A Patron for My Son...

Well, yesterday was 16 October. My son Stephen turned 21 & he is an example of just one baby who was saved by St. Gerard Majella, whose Feast Day was also yesterday.
Years ago, I didn't know anything about St. Gerard, but I had heard of him...that was about it.
On Sunday, 16 Oct., 1988, I went into labor with my eighth child ~ we have two more in Heaven. But with this one, things were different. My pains came & went all day. No matter what I did, they would start up, last about half an hour or so, then stop. An hour later, there they would be again! Frustrating...
My husband Michael was @ work all day, getting in some much-needed overtime hours & by the time he came home I had been in labor (off & on) for several hours.
We decided it was time to go to the hospital, which was about a half-hour's drive away. When we got there, it was starting up again, but as soon as I got to the labor room, things slowed down...then started up again, etc. This pattern kept up until about 8:00 that evening.
This was when the doctor noticed that the baby was not getting enough oxygen, most likely strangling on the umbilical cord. So they wheeled me into the delivery room & within a few minutes, Stephen Thomas was born. :)
It was a few years later that I was on my computer one afternoon & a St. Gerard's Feast Day reminder was in my email...and noticing the date, I couldn't help but remark on the coincidence of it ~ the Patron Saint of mothers in labor, newborn babies & those wishing to get pregnant had been watching over us the entire time!
Out of all of our children (not including the two who didn't make it) Stephen's birth was the ONLY one that had presented any risk, either to me or the baby ~ and to this day I feel a special gratitude to this wonderful, kind-hearted Saint who kept my son safe, even if it did take me a few more years to learn anything about him.
And now here we are, 21 years later. I have learned amazing things about St. Gerard, including the fact that he had had many visions of Our Lord as a small boy, when Jesus would come to him as the Divine Infant & the two of them would play together for hours on end...right up until Gerard's years as a Redemptorist priest, when he would sit & visit with Our Lord in the Tabernacle all night long, joking with Him about who was crazier ~ himself, Gerard, for sitting up all night with little or no sleep, or Jesus, the Creator of the entire universe Who kept Himself a Prisoner of Love in the small box on the altar of every Catholic church in the world! :)
So...there is my take on the day, the Feast of a favorite Patron to our family, the one whose intercession, no doubt, had a hand all those years ago in saving the life of a most beloved son ~ and to whom I owe my loyalty & my thanks. xo

Mercy and Love, Good News and Salvation...

As I was waiting my turn to walk to the Communion rail, I couldn't help but stare at the huge crucifix that hangs over the Tabernacle at the main altar.
I gazed upon the nails in His hands and feet, thinking of all the journeys He took about Judea, raising His hands in curing, blessing, teaching...walking everywhere He went, bringing the Good News to everyone He met.
Then, there He was, hanging on a wooden pole, arms outstretched, impaled and prevented from spreading the love and mercy of His Eternal Father to us all.
But wait! Not so! Here, He was even more enabled than ever, by being nailed to a cross!
Years ago, I read in the Mystical City of God, that Our Lady noticed that whenever He slept, He never stretched out His arms and legs. She asked Him why and He replied that He would never do this ~ until the time would come when He would stretch out His entire Body in sacrifice to His Father, for the salvation of the world.
So, in Her perfect imitation of His virtues, She began to sleep the same way, keeping Her limbs close about Herself...
And there I was, sitting there gazing upon that sacrificial Lamb, impaled upon the Cross, ribs stretched out in His final Agony ~ trying desperately to breathe, expanding His chest as those fleeting breaths became more and more difficult to take in...(did you know that the actual cause of death on a cross is suffocation?)...
I pictured myself trying to climb to His Heart ~ those ribs became my ladder ~ and as I was immersed in His Precious Blood, I was washed clean. My sins were erased, forgiven, never to darken my soul again.
I had just been to Confession, a few minutes earlier. To be able to go as often as I do is a privilege, one that I do not take lightly. There are others of my acquaintance who are not so lucky, so I take full advantage of this convenience as often as I possibly can. And that makes it easier to practice, as well...an additional blessing for which I am most grateful, believe me!
Every time I make a good Confession, I climb one more rung on that ladder, one more rib closer to His Heart...and I become more and more immersed in His Blood ~ and His saving grace.
I have been reading quite a bit about different Saints and how they practiced devotion. It always seems to me that they were so far above me in the practice of virtue, and there is no way I can ever come close to what they were. And then, I remember the very few words of a very wise priest who asked me in the Confessional (during a conversation concerning frequent Confession), "Are you not also trying to become a Saint?"
So, I sit before this Crucifix quite often and think about what he asked me that day. And I have to answer, "Yes! Dearest Lord Jesus, allow me to take in a drop of Thy Precious Blood for myself! Keep my own heart safe within Thine own Sacred Heart!"
This past weekend, the Solemnities of the Two Hearts, would be a perfect time to remind myself of this prayer. And even more important, to put into practice all that a true devotion to the Two Hearts would entail...frequent Confession being one of them...and the very humble, very contrite and very grateful climbing of that ladder, one rung at a time, to be ever closer to His most Precious Heart of Mercy, Love and Salvation.

Is She Pro-Abortion? Absolutely...

Well, Obama holds true to his word, his first impression made, and how ever else you would like to color it...
http://www.aul.org/Sotomayor_Facts
If I were his mother, I would lock this sorry excuse for a President in the woodshed.
Period.

All Praise, Honor and Thanksgiving be...

...to Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!
Amen.
Have you ever found that pefect Novena? You know, the one that hits you square between the eyes, the one that says ~ no, screams ~ "Here I am! Pray me!!!"
Today was a day unlike most others in my life. I had been losing sleep, crying to myself silently, wringing my hands, not being able to concentrate on anything but getting through til it might be time again to catch a few hours of sleep, seeing that I had not gotten that much the night before.
And then it would come again ~ waking in the wee hours, lying there, staring at the ceiling, listening to my Michael's gentle breathing at my side...
Little did I know (for the most part) that when I did close my eyes in slumber, he was living the night owl existence that I had just escaped a short time before...and so, as the nights wore on, tells the hours of our life here. And this, for nearly a week.
I am not free to go into the details, but suffice it to say that we were so stressed out, we were barely able to get anything done, short of prayer and worry.
Today was a big day ~ the day it all turned around, and the day destined to be red-letter.
As I sat here this morning, I thought to myself, "Today is the day we make a certain do-or-die phone call. Today is the day! It has to be ~ I can't take this anymore..."
And as I took out my favorite prayer book, there it was...that card with the nine-hour Novena of Childlike Confidence to the Divine Infant of Prague.
This holy card practically jumped into my hands...and it was then that it hit me!
"Why not?" right??
Like anything else, Our most Blessed Lord Jesus, keeping a Promise that He made so long ago, and of course, being the merciful God that He is, He does not leave His poor servant out in the cold.
So I began. And then, the most amazing thing happened.
My stress began almost immediately to wear away.
Mike & I went out to lunch...talked things out, trying to whittle away this problem that was hurting us both ~ totally out of our control at this point, hovering over our family like a disease, threatening to take away our peace for many months to come.
And by the time I got to the third hour of my Novena, it was over. Just like that. He made this all-too-fateful phone call and the news was completely the best news we could have ever hoped for or imagined!
My Novena of petition had no more immediacy...it was time for a Novena of thanksgiving, which I plan to make tomorrow. And you can believe that this is one Prayer that I will keep close to my heart for the rest of my life!!!
There is nothing like saying "Thank-You, Lord Jesus! All praise, honor and thanksgiving to You now and forever! Amen."

Just One More Prayer...

There is just something so sweet about the month of May being Mary's month. No matter how often I think I have it right, there is always one more thing I can think of to make it more Hers in my heart.
Just last week we were saying the 20-decade Rosary every day (until yesterday) for the pro-life intention. Now that the novena is done, I have been thinking to myself, "Why not continue? I have a 20-decade Rosary that I use quite often; I carry it in my purse everywhere I go ~ and very often to church to visit the Blessed Sacrament for at least an hour anyway!" I mean, why not?? After all, it's just one more prayer, right?
And today a friend in a Group to which I belong on Yahoo posted this link to a video on YouTube, which is encouraging young people to say the Rosary every day. As the video claims, "It's just 50 Hail Marys!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxjjyXhO9EA
The sequel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsQeyDZJ_HQ&feature=related
As I pray this wonderful Chaplet, whether the 5- or the 20-decade, or anything in between, I am transported to a place where no one else follows. I can see in my mind's eye all the happenings of Our Lord's life, that of His Mother, and His friends. I see Her kneeling at prayer, speaking to St. Gabriel. I see Him in the manger, surrounded by light and thousands of Angels. I see Him being baptized by St. John. I see Him transfigured to show what He truly is, before He had to suffer and die. I see His "enemies" as they taunt Him before He dies, and I see the looks on their faces when they discover Him risen from the dead ~ and no amount of taunting or torture can stop His followers from believing in Him. And I see His Mother being assumed into Heaven to be crowned for all eternity as the Queen of the Universe.
wow...
There can be no better story ever told than that! And it is ours to re-live every single day of our lives if we would pray just one more prayer.
I know that many will tell me that they don't have the time to say this Holy Rosary of Mary's ~ what with trekking around after the kids all day, cleaning and cooking, going to work, falling into bed at night exhausted, on and on and on...
I say, "Why not say It as you work?" It really only takes about 15 minutes, over all, unless you do have the time to say more of It, and then, why wouldn't you? What can be so important in your life that you cannot give your own Mother a few minutes of your time?
There is a bumper sticker in these parts that I have seen which features a picture of the Rosary, surrounding a portrait of Mary, and it says, "Call your Mother. She's waiting to hear from you." I always smile when I see that one, and it puts it in my mind many times to take my own out of my purse and finger the beads as I drive along. It brings down Our Lady's protection upon me and the others on the road, wherever I am, it makes my Angel smile as he follows along...and many times I am done by the time I reach my destination ~ an added bonus if I am having a really busy day and I worry that I might have to put it off til later ~ something I abhor. And to make it even better, there have been times when I just figured it was an extra "Hello, dearest Mother Mary, I love You!" and I might get a chance to say a second one later in the day.
Either way, there is absolutely nothing, other than the Holy Mass and visiting the Blessed Eucharist, of course, that I would rather be doing to show my love for Them.
And since it is just one more prayer, I see no reason why that will ever stop!


O St. Dismas, as you hung on your cross, alongside my Jesus, He promised you that you would be with Him forever in Paradise. Please pray for me, that I, too, may someday realize His Promise of eternal life. Amen.
Dear St. Bernadette, Our Lady once promised you that you would be happy in the next Life. Please beg Her for me to keep me holy, so that I may someday realize the same Promise. Amen.
http://www.catholicforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68
THERE IS NOT ONE SAINT IN HEAVEN WHO WOULD NOT WISH TO COME BACK JUST FOR THE CHANCE TO SAY ONE MORE "HAIL MARY."

Convoluted? No. Complicated?? Not really...

It's simple. Believe in life, all life, from conception to natural death. That's about as cut'n'dry as it gets, right? So, what's not to understand here??
What I don't understand is what all the arguing is about...the pro-death rallying around so-called officials who are supposed to have our good interests at heart, yet are hell-bent on murdering our children and grandchildren.
At this rate, who will be around to vote their own sons or daughters into office in 50 years? Certainly mine will be (since I didn't murder any of them), but I doubt very much that they would go for the liberal ticket. We taught them better than that...
I was reading Diane's Blog ( http://te-deum.blogspot.com ) earlier today & I wanted to credit her with the following:
RaymondArroyo'sPostOnNancyPelosi . *Thanks, Diane, for providing us with the link!* (To read what Diane has to say, simply follow this one: HolyHourForBishops .) ~ a wonderful idea, by the way, and one which I intend to follow!
Since Diane & I share the same Archdiocese, I am posting this picture from her Blog of our new Archbishop Allen Vigneron (above), a native son who was recently appointed by His Holiness to step in for retiring Adam Cardinal Maida (left).
She has sent her readers to Raymond's Blog because he posted a prayer that is good for offering for our bishops. They can certainly use all the prayers they can get, as they deal daily with the dissenting "Catholic-In-Name-Only" politicians and judges who are in positions of power.
I would like to go one step further here & offer another link to another prayer, credit going to Human Life International...a prayer to convert the abortionists themselves:
PrayerForAbortionists . It is the time-honored Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, written by Pope Leo XIII, the one which I am sure we all know ~ the same one which, in days gone by, was said after every Holy Mass offered in every Catholic Church in the country, but has now sadly fallen into much disuse.
In my own parish, we say it still ~ many times more than just after Holy Mass, but it cannot be said enough! The great Archangel will protect anyone who honors him in this way; there is no way he will refuse to help if we ask him!
Anyway, that's my "two cents" for the day. I think that what these others have posted says it all...

O Holy Mother, on Mother's Day...

"Hail, Mary"
O most holy Mother of God, greetings!
"full of grace"
without blemish, without fault, without sin ~
"the Lord is with Thee!"
most favored of God the Father, most beloved of God the Son,
most esteemed of God the Holy Spirit
"Blessed art Thou among women"
holiest of all Mothers, most exalted of all women
"and blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus!"
O most joyful of all events in all of history!
...the coming of the Eternal Word, borne for nine months in the womb of the holiest of all Mothers
...come to save mankind from itself!
"Holy Mary, Mother of God"
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Dearest Mary, sweetest Mother!!!
"pray for us sinners"
O yes, we who have need of the most blessed coming, the Emmanuel...save us, o Lord!
Pray for us, dearest Mary!
"now and at the hour of our death."
Dearest Mother, conceived without sin,
intercede for us at the Throne of Your Divine Son ~ beg for His Divine Mercy to be upon us all...
"Amen."
...now and forever...
Holy Mary, show Thyself our Mother!

Seven Sorrows on May Day...

A couple of months ago, I posted pictures of my rosaries, with each having seven beads attached @ the end, just before the centerpiece. These seven beads I use to remind myself to pray, every day after I finish the Holy Rosary, the meditations on the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady of Sorrows.
They are:
The Prophecy of Simeon
The Flight into Egypt
The Losing of Jesus in the Temple
Meeting Jesus on the Way of the Cross
Standing @ the Foot of the Cross
Taking Jesus down from the Cross
The Burial of Jesus.
I was @ Mass this afternoon, and I stayed afterwards for the Divine Mercy Chaplet, which, in my parish, is offered after every Holy Mass (we say the Holy Rosary before each Mass). As I fingered the beads, sitting and gazing upon the Crucifix over the altar, it dawned on me that with today being the beginning of Our Lady's Spring month, it would do very nicely to meditate upon Her Sorrows...so I decided to post them here.
I realize, of course, that we are well beyond the Easter of our year...that He is risen, be joyful! He has shown Himself to all those of Faith, be at peace!
But there is nothing wrong with remembering what Our Lady suffered during His Passion, indeed, during His entire life, which qualifies Her for the eternal glory and happiness which was His pleasure to bestow upon Her.
And especially during this "happy time" I am prone to give way to my innermost desire of focusing on the blessed events that have followed the Rising of Christ from the dead, the Pentecost in our near future, and the glorious Ascension into Heaven in just a few short weeks. I am at peace; I made my Divine Mercy Novena, I have been forgiven and granted a new life in Him! All is well...
But as I pray my daily prayers, once again that seven-bead attachment beckons me to pray with Our Lady the Seven Hail Marys of Her Dolors ~ to remember all that went on before the bliss of the Resurrection.
When Our Blessed Mother gave us the devotion to Her in meditating upon these Seven Sorrows, She promised that, to those who will follow Her wishes here:

1. I will grant peace to their families.
2.They will be enlightened about the Divine mysteries.
3. I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.
4. I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my Divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.
5. I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.
6. I will visibly help them at the moment of their death, they will see the face of their Mother.
7. I have obtained this Grace from my Divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.

I must admit that, like most people, I tend to remember the Promises made in order to induce me to follow a certain devotion. This is one such case, in my life...but now that I have been doing this for some time, I can honestly say that the Promises are not the main focus of my endeavors.
Oh, sure, I want to go straight to Heaven when I die ~ who doesn't?!? And I do wish to be enlightened as to the Divine mysteries ~ don't you?!? I would love to have Our Lady's consolations during my daily struggles to cope with daily duties, daily prayers, practicing the virtues and offering penance, etc.! Who wouldn't?!? And to be granted all that I ask, as long as it coincides with the Divine Will for my own salvation?!? Who could ask for more than that!?! To have Her protection against Satan...a dream come true!! And to see Her as She is, as I lie on my deathbed, to be able to exclaim, like St. Bernadette, "O how I love thee!"
But receiving the graces promised are but a side highlight of my prayer.
I wish to honor my holy Mother. I wish to wipe away Her tears. I wish, with all my heart, to spread the news of Her Sorrows for Her Son, Her sorrows for Her children all over the world ~ and to show in my daily life what I have learned. I wish, more than anything, to bring souls to Him, through Her, and to show why He did what He did to everyone and anyone who asks me.
I wish, most of all, to show by my own life and example, what it means to live the life of a good Catholic wife and mother, one who can put her own sympathies with the Mother of us all...and bring those Promises to others by living a life that reflects the Sorrows, the Joys and the eternal Blessings of God the Father, Who pulls from His own pocket all that He wishes to grant the souls of His children.
Every time I sin, I hurt the Immaculate Heart of my Mother Mary. I gravely wound the Sacred Heart of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So, let it be known that, as of this day and insofar as I am able *better and more than I have done til now*, I intend to do what I can to let others see in me a heart that reflects the Hearts of the Two Who gave all that They had to save my soul...and the least I can do to repay Them is to offer this soul right back to Them.

In Every Abortion...

Lately I have been reading and hearing non-stop, on the 'Net and on the radio, all about President Obama & all that he has done to un-do the work of the pro-life movement here in America, and abroad. It's a pity that our once-illustrious nation, here under God *in Whom we trust*, is now the world's leader in pro-abortion-peddling and anti-life activities. Thanks to big-time promoters like Planned Parenthood, we are fast becoming the leaders in what I call "death peddling."
You know, a long time ago there was a Man Who came to us as a naked Babe in a cave, poor, hungry, innocent of all that evil would inflict ~ born to a Mother Who, Herself, was as innocent as He was, Who never wanted anything but to live Her life, to pray, to act in all charity and obedience to the will of God. And as He grew up, He blossomed into a Man of many miraculous works. To be anything else would have gone completely against all that He was ~ and is.
Today, as we all know, that Man, the Son of God Himself, looks down upon us with all love and mercy. Even to those who would promote abortion! "Pray for your enemies, if you expect Me to stand for you before My Father, Who is in Heaven."
He is warning us, people...
And when I pray my daily Rosary, I can't help but think to myself about all those who don't agree with me ~ what the Church teaches ~ that abortion is MURDER. That it is WRONG to push our anti-life agenda on others.
"Oh, you know, Jenn, it's the way of the world these days; you can't do anything to change it!" or "He's just one man, the Congress isn't going to let him do anything, not really! What can one man do?!"
Hello?? I beg to differ here...
Yesterday, my husband Michael showed me a YouTube video of the Morton Downey program, taped years ago when Patrick Buchanan was running for President, and a woman was berating Mr. Buchanan for his pro-life views. She scolded him that he just didn't "get it" that there were women dying who had to get illegal abortions instead of opting to have their babies. That her own mother was one such "victim" who had nearly died trying to kill her unborn child years ago, and that if abortion was not kept legal there would be many more fatalities! (Such twisted logic I have rarely heard.) Mr. Buchanan told her that in every abortion a human being dies. In EVERY ABORTION, A HUMAN BEING DIES.
Imagine that?!? Has anyone ever realized that before? In this day and age, with every convenience, we are still arguing a basic Truth. It never ceases to amaze me, and I am not alone.
What does He think, as He watches over us? Does He think to Himself, "My, these children of mine are so ignorant, even after all that I have been through for them?! After all that I taught them?! After all that has happened, they are so stubborn?!"
Well, I'll tell you one thing: I do NOT want to be here when it finally comes to the end. When the results of our selfishness, our ignorance and our greed finally hit the fan, God grant that I am long gone.
I wish to be safely in the bosom of Abraham when that day comes...

Divine Mercy Sunday...

This Image says it all...need I add anything more, in my own meager words?
I think not...
http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/feast.htm

The Church of Oprah?? hmm.m...

~ I have thought for a very long time that Oprah Winfrey was just a bit unstable...and these videos prove it.
Let us all pray for her that she will one day see the Truth as It really is, not follow the New Age, and make amends for all the people she is leading astray...

Veneration of Relics...

A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing a fellow Catholic Blog-ger, Esther, well-known among many of us Catholic writers here @ http://hicatholicmom.blogspot.com/. In her sidebar, there is a link to another Blog where the writer discusses the updates to Bl. Damien of Molokai's cause for canonization, which it seems will take place on 11 October, 2009 *God be praised, in His Angels and in His Saints!*. The right heel of Bl. Damien is going to be presented to Bishop Silva of Honolulu.
On this woman's site, she posed the question to her readers: are you for or against relics of the Saints being venerated? Is this a repulsive practice or not?
I posted a reply in the comments section, after two others had written their "say"...one of whom professed to be a former Catholic, presently non-practicing, who states that he believes the Catholic "adoration" of relics is meant to inspire non-believers. The other, who says that she is non-Catholic, says she "likes her Saints whole." The Blog author states that there have been only two comments posted to her question.
This is not true.
I posted a reply myself, but since she did not see fit to post my comments, I will post them here myself:
I am a cradle, practicing Catholic and I am proud to profess it. I would just like to say here that there is a very valid and important reason why we, as Catholics, venerate the relics of the Saints.
First of all, we do NOT worship or adore the Saints, their body parts or anything to do with them. This is, for the umpteenth time, reserved for God alone...and someone who was raised in the Church *Marc* really should know better than to suggest otherwise. This is the reason why so many non-Catholics have this issue so confused. Those who have been taught the right ways are not instructing them properly...hence, the erroneous conclusion that we adore someone other than the Trinity. We do NOT.
Second, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and the vessel through which the Saints (and all holy people) work with Christ our Lord in practicing the virtues, the works of mercy, acts of charity and penance. There is nothing "eww-wy" about parts of their bodies, whether incorrupt or even as mere bones or locks of hair. To suggest otherwise is to insult those whom the Lord would call His friends...and therefore, it is insulting to Him.
Now, as someone who has venerated the Saints all her life, I think I know a thing or two about the practice of venerating their remains. I own a couple of 3rd class Relics myself, as do many of my readers, I'm sure. I have been "this close" to the 1st class Relics of one or two as well...but I don't have them in my possession. This practice is such an old tradition in the Church; remains of the Saints have been honored by us Catholics for nearly 2,000 years!
In my parish, we have in our vault, a 1st class Relic of St. Faustina, which is brought out every year @ the Holy Masses of Divine Mercy Sunday. And a few years ago, I, with two of my daughters, Theresa & Laura, went to the Shrine of the Little Flower, which is about a 30 minute drive from our home, when her remains were brought over from France for the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of her death.
And perhaps most importantly of all, at a nearby parish, they have a 1st class Relic of the True Cross Itself! Every year, It is brought out and venerated by the faithful @ the Good Friday services. To have such a Relic in their possession is indeed a great blessing for the people of this parish!!
As we all know, many of the Saints have also been found to be incorrupt. Talk about a 1st class Relic! St. Bernadette, St. Catherine Laboure, St. Vincent de Paul, the tongue of St. Anthony, many others. Through the relics of these holy persons, many miracles have been performed. Many non-believers have been converted to the True Faith.
To say with disdain or disrespect that one does not like "body parts of the Saints ~ they are gross" is to show the utmost dislike of God Himself ~ and the means through which He chooses to bless us in our present day.

Please Pray...

Please join me in prayer for a very holy Priest ~ Fr. Valerian Rykowski (November 12, 1916 - March 1, 2009).
Our beloved Fr. Val was very much devoted to the Holy Trinity, and was the spiritual director of the Apostolate. He was also a much-felt presence about the parish grounds, always ready with a kind word, a warm smile and a happy reminiscence of his own younger days to relate a very human anecdote.
Once, when I was entering the vestibule with my daughter Clare, and during the time I was still laid up with the "boot" on my R leg (while it was still broken) he approached me & asked me if I had asked permission to do this to myself. I responded, "No, I didn't think to ask permission, Father! But I did remember to thank God for the opportunity to have this suffering to offer up!"
He smiled at that...he loved hearing when someone understood suffering in this way ~ how it is always a chance to give thanks to God, to make a sacrifice for the good of a soul, either one's own or that of another.
As we talked, I commented upon a beautiful jeweled cross that he wore around his neck on a gold chain; he showed it to me close up & told me the story of how his sister had given it to him for his birthday. Afterwards, whenever I saw him walking about or talking with someone else, if he wasn't wearing his vestments, he would always have that cross about his neck, and I would remember his sister...
He also told me another time that he pictured God the Father as his own beloved Papa, Who, when asked for a favor or a special grace, would reach into His own pocket to give a gift to him, as if he were still a small boy.
He once wrote a beautiful prayer, asking God to keep him from sin, and exhorted me to say it every night, as I examine my conscience:

O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, open my mind that I may think according to Your ways - not according to man's way or my way. Enlighten me, Lord, guard me, guide me, and teach me. Fill me with the most precious gifts of the Most Holy Trinity. Fill me with the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord - with genuine humility and obedience.

There are too many good things to say about a man who, during his lifetime, can almost be considered a living Saint. On the parish website (http://www.saintcyrils.org), there is a quote that states that he was just such a man...and I, in my own heart, believe it.

May God keep him, may Our Blessed Lady smile upon him, and may he rest in eternal light and peace, giving praise and adoration to the Most Holy Trinity to Whom he was so devoted.

Amen.

Also, please feel free to visit Diane's Blog @ Assumption Grotto parish, our "sister" parish and the Nat. HQ parish of the Opus Angelorum ~ http://te-deum.blogspot.com/2009/03/rip-fr-val-rykowski-1916-2009and-god.html , where she has posted a wonderful tribute to Fr. Val, and where others have left comments, memories and loving words about this amazing man.

What If...

This occurred to me yesterday as I sat in church listening to the parish announcements:
(They were extolling us to take home a postcard to sign, asking our State Representatives and Senators to vote against FOCA {Freedom of Choice Act}, which is an atrocity visited upon our nation by the latest Administration.)
I wondered, what if Our Lady had been pro-choice? What if She had decided, in Her Heart of hearts, that She did not want to be a Mother? What if being the Mother of God was too daunting for Her? She was, after a young girl of about 14 years of age, not married, avowed to remain a virgin for all of Her life...
What if, in Her Heart of hearts, She had so much doubt about Her ability to carry this Child within Her womb, to care for It after birth, to support the Life sustained by Her own ~ that's an awful lot to ask, isn't it?!?
Well?!? Isn't it?!?!?!
She had a choice. She was asked ~ not told ~ by the Angel if She would do this...She could have said, "I'm afraid I cannot do that! That is too much! Who does God think He is to ask this of me?!?"
And just think of the repercussions throughout history...
No blind man was to be cured. No maiden of doubtful virtue was to be rescued from being stoned to death. No fishermen of rough-hewn character were to be refined into "fishers of men." No miracle @ Cana. No miracle of the loaves and fishes. No salvation on Calvary!
No Eucharist!!! God forbid...
It may be that She could have refused, and we will never know all that would not come to be, if it weren't for Her "Yes!"
Indeed, She had a choice...but maybe to Her, there was no choice here. She was so in tune with the Will of God that to Her, the only reply was this "Yes!" There was no other response She could have given.
Anything less than this would never have occurred to Her. She may have been given a choice, but She is not pro-choice.
She is always begging Her children to pray the Rosary for those who would abort their own children; She cries for them! There have been incidents and miracles all over the world attributed to the intercession of our Holy Mother Mary. She comes to ask us all the time if we will make the choice to follow Her to Her Son.
What is our response to Her? Are we followers of the Divine Will? Who is this God Who asks such things of His people?!?
Will we abort the children whom He has created? Will we make the same choice as Mary did? Will the following of the Divine Will be so ingrained into our nature that to "choose" any other way will be abhorrent to us?!?
Well?!? Will it?!?

A Quick Note...

I don't know what is going on with Blogger lately, but it seems that comments are being posted to my Blogs (all 3 of them!) without my knowledge. I have only found them later, and been able to respond to all of my friends here...
I just want to thank one and all who have posted comments to me over the past month or two, when this first seems to have started. I don't know how it is, as I am shown on my Account pages as moderating all comments! It is not that I don't trust you all to leave kindly remarks ~ or at least polite ones, lol ~ but please bear with me if I don't answer in the first day or two.
Sometimes I come to my Blogs only a couple of times in a week, as I get busy with other things, or I might not be feeling especially inspired to write.
I do love each and every one of your observations, and I love to reply.
As soon as I can get this fixed, I intend to, believe me! I like to know when comments are being left for me, as I find it rude not to answer someone when they post a remark or question!!
Thanks for your patience... :)...and I send my Greetings to your Angels.

Recognizing Him...pt. 5

I know it's been too long since I wrote this series, having this final set of Mysteries to get through, but with the death of my Mom, things have been upside-down here for a while. Now that my days are more steadied, and I have come to that feeling of peace where I know she is in a better place and hopefully reunited with my Dad, maybe we can now finish what we started? :)
As we move on to the fourth set of Mysteries, the Glorious, I seem to be more at peace than at any other time throughout the entire Rosary. It's not because its the end of His life, Our Lady's life, or maybe even if we meditate upon the end of the world itself.
Even the calm of His suffering being finally over is not the reason for my relief. Of course, I am overjoyed ~ ecstatic ~ that He has done this for me, and for everyone. He loves me like His sister, His friend and His subject. He has redeemed me and everyone ~ and everyone who appreciates what He has done is eternally grateful!!!
But even more than that, there is a sense of real recognition here, that we understand the real meaning and consequences of all that They went through ~ from the beginning (at the Annunciation itself) until the very end (the Coronation of Our Lady) ~ and the implications for us.
In the First Glorious Mystery, the Resurrection, we see Him ~ perhaps for the first time ever ~ as He is, glorified and victorious, and ready to reveal His final secrets to us all.
Naturally, the very first person to see Him alive and well was His own Blessed Mother Mary. Can you imagine the joy in Her Heart when He came to Her?!? The immense feeling of happiness, relief and gratitude...the overwhelming desire to give thanks to God the Father for all His works are wonderful!!! He has done such mighty works for His handmaid!!!
And now, on the outside ~ Mary Magdalene is the first one to go to the Tomb on that fateful morning, after what I am sure is a long, sleepless night. As she approaches the entrance, she is stunned to behold, not a guard standing straight-faced and somber, ready to pounce upon any who might come near to (they suspect) try to steal the Body of Our Lord. What she does see is recorded in the Gospel for all of posterity until the end of time: the Risen Christ, the one True King of Kings in His majestic glorified Body, probably smiling at her as she suddenly realizes Who He is that is watching her, and falling to her knees in recognition.
She hurries to give the happy news to the Apostles, who, as we know, still do not recognize the fact that this is possible...they must see the Tomb for themselves. Peter, James and John race down there, finding only remnants of the Lord's stay. The Angels on watch tell them that "He is not here." Recognizing what has happened, they run back to tell the others that, yes, it is true!
Rejoice! Give thanks to God! Holy is His Name!
And last but not least, our dear Thomas the Doubter...who can forget the lesson he learned that fateful Sunday after Easter, eh? Without a doubt (no pun intended) he will forever now recognize his Savior and Lord in the Person of Jesus Christ!!!
In the Second Glorious Mystery, the Ascension, Jesus brings His life to it's earthly conclusion. In the presence of His Apostles, disciples, His Mother and other family members, He commissions His priests to go out to the entire world and teach them to recognize His Word, His Church, and His very Self in the Eucharist, in the Confessional, and in every facet of God's Plan for them.
...so, how are we doing so far?... Are we able to recognize Him in our daily lives yet?
In the Third Glorious Mystery, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, we find Our Lady and the Apostles in the Upper Room, the same room where the Last Supper took place, and all those historic moments occurred. As they are hiding from the Jews and the Pharisees, they are suddenly engulfed by the most powerful wind they have ever experienced, but of course, we all know that this is no ordinary wind ~ here we must recognize the Coming of the Holy Spirit, Whom Jesus had promised to send! ...no tiny whisper this time, but a mighty gale that surrounds the entire gathering with such force that there is no mistaking Who has come. When the Apostles go out onto the balcony to preach to the multitudes gathered out on the street, they themselves are recognized as being chosen ones ~ the ones who bring the Word of God to the people, who will help them all recognize the workings of God in their own lives. Over 3,000 men that day (not to mention all the women and children) were baptized on the spot, so overwhelmed were they as they recognized the wonders that God had wrought.
And now, the final two Mysteries ~ devoted solely to the merits of Our Blessed Mother, the one who in all Her life, never once failed to recognize in Her Son all that He was, is and ever shall be. And for all that She endured on His behalf, what is Her reward?!?
First of all, in the fourth Mystery, the Assumption, we find that She is preserved from the fate of death itself. That She, the Holy Mother of God, falls asleep but not to die, is stolen away by the Angels and brought to the glory of the very Throne of God! How can we fail to recognize the endless graces that have been ours through the merits of this Holy and gracious Virgin?!? She is not, as the Protestants and the pagans suggest, merely a Woman who had a Baby a long time ago...She is the one to whom we owe everything, if only we would recognize what She did ~ being the channel through whom the God-Man, Who is Her divine Son, worked and is still working His plan for all of mankind, to redeem and sanctify us.
She is like the moon, reflecting the glow of the Sun, and She leads us to the Light by Her example of Faith and submission to the Holy Will of God the Father, recognizing in that as the only way we will be saved!
And finally, in the fifth Glorious Mystery, the Coronation, we reach the climactic conclusion of all that has gone before...beginning with the waiting for thousands of years by all of mankind for the promised Redeemer, the One Who commanded recognition by all who would be saved ~ right up until the crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth.
What a wonderful, breath-taking sight that must have been! The songs of the Angels surrounding Our Lord as He placed that crown upon the head of His Mother, and She, who knelt at His feet, in all humility and love, accepting Her destiny and reward ~ and His loving, triumphant recognition of all that She had done for Him when He was on Earth. She never asked, nor expected, such a reward as this...He has said that it is His wish that She be honored more than any other creature in history; She is so humble that She would not dream of taking any attention away from Her Son.
But can we not recognize Her as our own Mother?!? Can we not recognize His will in honoring Her as the Queen of all creation?!? Can we not follow it?!?
Just as it is the will of the Father that we recognize His design in the workings of His Son's life among us, so too it is also the will of the Son that we recognize the merits of Holy Mary, the Woman of the prophets.
We will one day be in Heaven ourselves, God willing, and we will come face to Face with Them both. We will have the chance to finally express our gratitude for Their lives, and all that They endured for us, just so we could get to that moment.
I say, why wait? Why not start now, this very day? We can begin by asking for the grace and strength we need to live out the rest of our lives in grateful recognition of our Redemption, offering up all that we do, just so that when that final day comes, we may find ourselves in the presence of Our Lady and all of the Angels and Saints, and where we may recognize ~ and kiss ~ the very Face of God.

Gone to Heaven...

This is my Mom, Bernardine Bidigare.
She passed away on Saturday, 10 January, 2009. She was a beautiful, gracious lady and will be missed greatly by everyone who knew her.
She was anointed by Holy Mother Church two days before she died and her funeral was held yesterday, 14 January.
Needless to say, anyone & everyone who reads this post is requested to pray for her & also to include prayers for my Dad, Chester, who passed from this life on Thursday, 8 November, 2001.
They will be remembered by me in my own prayers forever...

A Time for Joy...

To all who come here today, "Rejoice! Have Joy! Praise Him!"
Wishing you all a most Merry Christmas and a Blessedly Happy New Year!
I hope you all have a safe, happy, loving and holy Season ~ today, of all Days, the Day of the Birth of our Savior ~ and the rest of the days of your lives.
May we all be one in Him...and may we always remember the words of the Little Flower:
"A God Who became so small could only be Love!"

My Favorite Rosaries...and more...

I found this meme over @ AdoroteDevote's Blog and "graciously" volunteered myself to be memed as well...Someone had asked to see three pictures of our favorite rosaries, and Adoro posted that anyone could join in if they wanted to do so. This one being right up my alley, so to speak, I thought I would go ahead and post my own ~ This first one is a 20-decade Rosary I made for myself a couple of years ago @ Christmastime. Since it is made of real Swarovski AB crystals (and was quite expensive to make), my dearest Michael told me it was my Christmas present, lol...but it was one I had wanted to make for a VERY long time, so I agreed ~ and very happily! All metal parts are gold. It has actually been blessed twice. When I first finished it, I took it to our parish church that Sunday and, after the Holy Mass, I tried to corner our pastor, Fr. Ben, in the vestibule to do the honors...unfortunately, he was on an emergency call, so he could not be stopped and I started looking for one of the other priests. As I wandered around, one of our deacons asked if he could help and informed me that deacons can also bless sacred objects ~ so he did it for me. About a year later, as we held our annual Blue Army Holy Mass, one of our Auxiliary Bishops came in to officiate, and afterwards, we held the Procession of the Pilgrim Virgin to our outdoor shrine. When he asked if anyone had any prayer requests, a woman held up her rosary and asked His Excellency if he would kindly bless our beads...so I held this one up and he blessed them all!
Pictured here below is the same rosary with the 7-bead attachment, so every time I use it, I won't forget to say the daily Seven Hail Marys in honor of Our Lady's Seven Sorrows ~ thereby remembering the Promises She has made to anyone who does so. I had always wanted to do this, but couldn't seem to remember to say them...so this idea occurred to me one day and it has worked like a charm! :) Added to this one also is a medal of St. Joseph holding the Child Jesus, and this rosary has been dedicated to the Holy Family, esp. to our Mother of Perpetual Help (the Centerpiece ~ see the close-up below). On the back of the Crucifix is engraved "JMJ".
This second rosary is my First Holy Communion Rosary. It is made of cut glass and is of (formerly) silver metal, which has now turned into a gold color. I am not claiming any miraculous color changes (I know this has been known to happen) but I have tried several times to clean it from all tarnish, and the color remains. :) This golden color also has affected the Crucifix as well. I am now in my late-50s so this one has been around the block quite a few times. But I have loved it since the first time I ever used it...it was on this one that I learned my Favorite Prayer.
http://whitewave39.blogspot.com/2008/04/for-fifty-yearsand-counting.html
Here is a close-up of the 7-bead attachment that I added to this one when I did the other one...I love that these 7 beads are right there, so no matter which Rosary I am using, I can remember to honor Our Lady in this way. This one also has attached a medal of St. Joseph holding the Divine Child and a Eucharistic medal as well (this one is a duplicate of a gold one that I wear on my neck chain, along with others.)Here is a link back to Adoro's Blog, where I first found this meme...and also a big "Thank-you!" for allowing me to take part! :) http://adorotedevote.blogspot.com/2008/12/rosary-meme.html
Just as an aside, there are two more rosaries that I would like to present here...the first one is gold in color and small in size ~ about half the size of a typical rosary. It was a gift from the ladies @ the National Blue Army HQ.
This last one is made of crystal, silver in color and was blessed by the late Pontiff, John Paul II.
The two added medals are from Lourdes and Fatima ~ each holding a drop of holy water.
These last two are not the ones I use the most, but I do keep them handy in different rooms in case my purse isn't nearby...where I keep the first two. There is always an occasion throughout the day to say a decade or two... :)...

Time to Get Serious...

I've written here about being a member of Friends of the Suffering Souls, and today I received yet another email from them concerning a new novena (many of which, I admit, I had not heard of before) so it occurred to me to post it here so others, who also might not have heard of it, may say it too.
The first day is Tuesday, the 16th, but I wanted to talk about it now, so I won't let the time slip by...and this prayer is so beautiful, why not say it for just a couple of extra days, eh? There's no reason why we can't do this ~ and then, on Tuesday, get serious about the nine-day succession...(which involves an additional prayer each day).
Christmas is less than two weeks away and what have we done? Have we been giving alms to the poor at this most holy and yet (for so many) sad and lonely time of the year? Jesus came to all of us for the salvation of everyone, yet Our Lady has told us that there are millions of souls in Hell. Have we been saying our daily prayers ~ EVERY DAY ~ for the Holy Souls, for the conversion of sinners, for the spiritual welfare of ourselves and our families, for an end to the scourge of abortion, for the Holy Father and his intentions?!?!
Now is the time to get serious!

Christmas Novena

Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment
At which the Son of God was born
Of a most pure Virgin
At a stable at midnight in Bethlehem
In the piercing cold
At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee,
To hear my prayers and grant my desires
(mention request here).

Through Jesus Christ and His most Blessed Mother.

Such a wonderful prayer deserves to be said throughout the month of December, doesn't it? I wish I had known of this one before! You can bet I won't forget it again!
Here is the link to the entire novena so anyone who cares to take part may read it on their own, without having to wonder if I'm going to remember to post it every day, lol:
Christmas Novena

To Whom Much Is Given...

I know it's been a few days since I posted on this Blog and I fully intend to get back to that asap...but there is a story I would like to share here, first of all...by a very fortunate man named Peter O'Malley, telling how he survived the recent terrorist attack on the Taj Hotel:
http://catholicexchange.com/2008/12/07/114648/
The way these people go about killing just for the sake of killing with no justice, no remorse, no thought to anyone but themselves makes me ill.
I pray for God to have mercy upon them.

Another One, Eh? ;)...

Jean @ Catholic Fire has nominated me for another meme, this one listing six things that make me happy; I am to list them, then pass the "meme torch" to six others who, I'm sure, will have no problem coming up with at least six favorite things of their own. ;)
(Oh, Jean, if you only knew...there are too many things I could name that go way over this limit, but I'll try to keep it short, lol.)
1) First and most important, I love being a Roman Catholic ~ no, not just love, I LOVE being a Roman Catholic! Everything about it from the traditions, the ceremony, the prayers, and most important of all, the Holy Mass, visiting the Blessed Eucharist and going to Confession, and the Most Holy Rosary. Oh yeah...and being consecrated to my Guardian Angel...he has been magnificent to me throughout my entire life.
2) Second, and right up there with the first on a more personal level, my other half, my soulmate, my husband of 31 years and counting, Michael. Dearest Michael ~ his sense of humor, his work ethic, his love for me and our children, his ability to make me laugh when everything else points in the wrong direction...he truly is the better side of me.
3) My children ~ all ten of them. :) ...and for too many reasons to list here...
4) My Art. I can't imagine what my life would have been if I had not been given this tremendous love for the Arts with which God has blessed me ~ I don't profess to be the world's greatest Artist ~ not by a long shot ~ but it's certainly been fun trying, lol.
5) Nature. Yes, believe it or not ~ and I know this is a weird one ~ I love Mother Nature, all of her magnificence and beauty. The weather changes (Michigan, lol ~ need I say more?), the animal kingdom (so much fun conversing with the birds in our neighborhood, the various and sundry wildlife that visits our yard) and all the rest of it! Ever since I first read St. Alphonsus de Ligouri, I understand so much more now about God's will for His creation.
6) My general outlook on life. Now, I don't mean this to sound conceited or "puffed up" by any means ~ don't misunderstand me ~ it's just that I have known too many people in my lifetime who are always grumpy, cynical, depressed, etc., and I have thanked God every day for allowing me the good grace to take after my late Dad in his general demeanor. He was always positive, optimistic and calm about nearly everything...and I have been lucky enough to be "my father's daughter" for these many years. I just don't know how else to be ~ and I love that I can still, even at my advanced age, see the world through rose-colored glasses! :)
Now, it's your turn, and the six women I choose to take it from here are:
Jen
Andrea
I'm guessing by her latest post that Andrea will list Advent? lol...)
Cassie
Crystal
Heather
Krystin
Have fun, Ladies, and take it away!!!

Recognizing Him, pt. 4...

I wonder sometimes, as I meditate upon the Sorrowful Mysteries, the First of which is The Agony in the Garden, if the Apostles themselves were still filled with human fear and loathing of suffering? What possessed them to give in to the urge for sleep when the dear Savior was so close to where they sat and so full of suffering? As He knelt there, praying and sweating His Precious Blood, did they even remember anything He had told them? Did they recognize the need to stay vigilant? Or were they too sleepy to care? Did they think He was going to be with them forever? Did He not tell them how sad He was, how heavy was His Heart?!?
And yet, when they did wake up, hour after hour, and He again asked them to "Watch with Me," they still kept dozing off...No, I don't think they recognized the need...
Onward I move to the Second Sorrowful Mystery, The Scourging at the Pillar. There He was, tied to a pillar (probably with ropes that cut and burned His skin) and beaten with whips that were like no ordinary whips...tipped with iron balls covered in hooks that tore into His Flesh, tearing away bits of skin and sinew, ripping His Sacred Body wide open...would any of us recognize Him by the time they were finished with Him?!? I wonder...
And yet, maybe we would, knowing what we know now ~ seeing Him in all of His suffering and loving glory, pouring His Heart out to every one of us, "See how I have loved you?"
In the Third Sorrowful Mystery, The Crowning with Thorns, we again come to Our Lord, seated on a "throne" before His subjects ~ the soldiers who had so much fun torturing and tormenting Him ~ wrapped in the purple robe of royalty, a crown of thorns upon His sacred Head, Blood pouring from every point of the puncturing thorns and running down His Holy Face with not a one of the bullies to wipe a drop away, the robe sticking to His Flesh, only to re-open every wound when He was stripped again later.
He had tried to tell us that He was the King of the Old Testament prophesy, but did any of us listen? Did we join in with the soldiers and spit in His Face? Did we laugh when they mocked and derided Him, plaiting the circlet for His Head, not a pitying glance at all the Blood that was spilled in this one act of torture?
Did we recognize that in the suffering that He so willingly and so meekly endured was our own salvation?!?
Recently, we celebrated the Feast of Christ the King.
The King of Heaven and Earth. The King of Love, of Sacrifice, of His own Passion ~ for souls, for the very hearts of all men. The King of His own unseen Kingdom...as He tried to tell Pontius Pilate ~ who sadly, didn't quite understand...he refused to recognize what ~ or rather, Who, was standing right before him.
In the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery, The Carrying of the Cross, He told us again to "Weep not for Me, but for yourselves..." ~ and in the words of a true King, He left us with a warning for our own safety, our own edification! His beloved Mother Mary was there, and She of all the women gathered, recognized what He was about to do...She knew in Her Heart of hearts that Her Son was about to die for us all ~ She recognized the will of the Father and, as horrified and frightened as She must have been, we know that She was also completely resigned to it. She recognized that there was no other way...and so She accepted and obeyed what God had ordered must come to pass.
Finally, in the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery, The Crucifixion, we see that Our Lord has finally come to the end of His life here on Earth. Our Blessed Mother has truly suffered right alongside Her Son, feeling in Her own body every stroke of the whip, every push of the impatient soldiers, every poke of every thorn and nail that pierced His own Body.
There are many sufferings that He endured that are not recorded for general consumption, but they are available on the Internet for those who care to find out more about the Hidden Tortures of Our Lord...not the least of which is the Sacred Wound on His Shoulder!
In the meantime, as I meditate upon the five most well-known here, I have to admit that I am speechless, humbled and completely filled with love for the Suffering Savior Who has deigned to grant this knowledge to me ~ and Who has also granted me the chance to pass on this devotion to my own children, showing them that we all suffer, and yet we all benefit from it...as long as we remember to follow Him and carry our own crosses!...as long as we recognize His love and goodness in the crosses that we carry...
I would like to think that I would recognize Him as the King He professed to be ~ even as He hung there on the Cross of Salvation. As St. Dismas, the Good Thief, recognized Him ("Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom!"), so may we all know Him ~ in His Divine Mercy and Love. As St. Longinus, the Good Centurion, who pierced His Sacred Side with the lance, and suddenly had the Light of God open his eyes so that he too recognized the Man ("Truly, this Man was the Son of God!") ~ may we recognize Him in all that He did for us that day!!! Truly, if we indeed recognize Who He is and what He has done for all mankind, there can be no less from the least of us...

Can't Get Enough...

Well, now...
Seems I have been "memed" ~ thank-you very much, Marie! lol...

The Rules:

Pass this on to 5 blogging friends. Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write the 5th sentence, as well as two to five sentences following that.

Here is the book closest to me at this time, *no kidding*:

'On one occasion. as St. Gertrude journeyed from one convent to another, she suddenly stumbled down a steep mountain path. 'Oh! If it had pleased God that this fall had caused my death!' the Sisters heard her say.
'But do you not fear to die without the Sacraments?' they inquired.
'I desire most ardently to receive the support of the Sacraments before I die,' answered the saint, 'but I prefer the Providence and the will of God to the Sacraments, for I believe this is the best preparation for death. Therefore I desire that manner of death which my Lord shall be pleased to allot me.' "

I took this passage from Conformity to the Will of God, (taken from) the writings of St. Alphonsus Ligouri.

I now pass this meme to:

Ebeth
Rosemary
Sharon
Nicole
Jean

I love getting awards like this because I cannot get enough of books, and being in the middle of at least three at at time (at all times) there is more than enough to post about there! :) Thanks again, Marie, for giving me the opportunity... :)...

Recognizing Him, pt. 3...

At the very beginning of the Luminous Mysteries (the First one being The Baptism in the Jordan), there is an absolutely beautiful moment when Jesus, coming to the River Jordan to meet with St. John, tells him that His Baptism must be performed to keep everything in line with the prophets of Holy Scriptures. I am always "stunned into silence" at this time, thinking about how the Creator and Lord of the universe can be so meek and humble as to allow a mere hermit of the desert to do something like this to Him, when, like John says, "I should be baptized by You! I am not worthy..."and once again, we see a member of His family who recognizes Him as He really is...St. John the Baptist, one of the first Martyrs, the one who was remitted of Original Sin in the womb of his own mother, St. Elizabeth on that fateful day so long ago, when Our Lady came to see Her cousin and help her in his own birth...who recognized Him from even his pre-born state! (Yet, another example of the beginnings of life from conception ~ how else would the Saint have such cognitive powers if he had not been human from the very beginning, eh?)

The part that always gets to me, I mean truly, is when the Father Himself parts the very sky and proclaims before everyone gathered there on the riverbank: "This is My beloved Son, hear Him! In Him, I am well pleased!" And the Holy Spirit, appearing from out of nowhere...I mean, how much more could we possibly expect here?!? His identity is handed to us on a silver platter!!!

Up until now, we have only known of the Holy Family and what they were going through ~ all of Our Lady's wonder at everything happening to Her, a few "players" on the sidelines, and what Jesus did as a small Boy.

Now, we come to the Man, after fasting for 40 days in the desert, coming into His own...

Secondly, at The Wedding Feast @ Cana, where Our Lady, who already has proven that She is totally aware of Her Son's identity, asks a simple favor with total Faith in His ability as God, also in His love for Her, prompting Him to obey Her smallest whim. Scripture tells us that, at this point, His disciples believed in Him ~ they recognized Him ~ after witnessing what He does to the water...but it took a miracle to convince them! Surprised? We really shouldn't be! At least, not yet ~ this is only His first one...

Then on to The Proclamation of the Kingdom ~ Jesus explains what His Father's reign is really all about and how we must take part. Are we listening? Do we heed His words? Do we follow Him to all that awaits us? Are we really ready yet to recognize that we are witnessing Heaven on Earth here??

Seven Corporal Works of Mercy; seven Spiritual Works of Mercy; seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit; seven Sacraments. Every sermon, not just the one on the Mount, gives us yet another reason to listen ~ so what is our response? Do we recognize Him in others as we go about our daily lives? Are we practicing these "seven" ~ or are we assuming that we deserve to enter the Kingdom without any real work on our parts? 

This Third Luminous Mystery is the only one of the twenty that does not take us to any specific event in His life...and that is just as it should be. There is too much in the Gospels that shows us how to follow Him to be limited to just one example...and the Kingdom of the Eternal Father is made up of millions of souls who took to heart all that was in the Gospel! To practice the "sevens" is a good measure of how we are doing...and every time we recognize Him in the face of someone else, we are doing the same thing ~ for how can we resist doing good for others when we recognize Him all around us?

In the Fourth Luminous Mystery, The Transfiguration, we find Our Lord, in the company of His three chosen Apostles (who still don't quite "get it," by the way ~ at least, not completely) when suddenly He is transformed into the Beatific Vision, accompanied by Moses and Elijah. When Peter, blinded by the bright light, exclaims, "Lord, let us build three tents ~ one for You, etc." he is struck by the sheer majesty and beauty of the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity ~ and I daresay, he had had no idea, up until this moment, of just Whose Presence he was privileged to be in! Oh, I know he had some idea by now, but did he really recognize Jesus as the true King of glory? ...til now, I wonder...

I'm sure the Apostles had begun to understand Who He was, but after this day, I'm sure they had a much clearer recognition of the real calling they had received...leading others to Him, Who had just granted them a small glimpse of Heaven itself!

Finally, in The Institution of the Eucharist, we see that Jesus had been filled (in the very recesses of His Sacred Heart) with a most profound Love, which dictated that He should leave us a means of His own Presence among us...so He left us with the best thing He had at His disposal...a loaf of unleavened bread and a cup of wine, which would not only represent Him, but BECOME Him! His own Flesh and Blood ~ the very same Flesh and Blood which was to be vilified and murdered the next day.

How do we recognize Him in this, His most Precious Gift to us? Do we visit Him often? Do we teach others about His waiting for us in His Hidden Home? ...or do we go about our daily lives, many times passing before our churches without a thought to Who is trapped inside? 

He is a voluntary Prisoner of Love, and yet, how often do we neglect Him in the Tabernacle? 

Sunday Holy Mass is NOT enough! He awaits all of us, who, as it turns out, are the keepers of the secrets of Heaven...where He is recognized for the God He is.

Are we recognizing Him here, for our own parts? Think about it, in all honesty ~ how are we really doing here? Here on Earth, for the duration of our life's voyage, how can we do any less??

For Little Ol' Me?? ;)...

Esther, who writes a very popular Catholic Blog of her own, has nominated me to receive the coveted Butterfly Award for my Catholic Blog here. Thanks so much, Esther (a very gracious lady)!

I go to her Blog quite often, nearly every morning as a matter of fact, so I know full well how faith-filled and inspirational she is.

There are a few rules to accepting this award, so (as I listen {fittingly} to "Ode to a Butterfly" by Nickel Creek on my iPod) I will list them here and then link to my choices of ten others who I feel deserve the same honor.

1. Pick ten people and pass this award to them.
2. Then contact them and let them know that you have chosen them and their blog for the award.
3. Also link back to the person who gave you the award.

1 Andrea

2 Micki

3 Lisa

4 Jen

5 Cassie

6 Sharon

7 Annie

8 Heather

9 Christine

10 Krystin

And there they are, ten of my favorite Blogs to go to for a good laugh, a little bit of Catholic reflection, and a kindred spirit.

I hope these ladies are as happy to be chosen as I am... :)...

Recognizing Him, pt. 2...

As I sit with my beads I am constantly racking my brain to come up with new ways to meditate on the Mysteries...sometimes I read a prayer book with or without illustrations. Sometimes I go to a favorite website and use the suggestions there, again, with or without pictures. Like a small child, I have to admit that the pictures do help alot! (Being an Artist, I am visually-oriented...therefore, visually stimulated, as well.)

So, when I came upon the idea of recognition of Our dearest Lord each time He comes to us in His least and poorest, I thought I had hit paydirt! What I didn't think of at the time was the fact that it would lead me down a road of soul-searching and revelation. More on all that in a later post...

It is a common custom to take what others have written or painted and use it as our own; meditating on the story of His life ~ and that of His Mother ~ we are accustomed to having others do all the work for us, as far as coming up with ideas and images already set forth. To come up with our own is sometimes hard, but always worth the effort...just as my good friend Jen P remarked in my comments page earlier ~ to enter into the Mysteries in person, can often bring tears of joy and love to the person who is so immersed that he or she cannot stop for fear of losing momentum!

And this is exactly what has been happening to me.

I don't know if that is good or bad, but there it is...

I do realize that emotions playing a part in prayer can be misleading ~ Our Lord tells us that our dry moments are many times our most fruitful. One must NOT look to the emotions as a measure of devotion, to be sure! And I know that whether or not I feel emotion as I pray is not the measure of the value of my prayers. But I cannot help thinking that to "see" Him all bloodied and torn apart would bring spiritual tears of remorse and horror to anyone with a loving heart, a heart that is moved by knowing and recognizing the Savior.

Or to be present @ the Transfiguration, "seeing" Him in His most glorious and beatific form...now that, my friends, would do nothing if not take our breath away, would it not?!?

So, as I meditate, I must keep my own emotions in check...but I have to admit to shedding a heartfelt (and silent) tear or two of my own.

I can't help myself.

Recognizing Him...

I say at least one Rosary every day, as a member of the Blue Army, but I have been in the habit lately of saying the entire 20-decade Rosary. Consequently, I have been meditating on all 20 Mysteries...from the Annunciation to the Coronation. Earlier, I was also thinking back to Tuesday's election results and the whole abortion debacle, the passing of laws in our near future that will completely destroy whatever progress made in the last 40 years of the pro-life movement. 

First of all, let me say that it all makes me want to be sick. There. I said it ~ out loud. There are those out there who might not care to hear that I am sick at heart over the whole thing, but that's just too bad. I would hate to be them. For myself, I want to scream, I want to run away and hide, I want to throw things! I, like so many of the Moms who post in their own Catholic Blogs, want to cry out to the heavens for the injustice of it all! I want God to come to our voting polls and "knock some sense into the pro-abortion voters" ~ and then some...

And then, as I was beginning my Rosary for the day, it suddenly occurred to me: "How would we recognize Him if He came again? As a tiny Baby, a new Life in the womb of His Mother, and a Person with the right to life?!? ...as He is ever-present in the least of His brethren??"

So, onward to the First Mystery went "yours truly" ~ the Annunciation.

St. Gabriel appeared to the Mother of God, before She was the Mother of God, in Her room, at prayer (go figure), humble and obedient to the words of the Angel ~ no matter what it would cost Her personally! What of the snide remarks of family, friends, neighbors? What of the secret decision of her betrothed to quietly divorce Her? What of being cast out to the streets of the town and stoned to death as a harlot?!?

What of all this?

Quite simply, Our Lady, being the smart young woman that She was, had no qualms ~ "Yes! Let it be done to me according to your word!" 

The Word of God's Will...recognizable to the one Woman of the Old Testament, the one who agreed to help usher in the New Testament ~ all by Herself, with a little help from the Holy Spirit, of course ~ and narry a thought for Herself!

She knew for Whom to go searching, just as the pro-lifers look for Him in the unborn, the newborn, the children, from conception to the elderly, the natural ending of life in all of us! And She recognizes in us, Her faithful children, the Light of Her divine Son, the Word of Life Himself!

Then, on to the Second Mystery ~ the Visitation.

Our Lady, her husband St. Joseph, traveling all the way to the town where Her cousin St. Elizabeth was also pregnant with St. John the Baptist...just to help her with her daily duties until her son would be born, six months before the Birth of Our Lord.

From the first moment of Her arrival, Elizabeth recognized the Person Who was brought to her humble home ~ and how she fell at the feet of the most Holy Virgin! "Who am I," she cried, "that I am deemed worthy for the Mother of my Lord to come to me?!?"

You see, she recognized Him!!! ...right away...

Her own son John, in her womb, jumped at the knowledge that the Son of God was before him; even as an unborn infant, John recognized the Son of God!!!

Onward once again, to the Third Mystery ~ the Nativity.

From the announcement to the shepherds to the adoration of the Magi, even the lowly animals in the stable recognized their Creator, Who had come to them on the first Christmas Night! The Angels told them all for Whom to look and they found Him, in the manger...recognizing in Him the Son of God, the Messiah, the Promised One.

From here we move on to the Fourth Mystery ~ the Presentation.

This one is easy...Simeon recognized the Babe immediately, exclaiming to the Father, "Let me go in peace now, o Lord! Dismiss Your servant, for my eyes have seen the Glory of Israel!"

In his recognition of the Messiah, he tells Our Lady that Her beloved Son is the Reason for all Seasons, so to speak...just like He was @ His birth...for the rise and fall of many, and I daresay, not only in Israel, but even to this day!

And this brings me to the Fifth Mystery ~ the Finding of Jesus in the Temple.

After Mary & Joseph realized that they had left Jesus behind, they went frantically searching, as we all know ~ and we all know how the story ended. Happily, they found Him and that was that, right? 

Wrong.

What of the men who were left behind in the temple that day, after the Holy Family left once again?!? Did they realize Who He was? Did they believe that this was possible in their own lifetimes? Did they recognize Him??

Now, after all this that I have written, any readers might well be wondering, "Ok ~ what is the point to all this? Cut to the chase!"

And I will tell you quite simply that the reason for my entry is this: How will we recognize Him when He comes again? How will we be able to save the unborn, the newborn, the ill and disabled, the poor & helpless, the elderly?? Are we like any of the characters in these five Mysteries? Do we recognize Him in any of these poor ones? Jesus didn't just come to the ones who didn't need Him ~ He said so Himself. He came to anyone and everyone who would believe in Him, would follow Him ~ would RECOGNIZE Him!!! Whatever we do to the least of His brethren, we do to Him, right? I seem to remember Him saying that, too.

I realize that I only covered the first of the Mysteries here ~ with 15 more to go, I have plenty of material for meditation ~ but you get my point. 

Every time we pray the Rosary, every time we say even one "Hail Mary," we must remember where this prayer comes from: the first moment of the Conception of the Lord of all life! We must keep fighting the good fight if we are to win the war against the pro-death movement. Not only must we work to convince them that He is present and recognizable in His least and lowliest, He is here for us all...as long as we all recognize Him when He comes!!!

All the Little Things...

A very dear friend of mine has suggested that I write about that great Saint, Therese, the Little Flower, of the Holy Face of Jesus. Long has she been a favorite of mine; our second daughter is named after her...and how well she emulates the trademark virtues of this "little" Saint!

I guess you could say that St. Therese has always been one of my special Patrons ~ ever since I was a little girl I have prayed to her and wanted to be just like her. Yet, the more I learn about her the more I realize that I must have a long way to go, lol.

I don't know if anyone actually realizes during their own lifetimes how close they are (or not) to being a Saint, but I'm sure that God has made it so to keep them humble. According to St. Alphonsus de Ligouri, it is good to ask Our Lord to let it be this way ~ if it agrees with His Will ~ so we don't get so sure of ourselves that we think ourselves too good "for our own good."

Since we all know how St. Therese was a mistress of the Little Way I would be willing to bet that God let her go along keeping secret from her just how much He was exceptionally pleased with her "invention." Have any Saints before her ever revealed such a sure and complete way to His Heart? To take so seriously His admonition to "become like the little children" and take it so to heart!

St. Therese writes in her Autobiography, "The Story of A Soul" ~ 

"Walking with Papa, I gazed at the stars twinkling ever so peacefully in the skies - one cluster of golden pearls attracted my attention and gave me great joy as they were in the form of a 'T' - I pointed out to Papa that my name is written in heaven..."

This simple entry speaks volumes about a small girl who, even as young as she must have been at the time, was already aware of the beauty of God's wondrous creation, what it meant in relation to her own self, and the joy ~ the unadulterated joy ~ of one who sees her own pre-destination!

From the tender age of four years she was already devoted to Our Blessed Lady, and this kind Mother took her under Her own protective mantle, since Therese's earthly mother was taken from her at so young an age.

Don't get me wrong...little Therese had her faults, her temper for one thing, being one of her most blatant.

Once, when she was in need of an ink bottle that was up ontop a mantle shelf, she asked her nurse, Victoire, to get it for her. But by now poor Victoire had a more than passing acquaintance with her young charge's temper, and told her to "get it herself." Frequently, she had called Therese a "little brat" since she had many times given way to childhood tantrums when she did not get her own way. (Being the youngest of five sisters, she was the family "favorite" and she knew it!)

So, getting a stool and retrieving the ink for herself, she turned upon her nurse when she got down and exclaimed, "Victoire, you are a brat!"

She must have thought to herself that this would be the proper retort, but as she grew in her love for Jesus, I am sure that she must have repented in her later years, lol.

When Therese was a Carmelite sister, she was frequently put to work doing the various menial tasks that needed to be done about the convent. One of them was the daily washing. There was one story that related how a fellow sister was also assigned the task of hand-washing on a particular day, alongside Therese, and as they were "up to their elbows" in the hot water, scrubbing and rinsing dirty handkerchiefs, this sister continually splashed dirty water in Therese's face; by now, however, Therese was in the habit of controlling her "tantrums" and she knew to ask Our Lord to help her to offer up this inconvenience, gaining for herself and for her fellow nun the graces of earthly penance for whatever venial sins of which they may have been guilty. (I cannot imagine this Saint being guilty of much, if anything, and yet she was the first critic of her own behavior!)

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once remarked that "to hear a nun's confession is like being pelted to death with popcorn!"

This is, to me, the perfect image of how it must have been for our dear St. Therese! Can anyone even imagine her committing the smallest fault?!? Her conquering of her own temper was no small feat for her, yet she did all with the greatest humility and love for the Savior Who did so much for her. 

She must have credited much of this to her Guardian Angel, to whom she was consecrated at the tender age of nine years. For myself, being a member of the Opus Sanctorum Angelorum (which was not formed in those days), I am most grateful for the same devotion.

To be sure, I have many faults of my own...many, many more than our good model of virtue here...but with her help and the guidance of my own Angel, I keep plodding along the way. I can only hope and pray that my own "little way" is even remotely close to the great "Little Way" of one of the most holy and wonderful Saints of our modern times.

"One single act of love will make us know Jesus better...It will bring us closer to him for all eternity." ~ St. Therese, The Little Flower.

What Can I Do For Thee?

I came across this poem the other day, browsing through some old papers and finding two cards with prayers on them. This one, in particular, struck a chord in my heart, and I could not help but share it here: 

What Can I Do For Thee? (before the Pieta)

by Harold Menken

It might seem that this statue of our Mother
Had seeing eyes and listening ears;
She draws one suppliant after another
Sighing out their hopes and fears.

"My precious one is sick to death...
Please help my little boy,"
An anguished woman gasps for breath.
A young girl whispers, "Give me joy."

Such a wide assortment sauntered by,
Rich, poor, young, old and gray!
One said, "Please help my number to win!"
Another, "May we fly safe today."

And then a tattered beggar ~ but so wise
He seemed to me ~
"I ask for nothing, Mother dear, but this:
What can I do for Thee?"

I know this seems like a post more in tune with Lent, but sacrifice and Love are themes that work anytime. And since I have been reading alot about doing God's Will, uniformly and without reserve, this seems to me to be a good place to start ~ at the foot of the Woman Who suffered the most, right alongside Him as He died.

I have been wanting to post all week here, but this will do for now...I will be back perhaps later today or tomorrow to write more Musings; suffice it to say that meditation in the meantime on the Passion of Our Lord and the Dry Martyrdom of His Mother are more than enough fodder for anyone!

Busy for Whom?

I have been reading about devotion to the Sacred Heart; a dear friend of mine, who lives in England, has sent me some material concerning this and it has made for fascinating reading, to say the least.

As I was finishing my "set" for the day, I was sitting here reflecting on how well I have been showing devotion to His Heart, where dwells His Divine Mercy and Love ~ and how I have neglected it!

I spend my days and nights caught up in day-to-day activities with family and household, sometimes able to stop by the church for a quick visit ~ an hour if I am lucky ~ but most of the time I dream of it. I cannot get over there every day, and I don't know anyone who does...but I think of how wonderful it would be to make an extra Holy Mass during the week, or an extra visit, or even an extra Rosary now and then. I mean, if we are devoted to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, are we not also showing devotion to the Sacred Heart of Her Son as well??

I am sure that when the Angel appeared to Our Blessed Lady to ask if She would be willing to become the Mother of the Most High, such an honor was the furthest thing from Her mind. She must have had no idea of being so pleasing to God that He would choose Her above everyone else who had ever lived...and it must have weighed heavily upon Her to accept. But this She did without a moment's hesitation; only a quick question of how to accomplish such a thing without knowing a man, since She was a consecrated Virgin, and a very reassuring reply from Gabriel...and it was done! 

For the rest of Her natural life, She was the epitome of a loving Daughter, Wife, Mother ~ and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was the life's blood of her everyday existence. 

I know Her life was anything but easy, but it was Hers all the way; Her own free will was so intertwined with His that to refuse Him anything was completely alien to Her nature. And to be so devoted is the goal of our own hearts as well.

But how are we doing? Are we even close to what She was? I find it hard to believe that I even come within miles...

First of all, what was my first thought this morning when I woke up? Was it my Morning Offering Prayer for the Blue Army? Was it "How's the weather today?" Or did I wonder if Mike had put on the coffee yet? 

As I moved about this morning, did I remember to think of Him? Did I bless myself when I passed by the holy water font in the hallway? Did I even say my Rosary yet? ...and now, being after 3 in the afternoon, did I say my Angelus? Did I do anything for Him today at all? Or did I waste time with trivial matters and leave out the heavy stuff for later? 

Jesus tells us that if we pick up our daily cross and follow Him we will become Saints. We will be saved for eternal life, enjoying the fruits of our labors for Him and His Church. But how charitable are we? So far, I am guessing that I have plenty of room in my heart and life for more loving behavior toward my neighbor than I have up til now.  How willing are we to give up just one moment of our own comfort to help someone in need? to visit a sick relative or a lonely elderly parent? to offer just one small sacrifice of time or talent for another person whose day would truly be made happier just because we took the time to notice them? 

All of these things I need to improve upon ~ and I don't mind examining my conscience here, in public, because I would be willing to bet that I am not the only one.

I profess to love Him ~ but do I really mean it? do I show it? do I even want to? 

The answers to these questions lie deep within me. I must begin to examine what is truly in my own heart, before I can profess to love His.

This self-examination starts today...

A New Life...

Have you ever noticed how God seems to send signs to show you the way that your life is turning?
I have blogged about this before, more than once, and it seems to keep coming up in my head...the changes in my own life in the past two years reflect to me, more than anything else, that I have had opportunity in different forms to change, to grow and to improve ~ finding and joining a wonderful traditional parish where I have felt so at home, going to Confession more than I ever have before and finally being able to join the Opus Angelorum...among other opportunities that are too amazing to ever discount or forget for one moment...
I have been married for 31+ years. I have eight children, two more in Heaven. I have been a Roman Catholic all my life; I have also been an Artist all my life. There, at least, my life is the same. There are constants that will not go away until the day I die.
But there are other, more subtle changes that I cannot help but see ~ both in myself and in my surroundings.
I have been, for a time at least, away from "home" ~ and it was not until I had been married for over a year that I came back to the Faith; five (or so) years away had taken their toll on my heart and it was time for me to reclaim my heritage as a daughter of Holy Mother Church, not to mention the fact that I was soon to be a mother and felt very strongly the obligation to raise my sons and daughters in the True Faith. So I can fully identify with others who leave for whatever reason, and decide to return ~ for whatever reason. We all have our reasons, don't we? But in the end, it is God Who is the real Reason for our very being.
As He did when He created the butterflies, He gives us another chance at life, this time a more beautiful, fulfilling and purposeful life. He bestows upon our souls the uplifting graces that He has been saving for each of us especially...and if we are willing to take advantage of those graces, we stand to gain even more.
If we don't take advantage of them, He will give them to someone else...so we must "take our flight" to His Presence as often as possible!
Lately I have been noticing more and more butterflies crossing my own path ~ mostly on the road to here and there, and it brings to my mind all the times God has forgiven me, granted me a new life in Him, and graciously bestowed His finest favors upon a daughter who is so unworthy and yet so very grateful!
I have always felt an affinity to these lovely and graceful creatures ~ no matter the variety, they are all wonderful ~ and it seems that to show a butterfly as an illustration of new life is quite fitting.
I have three Blogs and I used this same picture and this same theme in all of them today. In my Artist Blog I have come to the conclusion that the butterflies will be my own signature. In my General Blog, I have noted that they seem to be crossing my path everywhere I go.
And now, here in my Catholic Blog, I am using them as a metaphor for my spiritual life.
May Almighty God, in His infinite Wisdom, grant us all the grace to "see" the butterflies as a sign of His favor and goodness, and the grace to rise to a new life in Him.

Mater Dolorosa...

As what often happens to me, I am a day late in posting about a subject that is near and dear to my heart...having a busy day and with this idea in the back of my mind for hours, and yet being unable to sit down to write, I can finally take advantage in the lull in my time.

Of all the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady's most Immaculate Heart, there is one that continually stands out in my mind. 

For the first, The Prophesy of Simeon ~ how must She have been feeling, to hear that Her only Son, Her sweet Baby, was to go on to be the reason so many would rise or fall...and what would become of those who fell, eh? She must have been so sad, thinking that Her Son would be the cause of anyone's suffering and worse yet, they would be the cause of His.

For the second, The Flight into Egypt ~ how sad to think that, here He was, still a tiny Babe, and already the object of a massive search and destroy mission, ordered by the very king of Judea himself! To have to run away in the middle of the night, at the command of an Angel (probably St. Gabriel, by all reports) and go far away into a land where They were not known, supported or appreciated. I would be terrified. And what of all those mothers who lost their own babies at the hands of Herod?!? How Our Lady must have cried for them!

For the third, Losing Jesus in the Temple, She must have gone through those three days with Her Heart in Her throat. I know from personal experience, that to have to search for a missing child is absolutely the scariest feeling a parent can go through; I can well identify with Her there, but happily for me, my children were always found within a few minutes...

For the fourth, Meeting Jesus on the Way of the Cross, I have to put myself in Her position...and wonder how badly I would feel for Him while watching Him on His way to Calvary? All I have to do here is imagine that it was one of my own children, and the thought of that gives me nightmares! Yes, this is the Sorrow that stands out in my mind, almost more than any of the others. Not because it is any worse ~ certainly the Crucifixion would qualify for that title ~ but knowing that the worst is yet to come and I can do nothing to stop it. Knowing that it is God's will for this to happen, that we must be resigned to His will and that, no matter how afraid or sad we are, we must obey.

For the fifth, Standing at the Foot of the Cross, how Her very Immaculate Heart must have broken into a million pieces, and yet, how She stood firm, courageous and resigned, sorrowing and obedient, just like Her Son...feeling every bit of the pain and humiliation that He was forced to feel ~ and for nothing that They did, but for everything that we did, and continue to do!

For the sixth, Taking Jesus Down from the Cross, how crushed was Her Heart, as they placed the dead Body of Her only Son into Her waiting arms! She must have felt completely devastated, heart-broken and abandoned by everything and everyone good in Her life. To feel what no parent should ever feel ~ the loss of a child ~ and to be without even the comforting arms of a husband...

For the seventh, The Burial of Jesus, the absolutely cruelest of all...the burial of a son or daughter is unimaginable to me, and yet, She did this for us. She kept Her faith til the very last moment of Her Sons' life and even beyond, never giving up hope that it was for the best, that He would come to Her again. Even if She had to wait until She died Herself, She would do it all over again, just so we could be saved.

How sorrowful must be the Heart of our Blessed Mother, that on the Feast of the Seven Sorrows, there are so many who do nothing to commemorate the loss She suffered! I say we all mark this day on our personal calendars and together, from this year on, we commit to at least one completely loving and unselfish act every day ~ not because we have to do anything at all, or because we are commanded to carry our own crosses ~ but because we love Her, the Mother who suffered so much...and most especially, because we love the Son for Whom She did it all.

Happy Birthday, dearest Mother Mary!

Since this is the Feast of the Nativity of our most Holy and Blessed Mother, I just want to say that I wish Her a very Happy Birthday and to hereby renew my Pledge to Her that I will forever love Her with all my heart.

Everything I have, everything I do, everything I am ~ is all Hers.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAMA MARY!

Just A Suggestion...

This weekend I attended the four-day mission for the Opus Sanctorum Angelorum @ the National HQ parish, Assumption Grotto, in Detroit. Since I live in a nearby suburb the trip is very do-able for me, as it only takes about half an hour to get there.

It started on Thursday evening, with Confession, the Holy Rosary, Holy Mass, a talk about the writings of St. Paul, and Benediction. Friday & Saturday were filled with more talks, the Holy Rosary, Benediction and Exposition, Holy Mass every day (of course) and interviews for anyone who was interested in becoming a member. Today, Sunday, there was supposed to be a ceremony to accept the Consecration Promises of anyone who had completed their first year of Formation, to become an Associate member...but I had to leave before this took place, so I'm afraid I missed it. No worries, since I am already a member myself!

As far as the topics of the talks went, mostly they centered on St. Paul, with one about Our Lady and the Angels and another one centering on God's will and how to discern It for our lives. Since this is a Jubilee Year dedicated to St. Paul, it was a wonderful way to learn more about him; for instance, I had not realized that he was a total believer and devotee of the Holy Angels even before he was struck down on the Road to Damascus. There are many other things that I could relate here concerning St. Paul and things that he wrote, of which I had no idea until now, but that is a subject for another post. What concerns me here today is a simple thing, for which I am sure my own Guardian Angel is quite happy.

Or, maybe it's not so simple...it all depends on how you look at it.

Ok. I am going to be completely open and honest here ~ mostly about something that is personal to me and probably to alot of others out there, although I don't know if they would care to admit it, especially in public, lol ~ but I get nervous about Confession, sometimes more than others, depending on how long it's been...which is a great reason to follow the suggestion of Fr. John that night.

So, yes, I did go to Confession on Thursday evening ~ the first of the four days of this mission. I had not been to this Sacrament for nearly six weeks. That's a long time by some standards, certainly by the measurements that Our Lord must use, but in human terms, given that alot of us are in the same boat, I would be willing to bet that it is not that long at all.

Of course, if I had been mentally accusing myself of some mortal sin (Heaven forbid!), then I would definitely high-tail it to the nearest box, but since I had not been, I let it go...for much longer than is wise.

It seems that time has been slipping away from me of late, and when I checked my palm pilot to see the last time I had been there, I was astonished to see the six-week gap! So, gratefully, I waited in the line at the Confessional and took my timid turn. And, as usual, what I found there was amazing, merciful and memorable. 

It was the first time with this particular priest, so he was unaware of my own situation...and also of the fact that I come from a parish known to them as "The Little Grotto" ~ a nickname given for the fact that it so closely resembles Assumption Grotto in both traditional leanings and is also the "suburban host" whenever they come out to the suburbs to conduct one of their missions.

I told him that I was in the habit of more frequent Confession ever since joining my parish about a year and a half ago, since I was accustomed to going two-three times a year and was now used to going about four-to-six weeks. Then, he surprised me with a "one-up-on-you" suggestion: Why not try to make it every two weeks? And did I know that the Saints frequently went every day, some of them more than once?!?

"Why no, Father, I was not aware of that fact, but given that they were Saints, I am not too surprised!" 

"Well then," was his response, "are you not also trying to become a Saint?"

I had to admit it ~ he had me there! And he knew it...

I mean, what else could I say, right?

So, as he waxed eloquently about my going to Confession more than once a month, I had to agree ~ and I really do, all silliness aside here. When he first suggested that I should try, if it's not too hard for me, I knelt there thinking about how much better it would be for me. 

"Too hard?" I was thinking..."no!" (I am blessed to be in a parish where, not only do the priests there frequently advocate Confession as often as possible, but we are given the opportunity before every Holy Mass! ...every weekend there are ten Holy Masses offered and during the week, every day has at least three, some four!)

Then, this afternoon, we had the final day of the mission and the talk was about discerning God's Will for our lives. And I couldn't help but think how great it would be for me to start doing exactly what Fr. John proposed.

The last time I posted here about a Confession, I explained how things seem to come together to me as if God Himself was working events to enlighten my mind in some way ~ what He was showing me, what I was supposed to understand here, was really quite simple: Why would it not be His Will for me to go to Confession as often as the good priest was suggesting? 

When I was a youngster attending Catholic school and studying the Sacraments, the Sisters would tell us how we should receive the Blessed Sacrament as often as possible ~ and also Confession. Two weeks in between was the recommended norm...and here I was again, fifty years later, hearing the same thing. Nobody, even most priests, had suggested this to me in years! And did I really need someone else to suggest it before I took the hint? Not really, but after a lifetime of trying to get better one step at a time, it's about time for this one! 

I once asked another priest how often I should attend and he told me about two-three times a year was good. When I told another priest what I had been told, he exclaimed, "Some priests just do not want to work!"

And I agree...

One thing I can say here is this: ever since I have been going to Confession more often, I have felt the grace of God in my life even more powerfully than I ever did before. I understand better how to avoid the pitfalls of certain sins that I had been committing and it is much easier to not commit them now.

I am not saying, even by the longest shot, that I am any more perfect than I was before, but what I am saying is that the more I am exposed to His grace the more I feel His peace, and the more I can walk away from these temptations.

And that, to me, is a very good reason ~ if not the best ~ for taking Fr. John up on his idea. Here I was, patting myself on the back for getting there every few weeks, when what I should have been doing was trying to find a better way to avoid my bad habits and sins altogether. 

I'm sure Fr. John does not realize the impact of his simple suggestion to my mind, but I am grateful for his putting it there! And I have not stopped thinking about it since.

Simple, eh? After all, it was just a suggestion...

One Helps the Other...

As I said recently in a post about the Friends of the Suffering Souls, there are many benefits to belonging to such an organization as this...one of which is the fact that, as souls are released into Heaven, those who pray and offer Holy Mass stipends for them are the happy recipients of their prayers, once they stand before the Throne of the Most Blessed Trinity. There was a story shared by Ben Forshaw, the director of FOSS, and I have been given permission to share this with my own readers, both for their spiritual edification and for my own "memory boost" so to speak... A member had written to him about the death of her mother, who was a member of FOSS and how holy that death had been:

I just want to let you know that my mother, Marjorie whose date is 31st December died on the 11th July this year. There were so many graces and miracles surrounding her death Ben it was incredible. Firstly, she received an Apostolic Blessing from the priest who converted Mum 53 years ago. Mum always prayed to St Therese, the Little Flower, before she converted to become a Catholic & she reckoned that it was St Therese who told her to convert. While I was beside her bed when dying I had my Pieta Prayer Book (always carry it with me) and I found the prayer to St Therese where you asked her send you a rose from the heavenly garden. Well I said this prayer asking St Therese to send Mum a rose from heavenly garden before she died. A few hours later, a nun in the Nursing Home where Mum was, brought in a pure white rose for her, that was unbelievable but when I said the prayer a second time, a second nun arrived with another rose. I knew then that St Therese was with Mum. The whole Nursing Home was coming and going to see her the day she died, she was unconscious of course, but the Staff and Residents all came to tell us how she brought love or humour into their lives. It was amazing – and that’s how I know God was with her. I had to share this story with you Ben because I have had Mum enrolled into the FOSS of a long time now & I believe with all my heart that all the Masses she has been enrolled in was her saving Grace. I am so grateful to God for bringing FOSS into my life and the lives of my family. As a family we have so many issues but one day they will all know how much God has been working through me with FOSS. This IS THE BEST way I have of loving my family. The week before she died, somehow she recognized me ('cause usually she didn't) and she grabbed my hand & said: "everything will be alright now, Maria is here." I knew God was there with us and at that moment peace just filled me. That moment was worth a million! Miracles to do happen Ben even into today’s world, we just need the Grace to see them and acknowledge them. Please share this story if you wish if you think it will help other people.

And so there you have it. The holy life and death of this woman, who was a convert, was no doubt due to her devotion to God (that goes without saying, doesn't it?) and to the sweet St. Therese. Other than the yearly requirement of having one Holy Mass said for all members and the Suffering Souls themselves, I would also like to offer here the chance for anyone reading this to do something really wonderful for Our dear Lord ~ give to Him, right now, the offering of yourselves in honor of His Mercy and the expiation of all sins ~ both venial and mortal ~ and to quench that thirst that all Suffering Souls endure for His divine Justice.
The thing about His Justice is that...even tho' He is our most Merciful and gracious Lord, He is also all Just...and that Justice must be satisfied!
And when we practice Charity for others like this, we satisfy that Justice in a most loving and profitable way.
So, then...shall we begin?

Baby Killer...

There is a new face on the scene these days in American politics. The name that goes with this face is Barack Obama. He is married, has children, goes to his church ~ whichever that happens to be ~ and in general, purports to be the all-American family man.
What I can't help but wonder about here is, "What kind of family does this man support?"
This is a man who says that he is undecided on the issue of the beginning of life; this is a man who says that pro-choice and pro-life opponents can come to some common ground; this is a man who has a 100% favorable rating from such organizations as Planned Parenthood, NARAL, NOW and many others; this is a man who says that teaching children about contraceptives must be a part of any valid program to prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies, all the while of course stating that anyone who opposes abortion must be legally subject as they struggle daily by the grace of God to change the law.
Naturally, I believe every word that comes out of his mouth. This is for the very simple reason that he is a liberal Democrat, a man who grew up in poverty and became wealthy, a man who sees the chance to take the Presidency of the United States of America by the reins and steer us into a new century of legally sanctioned murder and moral chaos.
Sadly, this God-blessed and God-forsaken nation has been living under a thinly-disguised veil of evil that it will practically take the power of the very Angels themselves to undo. Satan knows his time is short; he wages his battle with the forces of good more violently every day ~ and if this man, Barack Obama, wins the election in November, well then...
I understand that the President cannot change laws by himself, nor can he bring about his agenda of change overnight. But there remains that chance that he, with his appointees and cohorts, will wreak such havoc that it would take years to undo.
He says that he believes that there is common ground for opposing sides to come together, and yet there remains that problematic area that the pro-lifers (like me, for instance) are just going to have to live with! We must keep fighting the good fight...
I, for one, will never vote for such a man as this ~ even tho' he is supposedly an eloquent speaker, a charismatic leader and a kindly man who appears to have the best interests of America at heart.
In all reality, however, he does not, and I am aware of a Wolf in Sheep's clothing.

If You Are Catholic, Then You Must Believe...

There was a discussion going on in a website that I visited the other day...and I was wondering, just how many Roman Catholics are there out there who profess the Faith, and yet do not believe it?!?
I'm talking about basics here...if Jesus Christ founded our Church, gave His stamp of approval, covered it with His Precious Blood and gave to St. Peter the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven...what's not to believe here?
There was a woman in there who was complaining that, even tho' she was a cradle Catholic and claimed to be a daughter of the Church, as soon as the Pope was quoted as saying that our Faith is the True Faith and necessary for salvation, she was actually thinking of leaving the Church!!!
I couldn't believe what I was reading...
So I left a comment asking her if she did not believe in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, then what was she doing there?!?
Of course, there was no response...
Figures, eh?
I'll bet she either began to think again about what she was saying or she actually left the Faith by now ~ sadly this is true of people that I even know in person.
An old friend had told me once that when the scandal was happening about our priests being accused of molesting children years ago, she and her husband thought about leaving. No way, I say ~ less than one percent of all priests were accused/if guilty at all ~ and even then, are they not human? Do they not deserve a chance at redemption? Do they carry this guilt with them forever?
Or do we practice what we preach here? And if we do, how many times?
Seven? Seventy? Seventy times seven?
Hmm.mm....interesting question, eh? One with an interesting answer...and where have we heard that answer before? Hmm.mm...
You see, there is no way the Church is perfect. Holy Mother Church is made up of humans and as such is plagued with their sins...and we will not escape this sad fact until we are all in Heaven!
But then again...when the Holy Father speaks ex cathedra, he makes no mistakes, as we all know. And when he teaches that the Church is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that was founded and left to us by the Son of God Himself, then I tend to believe that he knows what he is talking about!
So it all boils down to this: The way I see it, if I claim to be Catholic then I must believe. If I were to change everything around to suit myself, picking and choosing what I wanted to believe or not believe, then what would that make me?
Nothing more than 'all talk'...

"Lavdate, Marian!"

"Lavdate! Lavdate, Marian!"
This is the phrase that we sang the other night @ the Vigil Holy Mass for the Feast of Our Lady's Assumption into Heaven.
It is a song of praise and joy, given to the Holy Mother of God on one of Her greatest Feasts. There has never and never will be any reason to give this kind of honor and attention to any other creature of God, and thankfully for us, She is really only human ~ one of our own.
Even tho' Her Divine Son is, of course, human and Divine, She is only a simple creature.
I have an acquaintance who does not believe in the Church anymore, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church in which she was raised, and goes to a Protestant denomination. I cannot change her mind, even tho' I pray for her and her family all the time. One day, I suspect, she will come home, but in the meantime, there we are.
Every time the Blessed Mother's name is brought up, "Oh, that's a Catholic thing, isn't it?" she replies. (It is the same way with her when I mention the Divine Mercy, but that's a subject for another post.)
According to her way of thinking, Our Lady is nothing more than the Mother of Jesus Christ ~ nothing to get worked up over.
"Nothing but that?!?" I counter, in shock and disbelief.
"Why, yes! What did She do besides have a Baby? Why do you Catholics pay Her so much attention?"
Here, I sigh, finger my Rosary in my pocket, and try to explain ~ for the umpteenth time ~ what my entire family has been taught since our first day of existence...
Sadly, this woman is a relative of mine ~ and I really cannot talk to her anymore about it ~ I can only offer up silent prayer and remember: defending the Faith can be so hard sometimes!
And whenever I attend a Holy Mass in Her honor, like I did the other night, I am so grateful to Her for just HAVING A BABY! The Baby Who came to Her that holy night in Bethlehem, and to all of us.
What else, indeed!
From the first moment of Her conception to the present moment in our time, and on until eternity forever and ever more, She ~ and She alone ~ is the Woman of Faith, Woman of the Eucharist, Woman of the Trinity...and every other title and salutation we can bestow upon Her!
She ~ and She alone ~ is given the title of Mother of All Graces, Mother of Perpetual Help, Mother of Charity and Purity, Queen of All Saints and Angels, Woman of the Gospels, Woman of the Apocalypse, Our Lady of Peace, Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, Queen of the World, Queen of Heaven and Earth...
I don't believe I need to go on here. Can anyone disagree with me on this?
Am I the only one who is amazed and saddened, not to mention scandalized, at the very idea of a daughter or son of Mary who has not heard of all that She has done?!?
She is the Lady of Charity and Purity because when Gabriel came to tell Her the Good News and ask Her if She was willing to take part in it, all She did was say, "yes." That was all She needed to say, and from that moment the history of mankind has been forever changed.
She is the Queen of Martyrs...from the first moment of Her Son's Passion, She suffered every pain, every fearful thought, every wound that He did, and gladly gave Her attention to what He endured for all of us...without a thought for Herself.
Did anyone know this at the time?
No.
As always, She kept Her suffering in Her Immaculate Heart, saving every tear and every pain for Her own offering to the Almighty Father.
She is our own Mother of Perpetual Help because from the Cross Jesus gave Her to us to be our Mediatrix of Graces, Our own Holy and Blessed Mother...and to Her we come for all our needs and desires. And in the words of St. Bernard, "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, and sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother! to thee I come, before thee I stand sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate! despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen."
In all of this, and in much much more, She is the Queen of our hearts, and therefore deserves all
the honor and praise that we, as Catholics and children of the Church, can lavish upon Her!
And not only us, but the entire world ~ Protestant, Jew, Muslim, nonbelievers and atheists ~ it doesn't matter...She is the Mother of everyone and on this Feast of Her Assumption we should be pleased and grateful to have the chance to recognize all that She has done for us!
Yes, indeed...She did much more than "have a Baby" ~ and She gave us a new spiritual birth in the process!
We should be kissing Her feet.
"Lavdate! Lavdate, Marian!"

A New Novena Starts...

Today is the Feast day of that great virgin/martyr Saint, Philomena. As I mentioned before, I am a member of FOSS, namely, Friends of the Suffering Souls.
Also, as I have mentioned before, I get their newsletters...and this week they have begun a novena to St. Philomena, who is very powerful with her intercession before Almighty God. She is known as the "Wonderworker."
She had great admirers among the other Saints as well...namely, the Cure d'Ars, St. John Vianney himself...and Ven. Pauline Marie Jaricot, whom she cured of a serious illness. Ven. Pauline, after her miraculous cure, which was witnessed by many, went on to found the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.
As was the usual way with Emperors long ago, Philomena was chosen to be his bride, as he was taken by her beauty and manner, but she had already chosen Christ to be her Spouse. So she was imprisoned, tortured and finally martyred. While in chains, she was consoled by Our Lady Herself and while being tortured she was visited and comforted by the Holy Angels.
A Saint who merits such singular attention by the very Courts of Heaven, not to mention the Holy Queen, certainly deserves mention here on my own Blog, a humble site written by one who is no match for her!
Let us all pray to St. Philomena for her intercession, not only for help in working to aid the Holy Souls in Purgatory, but in all our endeavors here on Earth.
God knows we can use all the help we can get...
http://www.catholicyouth.freeservers.com/litanies/saints/philomena.htm
Let us pray...

Links to a World...

Ok, I know, I know...
This is supposed to be my Catholic Blog, right? I am sure that starting with my next post, now that I have my disclaimer out of the way, I will have a plethora of subjects upon which to touch ~ concerning everything to do with the Faith.
And for that, I couldn't be happier, believe me!
But I have been busy here, yes here, right on my page ~ changing the "look" of it and more importantly, the function, whether or not the changes are obvious.
If anyone reads this post, they are now free to click on any of the pictures to the right of my page...each picture will take you to a different site, the subject of which has everything to do with what the picture depicts.
There are a few pictures here, I know, that are not concerning Roman Catholicism, obviously, but that's ok ~ they all have to do with me and my life.
And isn't that what Blogging is all about? ;)

The More the Merrier...

"If we desire to make certain of Heaven, dear friends, let us pray fervently for the souls in Purgatory. It may even be asserted that praying devoutly for the souls in Purgatory is an almost sure sign of salvation. If we have been faithful in praying for these poor souls then they will in turn help us. Throwing themselves at God's feet they will plead: 'Lord, have mercy for this poor soul, grace and mercy for her! Be merciful, Oh God, to this charitable soul who rescued us from the flames and satisfied Divine Justice.' " ~ St. John Vianney.
"It is unbelievable what they (the Holy Souls) can do for our spiritual good, out of gratitude they have towards those on Earth who remember to pray for them." ~ St. Pio of Pietrelcina.

These are just two quotes from newsletters from FOSS, or Friends of the Suffering Souls, a very worthwhile organization to which I have belonged for the past several years. To have the grace of
being allowed to help the dead in this way is truly a blessing from Heaven...and I, for one, intend to take full advantage of it!
I have the sinking suspicion that I am destined to spend a very long time there, and I would be most grateful for any help I can muster up!
If anyone is interested in finding out more about this wonderful Group, feel free to visit anytime @ http://www.knocknovena.com/ and sign up while you are there. (The only requirement for membership is to have a Holy Mass offered for the Holy Souls once a year on or near your birthday...but more are always welcome.)
My own date is 1 Sept. ~ never mind the year, lol.
But the more Holy Masses we can offer for these people the sooner they can reach their final Home with God and start praying for us. We can never have enough help or friends willing to extend that help.
And I say, the more the merrier...

A Disclaimer...of sorts...

Well, here we go again...when will we ever learn?!? The other day I was asked by an Internet friend to check out the Blog of a friend of hers, not naming any names here, who was being attacked from the "blogosphere" by a total, bitter stranger. So I did. And what I found there was not good. This woman had posted on her own Blog about NFP, or Natural Family Planning. There were several people who commented, telling her that they liked what she had written, had learned from it, or simply agreed with it. And then there was another woman, a total stranger, who came in and belittled her, attacked her and abused everything she said, using derisive language the entire time. This woman claimed that, since she was from an older generation, that this gave her the right to dictate what others should write about in their own "personal space" ~ so the one to whom the Blog belongs, in rebuttal, went on to publish a disclaimer for herself and for anyone who comes to read what she writes. I thought this was a wonderful idea, and I am hoping she will not mind if I copy her efforts...after all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, is it not? And so, to all of the few readers who come to my Catholic Blog here @ Google's Blogger, and also to those who move on to read also what I write in my other two Blogs @ DrawingIsMyLife... and MyLife'sMusings... I have this to say: I hope you enjoy what I write. I hope you might even take something from it and apply it to your own lives. I hope you know that this is my own "personal space" and as such, it is mine to write and present in any manner I wish. I promise I will not ever write anything derogatory about anyone here, or there, and will never use vulgar or abusive language ~ unlike some I could name. I will write about my family, my Faith (in Holy Mother Church) and anything else I care to explore. I will give away some of my own deepest and personal thoughts and feelings here, and there, and I hope you know that you read them of your own free will. I do not force you to come here, nor do I force you to stay. If you care to leave comments, I welcome them ~ I encourage them, in fact. All I ask is that you keep them civil and charitable. If you care to email me privately, that's fine too.
But I sincerely hope that you will not expect me to add my own "head in the sand" view of the world to yours. This is where I vent, rave, weep, share, laugh and live. And my opinions and comments are my own. I do not apologize for anything I say here, and I do not expect to be harassed or threatened at any time. Like the ostrich, my world is my own ~ and you are welcome to join in or leave.
If you agree with this disclaimer or not, that is not my concern. I only post this so anyone who does come in here will not be too surprised at what they find, nor at my lack of concern at such surprise.
Peace, everyone......

A Pearl of Wisdom...

Have you ever gone to Confession, listened to the priest's words (as Christ Himself) and then, at the Holy Mass, find yourself hearing the same exact words spoken to you, just as if they were meant for you and you alone? This is exactly what happened to me yesterday afternoon. It has happened many times in the past, but sometimes it hits me harder than at others. I have met many people who said they didn't believe in coincidences...and I must say, most of the time, neither do I. Especially where God's Word is concerned ~ all things come together in such a way as to make perfect sense to the listener, if that listener is TRULY listening...and all in His good time. One way to tell the fruits of a good Confession is to see how well a person stays away from a sin committed over and over again ~ habitual sin. If I receive this Sacrament and make no progress in my spiritual life, my Confessions become redundant, routine and even a waste of time...there is no purpose of amendment and no amendment made. As I understand it, there are two types of prayer: prayer that we say (or do) and prayer of the Sacraments. We can say a formula prayer, such as the "Our Father" or "Hail Mary", and then we can practice a prayer, as we do when we receive Holy Communion, or when we go to Confession. The graces we receive are already set aside for us especially by Our Lord Himself...and if we neglect these prayers, He grants the graces to another soul. When Solomon became king in the Old Testament, God appeared to him in a dream and asked him what he would wish ~ He would grant anything asked of Him. Solomon replied that he wished for great wisdom so that he could rule well, knowing always the difference between right and wrong. Since God was well pleased with this request, He granted it, assuring Solomon that no one before or after him would ever be known for such wisdom as was his...and even tho' I don't pretend that I have any great wisdom, I do know one thing: as Fr. Francis tells me, no one can be holy without a good prayer life. We cannot keep up our virtue without God's help; without His help, we cannot even begin to get out of any bad habits we have acquired during our lifetime, sinful or not. And each night, as one says evening prayers, there are only two questions that need to be asked: How did I love Jesus today? and ~ How will I love Him better tomorrow? The Gospel tells us of a Golden Rule that Our Lord preached to us over and over again: Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself. And there are more Sacraments where the Golden Rule is practiced, that form of prayer that brings His life into our souls in a very practical way...not just in Confession and Holy Communion, but also, for example, in Matrimony ~ between two people. Today in the homily we were told about the reasoning behind and the circumstances surrounding the writing of Humanae Vitae. The Church was being told by modernists to change Her ruling concerning birth control. His Holiness, Pope Paul VI wrote this wonderful letter to re-iterate the reasoning behind the 2,000 year old teaching. This is, without a doubt, one of the greatest encyclicals ever written, and as luck would have it, one of the most well-known, even tho' it is not always followed by Catholics who profess to know their Faith and who don't seem to know the real difference between right and wrong, the openness to life in marriage...which is one of the most important reasons it is a Sacrament. As each husband and wife gives of self to the life of the other, making each other holy in the process, as they actually require one another to practice virtue. Jesus tells us of the "pearl of great price," that holiest of souls which hears and obeys His Word. "If you are My friends," He tells us, "then you must keep My commandments. If you love Me, you must be perfect, even as My heavenly Father is perfect." The pearl is white to show purity and innocence. Jesus says a "pearl of great price" is the soul, kept free from sin.

Yesterday, in the Confessional, Fr. Francis told me that to read and learn the ways of His Truth and to practice what He preaches is to reach a state of spiritual wisdom ~ as in the old expression, "a pearl of wisdom" ~ that "pearl of great price" that Jesus talks about, our souls being raised to a state of great grace.

Only in His Word, with His grace, will we ever reach that state.

To Know Him is to Love Him...

To be called to the state of Matrimony is not a right, to be taken lightly. It is a Sacrament, instituted by God for the protection and sanctification of the family unit, to give children (and the men and women so called) a safe haven, a refuge from the outside world ~ people to lean on in times of hardship, to love in good times and bad, to experience joy and His peace.
To have a baby is not a right. To be a mother is a privilege, an honor, a grace bestowed by Almighty God upon a woman for life; the same goes, without saying of course, for a man and the calling to be a father.
The current trend in Hollywood is appalling, to say the least...so many starlets having babies out of wedlock, mostly to the tune of exposure in magazines, on talk shows, in all the tabloids ~ and for what?!? To be noticed? To get the biggest part in a blockbuster movie? Just because a girl's name is up front in the latest headlines is no reason to put more spotlight on her lack of morals and upbringing!
It used to be that someone in the public eye was shamed into hiding if she had a baby without the benefit of a husband. And to cheat with another woman's spouse was completely forbidden!
How well I remember the scandal when Elizabeth Taylor first began to see Eddie Fisher behind Debbie Reynolds' back...and soon enough, blatantly before her very eyes. When Ingrid Bergman had an affair outside of her own marriage, she was blackballed ~ she went all the way to Europe to be with her lover, leaving her family and career in her wake.
Now we hear about Jamie Lynn Spears, Nicole Ritchie, Jessica Alba and who knows who else!?!
I was reading Dr. Laura's Blog yesterday and, since I haven't had a chance to write in this Blog in the past couple of weeks, and this is a subject near and dear to my heart, I thought I would take a cue from her and expand just a little with my own opinion.
The women who bring up their children to honor God's law will be rewarded with the knowledge that they did what was required of them in their vocation of motherhood ~ to raise up Saints to give praise and eternal worship to Him. To bring up a child only to see him or her develop into something less than what God intended is unconscionable...that poor soul is most likely destined to a life without moral compass and direction...most likely on the way to perdition.
These young women ~ and the men they sleep with ~ show absolutely no example to their offspring, other than that of a life of abandon, free sex, devil-may-care and do-whatever-feels-good!
When the children grow up to abuse drugs, take advantage of others in all their dealings, giving nothing back to society except to go about with the attitude that they can do no wrong because the media and society in general is afraid to tell them that what they do is sinful...another generation of souls is lost.
Someone once said that the greatest achievement the Devil ever had was to convince mankind that he does not exist. I fear that this day and age, with all the blatant liberalism gone rampant, is the most sinful ever seen ~ and it continues to get worse.
Yes, the Devil has brainwashed many in Hollywood and everywhere else that what they do is not a sin, not wrong by God's standards at all. How could it be a sin if sin comes from Satan and he is nowhere to be found?!?
Only when we wake up and learn God's Word...then we will find out the Truth. The Truth is Jesus Christ. The Word is Jesus Christ. The Way to Heaven is Jesus Christ.
I don't think He suffered and died for us just to have us throw it back in His Face. I daresay that He is not pleased. We could be in big trouble here...

The Annunciation

Today being the birthday of our great nation, it occurs to me to reflect on a Birthday which occurred over 2,000 years ago ~ and it all started on the day of Our Lady's Annunciation. Everything hinged on Her Fiat to God's request that She be the Mother of His only-begotten Son.
I have always wondered how that must have felt to Her...to be chosen by the Almighty Father of all creation to be the only woman ever created who would be so honored.
She, being a Daughter of the Jewish nation, waiting all Her life for the Savior to come, just like all the Jews who had gone before...did She suspect that it would all depend on Her answer to one question? The most important question ever asked in the history of the world...and where would we be if it weren't for Her complete humility and selflessness?!?
Since She has been called the Patroness of our nation, I pray that She is looking down upon us today from Heaven above and blessing us with all the good graces that God will allow Her to bestow. All of this comes to Her under Her title of the Immaculate Conception ~ Her own unique condition of being that preserves Her soul from all corruption of sin ~ may She, by the permission She received from Her divine Son, shower upon us all the continued protection and grace that is in Her power to grant to us.
May we all be grateful for that love and blessing and may we all show that gratitude by being the very best we can be! God save us, and our great nation under Him!!!

The Double Great Novena...

Finally, I have a chance to come in here and post ~ I have wanted to write for the past week or more, but have not had an opportunity to do so.
It suddenly occurred to me earlier today that I have never "reminisced" about the Double Great Novena...something that I was able to complete a few years ago, along with my two daughters, Theresa & Laura.
It all started when Our Lord appeared to Sr. Natalia in Hungary and asked her to spread this devotion ~ Nine First Fridays and Nine First Saturdays ~ and gave her 33 Promises that He was going to grant to anyone who completes the Nine Months of (mainly) Holy Communions.
Since the First Friday devotion is made up of going to Holy Communion for nine months and the First Saturday devotion consists of Confession, Holy Communion, the Rosary (at least five decades) and a fifteen minute meditation on the Mysteries, they are a match "made in Heaven."
To pair the two of them together makes up the Double Great Novena, with the Saturday practice being increased to the full nine, to keep up with those of Friday.
If anyone who reads this is interested, here is a wonderful link to the whole story:
http://members.tripod.com/~LaPieta/dnov_ena.html
Promise #17, I must admit, was the main catalyst that prompted me to begin, wasting no more time!
"...If parents or other members of a family make this novena, no member of that family will be condemned to Hell..."
What could be a more wonderful, gracious Promise than that?!?
When I first began my novena, I was going to do it from September, 2004 til May, 2005. However, my daughters, who had just joined the Blue Army asked me if I could start again in October so they could do it too. I had never gotten the chance to complete my Five First Saturdays ~ even tho' I've been a member of the BA for nearly 30 years. I tried once years ago, got to the third month just fine; then I missed after that...and didn't get another chance until much later.
In the meantime, I am happy to say, I came across this novena. I bought a book that explained the whole thing and promptly decided that this was the way to go for me!
As it turned out, then, I was able to do this for ten months in a row. The three of us decided that we would love to do it forever afterwards, but in July, 2005, my husband Michael got sick and I had to quit.
Now that he is doing better, I intend to start up again ~ just as soon as I get over this broken leg. I am able to get around pretty well, now, thank God, but am not driving yet.
I must confess that I am looking forward to getting back to it... :)...

Am I Crazy?!?

"Crazy."
This is the name of the song that is playing in this movie we are watching right now ~ me, my daughters Theresa & Laura.
And the sudden inspiration hit me to write about being "crazy" myself.
There is a story about St. Gerard Majella, where he was kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament. This was during the middle of the night and his fellow brothers were smiling at his penchant for staying up until all hours to worship when he could have been asleep. He told Our Lord that he was being called crazy, and Jesus laughed and told him that he was.
Gerard then told Him that even tho' He was the one cooped up in a small box on a table, the Creator of the entire world, able to do whatever He wanted, He chose to keep hidden to all but to those who had the Faith to "see" Him...
"And yet, You tell me that I am the crazy one?!?" Gerard exclaimed.
Thinking about this, I am reminded of the fact that, for months now, I have been unable to go to my weekly Adoration on Wednesdays...exposed @ our parish every week...and I miss it so much; I can't wait until I can drive again, so I can get over there for more than the obligatory Sunday Holy Mass. To receive so much more additional grace is indeed a tremendous gift from our God.
While I was searching for a picture to post with this entry, I came across this absolutely gorgeous altar from the parish of Our Lady Star of the Sea in Wales. At this link is posted an explanation of the symbolism carved into the altar itself, along with other symbolism used.
http://www.llandudno-catholic-church.org.uk/news051113.html
The other day, my husband Michael and I were out for breakfast, him driving of course, and I asked him to stop @ the mailbox. As we were pulling away, he asked me if I felt up to driving home (about four blocks away); we pulled over and I got behind the wheel...my first time in over three months. It felt strange at first, but only for a minute. As I drove away it began to feel "right" ~ and I had no trouble with feeling the brake pedal beneath my broken leg...
This gave me hope, but he is still reluctant to let me drive more than a few blocks; I can put pressure on my leg now, but I am still not able to drive for miles. I would never do anything to put myself or any other drivers at risk, and above all, not to worry my beloved,...so I am staying away from driving for the present.
Maybe in another few weeks...
In the meantime, I place myself in His Presence, both mentally and in my heart. I visit Him every day through my Angel, sending Friend on errands as often as it occurs to me. Asking him to please rush with all the speed of an Angel to the altar ~ adore Him for me please! Ask for any available grace to help my loved ones, strangers who won't ask for themselves, for myself.
Pictured here is the Tabernacle from my own church, on the back wall, behind the altar itself, before we had it restored and the church rebuilt.
As in any parish where the Eucharist is the center of all worship, our Tabernacle is always up front and center. It was before, it is now.
There are many, many parishioners there who are devoted to His Hidden Presence...whenever we go, there are always others there.
I have been a member of many parishes in my lifetime, and nowhere have I ever lived where He was so in the forefront of the peoples' minds...but here, He is always first.
This is why I love my parish. This is why I can't
wait to be able to drive again. So, then as I pass by, I can stop in for a quick "hello" as I was always wont to do in the past...just to see Him, be with Him in person, kneeling before Him.
I do have my walking stick now, and I am able to get around better than before; as a matter of fact, this past Saturday I was able to get myself up to the Communion rail and I actually knelt @ the Consecration, and also during the Communion ceremony! It felt so good...
I can see that soon I will be back to normal; I will be kneeling again all the time, just like I used to. I will be driving by and stopping in again, just like I used to.
Call me crazy, but I am in love with Him in the Eucharist...and I cannot wait until I can spend my time before the Tabernacle, just like St. Gerard...with my Angel @ my side, in person!
And if I never break my leg again, it will be fine with me ~ I have missed too much already...

My Next Move...

I was at my doctor's yesterday and I can finally start going to church on my own and KNEEL again!
I have to use a walking stick or keep my walker handy as I still have a hairline fracture, but for the most part, my broken leg is very nearly a thing of the past.
For having two broken bones ~ two of the largest, heaviest bones in my body ~ I must say that there was very little pain, much less than I would have expected. I have the Good Lord to thank for that; I really had something to offer up here, remembering the Holy Souls in Purgatory, my own family's intentions, the end to the so-called 'war' in Iraq...and much more.
In the meantime, I was finally consecrated to my beloved Angel ~ and I'm sure that this change in my life will have repercussions that will last for the rest of my days...until I meet him face to face!
Yes, this has been a most interesting, eventful year, and I have been on a real journey.
I chose to use this picture in my entry today because it shows the Blessed Eucharist, first of all, along with two Angels kneeling in worship ~ something I have not been able to do for so long it kills me inside...and the first thing I am going to do now that I can walk about somewhat (hopefully soon to drive) is stop in @ my church and spend an hour on my knees, in our new Adoration chapel, and give Him all my love and thanksgiving!!!
I was telling a friend of mine (who lives in England) a couple of months ago about my broken leg and she told me how surprised she was that I had gone and fallen down again (since my fall last September and suffering with a severely sprained knee) and I told her that I was only tired of one thing ~ I could not kneel in church. Now with a broken leg, there was no way ~ and she said that I had my answer from Him ~ "Don't worry, I know you want to kneel and give Me praise" ~ but it was not for this time...
Now, don't get me wrong here. I know very well that we can worship and praise our God while standing, sitting or lying down. We can pray while folding laundry, driving a car, doing yard work. We can give Him our undivided attention no matter what we are doing, anytime and anywhere, in any stance...but I can't deny that to kneel before the Holy Sacrament of the Altar is, to me, the ultimate in adoring "stance"...in humility, as a grateful child of God, even for me with my life's history of trick knees and spending half of my life sitting down!
I even have had difficulty genuflecting, before all this happened, but that's ok. We take it as it comes, don't we? I'm sure St. Peregrine had some problems kneeling when he had his cancer in his leg ~ but at least his problem was caused by kneeling in the first place. So much sacrifice, so much pain...so much reason to be grateful to God.
And now, it's my turn. I could only try to emulate such a man, eh?
So, I have made up my mind. When I do get the chance to get to church for an extra visit during the week, this will be the first thing I will do ~ kneel in gratitude before the Blessed Sacrament and thank Him for allowing me to suffer through these past few months, to have something special to offer up to Him.
And I will be happy to do so...

Can't Do It Alone, Babe...

Someone recently told me that he does not worry about how anyone else is saving his or her own soul ~ he is only trying to save his own. I must beg to differ...
There is an old saying that goes something like, "To go to Hell in a handbasket...alone. To go to Heaven, hand in hand, two by two..."
And that is how it works, as Our Lord has so lovingly warned us.
The missionaries have always had the right idea ~ even to giving up their entire lives to convert a group of people sadly lacking the Faith, creating Saints as they went ~ the same with the cloistered Orders...days and nights spent in constant prayer for the conversion of sinners, for one another.
There are a few victim souls who have made their prayer lives available to Him in ways that the rest of us can only imagine...or maybe we can't! Maybe the concept of being a victim soul, one who is given permission by the Church to be impaled upon a spiritual cross of suffering...maybe that concept is beyond our meager understanding. Maybe God gives this grace to so few because He knows that the rest of us could never stand it!
How many of us would even have the Faith we have today if someone somewhere else had not offered up a day of pain for our immortal souls? Should we not do the same for someone else? Who knows how many would be lost if they had not been the happy recipient of a grace gotten for them by a soul somewhere far away, someone they have never even met?!?
He has even gone so far as to give each soul a Guardian Angel to guard and protect, to admonish and to lead to eternal life...reminding us at every turn, every day, every moment even...and to this friend, this helpmate ~ do we listen? do we obey?
One of the most important parts of an Angel's job is to inspire his charge to greater Charity. The virtue of Charity is by its very nature, active. A prayer for someone is an act of Charity. An act performed for another is an act of Charity. A thought given to someone else, is an act of Charity.
And as this is all Charity in action, who can argue that we are only concerned with saving ourselves? Everything we do, say, think, pray for...all should be for another. If we pray for our own intentions, let it be because we are begging God to grant us greater Charity!
The greatest and most loving example of the virtue of Charity in action, who was of course, Our Lady Herself, thought of nothing for Herself ~ ever. All that was in Her mind and heart was for Her Son and for the rest of mankind, which makes Her the best of all Mothers.
Since He has given Her the power to dispense His graces to anyone who asks for them, we should all be entreating Her to grant us this wonderful gift ~ the gift to live for and give to others.
It is only in this way that we will find our own happiness, our own love, our own salvation ~ and our flight to eternal bliss will indeed be hand in hand with all those for whom we have given of ourselves throughout our own lifetimes!

A Blessed New Life...

Seven weeks ago, my son and his wife welcomed into the world their new son. A beautiful, healthy, perfect little boy ~ another life to give glory to Almighty God for all eternity. His name is Andrew Michael, and he came to us on Monday, 7 April, 2008. He has darkish hair and hazel eyes ~ so far...altho' how long that will stay the same, I have no idea. But isn't God wonderful in the way He brings new life to us, shows us His glory and creation in every life!
I have been pro-life all my life ~ and for that I am grateful to Him ~ such a grace does not come easy to some, but to me there is nothing in the world that makes more sense...How do we say who lives and who does not? How do we look at such innocence, such beauty and tell Him that He has wasted His power?!? We don't. Of course, I'm sure that if my own family members had not all been born relatively healthy and into such a loving atmosphere, then maybe it would not be so easy for me to be this way. I might have to struggle daily to see the value in this life we all share. What if my babies had not been born perfect? What if, to this day, we were struggling with problems ~ very real problems ~ and not the least of which could possibly be financial or health-related?!? Or both... There is a deacon in our parish who spends a great deal of his time helping with pro-life causes. He and his wife regularly witness at abortion clinics, passing out rosaries and pamphlets, praying for those who see no other way out than to take the lives of their own babies ~ and I daresay he has probably been instrumental in saving countless lives. God bless him for that! This is my own public thanksgiving to God Himself for granting the grace of being pro-life to me and to my entire family. May we always appreciate all that He has done for us!
Let us pray for all those who are still pro-death, who think nothing of killing their children through abortion, who use artificial means to prevent their conception, whose lifestyle flies in the Face of God...and shows Him that His work of creation is not universally respected and appreciated.
Let us pray that Our Lady, the Queen of all Life, will grant the graces we all need to continue pro-life efforts, to pray for those who still deny that gift to others ~ and that they too will be grateful to Him for all that they have in their own lives...and how much more they could have if they just gave it a chance.

The Mother of All Mothers...

As anyone who reads my Blogs knows, I am a mother of eight children, two more in Heaven. I have been pregnant nine times...two misses, a set of twins, the rest singles. This has been for nearly 30 years; our oldest is 29, a father himself; the youngest is 19.
I realize that what I have done is not that unusual...even tho' while my children were growing up I was frequently the object of curiosity, the butt of jokes ~ the freak of nature who would not give up and refused to listen to anyone who had a comment to make about my God-given fertility.
My husband Mike was never one to circumvent the will of the Almighty, either. Whatever God wanted, God got. Two children, twenty children ~ it mattered not. As long as we were married in the Church, no one could ever say anything.
Yesterday being Mother's Day, we were all gathered together, of course, and I received gifts, cards, flowers and chocolates. I have always enjoyed a closeness to each of my children, the boys and the girls...we have an understanding, you might say. I have loved them, each one, from the very moment that I first suspected that they existed. From the day they were born til now...they are my life, my loves, my very heart!
And the day I die and (hopefully) go to Heaven, I will meet the two I lost, and beg the Lord to watch over the ones who lived, until the day they each come to Him.
This is the purpose of being a mother ~ to nurture, to love and to pray for the little ones until they are home with God.
And what kind of mother would I be if I didn't take that seriously?!?
Just like the Mother of all of us, She who prays incessantly for Her children, interceding for them, reminding them to follow the Light of the World, Her divine Son Jesus...She shows us all the way to the Father.
When it all started, on that day of the Annunciation, She was His faithful dove. She was His obedient Daughter, His humble Servant and She became His faithful Spouse...and His loving Mother. From the first moment She felt His life within Her, She became His protector, as well.
Nothing in life could harm Her Child...the God of creation became dependent upon the meekest of all His creatures.
And just like my own children are my life, my loves, my very heart ~ He was Hers.
When He hung upon the Cross, and when He gave Her to us as our Mother, and us to Her as Her children ~ we became Her charges, as well.
She nurtures us with Her love; She keeps watch over our souls. She pleads for us at the Throne of the Father...She has become our protector, just like She was His so long ago.
Countless numbers of the Saints have followed Her to Heaven ~ those who claimed devotion to the Mother of God are innumerable. There are those who claimed that to say just one more "Hail Mary" would be the perfect thing...
Like I was saying earlier, all of my children were here with me yesterday ~ the two who no longer live here came by & I was able to have a nice long visit with my new grandson. So the day was wonderful in every way I thought it would be.
To end it all, I finished with a nice long visit with my own Heavenly Mother ~ saying the Rosary. All those "Hail Marys" I say with the Rosary, I can only hope and pray that they will keep me as close to my Heavenly Mother as my own are to me...and I will keep on saying them every day ~ Mother's Day or not ~ until the day I die, just as all those Saints before me, who always said that to say just one more "Hail Mary" would be the perfect thing.

Finally...

Finally. I am here. I did it. I am now an official Associate Member of the Opus Sanctorum Angelorum!!! And I could not be happier! It has been my dream since 1992. I have waited so long and now I have really done it...
When I first read Fr. Fox's book, The World and Work of the Holy Angels, back in '91-92, I had to put the idea on the back burner so to speak...after all, I was in the middle of raising eight children...I had no time to get more involved than that.
I have prayed to my Guardian Angel all my life. I wear a gold Guardian Angel medal around my neck every day ~ along with the Holy Face medal, the Miraculous Medal and the Eucharist Medal ~ all attached to each other on the same chain.
Every day, for countless years now, I have kissed that medal, first thing in the morning and throughout the day, saying silently, "Be my Friend and Protector."
I even wrote a prayer to my Angel:
Dearest Angel, to whom God has seen fit to give authority over my life: you are my oldest and dearest friend. You have guided my steps from the very beginning. You have always been there for me; you have never failed me; you never will. I thank you now for the things you have done for me, whether or not they are known to me at this time. You will make them known in eternity. Please stay with me until I come to heaven at the last moment of my life. Please tell me what to do every moment, so that I may never lose the favor of God. Help me to always obey your wishes, for they are for my own salvation. Please meet me at the end to escort me into the presence of my Lord, Jesus Christ, that I may praise Him in person, along with His Holy Mother and all the saints. Amen.
The fact that I call him "Friend" is in no way to show him disrespect. In fact, it is quite the opposite. One must never, according to Church teaching, name one's Angel. First of all, we have no way of knowing whether or not the name we give him is the correct name. Second, since we could possibly, without knowing, give him a name that might belong to another spirit ~ and one not so friendly or helpful ~ whenever we call upon the Angel by that name we might actually be calling upon the less than desirable one, perhaps even a demon or devil.
To me, the addressing of my Angel as "Friend" shows only what I feel for him. He is my best and oldest friend. He has never failed to be there at all moments of my life. He has shown himself to be my greatest ally in my spiritual battles, my uphill climbs, my ongoing struggle to right myself before God.
He has gotten me out of more scrapes than I can ever possibly list here. He continues to lead me, guide me, admonish me in the ways of my Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother, the Queen of all Angels.
As a matter of fact, if it weren't for Friend, I would be totally lost. I wouldn't know which end was up. I would be just another soul wandering around this world, not ever knowing the kindness and goodness of God ~ since Friend keeps it before my eyes at every moment, I am constantly depending upon him to show me even my smallest faults. And when he does, I feel nothing for him but more love. It is for my own good that he does this, and I hope and pray with all my heart that I will always be a faithful, obedient and grateful protege.
At the mission this past weekend when we were being instructed in the requirements to become Active members, Fr. Wolfgang Seitz, the National Director and Secretary, told us that we would be required to attend retreats ~ usually they have two or three per year here in Michigan, but the only one listed for the rest of 2008 is not until August and it is only for men. So, I will have to wait until next year to see when the next one will be; I intend to go on to become an Active member myself, and become consecrated to all the Angels, but it takes an additional three years to do so.
No other Angels could ever take Friend's place, of course, but to become an Active means to pray and offer sacrifice for the entire Church, to be a part of saving more souls for Christ ~ not just my own.
In the meantime, I intend to use this next year or so to become even more familiar with the ways of my Guardian Angel, to become even closer to him every day, and to try my best to be what he ~ and most important, what God ~ expect me to be!

For Fifty Years...and Counting

I have been wanting to write a blog entry for the past few days, and I couldn't decide what to write about, until now.
As I sat here, saying my daily Rosary, I held my First Communion beads in my hand. It is a smallish chaplet, crystal beads, a medallion of the Miraculous Medal for a centerpiece and hearts surrounding the Corpus on the Crucifix. Attached to the medal is a link with three additional medals on it ~ one of St. Joseph holding the Christ Child, one of the Eucharist and one of the Sacred Heart, a small sterling silver piece with red enamel about the filigree edging. This third medal was an extra gift from my parents on the day I received Him for the first time, along with the usual Brown Scapular, the Rosary and a brand new prayer book.
I have since, of course, for many years now, been consecrated in the Scapular and happily wear it all the time. I have lost track tho' of the prayer book; it most likely was destroyed when our old house was demolished years after I had moved out.
But my Rosary, which I had saved in my drawer, is safe and sound. I kept it put away, all those years when I did not say it faithfully as I should have, but Our Lady is very certain of Her servants...She knows who will come around, so to speak, and even if later in life to become a follower of Her and Her divine Son. She must have known that one day I would grow up to become a member of the Blue Army (WAF) and promise to say it every day. She must have known that one day, even after five years of being away from the Church, I would one day come home and never leave again.
I have told my children that I want to be buried with this Rosary...and I keep it with my 20-decade one in a safe place, where I can get to it any time I feel the urge to say another one. I want them to be familiar with it...so they will take good care of the ones they were given on their own special days.
As my most favored memory of the day was the actual receiving of the Sacred Host, my second favorite moment was when my parents presented me with my "other" gifts.
O yes, we did have a party ~ all of my cousins were there. I had two other cousins who received on the same day as I did. We all celebrated together, but I was never much of a party girl. Too shy, I'm afraid.
However, I do remember this: I remember how I felt that morning as I returned to my pew, the light of the early Spring sun shining down upon us through the stained glass windows, reflecting all the colors of the rainbow on our white dresses and the crisply starched white shirts of the boys. The rustle of the nuns in their black habits as they filed past us kneeling in thanksgiving to their own seats...even with my hands covering my eyes I could never mistake that sound.
But my primary focus was elsewhere I'm afraid ~ I had taken the Blessed Sacrament for the first time in my life!
This was back in May, 1958. Nearly fifty years ago...
I was sitting here, while saying my Rosary, meditating on the Mysteries, and this thought came to me out of the blue.
Fifty years!
Now, I realize that there have been countless souls who have gone on to receive Him for many years beyond their fiftieth anniversary, but so far I am not one of them ~ yet.
But I will be...and sooner than I would have thought possible.
My husband and I have been so blessed with our eight children, all of whom have received their Sacraments many years ago. But that memory is still fresh in my mind.
The other day our daughter was going through some old photos and found this one here of my own special day; here I stand in front of my mother's favorite forsythia bush in our front yard, my veil and dress all in pure white, my hair permed for the event, my shyness obvious to anyone with eyes to see.
But the most important thing about this photo is the fact of the day on which it was taken. I will never forget that morning as long as I live.
And I am sure ~ as sure as I sit here writing this blog ~ that Our Lord will never forget it, either.
This was the day that He first came to His humble servant, and the day when I first learned to make a heartfelt thanksgiving for all that He had done.
It has been said that if the Angels could have a jealous moment at all, they would envy us our ability to receive Him in the Holy Eucharist...as profoundly as they adore Him in this Sacrament, so too would they love above all else to be able to receive Him in this Sacrament. Since they possess no flesh and bone body, they cannot, of course. But if they could, they would!
In the next few weeks, there will be all over the world, countless boys and girls making their own First Holy Communions ~ and how I envy them that first moment with Him! But I would wish for them as I did for each of my own babes many years of happy growth with the comfort and peace that He alone can bring to their souls and the light of His word in each of their hearts.
Yes, this is what I would wish for each of them, so that they too can someday reach their own milestone fiftieth anniversary with Him and continue on to many many more years...until one day finally receiving Him in person ~ in the hallowed halls of Heaven!

What...again?!?

O, man...I did it again! If I don't stop doing this, I will probably develop a very bad habit.
I am talking about neglecting my daily prayers.
And to neglect my daily prayers is a very bad habit!
I have been a member of the Blue Army for about 28 years. Every day, we say the Rosary. We make the Five First Saturdays. We offer daily duties, and make sacrifices in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of our Holy Mother. We practice Chastity through the Brown Scapular of Mt. Carmel; we work to qualify for the Sabbatine Privilege.
All of that, plus trying to stay in the habit of my new daily prayers...those of the Opus Angelorum, of which I will happily be a member in just a couple of weeks. The Daily Angelus Domini ~ three times a day ~ plus the morning consecration to my Angel. Keeping myself in the Presence of God. Learning to keep silent so as to better hear what my Angel is trying to tell me. Other prayers, other Angels to whom I love to pray ~ St. Michael, the great warrior and patron of Artists; St. Gabriel, the great messenger of God and patron of the Clergy, St. Raphael, the great healer and patron of Travelers and happy meetings.
All of this, and I profess to be so devoted?? HA!
What gives a person like me the right to claim any such thing?
I am not as good as I would like to be as far as keeping up with the day-to-day. And to be sitting here, laid up with my leg broken as I am, one would think that I had nothing but time to devote to prayer!
If I were a nun, it would be my life...
The late great Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once said that to hear nun's confession was like being stoned to death with popcorn. I can only imagine the "sins" that someone like St. Therese the Little Flower must have had on her conscience...what would have been so terrible that she could have done...that which would have sent her running to the confessional box?!? That wonderful, kind, loving, peace-filled dove of God ~ that saintly woman of such merit that at the ripe old age of twenty-four, she qualified to be labeled a Doctor of the Church?!?
No, dear hearts, I cannot imagine that she had anything worse than the tiniest of faults, if anything at all, to confess!
As it is...I am no nun.
I am a housewife, a mother (now a grandmother, as of five days ago) . I have no Mother Superior looking over my shoulder, keeping tabs on my spiritual life, watching to make sure I stay devoted.
I am an artist as well...and I confess to having spent much more time sitting here, working on drawings and such...not as much as I should spend on prayer and spiritual reading.
I am going to have to take my (lately) life into better stock here, I can see that!
First of all, did I remember ALL of my morning prayers? Did I remember my daily Rosary? Did I say the ENTIRE thing? only about twelve to fifteen minutes here, people...not a big deal...not so much to ask, eh?
Did I remember to offer up all of my trials and sufferings ~ and, oh yeah, my joys ~ throughout the entire day, all for the glory of God? for the honor of the Sacred Heart? Did I even give my Angel a thought at the proper times for the Angelus? did I talk to him at all, ask him to help me stay on the straight and narrow, no matter what the temptation?
And on towards evening...the final salute to the Angelus (again)? the nightly examination of conscience? the bedtime offering to Our Lord, thanking Him for all that He may have sent me to offer? telling Him how sorry I am for any sin I may have committed during the day? (like neglecting my prayers?) ...or everything else...sins against Charity, against Chastity, against the Church?
And while we're on that subject...how about showing example to others, eh? Did I do my part? Do I let my light shine before my children? Did I remember to be that dime among the pennies?
Or did I persist in my laziness, my neglect...
I would love to be able to offer to Our Lady and to Her divine Son all that I am and all that I have, like everything I give to Them is a single rose, and I would surround Them in an eternal garden. As in my last post, I said I was going to follow more closely the devotion of St. Louis de Montfort...and for someone like him, who I am sure, did NOT forget a single "Hail Mary" any time throughout his entire life...and here I am, sitting here, thinking of how bad I am.
I'll bet the Saints did not have to face this; I'll bet that when they made up their minds to be better, or to practice more virtue, a better prayer life, they were actually better at it!!!
Seems to me I have a long way to go...better start today.

It's Been Quite A While...

Yes, it has been a while since I've posted here, not by plan but by circumstance. Things get so busy around here sometimes ~ even when I'm laid up with this bad leg, the day-to-day goings on get in the way of more quiet pursuits!
Time has a way of making its presence known, even if we don't pay attention...we cannot escape that fact, no matter how hard we try or how much we would love to. And being a victim of the human condition myself, I am left here with only one thought concerning that fact of life: what do I do in the meantime to make myself a more worthy daughter of the Church? Is this all there is to my life, sitting around nursing a broken leg and watching TV, reading and drawing, playing on my laptop? Or should there be more, even tho' I cannot even leave the house on my own yet?
My consecration to my Guardian Angel is coming up fast ~ only three weeks to go! And then I was hoping to concentrate on making a formal consecration to Our Lady by following the way of St. Louis de Montfort, something I was hoping to do a long time ago, but must admit...I was a bit intimidated by it.
There have been many moments when I have thought about this ~ and lately, more than ever. I was told years ago that when God shows a particular grace to someone that this person is expected to account for this Gift in the afterlife and what will I have to show for it? How will I ever know that I have taken my newfound knowledge of the Blessed Virgin (after reading True Devotion) and applied it to my life the way He would want me to? Hmm-mm-m?!?
I am consecrated to Her by way of the Brown Scapular of Mt. Carmel, being a member of the Blue Army (WAF) after all, this is a condition for membership...so there is no problem there. So why have I put off reading this very important book?
Everyone who is close to the Angels must be, by extension, close to the Virgin Mother, Queen of all the Angels...and I have made up my mind that when I get a chance, after my consecration, I am going to finally read this book and do this. It only takes a couple of months, from what I understand, so it should not be long before I am "there."
I am finally done with the twelve months of readings that the OA sends out to probationary members and have been trying to live the life of one who is dedicated to her Angel; I only hope and pray that someday I can be close to what I want to be with this...only God knows.
And now that this is "done" I would love to be happily buried in this book that, from what I have always heard, will show me the truest way to follow the Holy Virgin.
Perhaps, if I'm very good, my own Angel can show me how?!? :)

Here I Go Again... :)

The rules are:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago: Busily raising my eight children, grabbing a few minutes here and there to draw or read.

Five things on my To Do List today: (not in any particular order)
1. Got paid today, so will pay bills online.
2. Say Rosary and Chaplet.
3. Print out final readings for 12th month of OA formation...keeping all together with letters from Fr. Wolfgang.
4. Begin layouts for Andrea's next drawing ~ time to start Bridesmaids'N'Boutenirs.
5. Finally do this tag thing...lol

Snacks I enjoy: butter-flavored popcorn, chocolate, peanut butter on toast.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire: I would give each of the kids a few million dollars, I would donate at least a couple million to the Church and Her missions, I would pay off all our bills, I would put the rest away for a rainy day or for our old age...and use part of that to help the poor and maybe other members of our families.

Three of my bad habits:
1. Procrastinating
2. Eating between meals more often than I need to
3. my ongoing battle with road rage...

Five places I have lived:
1. St. Clair Shores, MI
2. Detroit, MI (three different houses)
3. my sister's house so I could save money for my wedding
4. Sterling Heights, MI
5.

Five jobs I’ve had:
1. Clerk in drug store (high school)
2. Housekeeper @ hospital (working my way through college)
3. Payroll clerk @ trucking co. (ditto)
4. Art teacher
5. Freelance Artist (what I am now, have always been during all the rest of this)

Five people I want to know more about (a nice way of saying TAG!):
# Easter
# Jen P
# Andrea
# Kimberly
# Melissa

A Few Thoughts for Holy Week...

It all started with a triumphant procession...a King Who had come to change the world, to save the Jews ~ indeed, to save all mankind ~ and to bring all to His glory. But there was a catch: He was not of the same world, and therefore, His mission was not as obvious and as "simple" as hundreds of years of waiting had led them to believe.
He was a King of a kingdom unseen. He was the Lamb sent by God the Father to suffer and die so that all mankind, before He came, during His lifetime on earth, and all those who were to come after Him, ALL mankind could be saved. And a fortunate few who were "in on the secret" were blessed with the Faith and the vision to follow Him to the bitter end.
Happily, then, there were others who, just as He died or soon afterwards, were so totally convinced of His true identity that they went on to become Christian and many actually were martyred. The very Centurion who stabbed Him in the heart, the Thief who hung on a cross right next to Him, the Pharisee who gave up his own grave to hold the Sacred Body ~ and many others ~ are now numbered among the Saints of Heaven!
Such is the greatness of the mercy of God!
But before all this could come to pass, He had to undergo the suffering and death willed by His Father. Such was His humility and total obedience, even tho' He is God Himself, He agreed to this Plan for our salvation...and this Holy Week serves, as always, as a reminder of all that He went through so long ago ~ and indeed, of all that we owe Him!
When He stood before Pilate, and was told what He already knew, He showed no reaction. A mere man would have fallen down in a faint, at the very thought of such a tortured death. Even if he knew ahead of time that it was the will of God, it would take the strength of the very Angels themselves just to stand!
And this brings me to my present day. I have to think, as I sit here, that I have never actually shown Him enough gratitude.
I know, deep down in my heart of hearts, that I love Him with all my heart. But is that enough? Do I remember every day of my life what He endured for my salvation? Do I tell Him, "Thank-You, Lord, for saving me!" Do I moan and groan in my mind at every small sacrifice?
Or do I take it all on, not only with humility and submission, but with actual joy ~ that as He has done so much for me, I might be allowed to do something for Him?!?
Do I enter into every day of my life with a spirit of obedience to His holy will, no matter what might happen during the day, no matter what I might be called upon to sacrifice for His greater glory ~ that I will be allowed to perform even the smallest task with a spirit of trust and submission ~ every day becoming an actual prayer?!?
This is what I try to do...whether or not I succeed is His to judge. At the end of the day, I try to think of anything I might have done, or not done, that would show a lack of gratitude for what He went through for me. I would sincerely hope that there would be very little I would find that is not pleasing to Him, but knowing me and my meager state, I am sure there is quite a bit that He would tell me I could improve upon.
I will continue to end each day the same way...before I lie down to sleep, I will ask Him to enlighten me with His thoughts and thank Him for all that He has done.
I know what the Saints have done...sadly, I have a long way to go. As the expression goes, the longest journey begins with a single step, and I embark upon a journey that begins this Holy Week.
His joyful procession continues for me...I call out to Him, "Hosanna, Son of David, Son of Mary, Son of the Eternal Father!"
His kingdom is not of this world, true, but in the world to come I hope to be there with Him...hopefully He will judge me worthy! This Holy Week, all that I end up offering to Him as grateful sacrifice will be acceptable to Him.
By the time we welcome Easter we will have journeyed with Him through His Passion ~ and we will be raised with Him to go to the eternal kingdom that was never of this world...but the next!
May we all, by His grace and mercy, be judged pure and worthy in His sight.
Amen. Alleluia!

A Thanksgiving Post...

For special intentions, I promised Our Lord and St. Jude that I would let the word out if and when my prayers were answered...and today, some of my dearest intentions were granted. I had a resounding 'YES' from God ~ and here and now I am publishing the prayer that I pray to St. Jude every day:

Most holy Apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally as the patron of hopeless cases, of things almost despaired of. Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone. Make use, I implore you, of that particular privilege given to you, to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations and sufferings, particularly (mention request) and that I may praise God with you and all the elect forever. I promise, O blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you. Amen.

It started out as a Novena, nine days of prayer in petition, nine days in thanksgiving.
Then, quite by accident, I lost track of which day I was "on"...so I just started saying it every day, non-stop.
I have prayed to St. Jude off and on for many years, but I have to admit, never this steadily.
My intentions are personal ~ and all involve those who are closest to me, myself also ~ but I have seen, one by one, that I have been receiving answers to my prayers...mostly to the positive, thanks be to God!
When He does say 'no' to my requests, I know that it is for the best...and sooner, rather than later, I find that He has closed one door and opened two windows. He is more than generous with me, He is not to be out-done.
I thank God here and now, in this, my 'public forum' ~ and also St. Jude. I know that he hears us when we pray...and that he has our best interests at heart. All we have to do is give him our requests and he will take them straight to God for us...and do what ever he can to get us the help we need, whether or not God desires to grant our petitions, or to allow us something even greater for the good of our souls.
So, with every breath I take, every waking moment, I thank God with all my heart...and I also offer my gratitude, publicly, to His faithful servant, St. Jude Thaddeus.

So, to be humble...

To be humble is to be like Him. To be humble is to be like Her. To be humble, in all then, is to be like God Himself.
When we were first closed off from Heaven, I have read, there was a conversation between the Father and the Son concerning how to save us from eternal darkness. The Father said that we must be allowed back in, but there must be a way to do that which would show how deeply we had offended Him and yet, how deeply we were loved by Him. The Son said that He would come down in our stead and lower Himself to be human, to serve, to suffer, to die.
Jesus, our Brother, came to save us from our lack of humility. To be proud is to follow the Devil. This was the sin that cast Satan and his cohorts into Hell. The opposite of pride is humility. Jesus has said that all virtue comes from being humble.
Not the kind of humility that results in a false sense of self-abasement, only to exalt oneself in one's own heart. The real humility of which He speaks comes from deep inside. The Pharisees had a false humility ~ look at me, how I fast, how I pray, how I donate!
And He hated that...
No ~ what He speaks of is the kind of humility that springs from a real sense of self, comparing one's own worth before God. We are only human, and yet, so is the Son of God! Not taking anything away from His divine nature, but the very fact that He became a Man for our sake, that tells us so much about the love that is His for His creatures ~ us. He was humble, in His service to others, in His willingness to hide His divinity before the eyes of men, in His submission to His Father in all things...even to the point of obedience to a mere Woman and a Foster Father, as perfect as they were, even being only human ~ and yet, chosen by His Father for the Son.
If men had only known then what they know now, eh? Suppose those same Pharisees had had their eyes opened to His true nature(s)...how they would be eating their very words! How they would be falling over one another to get to His side!
And with all their supposed learning, they were blind. They had such pride, they could not see the forest for the trees, so to speak.
It was the poorest of the poor, the broken, the sick and the worst sinners who, in the end, heard His message, followed Him and died in love with Him. And those same great sinners are all Saints now...reveling in the eternal glory and light of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit!
And the first reason they are there at this very moment, and will be for all time, is because they knew the value of humility.
In their humble hearts, they heard and kept His word ~ serve the poor, teach the ignorant, forgive the offender, show example to all ~ this is His Way, His Truth.
His own Mother, our very beloved Mary, Mother of the eternal Good, was and is Herself, the most humble of all...it is Her very humility that has prompted Her Son to request Her place of honor in the Double Great Novena! And She would be the last one to request this honor ~ but He, in love with Her very low opinion of Her own self ~ has raised Her above the very choirs of Angels!
I don't mean here to say that Her placing Herself after everyone is in any way to take away from Her greatness ~ on the contrary, She is the very epitome of every virtue, every grace, every treasure! It's just that She knows that without Him, She would be nothing, and yet, with Him, She is everything.
And the Angels love Her for it...
Which brings me to another facet of this most perfect of virtues, humility...and the fact that the opposite was what sent the demons to the denizens of damnation forever...their pride, their unwillingness to serve mankind, and all the rest of it ~ how they probably would wish to take it all back, IF THEY WERE NOT SO PROUD!
When we are judged, we are going to have to give an account of our virtues and vices, our graces and talents that were given to us by God. How did we serve others? Did we follow the precepts of the Church? Did we practice our virtues, using every chance for graces? Did we waste our time in things that went against the things of God?
And we would be wise indeed if we were to cultivate this most marvelous of virtues ~ humility ~ and do all that we can now, while we still have the time, to increase it in our very hearts before God and our fellow men.

A Week of Musing...

Musing...one of my favorite words. It means to ponder, to think, to meditate...something I have had quite a bit of time to do this past week.
During the season of Lent, I imagine alot of us Catholics spend extra minutes of our time (at least I would hope so) thinking about where we are in our spiritual journey toward the Eternal Good. Thinking about where we are going in the future should be the next logical step; to revert backward would make no sense!
Our Blessed Lady was one to ponder quite a bit during Her own life...and She certainly had much to qualify as fodder for Her thoughts. She must have had something new nearly every day, being the Mother of the Son of God, and what a wondrous life They must have had together!
At every turn of His life, Our Lord must have given His Mother something new to ponder, to muse upon...and the Gospel tells us that She would "keep all these things in Her heart."
I guess we will only know when we reach Heaven everything She must have pondered...but one thing I muse for myself: Do we stop here? Is that all there is? Does He or does He not, give each and every one of us things to ponder, to muse, in our own daily lives?
And here, might I also bring in another meaning to the word "muse" ~ meaning to inspire, to provide ideas for one to follow or to use in a creative manner.
As a freelance Artist, I also have a Muse that I follow, as far as my own work is concerned...to follow my inspirations, and to use them to create my pieces ~ both drawings and other work.
So to me, musing and following a Muse are closely related...there is an end to the means, and to travel along that means is to muse, to follow...and to keep close to one's own heart.
To muse upon what I learn when I read about God and my Faith is a favorite way to hold what He teaches me in the safest place possible ~ my heart. And the fact that Our Lady Herself is fond of keeping things this way only makes me want to do it even more. Also, being older now, I have more time to think about where I've been spiritually, read more and devote more of myself to Faith-related activities, such as extra visits to the Blessed Sacrament, say extra Rosaries, attend an extra Holy Mass when ever possible, etc.
I am going to be laid up with this broken leg for at least two-four months, so I guess I'll have alot of time to do all this musing, and to tell the truth, I really need it.
In God's Providence, I know that things happen to us as He wills them to happen...and the fact that I am laid up again (last September, I had a badly sprained R knee, and spent a couple of months immobile then also) so this sitting and thinking is becoming a way of life for me.
A few months ago in this Blog, I wrote about my Patron, Ven. Matt Talbot. I wondered why he had chosen me and after some thought (some musing) I was able to come to the conclusion that there were some very specific reasons. Another entry, I talked about becoming a member of the Opus Angelorum. As one of the conditions, one must learn to put oneself into the Presence of God, with the accompaniment and help of one's own Angel. This takes an ability of musing, of pondering His will for one's own life...and to be able to come to some conclusions about where in the spiritual life one is at the present time, and also like I said, where one is headed.
To hear God's voice telling us what to do at every moment, to be able to listen to the Angels, to follow the inspiration of a Patron Saint...all of this requires an ability to spend time in quiet rumination ~ or "musing" ~ and to be able to put the results of that thought into practice.
I live in a very busy household ~ my husband Michael is home all day with me, as he is retired. We have our eight children, all grown now, but seven are still living here with us...each with his or her very busy, active schedule. So, the opportunity for peace and quiet, God knows, is sometimes at a premium...but all I have to do is wait for the lull in the storm, or return for some quiet time in our bedroom. And there could be an hour or two in the middle of the day to pray ~ everyone is in school or at work ~ and Mike and I are the only two at home.
So, I must say that I am grateful to Almighty God for this chance to pray, to learn, to "muse" is to put it mildly.
At this present time, I have only been home for five days...a long shot from the projected two months of keeping my leg propped up. There will be time for my drawing, for my reading, for anything else I want to do. But to have this happen to me at the beginning of Lent, the holiest time of the year, the time when we are supposed to be taking stock of our progress anyways, this is a true blessing!
I will probably be posting again about what I've learned about myself as I sit here; I don't intend to waste this time in front of the TV watching mindless reruns or judge shows...this must have been allowed to happen because I needed to do some real "musing"...and I sincerely want to use all the time I can to figure out where my soul is now, and where it is headed for the rest of my life.
I'll let you know where I am when I get it figured out.

Alot to Take In...

Alot has happened to me in the past week ~ first and foremost, a very special and enlightening Confession last Saturday just before the evening Holy Mass...and someday soon I may write about Fr. Val and what wisdom he passes on at each meeting. Then to take in all the new changes in our parish church ~ renovated and re-dedicated last Sunday ~ and absolutely gorgeous to behold!
I was unable to attend the dedication, as my Sunday turned out to be quite an adventure...
I was leaving the house @ about 10:00 am, to take our daughter Julia to her job, I slipped on the ice and broke my R leg, both tibia and fibula broken clean through...I had actually been planning to stay indoors, and had no plan to attend anyway (the weather was horrible), but I ended up spending the entire week in the hospital ~ two surgeries later ~ and am now sitting with a boot on my leg/foot, and strict orders to bear no weight for the next two months.
And through the entire thing all that kept running through my head was this:
I had told my husband Mike that I was looking for a special way to offer my Lent, to make it more than it had ever been before, to give to Our Lord just one small thing every day...either the same thing over and over again, or something different each day.
Well, as I sit here, watching a movie and my leg propped up on pillows (securely clad in a boot-cast) I think I have found the very thing!
A broken bone is nothing like I ever thought it would be ~ it certainly doesn't hurt like I would have expected ~ but to have to undergo two serious surgeries, to be transported in two ambulances, to endure an x-ray technician who was actually quite brutally oblivious to the pain I was feeling, and all the rest of it ~ I can certainly sympathize with anyone who feels more pain in their own lives than they think they can handle.
I know that Our Lord permits things to happen to us to test our Faith, to grant us opportunities to gain graces for our own souls or for others', and to bring us closer to Himself. I can honestly say that I have been grateful for this chance to offer a simple suffering for what ever intentions He might like from me...and to ask Our Lady to purify my own sacrifice with the goodness of Her Immaculate Heart so as to present it to His Sacred Heart, both purified and worthy.
As I lay there on my back on the icy sidewalk, I knew instantly that my leg was broken...my foot was actually at such a strange angle that it was obvious...and it seemed that it was going to be a very pain-filled afternoon.
In the first ER, at our nearest hospital, I was seen by a bone specialist who was more of a sports surgeon, and others ~ most notably the x-ray tech who had been told to take about 10 pictures. The only problem here was the fact that she had no one to help her move me to the table, so she was forced to hold the gurney while I slid myself over alone...and then as she moved my leg about for various poses, holding up my leg or my foot, but never both at the same time (much more supportive) and finally giving up taking any more angles than about 5 or 6.
And as an added sacrifice, to lie on the table while the first surgeon held my leg at a straighter angle, giving me a bit of on-the-spot traction.
Finally, we were told that I would be transferred to another hospital on the other side of town, where the bone trauma specialists are among the best in the state. So, off again, and into my first surgery that very night...to attach an external fixator, while they waited for the swelling to go down.
Then, on Wednesday, I was once again taken in for the surgery that was to repair the bones at last...and a steel rod and two plates later, here I am.
I am only posting about this here, in my Catholic Blog, to show that Our dearest Lord, in His infinite wisdom and kindness, has once again visited me in my daily life, having heard my prayer to be able to make this a very special Lent.
I probably won't be able to attend Friday night Stations, or make extra visits to Him in the Blessed Sacrament ~ at least not until I figure out how to get in and out of the house ~ but for the suffering and for the opportunities for prayers of gratitude to Him for this mercy, I am most happy to respond...
And I can only hope in my heart that He will continue to show such goodness to me, a poor, sinful soul...who does not deserve more than His justice, but who is happy to accept His mercy as a sign to myself that He is indeed attentive to my prayers, and my wanting to please Him and only Him.

A Diligent Angel...

Ah-h...Friend. My beloved Angel, my soul's companion, my Guardian Angel, we are surely blessed by Almighty God with a real best friend, for life, in death, and all eternity. My own Angel is this to me. He has been there for me, always, as far back as I was! He inspires me to do my best for my family and for others ~ as all Angels do, but he, in particular, has this vested interest in the outcome for yours truly here. I remember learning about him when I was as young as five or six years old...starting my Catholic education @ our parish's Holy Angel Hall (ironic name, eh?) which was the outbuilding on the side of the grounds until we were moved, in second grade, to the 'big building' across the parking lot. My first grade teacher, Sister Maxine, God bless her, not only gave us a solid foundation in our devotion to the Holy Family, but she was also credited by me with my formal introduction to the Holy Angels. (My Mom had up until then told me some things, but Sister really 'brought it home' for me, so to speak.) All my life I have felt him by my side, guiding my steps, whispering inspirations into my heart to show me the right way to be, and even tho' I did get lazy at one point and was not attending Holy Mass (in my early twenties) I always knew that I would someday come home, my Angel leading the way...and this I did when I became pregnant with my firstborn son. Now that I am on my way to becoming a member of the OA, I can honestly say that I have learned so much about the Angels, my own Friend in particular. And I have come to notice the things that he does for me even more often and more closely than ever before... There are those who are saved, literally, on the road by their Angels ~ saved from accidents, saved from molestation, saved from death itself. There are those who are inspired, they know not how, to do something a certain way or at a certain time, only to find that this was what made things turn out a certain way that was of great benefit to them or to their families. And then there is me...and Friend, of course. My husband Michael and I have a real history of car trouble, both on the road and in our very own driveway. Flat tires, dead batteries, you-name-it ~ many times in the pouring rain, blizzard snowstorms, 100 degree heat ~ it matters not...and with a large family, constantly trying to make ends meet, only to find that if we had two nickels to rub together, they went toward some car repair or other... I mentioned in an earlier entry that I frequently send Friend on errands, or whatever, and especially to guard my family when they are on the road themselves. And sometimes, I feel his protection myself as I move about...
For example, a few months ago we were told that we needed new tires on our van and we decided that if it could wait for payday, we would be more than happy to spend $500 on this item...but that was not to be.
A couple of days after we spoke with our mechanic, I was just about to pull out of our driveway, and we felt that heart-sinking fa-lump, fa-lump ~ that awful feeling that we had been "visited by the flat tire Fairy."
Then, a few days later, as I waited in the parking lot at our local mall where our daughter Julia works, I was told by a passing customer, on her way into the store, that we had a flat tire (this time on the other side of the front end) and from there, I called home and then I got in touch with the towing company.
So, rather than being on the local roads doing 50+ mph, as I could very well have been, I was kept off to the side of heavy traffic, and brought safely home.
On another occasion, we were completely out of gas, and rightfully should have been stalled, but I believe it was our Guardian Angels (my husband's and my own) who moved our van over a mile down the street to the nearest gas station...and with no skipping, stalling, or otherwise "out of gas" noises...the trip was as smooth as could be and only after I had said a silent prayer to Friend to get us out of this predicament, please!
Now, some would tell me that this was the actions of Fate, or "just my luck"...but I choose to believe that it was something more.
There are always going to be things that happen to us in our lives that are part of God's Plan, and we should not worry ourselves about them, nor should we always look for a way to avoid them ~ either the consequences or the suffering they bring. Often, these are things that we can offer up for a particular intention to gain graces for ourselves and for others.
A diligent Guardian Angel will always lead us through what ever we have to endure and show us how to gain the most grace ~ and even the most mercy!
Another case in point is when a chance comes our way to do something extra for God, for example, attend a daily Holy Mass, no special reason, no occasion out of the ordinary, just because we want to, we know that we will receive graces by doing this. And a diligent Angel will always help us to get there.
Our Lord is so endless in His good graces and mercy, that if we don't do that extra "thing" whatever it might be, He will grant His favors to another who might come along to take our place. But there is always a grace to be gained by taking advantage of every inspiration that one receives from his or her Angel.
We will not know in this lifetime all the things that our diligent Angels have done to keep us safe, to help us avoid sin, to bring us eventually to our Heavenly home...but when we do get there, they will show us all...and it will truly amaze us! We can then spend an eternity at our Angels' sides, thanking them in person, laughing with them over our foibles here on Earth, conversing as only two best friends do, and worshiping Almighty God forever together.
I truly hope and pray that I have not been a disappointment to my own beloved Angel, and that someday this is to be my Fate ~ God help us all...and bless us always!

Ok, I Have Been Tagged! :)

I have no idea what prompted Meg (Transcendental Musings) to choose my Blog in the first place...she has tagged me for the "book meme", and happily, I will go along for the ride, lol...
I have been reading the Blogs of the other four women who are tagged along with me, and they are AMAZING women of great Faith and their Blogs are certainly worthy of much note...which makes me wonder why was I chosen to take part in such illustrious company?!?
I must admit, I am humbled...but I thank Meg for the chance to join in the fun!
Believe it or not, a book that I am "in the middle of" is The City of God, by Ven. Mother Mary of Agreda, dictated by no less a Personage than Our Lady Herself...so naturally, this being my Catholic Blog, and this being a handy "nearby" book, I will use this to fulfill my obligation ~ if that is ok? :)
So, here we are, book 2, The Incarnation, p. 123:
(here we find Our Blessed Lady begging the good God to guide Her in Her vocation as His chosen Mother, and His response to Her prayer)
The Almighty answered Her: "My Dove, do not fear, for I will assist thee and guide thee, directing thee in all things necessary for the service of my only-begotten Son." With this promise She came to Herself and issued from her ecstasy, in which all that I have said had happened, and which was the most wonderful She ever had. Restored to her faculties, her first action was to prostrate Herself on the earth and adore her holiest Son, God and Man, conceived in her virginal womb; for this she had not yet done with her external and bodily senses and faculties.
I cannot imagine what it must have been like for Her, the most lovely and loving of all of His creation...the Mother of God!!!
But how lucky are we, eh? ...to have Her for our own Mother as well...and I thank Him with all my heart for creating Her and giving Her to me, a most unworthy daughter.
I would like to tag the following Catholic Blogging Mothers:

Micki @ The Window Shows It All
Heather @ Catholic Mom In Sweden
Andrea @ Momma in FlipFlops
Annie @ A Matter of Mercy
Jen @ Raising Landon

Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

God bless us, everyone! ~ J.

An Ending...and A New Beginning...

A dying to sin, a new life in Christ.
This is what must be the meaning of anyone's Lent ~ an ending, a death to sin...and a beginning, a rising in life with Him.
As He went into the desert for forty days to meditate, pray, fast and commune with His Father, so we, too, must use the next forty days for the same purpose, if our Easter ~ our rising ~ is to have any value at all.
Every year, on Palm Sunday, we are given a branch from a tree that we "wave" before the Lord, as He rides into our hearts as our King. But at this time, are we really able to understand and believe what He is truly about? Somehow I doubt it.
Would we have been among the elect chosen ones, the ones who recognized Him and believed that He was truly the Lord of all, not just some earthly king, but a Heavenly King, come to do His Father's will and save us all from eternal damnation? Or perhaps we would be among those who wanted to believe that He only came to free us from the slavery of the Roman Empire, to overthrow the Caesars and to raise up the Jewish nation to power and prestige.
Fortunately, this is not how God works, as much as we poor mortals would wish otherwise, and we are the richer for it.
To make sacrifices for our own souls and also for the souls of others ~ requested over and over again by our Blessed Lady ~ this is what He came to teach us how to do. Time and time again Mary points us to Her Son, the Son of God, and the example He showed us by His complete obedience to the will of His Father...even to the Cross itself. If that's what it takes to get us to Heaven, then believe it or not, it is worth every bit of the suffering to get us there!
To smear a bit of ash on one's forehead is not a big deal as far as it goes, if one is not going to follow through and make a real and new beginning at Easter, starting with the first moment of Lent. But to understand what we mean when we do that is an entirely different thing.
From the first instant we believe that we are destined for something so much greater than we can possibly imagine, comparing eternal life to mortal life ~ and Lent becomes more than a mere succession of days to us.
It becomes a way of life.
Even after Lent is over, our Easter is here, and we are back to living our everyday lives, there should be a change in us that is so profound it would take a mountain of demons to budge it! We should be so engrossed in a new spiritual life, a new way of seeing everything and everyone around us that we cannot imagine how we were ever able to stand ourselves before!
We really must take advantage of this new Lent to start fresh, one day at a time, and move our very souls closer to realizing that Jesus Christ is our destination, our Way, our final reward.
And the only way we will ever reach Him is by living our Lent in the best way we possibly can! Let us resolve, therefore, at this very moment in time, even though Lent has already begun, to do better every day, every minute, and place ourselves in the care of the Virgin and Her faithful servants, the Holy Angels themselves, so that we, too, may one day realize our final resting place in the very bosom of the Heavenly Father Himself ~ all glory to Him forever! (Amen.)

Pure as a Lily...

In all of God's creation, there has been one creature who stands out among all the rest. Pure as the lilies of the field, gentle as the Lamb Himself, holier than all others...Our Blessed Lady is the most beautiful, the most pure, the most humble and obedient, the most amazing and gracious woman ever to have walked the earth.
She is not only our Mother, but our most dependable and faithful companion in life, someone to whom we can go for guidance, support, comfort and love ~ that same love which She showered upon Her Divine Son, and which She showers upon all of us now.
Whenever we have any trial or hardship, poverty or sickness for example, She is there waiting for our prayer! She is the "Ladder" by which we find our way to the eternal abode.
I have never been able to understand what a Protestant says, when he protests, "You Catholics! Why do you persist in going to Her?!? She is a creature, just like we are. She has no merit of Her own! She can do nothing without Her Son...so why not go directly to Him?! That is what we do! We do not need anything or anyone else!"
OK! Let's take that at face value ~ just for a moment here...
Let us pretend that they are right, shall we?
Let us say (just for argument's sake) that She is nothing more than a creature, just like we are. O, but by the grace of God, what a creature! Such a creature that has never before been seen, nor will ever be seen again! A creature who was conceived and born without a trace of Original Sin on her lily-white soul...a creature who believed in God more than anyone had before or has since, a creature who trusted and hoped in God more than anyone had before or has since, a creature who loved and adored God more than anyone had before or has since!!!
Let us say (just for argument's sake) that She has no merit of Her own...that it is only with God's good graces that She is able to be called the Mediatrix of all Graces! Can we say the same for ourselves? Or do we go to Her to beg Her dispensation of those graces, thereby making it possible that we, too, by the good graces of that same God, are able to withstand the onslaughts of the Devil himself, that we are able to get through our day-to-day lives, nothing more to "our credit" than that we can call the Mother of God Herself "our own Mother!" And what, may I ask, did we ever do to deserve such a Mother?!? Absolutely nothing ~ nothing at all...except by the same graces (of that same God) we are so beloved that we are given to Her as a sure way to follow to our own salvation?! "To Jesus, through Mary," to quote St. Louis de Montfort...
Let us say (just for argument's sake) that She can do nothing without Her Divine Son. This is, by the way, true. None of us can do anything worthwhile without Him, can we? Even as She sits on a throne in Heaven, or kneels before the Blessed Trinity, She is always the first one to admit that without Him, She would be but a speck. And it is because of Her perfect humility and giving of Herself for our salvation that She is so close to Her Son!
Jesus Himself has said that She is perfect in Her self-abasement, and that it is for this precise reason that He places Her alongside Himself in all devotions practiced by the Church, especially in the devotions directed towards the Two Hearts...in particular, the First Friday/First Saturday devotions. It was for this reason that He requested the Double Great Novena!
And it is because of the perfect humility and purity of His Mother that we are able to even dare approach Him on the Altar! Do we think for one instant that we are worthy?!!
No!
Jesus died and arose to save us ~ and this is all we need for our Faith, true ~ but even He would be the first One to tell us that He would not have done this in the same way if it were not for His Mother!!! And only the purest of souls would have been worthy to bear a Son such as He...
Of course, we as Catholics believe that Our Blessed Lady was taken body and soul into Heaven at Her death, or rather, at Her dormition ~ but there is also a popular belief that, after She had gone, the Apostles went into Her chamber to find that She was no longer there, but that her bed had been covered in white lilies...the traditional flower of purity and virginity.
Can anyone, especially any Protestant or other non-believer, suggest the name of any other for whom these signs were more deserved?!?

The Real Presence is REAL...

I was reading a report of a survey the other day that was taken by the New York Times of their readers who are Catholic ~ or at least they profess to be Catholic, but that remains to be seen... They had asked of those who practice the Faith if they believe in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and only a shocking 30% admitted that they believed it!!! I could NOT believe that!
If one professes to believe in the True Faith, yet has no faith, how can one profess it?
Pope Urban IV, in the 13th century, instituted the Feast of Corpus Christi after the miraculous happenings in the town of Bolsena, where the Precious Blood began to drip from a consecrated Host onto the corporal during Holy Mass at the Shrine of St. Christina. The Proper for the Corpus Christi Holy Mass was written by none other than the Angelic Doctor himself, St. Thomas Aquinas.
Eucharistic Miracles.
The Real Presence.
The above links will take anyone who cares to read or research more into this crucial subject to some very interesting and enlightening reading. The teachings of the Saints, which are handed down to us from throughout history, also bear witness to the Truth that is the Eucharist. St. Peter Julian Eymund says, "The Holy Eucharist is the perfect expression of the love of Jesus Christ for man, since It is the quintessence of all the mysteries of His Life."
And also, "We believe in the love of God for us. To believe in love is everything. It is not enough to believe in the Truth. We must believe in Love and Love is our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. That is the faith that makes our Lord loved. Ask for this pure and simple faith in the Eucharist. Men will teach you; but only Jesus will give you the grace to believe in Him. You have the Eucharist. What more do you want?"
Indeed, what more? In these two quotes we find the summation of Our Lord's very own example of the Perfect Love.
St. Gerard, that beloved Apostle of Life and Patron of pro-life causes, was in the habit of spending hours before Him in the Tabernacle...and even once told Him that He must be crazy to keep Himself, the Creator and Redeemer of all the world, so confined! He, Who could have anything, do anything, go anywhere...chooses to wait patiently for even one more sinner to repent and believe in His Love.
It is reported that, at this remark by St. Gerard, Jesus was heard to be laughing!
There are countless examples of Saints and even Angels adoring Him in the Eucharist...
Another more recent story comes from Fatima, when, in 1916, the Guardian Angel of Portugal (the Angel of Peace) appeared to the three children to prepare them for their upcoming visit from the Queen of Heaven Herself ~ and as the Chalice and Host were suspended in mid-air, he fell to his face in worship saying:
My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee! I beg pardon for all those that do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.
This is commonly referred to as The Pardon Prayer. He also taught them to say the following prayer, which is known as The Angel's Prayer:
O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.
This last one was taught to them by Our Lady; it is called The Eucharistic Prayer:
Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee! My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
So, here we have it...Heaven itself come down to us in the very last century, with the words spoken by no less than Angels and the Blessed Virgin!
There were several other prayers that came out of the Visions of Fatima, but these three are especially pertinent to this post. I do not make this up...this is what I understood when I first joined the Blue Army (WAF) and began to read in earnest all about the requests that Our Lady had made.
The entire story, indeed, the entire Gospel, centers on the Eucharist. Why would anyone doubt it? Why do these so-called Catholics say they do not believe, and yet they dare to profess to belong to the True Church?!?
How can anyone say one thing, do another, complete opposites in more than one way, and then have absolutely no second thought?
These are some of those about whom the Angel was speaking when he first gave us that prayer..."the conversion of poor sinners"...
Jesus told us Himself at the Last Supper:
The Institution of the Eucharist.
It never ceases to amaze me how many who call themselves Christians do not truly believe His words! He is the Center of their religions, and yet, His words do not ring true with them! Why is that?
I know so many non-Catholic Christians who question the Sacraments, instituted by Christ Himself ~ Holy Orders, Confession, Communion. And then they will turn around and tell me that He is their personal Savior! What I don't understand is, if they can't believe a word that comes out of His mouth, how can they hope to be saved?!? Why do they want to follow a Man/God Who can't be trusted (so they say) to speak the Truth?!?
He gave His power to St. Peter to hand down through the Popes...and the Popes have all told us that He is really and truly present in the Blessed Eucharist. The so-called Catholics, and other Christians, will say that the Popes do not know what they are talking about, and yet, they teach infallibly on this point!
What are we supposed to take from this? I say they are all cowards. I say they are actually afraid to believe because if they did, it would involve some kind of commitment on their part to following EVERYTHING else the Church teaches ~ no birth control, say the Rosary often and frequent reception of the Sacraments ~ ESPECIALLY THE HOLY EUCHARIST!!!
It all comes down to what we really believe...I, for one, will go to my grave believing the very words of Christ Himself:
So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat My Flesh and drink My Blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for My Flesh is true food and My Blood is true drink. Those who eat My Flesh and drink My Blood abide in Me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever." ~ John 6:53-58.
I say that it's ok to believe what He says, and I will not be dissuaded from this conclusion. Those who say otherwise, let them prove it. I have the Gospel on my side...let's see what they can come up with, eh?

'The Way, the Truth, the Life'

Looking at this beautiful portrait of Our Lord Jesus, I am reminded of His words, 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.'
He is the Way, because whoever follows His example will surely save his own soul. He is the Truth, because every word He ever uttered speaks to our hearts of the Eternal God. And He is the Life, because He comes to us in the Eucharist, and using this means, He leads us to eternal life in Him.
In my reading of anything concerning the Church, my studies for the Opus Angelorum or about Our Lady, the Bible, or anything written by any of the Saints, I am struck by this one thing:
Everything ever written that was intended to lead us to our salvation points to Him and through Him, to the Trinity, complete in Him and of Him...the Eternal Father, Who is in Heaven, the Spirit of Love and Truth, the Crucified and Risen Savior, Jesus...and there is nothing before or after the Three in One!
Our Lady Herself tells us that She is the channel of grace that leads us to Her Son. She is the Mystical Rose, the 'ladder' that will take us to Heaven. And if we are to get there safely, we must be devoted to Her, as He is devoted to Her.
Under Her title of 'Lady of the Eucharist' She points the way to Him...and directs us all to follow! And in my readings I have also learned that, even though God could have simply forgiven us for our sins and restored us to His good graces by a simple act of His will, He chose to do so much more to show us how much He loves us ~ He became a Man Himself, He lowered His own Flesh to the state of humanity, albeit a perfect form of humanity to be sure, but still...and in His humbling of His own Self, we are drawn to love Him even more, and to do all that we possibly can to return His love!
As an example, what would stop us from simply sinning again and again if indeed all we needed to gain His favor again was a simple apology? Did He not, instead, suffer and die for us? Did He not become a Man, not only to show us how to live, but to show us how to die? To suffer for His Church...this is indeed a great grace, and one for which we must be grateful!
In this, Christ becomes our Way ~ to a good Christian life, to gratitude to Him for all that He has done, to our very salvation.
In this, He becomes our Truth ~ the Lord Who has shown us how He created each of us to be His own, and how we must return the favor by showing our love for Him and for one another.
In this, He becomes our Life ~ His life on Earth, in the example He gave by living day-to-day, struggling with the 'grind' of it all and yet at every moment doing the will of His Father...and even today, His life in the Blessed Sacrament, the very Species under which He remains with us until the end of time, even to this day remaining hidden and 'small' as He did all those years ago in the manger!
As I gaze upon this painting, I see all of this ~ in His face and gesture. His blessing of anyone who professes to follow Him to eternal life, in Him, through the Blessed Mother Mary and the Church.
The kindness of my Lord Jesus, my Savior, my God ~ my Way, my Truth, my Life ~ this is the mystery which boggles the simple mind of man...and which I must therefore ponder with my heart ~ my mind is too small to comprehend such love ~ the love of God!
For sure, if He had not placed Himself at the disposal of the Father in this way, we might not ever understand the way He loves us...He can exist entirely on His own, and of Himself...and yet, He is not satisfied to do so.
What kind of a God does this?
A God Who not only claims to be our Way, our Truth, our Life ~ but a God Who is truly and exactly what He says He is!
Blessed be Jesus Christ, now and forever.

The Expectation of Hope...

Fr. Paul, one of our associate Pastors, gave a wonderful sermon this weekend about the Virtue of Hope...and explained it in a way that I have never heard it explained before. I have always had a hard time with this one, it seems that Faith and Charity are self-explanatory to me...but Hope is somehow different.
We can say that 'we hope we make it to Heaven'...but that is not the Virtue in the true sense. If we are to develop this Hope within us, we must follow the example of Our Lady as She waited for and expected the Birth of Jesus, Her Son...She expected it! She had hope that God was going to come through with His promise to Her, and to the world.
She knew that He would do this ~ She simply had to be patient ~ another one of Her strong points...and She was absolutely right! There was never a question in Her mind that He would fulfill His word...She never lost Her hope in His salvation!
No matter what came to Her during Her lifetime, how hard She would have to work, what She would have to suffer, how much She would desperately love this Divine Son of Hers and miss Him when He was on His own without Her...all that She cared about was the fact that the Promise that the Eternal Father had made to Her ~ and to all of us ~ would come to pass in His good time.
She had Hope!
As Fr. Paul pointed out, God has not forgotten any of His other children, either. He made us to be happy, with Him, forever. He does not need us for His own happiness; He is complete unto Himself. He wants to keep us near Him, for our happiness, not His! He has shown us the way to Him, in, with and though His Son ~ as per the Doxology of the Holy Mass ~ and if we uphold our end of the bargain we will make it to Heaven!
We can truly hope in His Divine Mercy and the fact that our eternal happiness is exactly what He wants, more than anything else!
As a matter of fact, to not have this Hope in His Plan for us is to be insulting in the worst way. This would negate the Virtue of Faith, as well...if we had no Hope we would also have no Faith!
If we did not expect Him to save us, to bring us to Him in the end, what would be the point in believing in Him in the first place?!?
He would be unimportant...after all, we would not be going to Him, to Heaven...so why bother? And if we had no Faith in this, we would have no need to expect anything, either!!!
As it follows, therefore, we would also have no need of the Virtue of Charity ~ why be good to our neighbor if it gets us nothing and nowhere?!? Why not simply follow the dictates of our own desires and passions? Why not put ourselves first and above all else?
I see now the relationship between these three Virtues in a way in which I have never quite seen it before...I had always understood that I had to have Faith, a belief in my God, He Who loves me and Who has saved me for Himself. I always knew that I was expected to treat my neighbors with kindness, with love and understanding, not being judgmental or unforgiving, but giving myself to service when ever the opportunity presents itself...hence, a real need for the Virtue of Charity in my life! The Golden Rule, the brotherhood of man, the way to be...
But now that I see the Virtue of Hope in this light, I can fully understand that to 'hope I make it' is not enough...I know I will! I expect it!
I gaze upon a painting of Our Lady holding Her beloved Jesus close to Her own breast and it all makes sense to me ~ She gave Him human life, He gave Her eternal life. She waited patiently and calmly for His arrival and His salvation. I must do the same...during this holy Season of Advent ~ the most hopeful time of the year...and in Charity, I will give during the Season for giving to my neighbor; in Faith, I will believe that my God will come to me; and in Hope, I will expect the fulfillment of His Promise, both for myself and for all of mankind!