Love is Here

Tenth Avenue North:



And they're good in concert too!

Prayer Request

Please pray for a friend's son who will be having heart surgery tomorrow morning. His name is Joey and he is 5 years old (or almost 5?). Thank you so much!

I'm a Firing Line Geek

Here's an interesting interview (or maybe boring to most sane people) of Julian Simon by William F. Buckley:



Here's one where Buckley interviews Saul Alinski. Love Buckley's totally relaxed demeanor as he schools Alinski. Especially about a pastor's profession or belief or "racket" as Alinski calls it. The cigarettes are interesting:



I know, I know, I really should go do something more productive. Nursing a baby and watching Firing Line on YouTube.... and then blogging about it. Wow. I am a geek.

Make Me Believe Thee Ever More and More

My simple prayer was Lord, help my unbelief. His answer to me came as I prayed quietly in the sanctuary and saw a student pass through and bow in reverence to the tabernacle on her way somewhere, stopping to show her love for her Lord. Then one day, burdened by sadness and deep doubts about myself and the world around, I went to the sanctuary to pray, drawn by Him and His Love. I found Him there, hidden from view but drawing me to His presence in the monstrance. I collapsed in sadness and fatigue for carrying the burden for so long.

His Holy Presence was there also in the priest who listened that day in the sanctuary and loved me in the place where I was. I was a mess, the little girl inside crying out for belonging, for safety, for love. From that day forward, I knew Christ was there, Present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the sanctuary, whether in the tabernacle, in the monstrance, or in the Holy Mass. He had drawn me to Him in a particular way that day. My faith is still a journey, but through the simple prayer of my heart and in that powerful encounter, He placed a longing in my heart to be with Him in the Eucharist and many blessings have poured forth from that longing.




Adoro te devote

O Godhead hid, devoutly I adore Thee,
Who truly art within the forms before me;
To Thee my heart I bow with bended knee,
As failing quite in contemplating Thee.

Sight, touch, and taste in Thee are each deceived;
The ear alone most safely is believed:
I believe all the Son of God has spoken,
Than Truth's own word there is no truer token.

God only on the Cross lay hid from view;
But here lies hid at once the Manhood too:
And I, in both professing my belief,
Make the same prayer as the repentant thief.

Thy wounds, as Thomas saw, I do not see;
Yet Thee confess my Lord and God to be:
Make me believe Thee ever more and more;
In Thee my hope, in Thee my love to store.

O thou Memorial of our Lord's own dying!
O Bread that living art and vivifying!
Make ever Thou my soul on Thee to live;
Ever a taste of Heavenly sweetness give.

O loving Pelican! O Jesu, Lord!
Unclean I am, but cleanse me in Thy Blood;
Of which a single drop, for sinners spilt,
Is ransom for a world's entire guilt.

Jesu! Whom for the present veil'd I see,
What I so thirst for, O vouchsafe to me:
That I may see Thy countenance unfolding,
And may be blest Thy glory in beholding. Amen.

(St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. E. Caswall.)


Adoro te devote, latens Deitas,
Quae sub his figuris vere latitas;
Tibi se cor meum totum subiicit,
Quia te contemplans, totum deficit.

Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur,
Sed auditu solo tuto creditur;
Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius,
Nil hoc verbo veritatis verius.

In Cruce latebat sola Deitas.
At hic latet simul et humanitas:
Ambo tamen credens, atgue confitens,
Peto quod petivit latro paenitens.

Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor,
Deum tamen meum te confiteor:
Fac me tibi semper magis credere,
In te spem habere, te diligere.

O memoriale mortis Domini,
Panis vivus vitam praestans homini:
Praesta meae menti de te vivere,
Et te illi semper dulce sapere.

Pie pellicane Iesu Domine,
Me immundum munda tuo Sanguine:
Cuius una stilla salvum facere
Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Iesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio,
Oro, fiat illud, quod tam sitio,
Ut te revelata cernens facie,
Visu sim beatus tuae gloriae. Amen.

I Wish to Have an Argument

Today my husband thinks it's funny to go around acting out the Monty Python skit about going to the argument clinic:



Maybe it's his way of lightening the mood around here while we get ready for visitors this weekend :) We are excited about the visitors, it's just that we wish we didn't have so much cleaning to do.

Empowering women???

Al Gore recently said this regarding global warming (oops I mean climate change) during an appearance in New York City:

“One of the things we could do about it is to change the technologies, to put out less of this pollution, to stabilize the population, and one of the principle ways of doing that is to empower and educate girls and women,” Gore said. “You have to have ubiquitous availability of fertility management so women can choose how many children have, the spacing of the children.

“You have to lift child survival rates so that parents feel comfortable having small families and most important — you have to educate girls and empower women,” he said. “And that’s the most powerful leveraging factor, and when that happens, then the population begins to stabilize and societies begin to make better choices and more balanced choices.”

Ubiquitous availablity of fertility management? This empowers women? Really? Societies begin to maker better "choices"? Really? Maybe he needs to read this. Or possibly this might convince him. Or perhaps this? No, I guess it is because of the money he can't see the truth.

I thought that population control was so 70s. Guess not.

Over population is a myth.

And the Winner Is....

From this week's laundry fold-a-thon:

Most T-shirts: Luke (5 yr old)

... don't ask

Least T-shirts: Joseph (7 yr old)
Most towels: Sophia (2 yr old)

...because, well, even though the towels aren't technically hers we all know she has had the inclination of late to go remove all the towels from the hall bathroom and throw them in front of the door so that her brothers and sister will make sure to be able to dry off from playing outside in the pool (it's the blow up variety) and slip-n-slide.

Most swimsuits: Sophia (2 yr old)
Most dresses: Anna (9 yr old)

...because, well, she likes to wear nice dresses (that really are more for winter-wear) outside to play water guns with her brother. And after she dries off the towel her kind little sister leaves her, she puts on another dress with long sleeves to wear outside in the almost summer heat and shoot water guns with her brother. Plus she has the dresses she wore to Church in the pile as well.

Least of everything: Chris (43, oops 42 yr old as he just reminded me)

...because, well, he wears things multiple times (which he announces several times a week) and does not change his clothes multiple times a day.

Most wrinkled clothes: me (you know how old I am)

...this one is mine because it is my fault that all the clothes are wrinkled since they have been sitting in laundry baskets waiting to be folded for quite some time ;)


And that's all for today!


Update: oops forgot to say most burp cloths: Michael (6 week old) :)

Importance of Fathers - repost

Love is Larger than the Walls that Shut it In

+JMJ+

Since many of you are newer readers, I thought that I would repost one of my first posts when I had just started to blog:

~~~

How beautiful and pure is the relationship between a loving father and his daughter. Such a father instinctively wants to guard and protect his daughter while teaching her wisdom, courage and grace. More and more I am encountering places where this relationship is degraded, either by a father that does not guard and protect his daughter or by a society that mocks a father who is strong and courageous enough to do this for his beloved daughter.

At a recent talk I attended by a nationally known feminist, a very brave and courageous young woman stood up after the talk and defended her pledge to purity after the speaker roundly mocked this type of pledge, particularly when it involves the father's vow of love for his daughter. So this incident inspired me to write a post about the importance of fathers and how much they mean to their daughters.

None of us have perfect relationships with our fathers, and some have hurts that are so deep that healing seems impossible, but NOTHING is impossible with God. My heart is filled with so much gratitude for all fathers and for those especially that guide us to Our Father in Heaven. Thank you to my dad for his love for me and for giving me life and for teaching me true compassion for others. Thank you to my husband for his devotion to our family and for sharing his love with me, flowing out of God's Love abiding in his own heart and demonstrated by his dedication to passing on our faith to our sons and daughters.

It is very difficult to describe in one blog post the profound impact that one father, Casper Ten Boom had on his daughter Corrie Ten Boom, but I want to share a few quotes from the book, The Hiding Place, that so touched me it still stirs my heart years after reading Corrie's memories of her father. Casper's words and actions so formed Corrie's heart, that she was led to bring God's Healing Love and Mercy to the horrifying darkness of a Nazi concentration camp.

In an amazing witness of courage and Love that can only come from God, Corrie Ten Boom recounts growing up in Holland and her family's experiences helping protect Jews escape imprisonment by Nazis. Eventually Corrie and much of her family are imprisoned themselves. This Love originated with our Father in Heaven and flowed through Corrie's father Casper Ten Boom, a kind, strong and humble watch repairman whose words and actions resonated deep within his daughters' hearts. I hope these memories touch your heart as much as they do mine:

Corrie's thoughts about "childhood scenes from the past":

Today I know that such memories are the key not to the past, but to the future. I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do.

Casper's words to Corrie when she asked about "sexsin" as a young girl. They were travelling together, so he showed her the burden of this by talking to her about the heaviness of her suitcase:

It’s too heavy. Yes, and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.

Casper to Corrie about death:

“Corrie,” he began gently “When you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?” I sniffed a few time considering this,”Why, just before we get on the train.” “Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we are going to need things, too. Don’t run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need – just in time.”

Corrie recalling her father's words while listening to her beloved Tante Jans speak just before her death:

“Dear Jesus, I thank you that we must come with empty hands. I thank you that you have done all– all – on the cross, and that all we need in life or death is to be sure of this.” It was Father’s train ticket, given at the moment itself.

Casper and Corrie having a talk about Love:

“Corrie,” he began instead, “do you know what hurts so very much? It’s love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked, that means pain. “There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill the love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies too. Or, Corrie, we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.

“God Loves Karel – even more than you do- and if you ask Him, He will give you His Love for this man, a Love nothing can prevent, nothing destroy. Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way, Corrie, God can give us the perfect way.” I did not know, as I listened to father’s footsteps winding down the stairs that he had given me more than the key to this hard moment. I did not know that he had put into my hands the secret that would open far darker rooms than this- places where there was not, on a human level, anything to love at all.

The following quote can be used for a future post about the beauty of motherhood, but I really want to include this reflection of Corrie about her mama to show the major influence she had on Corrie as well:

Mama’s love had always been the kind that acted itself out with soup pot and sewing basket. But now that these things were taken away, the love seemed as whole as before. She sat in her chair at the window and loved us. She loved the people she saw in the street – and beyond: her love took in the city, the land of Holland, the world. And so I learned that Love is larger than the walls that shut it in.

Corrie's thoughts on Love:

How did one show it? How could God Himself show Truth and Love at the same time in a world like this? By dying. The answer stood out sharper and chillier than it ever had before that night: the shape of a Cross etched on the history of the world.

Through her amazing story, Corrie expresses how her father taught her and loved her by relating all back to Our Father in Heaven, Our Father Who pours out His Love for us by giving His Son, Himself, for us. This Love given to Casper for his family brought Corrie and the many lives she touched in the Nazi concentration camp through an unspeakable horror with Faith, Hope, and Love perhaps broken for a time, but not destroyed.

If you have never read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, I highly recommend it. There is so much more contained in her story, so read the book. If it has been awhile since you told your father how much you love him and how thankful you are for him, do so while thanking God for adopting us as His sons and daughters.

Prayer for Holy Church and Priests

From Joy at O Qaum Gloriosum:

St. Faustina's Prayer for Holy Church and Priests

O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of the whole Church: Grant it love and the light of Your Spirit and give power to the words of priests so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance and return to You, O Lord.

Lord, give us holy priests; You Yourself maintain them in holiness. O Divine and Great High Priest, may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them from the devil's traps and snares which are continually being set for the souls of priests. May the power of Your mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of priests, for You can do all things. I ask You, Jesus, for a special blessing and for light for the priests before whom I will make my confessions throughout my lifetime. Amen.


Source: Posted on the Franciscan_Spirit mailing list on May 12, 2003 by Nadine Mansour; also as prayer # 7 in: Chalice of Strength, pages 17-18. Crusade for Priests, Detroit, Michigan, 1996. (www.opusangelorum.org).

http://www.paxetbonum.net/pfp2.html#40


Thanks Joy for posting this.

Book Giveaway at Careless Catholic

Kelly over at The Careless Catholic is hosting a book giveaway for A Little Way of Homeschooling by Suzie Andres. She also reviewed the book, so go check out her review too. This book sounds awesome! If I don't win, I think I will have to buy a copy :)

Thanks for hosting Kelly!

When Words Are Not Necessary

Lord, thank You for the amazing privilege of being a mother to this baby so beautiful.

As he rests in me, let me rest in You. I rest in You.

Right now, being his mother is the only thing I feel I can do with confidence. No words are necessary, only touch and love and nourishment.

As I grow in confidence in this ability alone, teach me to trust in You the way he trusts in me so that I will know Your Love and care for me and so will he.

As You teach me Lord, heal my heart, my body, and my soul.

Let me grow in confidence so that when words are necessary, I will use your words and actions and not my own.

In this way, You are teaching me to be Your daughter, to be a wife, to be a mother, to be a sister, to be a friend.

Mary and Joseph, I ask for your parental intercession in all this.

In Your Holy Name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Gotten Alinskied Lately?

Badger Catholic wrote about being Alinskied recently, and I had to laugh....

So I can relate to being discombobulated by the kids when trying to make valid political points with someone who is obviously uninformed... of course, who knows what the poor uninformed person is thinking.... "can't they even control their kids?"

Beautiful Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Breathe into me, Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.
Move in me, Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.
Attract my heart, Holy Spirit, that I may love only what is holy.
Strengthen me, Holy Spirit, that I may defend all that is holy.
Protect me, Holy Spirit, that I may always be holy.

~Prayer of St. Augustine

Family Prayer in our Domestic Church

Here is a prayer that we added to our nightly family prayers several months ago. This is a prayer my husband found in one of his books about fatherhood, and he thought it would be good to pray this together. The kids like to take turns leading this one too. The best is when our two year old (almost three) "reads" it, and I love how she says we "fo-give wun anodda":

~~~JMJ~~~

God made us a family.
We need one another.
We love one another.
We forgive one another.
We work together.
We play together.
We worship together.
Together we learn God's Word.
Together we grow in Christ.
Together we love all people.
Together we serve our God.
Together we hope for Heaven.
These are our hopes.
Help us obtain them, Father,
through Jesus your Son,
Our Lord. Amen.

Note to Self

Next time kids are going on a camping trip, give yourself more than 10 minutes to sew badge on cub scout shirt. Better yet, try to get it done right after the badge comes home from pack meeting weeks before it needs to be done. Especially if you are trying to use invisible thread. And keep from sewing pockets shut. You are 40 now, your eyesight isn't the same as it used to be. And really, don't be such a perfectionist, the badge doesn't have to be THAT straight, especially if you are trying to nurse a 5 week old while sewing said badge on. Oh who are you kidding, you know you just let the baby cry right next to you while you frantically tried to sew that badge on.

Also, don't read any mom blogs where they are having fabulous garden parties and celebrating every Saint's feast day with fanfare. It is beyond your capability at this time. You can't even sew a boy scout badge on a shirt. By hand. You really need to learn how to use the sewing machine you asked for 2 years ago but haven't used yet.

This must be what happens when an engineer becomes a stay at home homeschooling mom of 5. They did not teach this stuff to me in thermodynamics class and come to think of it, I didn't really learn this from my parents either.

This family, and this mom especially, are a WORK IN PROGRESS.

Where is the CHOCOLATE?????? Guess what we had for lunch today? Frozen pizza. It was cooked of course. And it had meat on it too, but I pricked myself with the needle sewing the badge on several times, so that should count as penance shouldn't it? As for my dear husband, his penance is dealing with me today :)

The Human Experience

We had family visiting this past weekend and watched The Human Experience again. This is a Grassroots Films movie that follows two brothers through three different experiences. The message of the film is so powerful. It was even better than when we saw it the first time when the local Newman Center hosted a screening of the movie a few years ago. If you have never seen it, I highly recommend it!! You can watch it instant view on Netflix.

Pray for Our Military Chaplains

From Before and After D Day In Color: An American Army chaplin kneels next to a wounded soldier in order to administer the Eucharist and Last Rites.

Photo: Frank Scherschel/TIME & LIFE Pictures
Aug 01, 1944




HT HotAir