Here we are just back into Ordinary Time and I'm already bringing up Easter? I'm worse than Wal-mart! Actually, according to the Church, I'm late with this announcement. In way back times when calendars were not as readily available as they are today, the Church would read this proclamation on the solemnity of the Epiphany so that the faithful would know well in advance the date of Easter and all the other important dates tied to it.
It's too bad that this proclamation is not still read today because I think it would help to build anticipation for the greatest feast of the year and it would make the connection between Christmas and Easter more prominent.
So, here it is, the official proclamation of Easter for the year 2009. This was sent to me by a friend, who quite honestly should have her own blog because I frequently utilize information that she sends me! Thanks Do :)
Dear brothers and sisters, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return. Through the rhythms of times and seasons let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation.
Let us recall the year's culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord: his last supper, his crucifixion, his burial, and his rising celebrated between the evening of the 9th of April and the evening of the 12th ofApril.
Each Easter - as on each Sunday - the Holy Church makes present the great and saving deed by which Christ has for ever conquered sin and death.
From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy. Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the 25th of February.
The Ascention of the Lord will be commemorated on the 21st of May.
Pentecost, the joyful conclusion of the season of Easter, will be celebrated on the 31st of May.
Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and Saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed.
To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
God Bless!
P.S. Don't forget to participate in the novena and fasting for FOCA not to be passed. This is day two.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
7 Quick Takes Friday
A little later than usual, but here we are again for 7 Quick Takes Friday, courtesy of Conversion Diary.
Yesterday as I was trying to get my post up about spiritual communions, I have to admit I was struggling. I had to leave the house by 10:40. It was already 10:30, the post wasn't done, I had two children waiting to ask me math questions, another one with a science question, a little one wanting my attention and another daughter who had to leave with me that wasn't ready yet. AAHH. Was sitting there telling all of them to wait while I finished my blog post the right thing for a mother to do? I hope so, and looking at the comments I'm glad I persevered. Hopefully my children can forgive me :)
In response to my post on our homeschooling plan, a friend asked me to mention that the most important preparation for the future is spiritual preparation. To that end, she recommended a website by the Cukierski family. They are a family that specializes in selling Catholic sacramentals. (hehe, when I first typed that I put sacraments instead of sacramentals. I'm glad I proofread!) They have a rather extensive list of items that might come in handy. Thought I'd give you the link in case you're interested. Besides, it's always nice to support a Catholic family business!
We received three Christmas letters in the mail yesterday (the 8th of January, mind you) and I had to laugh because all three of them said the same thing about how it may seem late for a Christmas letter, but, you know, the Catholic Church celebrates Christmas for more than one day. God is so good to us, He even gives us a good excuse to use to cover up our procrastination :)
I found this video about the periodic table. If you are familiar with the Pirates of Penzanz, you'll recognize the song. I showed it to my kids and told them that now they, too, had to learn all of the elements by memorizing and singing this song.
After we watched that one, my daughter told me about The Saint Song. It is a song someone came up with to the same tune that names over 100 different saints. Try memorizing and singing this one, too.
For any of you in the Chicagoland area, Miles Christi is holding their monthly Evening of Recollection tonight in Lemont, IL and tomorrow in Palatine, IL. If you've never been to one, or it's been a while, consider attending. It is a very beautiful and grace-filled evening.
On a lighter note, if you need a good laugh check out this link. It made us cry we were laughing so hard! Have a good day.
God Bless!
1.
Yesterday as I was trying to get my post up about spiritual communions, I have to admit I was struggling. I had to leave the house by 10:40. It was already 10:30, the post wasn't done, I had two children waiting to ask me math questions, another one with a science question, a little one wanting my attention and another daughter who had to leave with me that wasn't ready yet. AAHH. Was sitting there telling all of them to wait while I finished my blog post the right thing for a mother to do? I hope so, and looking at the comments I'm glad I persevered. Hopefully my children can forgive me :)
2.
In response to my post on our homeschooling plan, a friend asked me to mention that the most important preparation for the future is spiritual preparation. To that end, she recommended a website by the Cukierski family. They are a family that specializes in selling Catholic sacramentals. (hehe, when I first typed that I put sacraments instead of sacramentals. I'm glad I proofread!) They have a rather extensive list of items that might come in handy. Thought I'd give you the link in case you're interested. Besides, it's always nice to support a Catholic family business!
3.
We received three Christmas letters in the mail yesterday (the 8th of January, mind you) and I had to laugh because all three of them said the same thing about how it may seem late for a Christmas letter, but, you know, the Catholic Church celebrates Christmas for more than one day. God is so good to us, He even gives us a good excuse to use to cover up our procrastination :)
4.
I found this video about the periodic table. If you are familiar with the Pirates of Penzanz, you'll recognize the song. I showed it to my kids and told them that now they, too, had to learn all of the elements by memorizing and singing this song.
5.
After we watched that one, my daughter told me about The Saint Song. It is a song someone came up with to the same tune that names over 100 different saints. Try memorizing and singing this one, too.
6.
For any of you in the Chicagoland area, Miles Christi is holding their monthly Evening of Recollection tonight in Lemont, IL and tomorrow in Palatine, IL. If you've never been to one, or it's been a while, consider attending. It is a very beautiful and grace-filled evening.
7.
On a lighter note, if you need a good laugh check out this link. It made us cry we were laughing so hard! Have a good day.
God Bless!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Spiritual Communions
Yesterday I mentioned that I've been trying to get through the book "Jesus Our Eucharistic Love" by Fr. Stefano Manelli. Since I haven't been able to get through it, one of my daughters has picked it up and started reading it. Last week she brought the book to me and asked me to read a section entitled Spiritual Communion.
To quote the book: "Spiritual Communion is the reserve of eucharistic Life and Love always available for lovers of the Eucharistic Jesus. By means of spiritual Communion, the loving desires of the soul that wants to be united with Jesus, its dear Bridegroom, are satisfied. Spiritual Communion is a union of love between the soul and Jesus in the Host. This union is spiritual but nonetheless real, more real than the union between the soul and the body, 'because the soul lives more where it loves than where it lives,' says St. John of the Cross."
What a beautiful treasure we have in spiritual Communion. Of course this Communion assumes that we believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and it implies that we would like to receive Jesus in sacramental Communion but we can't for whatever reason.
What is really neat about spiritual Communion is that we can make one as often as we would like, even "hundreds of times a day", or night for that matter. As I read on, I realized that many saints utilized this special treasure. Jesus himself told St. Catherine of Siena in a vision just how precious a spiritual communion is. St. Francis de Sales resolved to make a spiritual Communion at least every quarter of an hour!!!!!!!!! That one blew me away. I can't remember to do things I have to do, let alone remember every 15 minutes to stop, recollect myself and ask Jesus to dwell in my heart. That , I guess, is why they are saints and I am not (well, and also because I'm not dead yet).
Anyhow, since I've read this, I've been trying to remember to do this at least a few times a day. Asking my Guardian Angel to help me remember would also be a good thing to do. You can come up with your own words, but here is the spiritual Communion prayer from St. Alphonsus:
My Jesus, I believe that You are really present in the most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to poseess You within my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. (Pause) I embrace You as being already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never, never permit me to be separated from You. Amen
God Bless!
To quote the book: "Spiritual Communion is the reserve of eucharistic Life and Love always available for lovers of the Eucharistic Jesus. By means of spiritual Communion, the loving desires of the soul that wants to be united with Jesus, its dear Bridegroom, are satisfied. Spiritual Communion is a union of love between the soul and Jesus in the Host. This union is spiritual but nonetheless real, more real than the union between the soul and the body, 'because the soul lives more where it loves than where it lives,' says St. John of the Cross."
What a beautiful treasure we have in spiritual Communion. Of course this Communion assumes that we believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and it implies that we would like to receive Jesus in sacramental Communion but we can't for whatever reason.
What is really neat about spiritual Communion is that we can make one as often as we would like, even "hundreds of times a day", or night for that matter. As I read on, I realized that many saints utilized this special treasure. Jesus himself told St. Catherine of Siena in a vision just how precious a spiritual communion is. St. Francis de Sales resolved to make a spiritual Communion at least every quarter of an hour!!!!!!!!! That one blew me away. I can't remember to do things I have to do, let alone remember every 15 minutes to stop, recollect myself and ask Jesus to dwell in my heart. That , I guess, is why they are saints and I am not (well, and also because I'm not dead yet).
Anyhow, since I've read this, I've been trying to remember to do this at least a few times a day. Asking my Guardian Angel to help me remember would also be a good thing to do. You can come up with your own words, but here is the spiritual Communion prayer from St. Alphonsus:
My Jesus, I believe that You are really present in the most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to poseess You within my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. (Pause) I embrace You as being already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never, never permit me to be separated from You. Amen
God Bless!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Too Many Books, Too Little Time
I was just updating some stuff on my blog and I noticed that my current reading section has been the same for quite some time. It's true, I started reading the book "Jesus Our Eucharistic Love" about two months ago and I am still on page 13.
Actually, I find that I am in the first 1/3 of about 3 or 4 different books. I'm not quite sure why none of them have held my interest long enough for me to finish them. They are all good books, but maybe it's just that I can't seem to sit down long enough to get through to the end.
So, in reality, my current reading list should look something like this:
"Jesus, Our Eucharistic Love" - More on this one tomorrow
"Render Unto Caesar" by Charles Chaput - I got this one at the beginning of December and it is very good, I just haven't finished it yet.
"There We Stood, Here We Stand - 11 Lutherans Rediscover their Catholic Roots" by Timothy Drake - this book was given to me by a friend in response to the Lutheran pastor issue. I love personal story kind of books; especially conversion stories.
"The Digital Photography Book, Volume 1" and "The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2" both by Scott Kelby. I got volume 2 for Christmas from my husband so I had to naturally go out and find volume 1. These books are great for people like me: the author tells you how to take different kinds of pictures, he doesn't waste his time telling you why you should do it that way. Personally, the why of f-stops and aperture never made sense to me anyway. And besides, I'm not very much of a why kind of person. Just tell me how and that's usually good enough for me.
So there you have it, all of the books that I am currently reading. In an effort to at least try to finish them, I have inserted a mandatory 1/2 hour of silent reading into our school day right after lunch. This way, I will hopefully be able to get through them in more of a timely fashion. Of course, once I get these finished, then I can start on the other stack of books that have been patiently waiting to be read, too.
God Bless!
Actually, I find that I am in the first 1/3 of about 3 or 4 different books. I'm not quite sure why none of them have held my interest long enough for me to finish them. They are all good books, but maybe it's just that I can't seem to sit down long enough to get through to the end.
So, in reality, my current reading list should look something like this:
"Jesus, Our Eucharistic Love" - More on this one tomorrow
"Render Unto Caesar" by Charles Chaput - I got this one at the beginning of December and it is very good, I just haven't finished it yet.
"There We Stood, Here We Stand - 11 Lutherans Rediscover their Catholic Roots" by Timothy Drake - this book was given to me by a friend in response to the Lutheran pastor issue. I love personal story kind of books; especially conversion stories.
"The Digital Photography Book, Volume 1" and "The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2" both by Scott Kelby. I got volume 2 for Christmas from my husband so I had to naturally go out and find volume 1. These books are great for people like me: the author tells you how to take different kinds of pictures, he doesn't waste his time telling you why you should do it that way. Personally, the why of f-stops and aperture never made sense to me anyway. And besides, I'm not very much of a why kind of person. Just tell me how and that's usually good enough for me.
So there you have it, all of the books that I am currently reading. In an effort to at least try to finish them, I have inserted a mandatory 1/2 hour of silent reading into our school day right after lunch. This way, I will hopefully be able to get through them in more of a timely fashion. Of course, once I get these finished, then I can start on the other stack of books that have been patiently waiting to be read, too.
God Bless!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Our Homeschooling Plan
Well, we spent the first day of school getting organized because I just couldn't manage to get it done before that! I don't know if I should publicly announce that or not, seeing as how I lead workshops on organizing your life, but it just goes to show you that I don't always have my act together.
Anyhow, I managed to put some thoughts together about our next topic of study and actually organize a schedule for the next couple of months. I'm trying something a bit different this time around. I split some of our subjects into different groups to be covered only on certain days. For example, our unit study will be done on Tues and Wed, while more independent studies will be done on Mon. and Thurs. Friday is usually our catch-up and errand day.
I'm mainly trying this because our morning mass schedule varies from day to day and I never seem to have enough time to do all of the group things that I'd like to do. Since we go to mass in the evening on Tuesday and early on Wednesday (thus opening up more time) I'm setting aside a good portion of those two days to do our "together" subjects. I know it goes against my "Never have more than one schedule" rule, but I decided I had to try it. We'll see how it goes.
As for our topic of study, we seem to be coming across a lot of information lately about becoming a bit more self-sufficient. That magazine I was reading last week had a lot of articles about moving in that direction. I thought it would be interesting to learn about what it would take to keep our family afloat if food or other items became harder to get. Can we take advantage of things we find in nature? What are the basic nutrients we need to stay alive and healthy? What are some things we can do right here, right now?
First, we are going to start out learning the basics about our bodies. In order to know what we need to survive, we need to know about how our body works. After we have some background there, I'd like to move on to learning about herbs and "weeds" - how to look around our area and find out what is edible and what is not. We'll also look into gardening (again!) and possibly animals we might be able to raise.
As usual, I'm not sure of the exact path we'll take. I like to leave some room in my plan for God to direct us where He wants us to go. I find it is more fun that way. At least I finally have an idea of where to start! If anyone has some good ideas or book recommendations, I'd love to hear about them! I hope you're school term is off to a good start, too.
God Bless!
Anyhow, I managed to put some thoughts together about our next topic of study and actually organize a schedule for the next couple of months. I'm trying something a bit different this time around. I split some of our subjects into different groups to be covered only on certain days. For example, our unit study will be done on Tues and Wed, while more independent studies will be done on Mon. and Thurs. Friday is usually our catch-up and errand day.
I'm mainly trying this because our morning mass schedule varies from day to day and I never seem to have enough time to do all of the group things that I'd like to do. Since we go to mass in the evening on Tuesday and early on Wednesday (thus opening up more time) I'm setting aside a good portion of those two days to do our "together" subjects. I know it goes against my "Never have more than one schedule" rule, but I decided I had to try it. We'll see how it goes.
As for our topic of study, we seem to be coming across a lot of information lately about becoming a bit more self-sufficient. That magazine I was reading last week had a lot of articles about moving in that direction. I thought it would be interesting to learn about what it would take to keep our family afloat if food or other items became harder to get. Can we take advantage of things we find in nature? What are the basic nutrients we need to stay alive and healthy? What are some things we can do right here, right now?
First, we are going to start out learning the basics about our bodies. In order to know what we need to survive, we need to know about how our body works. After we have some background there, I'd like to move on to learning about herbs and "weeds" - how to look around our area and find out what is edible and what is not. We'll also look into gardening (again!) and possibly animals we might be able to raise.
As usual, I'm not sure of the exact path we'll take. I like to leave some room in my plan for God to direct us where He wants us to go. I find it is more fun that way. At least I finally have an idea of where to start! If anyone has some good ideas or book recommendations, I'd love to hear about them! I hope you're school term is off to a good start, too.
God Bless!
Monday, January 5, 2009
FOCA Novena
Happy first day back to school for many of you reading this! Since my time is limited today, I thought I would pass along this email that I received. Please consider doing everything you can to pass the word along and also to participate in the prayer and fasting so that we can fight the passage of FOCA. Thanks!
If you are opposed to abortion, please read the information below and join us in prayer and fasting January 11-19, 2009.
The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) will be signed into law if Congress passes it on January 21-22, 2009. The FOCA is the next sick chapter in the book of abortion. If signed into law, all limitations on abortion will be lifted, resulting in the following:
1) All hospitals, including Catholic hospitals, will be required to perform abortions upon request. If this happens, Bishops vow to close down all Catholic hospitals - more then 30% of all hospitals in the U.S.
2) Partial birth abortions will be legal and have no limitations.
3) All U.S. taxpayers will be funding abortions.
4) Parental notification of abortions on minors will no longer be required (regardless of age).
5) The estimated number of increase in abortions is 100,000 annually.
Just as important, the government will now have control in the issue of abortion. This could result in a future amendment that would force women by law to have abortions in certain situations (rape, Down Syndrome babies, etc) and could even regulate how many children women are allowed to have.
Needless to say this information is disturbing, but sadly true. As Catholics, as Christians, as anyone who is against the needless killing of innocent children, we must stand as one. We must stop this horrific act before it becomes a law.
PLEASE JOIN US IN saying a novena and fasting from January 11-19. For Catholics, the prayer of choice is the rosary for the special intention of stopping the FOCA. For non-Catholics we encourage you to pray your strongest prayers with the same intention for 9 consecutive days. We hope and pray this will branch and blossom to become a global effort.
Please do the following 3 things:
1) Pass this information on quickly (so as many as possible can start praying on January 11)
2) Say a novena from January 11-19, asking God to prevent the FOCA from becoming law in the U.S.
3) Fast at least 2 days during this novena (either a complete fast of bread and water, or a Lenten fast of no meat and meals limited to 1 regular meal and 2 lesser meals during the day).
Remember that with God all things are possible and the power of prayer is undeniable. If you are against the senseless killing of defenseless children, please join us in prayer and fasting.
God Bless!
If you are opposed to abortion, please read the information below and join us in prayer and fasting January 11-19, 2009.
The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) will be signed into law if Congress passes it on January 21-22, 2009. The FOCA is the next sick chapter in the book of abortion. If signed into law, all limitations on abortion will be lifted, resulting in the following:
1) All hospitals, including Catholic hospitals, will be required to perform abortions upon request. If this happens, Bishops vow to close down all Catholic hospitals - more then 30% of all hospitals in the U.S.
2) Partial birth abortions will be legal and have no limitations.
3) All U.S. taxpayers will be funding abortions.
4) Parental notification of abortions on minors will no longer be required (regardless of age).
5) The estimated number of increase in abortions is 100,000 annually.
Just as important, the government will now have control in the issue of abortion. This could result in a future amendment that would force women by law to have abortions in certain situations (rape, Down Syndrome babies, etc) and could even regulate how many children women are allowed to have.
Needless to say this information is disturbing, but sadly true. As Catholics, as Christians, as anyone who is against the needless killing of innocent children, we must stand as one. We must stop this horrific act before it becomes a law.
PLEASE JOIN US IN saying a novena and fasting from January 11-19. For Catholics, the prayer of choice is the rosary for the special intention of stopping the FOCA. For non-Catholics we encourage you to pray your strongest prayers with the same intention for 9 consecutive days. We hope and pray this will branch and blossom to become a global effort.
Please do the following 3 things:
1) Pass this information on quickly (so as many as possible can start praying on January 11)
2) Say a novena from January 11-19, asking God to prevent the FOCA from becoming law in the U.S.
3) Fast at least 2 days during this novena (either a complete fast of bread and water, or a Lenten fast of no meat and meals limited to 1 regular meal and 2 lesser meals during the day).
Remember that with God all things are possible and the power of prayer is undeniable. If you are against the senseless killing of defenseless children, please join us in prayer and fasting.
God Bless!
Friday, January 2, 2009
7 Quick Takes Friday
The first 7 Quick Takes Friday of 2009!
Yesterday, as you know, was the feast of Mary the Mother of God. Our priest told us that this is the oldest Marian feast day celebrated by the church. I didn't know that! It was decided upon at the Council of Ephasus. I just read a quote by St. Cyril of Alexandria about this. He said, "I am exceedingly astounded that there could be anyone who has any doubt as to whether the Blessed Virgin should be called the Mother of God. If Our Lord Jesus Christ is God, why should the Blessed Virgin, who gave him birth, not be called the Mother of God?" Seems pretty straight forward to me.
Is this a sign of things to come? Did you hear about the family in Ohio that got raided by armed officers and held captive in their home for 6 hours because they operated a food co-op???? Here is the story from World Net Daily. Unbelievable!
A moment of self promotion: Beginning this month I will be blogging at least once a month on the TORCH homeschooling website. TORCH is a national Catholic homeschooling group and its an acronym for Traditions of Roman Catholic Homes. My posts will center around family formation. You have to sign up in order to access the website, but if you're interested you can check it out here.
For those of you who are Irish, here's a cute story: (be prepared for some wild font changes!)
A story from a person who recently visited Europe:
On vacation in Rome, I noticed a marble column in St. Peter's with a
golden telephone on it. As a young priest passed by, I asked who
the telephone was for. The priest told me it was a direct line to
Heaven, and if I'd like to call, it would be a thousand dollars. I
was amazed, but declined the offer.
Throughout Italy, I kept seeing the same golden telephone on a
marble column. At each, I asked about it and the answer was always
the same: a direct line to Heaven and I could call for a thousand
dollars.
I finished my tour in Ireland . I decided to attend Mass at a local
village church. When I walked in the door I noticed the golden
telephone. Underneath it there was a sign stating: "DIRECT LINE
TO HEAVEN 25 cents." "Father," I said, "I have been all over
Italy and in all the cathedrals I visited, I've seen telephones
exactly like this one. But the price is always a thousand
dollars. Why is it that this one is only 25 cents?"
The priest smiled and said,
Darlin', you're in Ireland now. It's a local call."
The kids got some Barnes and Noble gift cards for Christmas so we took a trip there earlier this week. Our youngest was insisting that the name of the store was really Barnes and Bellyboots. We're not quite sure why he came up with this name. Just a three year old thing, I guess. When we pulled up in front of the store, someone inadvertently read the sign as Barnes and Bellyboots BookSmellers. Well this got us on a roll about how books really do have certain smells and that those smells can evoke strong memories. I insisted that Nancy Drew books have their own unique smell that remind me of my childhood. Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this way???!! However, when we got home, they pulled out a Nancy Drew book and I have to admit that it didn't really have a smell anymore :(
My three year old son has a very vivid imagination and has learned how to tell some very interesting and detailed stories. When he gets into this mode he gets very animated. His voice rises and his eyes get wide and his hands move around a lot. The other day he was in the middle of one of his stories when he told us about a sled that was heading BETORDS his cousin. Later on, the sled was FLEWING over his head. I love his creativity. Just so no one else tries to slip these kinds of words into their writing assignments!
School starts again on Monday. Yikes. I'm still not ready. I guess it doesn't matter, though, since we have something that will take all or at least some of us away from the house every day but Monday! Oh well. So much for thinking that things would slow down after the holidays.
Check out Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!
God Bless!
1.
Yesterday, as you know, was the feast of Mary the Mother of God. Our priest told us that this is the oldest Marian feast day celebrated by the church. I didn't know that! It was decided upon at the Council of Ephasus. I just read a quote by St. Cyril of Alexandria about this. He said, "I am exceedingly astounded that there could be anyone who has any doubt as to whether the Blessed Virgin should be called the Mother of God. If Our Lord Jesus Christ is God, why should the Blessed Virgin, who gave him birth, not be called the Mother of God?" Seems pretty straight forward to me.
2.
Is this a sign of things to come? Did you hear about the family in Ohio that got raided by armed officers and held captive in their home for 6 hours because they operated a food co-op???? Here is the story from World Net Daily. Unbelievable!
3.
A moment of self promotion: Beginning this month I will be blogging at least once a month on the TORCH homeschooling website. TORCH is a national Catholic homeschooling group and its an acronym for Traditions of Roman Catholic Homes. My posts will center around family formation. You have to sign up in order to access the website, but if you're interested you can check it out here.
4.
For those of you who are Irish, here's a cute story: (be prepared for some wild font changes!)
A story from a person who recently visited Europe:
On vacation in Rome, I noticed a marble column in St. Peter's with a
golden telephone on it. As a young priest passed by, I asked who
the telephone was for. The priest told me it was a direct line to
Heaven, and if I'd like to call, it would be a thousand dollars. I
was amazed, but declined the offer.
Throughout Italy, I kept seeing the same golden telephone on a
marble column. At each, I asked about it and the answer was always
the same: a direct line to Heaven and I could call for a thousand
dollars.
I finished my tour in Ireland . I decided to attend Mass at a local
village church. When I walked in the door I noticed the golden
telephone. Underneath it there was a sign stating: "DIRECT LINE
TO HEAVEN 25 cents." "Father," I said, "I have been all over
Italy and in all the cathedrals I visited, I've seen telephones
exactly like this one. But the price is always a thousand
dollars. Why is it that this one is only 25 cents?"
The priest smiled and said,
Darlin', you're in Ireland now. It's a local call."
5.
The kids got some Barnes and Noble gift cards for Christmas so we took a trip there earlier this week. Our youngest was insisting that the name of the store was really Barnes and Bellyboots. We're not quite sure why he came up with this name. Just a three year old thing, I guess. When we pulled up in front of the store, someone inadvertently read the sign as Barnes and Bellyboots BookSmellers. Well this got us on a roll about how books really do have certain smells and that those smells can evoke strong memories. I insisted that Nancy Drew books have their own unique smell that remind me of my childhood. Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this way???!! However, when we got home, they pulled out a Nancy Drew book and I have to admit that it didn't really have a smell anymore :(
6.
My three year old son has a very vivid imagination and has learned how to tell some very interesting and detailed stories. When he gets into this mode he gets very animated. His voice rises and his eyes get wide and his hands move around a lot. The other day he was in the middle of one of his stories when he told us about a sled that was heading BETORDS his cousin. Later on, the sled was FLEWING over his head. I love his creativity. Just so no one else tries to slip these kinds of words into their writing assignments!
7.
School starts again on Monday. Yikes. I'm still not ready. I guess it doesn't matter, though, since we have something that will take all or at least some of us away from the house every day but Monday! Oh well. So much for thinking that things would slow down after the holidays.
Check out Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!
God Bless!
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