Connecting The Dots...

Only this is sort of a connect the homilies post! :)

Mary vs. Martha- How many times have I listened to homilies on this reading? Or talks given at women's conferences? I always come away with the same thing: Mary-good, Martha-bad. Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet taking the best and Martha scurrying around. Now, maybe that is just how I heard it. This is how I heard it this time- Martha wasn't just doing. Martha was serving. She was serving our Lord! Would Jesus be critical of her for that? But Martha lost her focus. Instead of focusing on the Lord, she became anxious and upset.

Sunday Homily- I just love Fr. Samuel, a father of many who became a priest after his wife passed away. Boy does he have a way of getting to the point! The point, again, was focus. Father talked of the many parents who approach him with concerns of their children who have lost their faith. These parents fret and worry. They lose focus of Jesus. "Give them to Jesus and spend your time focusing on Him, who can do all things".

The rich man (today's homily)- He was a good man. He kept the commandments. BUT, his love of wealth had a strong hold on him. Father told us that in Greek (I believe) the translation says that Jesus looked at this man with love. I don't know why but that just made the picture of this man standing their holding tight to his money over following Jesus all the more poignant. Father asked us what are we holding on to in our life that is causing us to lose focus, to turn away.

Then there is the story that this blogger shared about the hemorrhaging women who was healed by touching Jesus' coat. If I was an amazing writer like this blogger, I could have written that post almost exactly (the circumstances are not exact, but the feelings are!).

(http://www.colleenduggan.net/2013/08/how-hemragging-woman-in-bible-taught-me.html)

Yes, turn to Jesus.

I am running around worrying, fretting, freaking out... my boys are asking me more frequently why I am mad. Am I mad at them?

Then as I was switching a laundry load (of all things!) this morning, I paused. I prayed. 

I then decided wake my boys up early. We proceeded to whip through a few chores, go to mass, pick up some doughnuts, and do a quick work of mercy for a loved one (and share our doughnuts with her!).

We were home in time to wash the dogs, shower, and take a quick break before our little charge arrived at 10:45.

Somehow my focus had changed. The day was full of blessings instead of stress.

I could not do this.

For two weeks, I have been spinning my wheels.

I knew I had to pray my way through this school year, but I was becoming anxious.

I was losing focus!

I was holding on to my fears and worries instead of letting them go. And I needed to stop trying to fix it all by myself! My small act of trust and focus yielded unimaginable graces!

I am not silly enough to think that every day will go smoothly just because I trust God and pray. But I am so thankful to God for showing me this little glimmer of his generosity. I feel like He was telling me "see, you just had to ask".

It may not always change what happens, but I know that it will change my heart to keep my focus.

Our little charge with Uncle Marky. 

Eastertide::Celebrating the Season

I am joining in with Jen @ Forever, For Always, No Matter What and Tiffany @ Family at the Foot of the Cross to do a bit of Easter sharing. I know their posts will be amazing... well, because they are amazing bloggers. Please stop by and take a look. 


"I admit that we have not hit the first week of Easter with the zeal that I would like- we are pooped."

Those were my sentiments as Lent came to a close last year and Easter sprung forth. I think it can be that way. You kind of want to take a big sigh and say "we did it!". But it is not over yet. The church year, in it's infinite beauty, keeps going. 

The understanding that Easter is a season and not just one day was a slow dawning for our family. I vividly remember our first Lent- the one where our family realized that that there is a Lent after all! We dove in with all the enthusiasm and effort our limited understanding allowed. And then it was over. We went to dawn mass, feasted on jelly beans, and called it a day. I don't mean to be flippant, but that is where our faith formation and our understanding of the liturgical year was. 

As part of the "great untaught" (a phrase from Mary Reed Newland in her book "The Year and Our Children), I did not have much to go on. I realize now that the information was there for the taking. But, as part of the above mentioned group, it took me a while to figure out the right questions to ask of the right people so that I could become an enthusiastic participate in this beautiful faith of ours. 

Now there is this wonderful online community of Catholic publications and bloggers who share their knowledge and inspiration. 

This article, Catholic Activity: The Time of Easter or Eastertide, from CatholicCulture.org gives a simple explanation of the season:

"The fifty days from Easter to Pentecost are celebrated in joyful exultation as one feast day, or better as one "Great Sunday"." 

Taking more inspiration from Mary Reed Newland's book "The Year and Our Children", this is a great season to dive in and learn and pray together. Our first and most important job as parents, according to Mrs. Newland (and I think most would agree), is to form our children in Christ. Because this is our most important job, we ought to lavish our time on it. She further exhorts us to take time to be with our children, do a daily examine of conscience, prayers, reading... how often we are so tired come evening, yet Easter seems like a perfect season to make a renewed commitment to that time together. 

Right out of the gate, the Sunday after Easter (the second Sunday of Easter), is Divine Mercy Sunday. Could there be a more fitting time for this feast day? "Jesus, I Trust in You"  Celebrating it is a great way to keep the momentum of the season going.  This is a fairly new addition to our year (added on the 2nd Sunday of Easter in the Jubilee year). And the Divine Mercy novena is a beautiful prayer. 

There is more! So much more! If you are like me, and getting your "Catholic On" a little later in life, go slowly. Choose one or two things that sound really doable. Then have fun and learn about the season. 

Resources for Divine Mercy:
Divine Mercy DVD  (you can also order worksheets on CD-rom) 
Holy Heroes Glory Stories of St. Faustina (awesome story)   
Catholic Icing Divine Mercy Standing Imagine (this link also has resources for Sister Faustina and the Divine Mercy). 
Divine Mercy Novena Prayer Rings (we made them last year- free printable)

Resources For the Season: 
Catholic Icing  (crafts and more)
Family at the Foot of the Cross (inspiration galore!)
Menus to celebrate the 50 days of Easter!  (food is a great way to gain your kiddos' enthusiasm.) 
The YEAR and Our CHILDREN by Mary Reed Newland
Children's Books for Easter at Shower of Roses blog
Lent and Easter in the DOMESTIC CHURCH





I encourage you to have a blessed Eastertide!! 

Filling Our Catholic Tank

Wow. Amazing. I am overwhelmed by these two weekends. Last weekend was the Catholic homeschooling conference and this weekend was "Ignite Pure Explosion" youth day. 


Every so often it feels good to just revel in our Catholic faith. To celebrate, enjoy, share, be inspired, ... the image that comes to mind is a picture of my son in the snow where he is just rolling around in and covering himself in it. I feel completely submersed in my Catholic faith.

My 14yo son and I just arrived home from the youth day. I feel so privileged to have been there. My husband was going to go, but he had a particularly tough week, so he passed the job to me. While I can see how my son might have preferred a father/son outing, I just loved every minute of today. 


First we got to go out to breakfast just the two of us. A rare treat indeed. And then we listened to some fantastic speakers, watched some moving skits, and heard some great Catholic music while surrounded by hundreds (I think more than 500) young people!! 

For me, it was great to go to a conference where the central focus was about knowing, loving, and serving God. And how much God loves and cares for each of us. The basics, but they are not always easy basics. Father Augustino Torres spoke about some of the hard truths of the world in which we live. He also spoke of our "Catholic" response to those truths. Chris Stephanick brought perhaps a more parental view to the table- but a very cool parental view.

Paul had a great time too. He admitted being rather reluctant to go, but was pretty happily surprised at how fun and interesting it was. When pressed to share a thought on the day, he had a hard time coming up with something. He did say that he liked Father Augustino's skit using different hats (including a Darth Vader mask)- each hat represented a point of view that different people have about who Jesus is. His final "hat" was a crown of thorns (the only hat that he did not actually put on his head), showing us who Jesus really is. 

The smudges on Paul's t-shirt are actually signatures written with sharpie pen. The kids in our group ran around and asked people to sign their name on the shirts in order to pray for them. It was a nice way for them to meet others and got a positive response. 

http://www.corazonpuro.org/?q=HomePage (Father Augustino Torres)
http://realifecatholic.com/ (Chris Stephanick)

Last weekend, I attended the Catholic Homeschool Conference in Santa Clara, California. Two of the main speakers were Laura Berquist and Ginny Seuffert. Now these two ladies have some serious Catholic homeschool super powers! Although, much of both talks could have spoken to any parent- not just homeschool parents.

Laura is infused with the joy of homeschooling. She sort of reminds me of a women who tells her birth story after the labor pains. She has gone through those hours of agony yet nothing of the bitterness is left- just the pure joy in having that precious little one in her arms. Laura has "birthed" her children into the world, and the sweetness is all that is left. Her voice, her mannerisms, and every word she spoke was an encouragement for the long haul. 


There are many nitty gritty details that I could share, but the one that is still ringing in my head is "tell your children that you love them". We spend every day all day with our children- of course we love them! But take the time to look them in the eye and tell them! Don't get too caught up in the daily grind and forget to do that. I think some of her talk is based on her book, Teaching Tips and Techniques. 

Ginny's talk was based on her book, Home Management Essentials. These types talks can be discouraging to me. A well kept home is important to me, but I find myself falling short of many of the proclaimed ideals out there. Ginny made a good case for keeping a sane (not spotless) home without making it sound like an unreachable goal. She pointed out that for those of us who have chosen the home as our "mission field", it is our home that is often going to speak to people about the joys of our faith and family. When someone (our children included) comes in to a home that is well kept enough to walk in and take a comfy seat on the couch and sees the picture of Mary along with a crucifix hanging on the wall, they are going to see our crazy Catholic family as a beautiful thing (or at least they might). 


Her other strong point was that many of us have too much stuff! An uncluttered home is much easier to keep up. I am with her on that one. 


I am not saying this very well, but you can follow the link to her book. I plan to order a few copies to share with others. 

Falling for the Catholic Church::Part 2

Part 1 is here.

I think at this point I should note a few things:

If someone is coming back to the Catholic church, I would recommend that they go straight to their local parish and talk to the pastor there. We did things sort of backwards. Not understanding that we had done anything out of the ordinary by attending a non-Catholic church, we simply registered at a parish and began attending. I would also consider connecting with Catholic Answers or some other reputable organization that can help formulate questions to ask the pastor in regards to the parish. Sadly, as happened to us, there are parishes that are not as scrupulous about the faith as they should be. I don't say that to be critical, but to possibly save someone else grief.

The other thing I want to note (given that I mention attending a non-Catholic bible study) is that I would strongly recommend a Catholic bible study especially to those who do not know their faith well. I know several people who attend wonderful non-denominational bible studies that are edifying to their faith. However, some bible studies, as I found later in my journey, target Catholics in an effort to evangelize- not out of a sense of viciousness, but out of concern.

On to Part 2:

I am realizing that putting this journey into words in not going to be as easy as I thought! Part 2 is going to be brief. Part 3 will have to come after some serious thought (and prayer!).

With the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" in hand, I was ready to face the world... or so I thought.

Who knew there was so much to learn? When my young daughter came and asked me- "Do you know that so and so says it is a sin to not go to church every single Sunday?"- I confidently replied, "that is silly". Our priest clearly stated that Catholics were no longer under obligation to attend mass every Sunday. Of course, it was recommended yet not necessary.  Just to show her that there were no worries if we missed mass once in a while, I opened my handy dandy CCC and read that.... clearly I was misled! Uh-hem. Lesson one upon returning to the church- it is important to learn our faith and to form our conscience according to the faith.

I hesitate to tell this next part. I am not encouraging others to "church hop". However, I confess that after attending mass for a few years, I realized that it would not do to come home from church each week and explain to my young children that our priest was possibly misled in some matters of the faith (and to be honest, I was getting confused). I also lacked the confidence or knowledge to act for possible change. (I would handle things differently today, but that is another story.)

Fortunately,  were introduced to a church that had several priests who passionately shared their faith and their reverence for the Eucharist.

My father-in-law had given me an article about some homeschooling families who met at a church each month after First Friday noon mass. I had held on to this article (I usually lose such things), yet each month for an entire year met with a new obstacle to attending this mass.

Finally one Friday, I had determined that we were going to go. I cannot stress the fiasco it was to get there- I woke up on that morning to put on my one and only pair of nice slacks to realize that they had a huge rip in them. As it was, my kids were less than thrilled to be going on this adventure and I had not been feeling well. Regardless, I ran to the store to purchase slacks, packed up a lunch and the kids, and went to mass.

I have to say that I was overwhelmed by this church. To see all these people in the middle of the week (hundreds I think) attending mass. And the priest... an ancient looking elderly man who boomed with passion for the faith when he got up to give his homily and showed reverence beyond anything I had known for the Eucharist. I was humbled. But then...

Does satan know how to knock us human weaklings down or what? My girls and I (I had all girls back then), happily gathered outside the church in hopes of finding these fellow Catholic homeschoolers. I spied a face that I recognized, and thought that surely she would welcome us and invite us in. Rather than the friendly greeting I had anticipated, I was briskly brushed aside. I have to say that the shock of it was rather like a slap in the face.

Mass forgotten and offence taken, I grabbed my girls and headed to the car. Only, behind us was a voice calling-"are you here to join the homeschoolers?" "No, really," I told this stranger. "We're going home." My eyes were blurry with tears and I was embarrassed. Thankfully, with a little prodding, we decided to grab our cooler full of food and "stay for a few minutes".

To be continued...

***I want to clearly note that I don't mean to be critical of any priest. I don't know the story or motivation for what happened at the first parish we attended. I know that we are called to pray for this priest, and I won't elaborate any more than necessary to tell my story.

Falling For The Catholic Church::Part 1

My relationship with the Catholic faith is a love story- truly.

The beginning (we meet;))- Every Sunday my mom took us to church. We received the sacraments and went to church. That is it. I don't say that to be critical of my wonderful mom. That is what she knew, and that is what she did with us. But, she did it. Every single Sunday- rain, shine, snow, or sleet (I was raised in Ohio)- my mom got up and drove us kids to church. I knew nothing of what was going on, of what any of the sacraments that I received meant, or even why I went to church other than some vague knowledge that it had something to do with God. This makes me think I must have been a pretty dense child! But, really, don't underestimate that graces that came from my mom's efforts. I did not know the church, but I had met her.

Next was an awakening to Jesus, who He is, and that I wanted something to do with Him. This took me on a few detours around the Catholic church.  After being married and having a few little ones, our church attendance was spotty at best. I did, however, start attending a bible study at a Baptist church. That was a move in a positive direction! God's word!

At that same bible study a lovely older lady gifted me a children's book, "Wise Words for Little People", based on proverbs. Now I was going to bible study and sharing God's word with my children.

It reminds me that I am the "older lady" now and I should keep my eyes out for the young moms who need encouragement!

Another book recommendation brought me one more small step toward an understanding of being a Christian (particularly a Christian mom), "A Mother's Touch".  I don't remember the details of this book, but the author's love of Jesus, her passion for her children, and the legacy of her own mother touched me. Shortly after this awakening we began attending a non-denominational church.

I don't know really how that step impacted me.  It was a small intimate church that exuded the faith and family values. I don't remember learning or growing too much. I was a young mom and wife in the middle of raising three little girls who were born within a three year span, so not much beyond surviving was on my mind. This little church gave us shelter.

Then. The big then. Our oldest daughter was of the age to begin preparations for First Holy Communion and hubby told me that we need to get her signed up for classes so that she can do so. Huh?! I did not leave the Catholic church in any violent protest. I just did not know the Church. It did not occur to me that we would go back.

At any rate, hubby insisted. My response- "OK. But if we are going to be Catholic, we are going to learn about our faith and practice all of it. If anything comes up that we don't feel comfortable with, we're leaving. It is all or nothing." To this day, I don't know why these words came out of my mouth. I had no idea what I even meant. And poor hubby probably did not either, but he readily agreed.

We registered at our local parish, signed up for FHC classes and were on our way. We were Catholic!

Only... after a few years, strange things were happening. I was beginning to like what I knew of the Church but I was struggling with some things that were being preached. Not matters of the faith- matters that I was pretty sure were not of this faith.

Having no real understanding or knowledge in this area, I have to say that it was God's grace prompting me. My first step was call my sister in law (who was a few steps ahead of me in this process).

Each week, I would ask her if this or that was correct. I would tell her that it seemed odd, but that I wasn't sure. After several weeks of this, she asked me if I owned a "Catechism of the Catholic Church". "Huh? What's that?" :)  By the end of the day, I did.

To be continued...

High-Tech Vs. Holiness

A little background: We have been reading about the life of Jesus. To put things in context, we have talked a lot about how people would have lived when Jesus was alive and walking around on earth with his disciples.

Yesterday, as we were praying our morning rosary, the phone started to ring. The caller gave up but then the phone rang again... and again. Mark (10yo) noted that we always seem to be most popular during rosary time. James (8yo) sighed and said that "I think with all this high-tech stuff we have that it is much harder to be holy these days".

 

I think James may be right. :-)