okay, so on days when everyone is crabby and the house is a wreck, you could say that I fantasize about what life would be like...) My oldest two are 16 and 14. What a different life it would have been if we had stopped there. I am truly grateful that God's will won out and that we have been blessed with all seven of our children. I am grateful that they are all healthy, fun-loving, wonderful images of God and I am in awe that God has allowed us the awesome responsibility of raising them. I certainly don't feel worthy of the task and I know that I can definitely use a constant infusion of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to keep me going.
I am glad this Mother's Day is on Pentecost. I feel that as life becomes more difficult, God is giving us mothers an little extra gift this year. As we celebrate the birth of the Church as well as the births of our children by which we became mothers, let us unite ourselves with the Holy Spirit and thank God for the many gifts He has given us in our motherhood.
When I look back on my "former" life and my desire for only two children, I am so grateful that the Holy Spirit helped me to find my way to the path that God had for my life. I often look at my children and think about what life would be like without the last five kids. (Okay, so on days when everyone is crabby and the house is a wreck, you could say that I fantasize about what life would be like...) My oldest two are 16 and 14. What a different life it would have been if we had stopped there. I am truly grateful that God's will won out and that we have been blessed with all seven of our children. I am grateful that they are all healthy, fun-loving, wonderful images of God and I am in awe that God has allowed us the awesome responsibility of raising them. I certainly don't feel worthy of the task and I know that I can definitely use a constant infusion of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to keep me going.
I am glad this Mother's Day is on Pentecost. I feel that as life becomes more difficult, God is giving us mothers an little extra gift this year. As we celebrate the birth of the Church as well as the births of our children by which we became mothers, let us unite ourselves with the Holy Spirit and thank God for the many gifts He has given us in our motherhood.
Veni, Sancte, Spiritus
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.
You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul's most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!
Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill:
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend;
Give them virtue's sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end.
Amen.
Alleluia.
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.
You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul's most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!
Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill:
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend;
Give them virtue's sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end.
Amen.
Alleluia.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Musings of a Simpler Life
This past weekend my husband and I got the chance to get away to celebrate our 20th Anniversary which will be occurring this month. We stayed in a quaint one-room cabin at a state park, ate a lot of good food and walked among God's creation. During this time of walking through the woods, we talked about living the "simple" life of days gone by. You know, the days when your work was mainly tied to your immediate survival. Hardly simple, I know, but the people who lived back then didn't have all of the STUFF that bogs us down today. Would it be possible to live this "simple" life now-a-days? How hard would you have to fight against society to live a life where all that you did each day was tied to meeting the basic necessities of your life? My husband thinks it would be neat to build all your own furniture. Would it lose some of its charm if you had to do it? Quite often we think how neat it would be to make everything from scratch, grow most of your own food, make you own clothing. How neat would it be if that was what you had to do in order to survive? I keep following Mark Mallet's blog and I often wonder if we might not be heading toward events that would require us to live this simple life. How hard will it be to adjust if we are forced into it (due to events that might happen in the world)? Would we do better if it was by choice? I know these are a lot of questions and no answers, but that is why I titled this post "Musing..." and not "Answers..."
So, as always, one must return home and get slammed in the face with reality. It was nice, however, to be alone with my husband for 36 hours and wander, pray and muse about things that might be. Enjoy the pictures!
God Bless!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Unite in Prayer Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Saturday, May 3rd, The Saint Michael the Archangel Organization is organizing a rosary crusade for an end to abortion. The specific intention is for the end to the surgical and non-surgical killing of unborn babies. They are hoping to get as many as 1 million people praying the rosary within the same hour tomorrow morning. The schedule of times throught the country are as follows:
9 AM to 10 AM (Eastern Time Zone)
8 AM to 9 AM (Central Time Zone)
7 AM to 8 AM (Mountain Time Zone)
6 AM to 7 AM (Pacific Time Zone)
5 AM to 6 AM (Alaska Time Zone)
4 AM to 5 AM (Hawaii Time Zone)
Just so they can keep track of how many people will be praying during this one hour, they would like you to go to their website and sign up. I'm not sure what is up with their counter, however. The other day I went on there and it was showing over 11,000 people, today it says 46. I think there must be some kind of a glitch.
Take a moment and let other people you know this important prayer event.
God Bless!
9 AM to 10 AM (Eastern Time Zone)
8 AM to 9 AM (Central Time Zone)
7 AM to 8 AM (Mountain Time Zone)
6 AM to 7 AM (Pacific Time Zone)
5 AM to 6 AM (Alaska Time Zone)
4 AM to 5 AM (Hawaii Time Zone)
Just so they can keep track of how many people will be praying during this one hour, they would like you to go to their website and sign up. I'm not sure what is up with their counter, however. The other day I went on there and it was showing over 11,000 people, today it says 46. I think there must be some kind of a glitch.
Take a moment and let other people you know this important prayer event.
God Bless!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
St. Joseph the Worker
Today is the feast day of someone who is very dear to our family. Since we have been in business for ourselves, we have dedicated our work to St. Joseph the Worker. I have lost track of the number of times that St. Joseph has come to our rescue. If you have your own business, you know that cash flow is the monster by which your life is run. Many times that long awaited check that was "in the mail" came at just the right moment thanks, I believe, to the intercession of St. Joseph. In honor of his feast day, I would like to share my favorite prayer to St. Joseph; claimed to be over 1900 years old.
O St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the Throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power I may offer my Thanksgiving an Homage to the most Loving of Fathers. O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for us. Amen
Also on this feast day, I would like to go "public" with my new website, which is currently still very much in progress. It is my hope that it will be full of useful information and resources that will help both the new and veteran Catholic homeschooler. Since my time is very limited, I am not quite sure when more new pages will be created. I ask for your prayers that I may finish this website in a timely fashion. My dream is to have a website where you can order your homeschooling books and supplies, explore different methods of homeschooling, have a forum for selling and buying used homeschooling books and resources and find info on homeschooling groups and conferences. HMMM, if school weren't still "in session" maybe I could get this done :) As with all of our work, I dedicate my new website to St. Joseph the Worker and to The Blessed Virgin Mary.
St. Joseph the Worker, pray for us!
God Bless!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Our Beloved Priests Part II
As I mentioned in this post, we have been blessed with a very vibrant and holy priest in our parish. This past weekend we went to a different parish for a First Holy Communion celebration and left the church feeling very sad. There were moments during the mass that I began to wonder if I was truly in a Catholic church. While I can't say that there were any definite liturgical abuses, it was all just a bit too much of the modern American church for our liking.
While thinking about all that went on, I remembered an email that a friend sent to me. The email stated that the Congregation for the Clergy has declared May 30th, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to be the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. The email continues, "it has often been said that we get the priests we deserve, so it is in our own self-interest to deserve better." I know that this post is a month ahead of time, and I will try my best to remind everyone of this day of prayer as the 30th of May draws closer, but I thought I would include this now because there was also a link to a prayer that can be said by the layity for priests. If you scroll down the page you will see the section that has this prayer. Why not get a jump on the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests by praying this prayer for the next 30 days? As we all know, our priests can definitely use all of the prayers they can get.
God Bless!
While thinking about all that went on, I remembered an email that a friend sent to me. The email stated that the Congregation for the Clergy has declared May 30th, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to be the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. The email continues, "it has often been said that we get the priests we deserve, so it is in our own self-interest to deserve better." I know that this post is a month ahead of time, and I will try my best to remind everyone of this day of prayer as the 30th of May draws closer, but I thought I would include this now because there was also a link to a prayer that can be said by the layity for priests. If you scroll down the page you will see the section that has this prayer. Why not get a jump on the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests by praying this prayer for the next 30 days? As we all know, our priests can definitely use all of the prayers they can get.
God Bless!
Friday, April 25, 2008
The Star of Bethlehem
We watched a very interesting documentary last night called "The Star of Bethlehem". It is about a man who was moved to do some very detailed research into the "myth" of the star of Bethlehem. He wanted to know whether it was something that was made up or something that actually existed. Using a very complex computer program, he was able to simulate what the stars and planets looked like around the time of the birth of Christ. He also explored the sky around the time of Christ's death. It was all very interesting and quite compelling. He spent a lot of time looking through the Bible for scripture verses having to do with the sun, moon and stars and then used them as clues to figure out what the star of Bethlehem really was.
What really moved me about this whole topic was when the narrator asked us to stop and think for a moment about what kind of God we really have. To think that when God created the sun, moon and stars, He created them knowing that at just the right time they would all line up in just the right way to tell of the birth and death of His Son. What an awesome thing that is. Why is it we worry so much about day to day things, or even serious things for that matter, when we have a God that had the foresight to create such a vast universe that would all play out according to His plans. When we think about how much "thought" and care He put into creating the stars, shouldn't we be willing to let God be in charge of our lives? It's easy to feel small and insignificant when you compare yourself to the huge universe, but how comforting it is to realize that Jesus died just for each one of us, a tiny speck in the whole of creation.
If you are interested in this topic, you can check out his website for more information and you can order the DVD through here, too. I would highly recommend this very thought provoking video.
God Bless!
What really moved me about this whole topic was when the narrator asked us to stop and think for a moment about what kind of God we really have. To think that when God created the sun, moon and stars, He created them knowing that at just the right time they would all line up in just the right way to tell of the birth and death of His Son. What an awesome thing that is. Why is it we worry so much about day to day things, or even serious things for that matter, when we have a God that had the foresight to create such a vast universe that would all play out according to His plans. When we think about how much "thought" and care He put into creating the stars, shouldn't we be willing to let God be in charge of our lives? It's easy to feel small and insignificant when you compare yourself to the huge universe, but how comforting it is to realize that Jesus died just for each one of us, a tiny speck in the whole of creation.
If you are interested in this topic, you can check out his website for more information and you can order the DVD through here, too. I would highly recommend this very thought provoking video.
God Bless!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Our Beloved Priests
The Pope ended up on my desk again this morning. This time he had something to say about priests:
"The priest must be a believer, one who converses with God. If this is not the case, then all his activities are futile. The most important thing a priest can do for people is first of all being what he is: a believer....When people sense that one is there who believes, who lives with God and from God, hope becomes a reality for them as well." ("Benedictus" p. 130)
This entry made me think about our current parish priest, or by his official title, our parochial administrator. What a blessing we have in our priest. He is young, energetic and he speaks the truth with clarity, humility and love. We all look forward to going to "Fr. A's house" as my youngest son calls it. Every homily is like a mini-retreat. How blessed we are to have priests like him. It underscores how important it is for the priest to have a prayer life so that they can speak the truth with love, and how important it is for us to pray for them so that they can keep it going.
I also got to thinking about how lucky my children are to be exposed to such a fun-loving, yet holy man. When I was growing up I was lucky I knew what our priest's name was, let alone talk to him after mass. I can never recall having even a casual conversational relationship with a priest while I was growing up. Since I went to a public school, I don't think I ever saw too many nuns, either. When it came time to think about adulthood, discerning my vocation were words I never knew. How about, "Where will I find a husband? Gee, college sounds like a good place to try!"
I feel very blessed that we have come far enough in our faith to realize the importance of our priests. How exciting it is to see my kids get excited that Fr. A is coming over for dinner, or to look forward to seeing other priests and sisters that they know. What an encouragement it is to hear them and other youth praying to discern their futures and not just leaving it all up to "chance", but up to God. I have to believe that this intimate exposure and friendship with priests and sisters will form their future in a way that I never knew. Let us pray that God will continue to send us many holy priests and religious so that our children can continue to grow up under their positive influence.
God Bless!
"The priest must be a believer, one who converses with God. If this is not the case, then all his activities are futile. The most important thing a priest can do for people is first of all being what he is: a believer....When people sense that one is there who believes, who lives with God and from God, hope becomes a reality for them as well." ("Benedictus" p. 130)
This entry made me think about our current parish priest, or by his official title, our parochial administrator. What a blessing we have in our priest. He is young, energetic and he speaks the truth with clarity, humility and love. We all look forward to going to "Fr. A's house" as my youngest son calls it. Every homily is like a mini-retreat. How blessed we are to have priests like him. It underscores how important it is for the priest to have a prayer life so that they can speak the truth with love, and how important it is for us to pray for them so that they can keep it going.
I also got to thinking about how lucky my children are to be exposed to such a fun-loving, yet holy man. When I was growing up I was lucky I knew what our priest's name was, let alone talk to him after mass. I can never recall having even a casual conversational relationship with a priest while I was growing up. Since I went to a public school, I don't think I ever saw too many nuns, either. When it came time to think about adulthood, discerning my vocation were words I never knew. How about, "Where will I find a husband? Gee, college sounds like a good place to try!"
I feel very blessed that we have come far enough in our faith to realize the importance of our priests. How exciting it is to see my kids get excited that Fr. A is coming over for dinner, or to look forward to seeing other priests and sisters that they know. What an encouragement it is to hear them and other youth praying to discern their futures and not just leaving it all up to "chance", but up to God. I have to believe that this intimate exposure and friendship with priests and sisters will form their future in a way that I never knew. Let us pray that God will continue to send us many holy priests and religious so that our children can continue to grow up under their positive influence.
God Bless!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Happy Feet and TV revisited
I would like to take this opportunity to follow up on two comments I received about previous posts. The first comment was on my Happy Feet post. It reads: "Since when have you ever said that? Usually it's 'PUT YOUR SHOES AND SOCKS BACK ON!!!! IT's NOT SUMMER!'" This is courtesy of my eldest daughter. I will admit that she does have a point. Usually I am a very practical mother and these words have been known to come out of my mouth on many occasions. Seeing as how it is still April and the ground has not really had a chance to warm up, we probably shouldn't be running around without our shoes on. HOWEVER, we had a real winter around here this year. No teaser of warm weather in February or March, no weeks on end without snow. This winter was cold and snowy and long. I believe that I must have just gotten so carried away with the bright sunshine, the warm air and the green grass that I lost my usual motherly concern. I actually ran outside and told them to take their shoes off! So, I felt I should explain my moment of fervor lest I loose credibility!
The next comment came from a good friend of mine on my To TV or Not To TV post. She said that she had read the book "I See Far" also and felt that it could be referring to the computer/internet, also. I have to agree with her. While I was typing up the post about the TV I was thinking about the internet. We have recently gone from a family who would basically check our email on a daily basis to a family with two blogs and two websites in progress. Other daughters have caught the blog craze and have their round of blogs that they like to read, too. Needless to say, the computer has become a major focal point in our household. Just like the TV, we have found that the internet can be a time stealer, an opportunity to be uncharitable to others in the household and a cause of frustration which leads to a short temper and crabiness (like when the internet connection won't work!). It is truly a daily struggle to keep this "beast" in its place.
God Bless!
The next comment came from a good friend of mine on my To TV or Not To TV post. She said that she had read the book "I See Far" also and felt that it could be referring to the computer/internet, also. I have to agree with her. While I was typing up the post about the TV I was thinking about the internet. We have recently gone from a family who would basically check our email on a daily basis to a family with two blogs and two websites in progress. Other daughters have caught the blog craze and have their round of blogs that they like to read, too. Needless to say, the computer has become a major focal point in our household. Just like the TV, we have found that the internet can be a time stealer, an opportunity to be uncharitable to others in the household and a cause of frustration which leads to a short temper and crabiness (like when the internet connection won't work!). It is truly a daily struggle to keep this "beast" in its place.
God Bless!
Friday, April 4, 2008
Daily Mass? ?? Yes, Daily Mass
I will be honest. Those two words have been known to strike fear in my heart. That might sound odd, but I'm sure that any mother with one or more small children can relate. Daily Mass is another thing that I struggle with for a variety of reasons. The first is the distance we have to drive just to get there. We are about 25 minutes from seven Catholic churches, but nothing is closer. The times range from 7:00 am to 8:30 am. Not bad, but factor in the 1/2 hour drive there and back and now Mass becomes an event. The 7:00 mass comes in handy when my husband and I can go by ourselves, but our children aren't that great at getting up at 6:15 to throw their clothes on and jump in the car. The one benefit to Mass that early is that most of them are still somewhat comatose, so by the time Mass is over, they are just starting to wake up and get lively.
The other reason I struggle with daily Mass is the number and ages of my children. You never know just who it is who is going to be the culprit of the day. It can be anyone from the nine year old on down. The worst is when they decide to gang up on me and all act up. For example, we got to Mass this morning (late, of course) and the only pew we would reasonably fit in was up in front. So we file in (all eight of us) and stand for the Gospel. At this point, my four year old informs me she must go to the bathroom. The nine year old agrees to take her, so they climb out of the pew and go to the back of the church. Within a few minutes, the nine year old is coming back to tell me that I am needed. Of course I cannot go back by myself or I would hear the almost three year old yelling the entire time, "I want to go by Mommy" so I figure it is best to take him with me. So the two of us climb out of the pew and go to the back of the church. We take care of business and the three of us come back to the pew. To save more climbing, we sit on the end. My nine year old informs me that she still has to go to the bathroom so she goes to the back of the church and eventually comes back. Now, because I am sitting at the opposite end of the pew from where I started, my seven year old feels the need to crawl along the pew to get down by me. By this time it is time for the consecration and I have to remind myself where I am and what on earth I am here for. I'm certain I didn't drive all this way just to use the bathroom!! I can be thankful that today we made it through the consecration and communion without incident. Many times I feel that I go to Mass just for my daily dose of humiliation. It is a good way to keep my pride in check :)
This was by no means my worst experience at church; there have been times where I am holding back the tears on my way up to communion. I have heard other horror stories from friends, too. So, I often wonder, is going through all of that really worth anything. I know I have read and heard before how important it is to be recollected on your way to receive Jesus and how we should spend those moments after communion, when Jesus is residing in us, in quiet prayer. Hey, I'm grateful when we get up to communion without anyone pushing or punching a sibling, or almost knocking an elderly person over on their way back to the pew to get the end seat. I try really hard to take that split second before I receive the Eucharist to remind myself what is about to happen before I have to turn the radar back on.
I guess I am very grateful that we have a merciful and loving God. My only hope is that He understands that I am really trying to pay attention and stay recollected during Mass. People have told me that getting to Mass every day is the best thing you can possibly do. I once talked to a priest who told me that of course we should be getting to daily Mass. Since we homeschool and I set the schedule then we should use that driving time to do schoolwork, say our daily prayers, read about the saints, etc. Well, we try, but some days I just don't have it in me! We have a Lutheran church about 1 mile from us, so we and our homeschooling neighbors keep praying they'll all convert to the Catholic faith and then we'd have a church right in our backyard! I do know that, despite all of the work and frustration, the grace we receive from attending Daily Mass is what makes it possible to keep on doing all that we do. I also read somewhere that when you go to Mass and have an experience like I did today, it is your gift to God, but when you go to Mass and walk out in peace, it is God's gift to you.
God Bless!
The other reason I struggle with daily Mass is the number and ages of my children. You never know just who it is who is going to be the culprit of the day. It can be anyone from the nine year old on down. The worst is when they decide to gang up on me and all act up. For example, we got to Mass this morning (late, of course) and the only pew we would reasonably fit in was up in front. So we file in (all eight of us) and stand for the Gospel. At this point, my four year old informs me she must go to the bathroom. The nine year old agrees to take her, so they climb out of the pew and go to the back of the church. Within a few minutes, the nine year old is coming back to tell me that I am needed. Of course I cannot go back by myself or I would hear the almost three year old yelling the entire time, "I want to go by Mommy" so I figure it is best to take him with me. So the two of us climb out of the pew and go to the back of the church. We take care of business and the three of us come back to the pew. To save more climbing, we sit on the end. My nine year old informs me that she still has to go to the bathroom so she goes to the back of the church and eventually comes back. Now, because I am sitting at the opposite end of the pew from where I started, my seven year old feels the need to crawl along the pew to get down by me. By this time it is time for the consecration and I have to remind myself where I am and what on earth I am here for. I'm certain I didn't drive all this way just to use the bathroom!! I can be thankful that today we made it through the consecration and communion without incident. Many times I feel that I go to Mass just for my daily dose of humiliation. It is a good way to keep my pride in check :)
This was by no means my worst experience at church; there have been times where I am holding back the tears on my way up to communion. I have heard other horror stories from friends, too. So, I often wonder, is going through all of that really worth anything. I know I have read and heard before how important it is to be recollected on your way to receive Jesus and how we should spend those moments after communion, when Jesus is residing in us, in quiet prayer. Hey, I'm grateful when we get up to communion without anyone pushing or punching a sibling, or almost knocking an elderly person over on their way back to the pew to get the end seat. I try really hard to take that split second before I receive the Eucharist to remind myself what is about to happen before I have to turn the radar back on.
I guess I am very grateful that we have a merciful and loving God. My only hope is that He understands that I am really trying to pay attention and stay recollected during Mass. People have told me that getting to Mass every day is the best thing you can possibly do. I once talked to a priest who told me that of course we should be getting to daily Mass. Since we homeschool and I set the schedule then we should use that driving time to do schoolwork, say our daily prayers, read about the saints, etc. Well, we try, but some days I just don't have it in me! We have a Lutheran church about 1 mile from us, so we and our homeschooling neighbors keep praying they'll all convert to the Catholic faith and then we'd have a church right in our backyard! I do know that, despite all of the work and frustration, the grace we receive from attending Daily Mass is what makes it possible to keep on doing all that we do. I also read somewhere that when you go to Mass and have an experience like I did today, it is your gift to God, but when you go to Mass and walk out in peace, it is God's gift to you.
God Bless!
Monday, March 31, 2008
A Blessed Evening
This past week in her blog, Jen was discussing about how ancient civilizations had a common well that the women gathered around with the children to perform daily tasks and socialize at the same time. She was lamenting that our current society does not have anything akin to that. There have been a lot of great comments about how people are trying to recreate this type of social place in their own lives. I have to agree that, in the world we live in, with the busy lives we have, it is sad to say that people don't spend a lot of casual, unstructured time together. It seems as if there always has to be a purpose to the time we spend together, otherwise we feel that we are wasting precious time. Every year we have a barn party in the fall and I think it is such a success precisely because there is no purpose to it -there is no schedule or time frame at all. Everyone seems to have a great time doing nothing but talking, eating and listening to music. Imagine that! Unfortunately, it is one of the few times during the year that we do something like that.
I was also reminded of this topic last night when we went over to a neighbor's house for a somewhat impromptu pot-luck dinner. Thankfully the hostess, even though she was exhausted from the day, agreed to have us all over. Even if it is not at my house, thinking of food to bring to a pot-luck and then making enough for everyone can be enough to deter me from participating. I mean, who needs all the extra work?? Not to mention the stress of having all those kids run around the house and the pressure of making sure your little ones act civilized during prayers :) (There were five families represented for a total of about 30 people.) The evening was simple as it consisted of dinner and the rosary. It was after that, however, that I realized how grateful I was that we all came together, even if it meant more work and stress than just staying home. One of the ladies wasn't feeling well, so we all gathered around her and put our hands on her, or on someone else, so that we all formed a big circular chain. Then one of the men prayed over her and asked God to bring healing to her. It was very beautiful, and I got a sense that the Blessed Mother and Our Lord were both above us with their hands extended over us while we prayed. We closed the evening with another one of the mom's singing us a beautiful song she wrote about Divine Mercy.
So, even though it took more effort and even though we were all exhausted from the pace we have been keeping, I have to say that the blessings that flow from this type of evening end up being well worth it. We all walk around saying that we really need to do this more often, that it needs to be more of a priority in our lives. What we really should do is stop talking about it and just do it, no matter how much work and grumbling is involved. God has proven time and time again that He will bless us for our efforts.
God Bless!
I was also reminded of this topic last night when we went over to a neighbor's house for a somewhat impromptu pot-luck dinner. Thankfully the hostess, even though she was exhausted from the day, agreed to have us all over. Even if it is not at my house, thinking of food to bring to a pot-luck and then making enough for everyone can be enough to deter me from participating. I mean, who needs all the extra work?? Not to mention the stress of having all those kids run around the house and the pressure of making sure your little ones act civilized during prayers :) (There were five families represented for a total of about 30 people.) The evening was simple as it consisted of dinner and the rosary. It was after that, however, that I realized how grateful I was that we all came together, even if it meant more work and stress than just staying home. One of the ladies wasn't feeling well, so we all gathered around her and put our hands on her, or on someone else, so that we all formed a big circular chain. Then one of the men prayed over her and asked God to bring healing to her. It was very beautiful, and I got a sense that the Blessed Mother and Our Lord were both above us with their hands extended over us while we prayed. We closed the evening with another one of the mom's singing us a beautiful song she wrote about Divine Mercy.
So, even though it took more effort and even though we were all exhausted from the pace we have been keeping, I have to say that the blessings that flow from this type of evening end up being well worth it. We all walk around saying that we really need to do this more often, that it needs to be more of a priority in our lives. What we really should do is stop talking about it and just do it, no matter how much work and grumbling is involved. God has proven time and time again that He will bless us for our efforts.
God Bless!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Cloud over the Tabernacle
I was reading a passage from the book of Numbers this morning when I began to get envious again of the ease at which the people of the Old Testament could communicate with God. In Numbers 9: 22-23 it says, "Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the sons of Israel remained in camp and did not set out; but when it was taken up they set out. At the command of the Lord they encamped, and at the command of the Lord they set out; they kept the charge of the Lord at the command of the Lord by Moses."
I've often thought how nice it would be to have such a clear-cut sign about what to do. For instance, we are trying to decide if we should put our house up for sale. Well, if there was a big cloud over our house and all of a sudden it was moving away, we would know what to do. Or what about the men in Numbers 9:7? The Israelites were commanded by the Lord to keep the Passover, but there were two men who were unclean because they had touched a dead body, so they went to Moses and asked him what they should do. Verse 8, "And Moses said to them, 'Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.'" How cool would that be to have someone you could go to and get a direct answer from the Lord. I know you can go to a priest and ask him his advice, but then you could go to three other priests, ask the same question and get three different answers. What are you supposed to do then, average them out and go the middle ground? It all seemed so much more clear cut back then. But, alas, even though things were laid out so much more clearly for the Israelites, they still managed to mess it up pretty good at times. Maybe we're better off when we mess up being able to plead a certain degree of ignorance as to what it was the Lord really wanted. I just know that I get pretty frustrated when I really want to do the Lord's will in a certain situation and I can't because I can't seem to figure out exactly what the Lord's will is. Where is Moses when you need him?
God Bless!
I've often thought how nice it would be to have such a clear-cut sign about what to do. For instance, we are trying to decide if we should put our house up for sale. Well, if there was a big cloud over our house and all of a sudden it was moving away, we would know what to do. Or what about the men in Numbers 9:7? The Israelites were commanded by the Lord to keep the Passover, but there were two men who were unclean because they had touched a dead body, so they went to Moses and asked him what they should do. Verse 8, "And Moses said to them, 'Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.'" How cool would that be to have someone you could go to and get a direct answer from the Lord. I know you can go to a priest and ask him his advice, but then you could go to three other priests, ask the same question and get three different answers. What are you supposed to do then, average them out and go the middle ground? It all seemed so much more clear cut back then. But, alas, even though things were laid out so much more clearly for the Israelites, they still managed to mess it up pretty good at times. Maybe we're better off when we mess up being able to plead a certain degree of ignorance as to what it was the Lord really wanted. I just know that I get pretty frustrated when I really want to do the Lord's will in a certain situation and I can't because I can't seem to figure out exactly what the Lord's will is. Where is Moses when you need him?
God Bless!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament
March 25, 2007 is a day that will always mean a lot to my family. It was on this day one year ago that we stepped foot in one of the most peaceful and beautiful places we have ever seen. Through a divinely inspired series of events we ended up down at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama where Mother Angelica lives. We attended Sunday morning mass at the Shrine and from the first moment we stepped foot into the chapel we were stunned. We were amazed at how a chapel full of kids could be so incredibly quiet. It was like a spell came over all of us. We went back that evening for Benediction and the priest who gave the homily was incredible. The next morning it was up early again for the investiture ceremony of the now Sister Mary Cecilia of Jeus, Crown of Virgins. Wow, what a name. I have never seen a ceremony so lovely. It was a short visit, but we were hooked. It took us six months to get back down there again, but it was worth the wait. We got to meet a number of families that have moved down there to be near the Shrine. It is a strange phenomenon. Large, homeschooling families from around the country are leaving their homes, families, and in some cases their jobs, to move down to be near the Shrine. Most of them had never even dreamed of living in Alabama before. We have felt the same call, but as of yet, have not been able to bring it to fruition. So, for the time being, we are forced to visit and to long to be back there again. Why am I talking about this? Because if you have never been there before and have some spare time on your hands, I highly recommend a pilgrimage to the Shrine. You will not regret everything you might have to go through to get there. It may even be one of those life changing events.
In keeping with this religious theme, it was brought to my attention that the "Institute for Religious Life" is having their FREE session (for the youth ages 13-30) on Saturday, March 29th at Mundelein Seminary, in Libertyville, IL. Cardinal George is saying Mass at 4pm. It's a lovely day with male and female religious in habits from all over the country. For more information, check out the link here.
God Bless!
In keeping with this religious theme, it was brought to my attention that the "Institute for Religious Life" is having their FREE session (for the youth ages 13-30) on Saturday, March 29th at Mundelein Seminary, in Libertyville, IL. Cardinal George is saying Mass at 4pm. It's a lovely day with male and female religious in habits from all over the country. For more information, check out the link here.
God Bless!
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