Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Restoring an Old Tradition

We observed the Feast of Corpus Christi this past Sunday in our parish . For the first time in many years this beautiful feast day, honoring Jesus' True Presence in the Eucharist was celebrated with a traditional Eucharist Procession around the parish grounds.As the 12:30 Mass ended, the congregation followed behind the Priest who carried the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament. The large crowd dwindled to about 150, who persevered under the hot midday sun, singing hymns and recitng the Rosary at each of three altars. Various parish groups led prayers of petition and led the rosary prayers at each stop. The choir led us in singing many traditional hymns along the way. I had never particiapted in a Corpus Christi Procession and I have to say, I felt transported back to a time where the Church was actually the center of a community's life. Where people didn't feel strange about publicly expressing their religious faith. This was a feeling I hadn't experienced in over twenty years, when my husband and I spent a week in Medugorje. In this small village in the former Yugoslavia, people are completely open about their devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Catholic Church. I remember waking early in the morning to the hymns being sung by pilgrims walking along the dirt road on the way to Mass. People walking through the street, Rosaries in hand, a prayer on the lips, and a song in the heart. The thought of this kind of public expression of our Faith is one that is foreign to most of us. But I can't help but I feel a certain nostalgia for something I never actually experienced. I look forward to next year's procession and wonder what other traditons our new pastor may restore in our parish as he strives to bring about a greater reverence for the Eucharist.

Craft for the craft-challenged

When God was giving out artistic abilities, I was probably at the back of line talking  and ended up with whatever was left. It was a long line that day. 

It's not that I can't think of crafty ideas, but the implementing of those ideas, once they hatch, seems to elude me.  So, yesterday I'm thinkng it's May, Mary's month, we should do some kind of Marian craft. I scouted around various places on the internet and gathered ideas. Then I tweaked them into a craft that was not only easy, but educational as well. And all I needed was some colorful paper (I used pink cardstock), scissors, scotch tape, and some very pretty pictures of the Blessed Mother I searched out on a Google Image search. I made a template for the size petal I wanted and pre-cut sixty petals and I printed out ten small images of the Blessed mother. I put the small ends of six petals together fanning out in a circular shape, and here's the tricky part... I used scotch tape to hold them together. Then I taped the picture in the center of the flower. I just made one to see if it would work, because many of my ideas don't. Once I saw it would work  I gathered together ten homeschooling children.

I didn't plan on ten, it just worked out that way...ten Hail Mary's in a decade, ten kids. Coincidence? I think not. Each child assembled his own flower. Once the flowers were put together, on each petal we wrote a prayer petition.  While the children were assembling their flowers, I talked a bit about flowers and Mary and how we hear the word ROSE in Rosary.  We should think of our Hail Mary's as roses for the Blessed Mother, and a decade of the Rosary is like handing her a whole bouquet. Once all the flowers were done, each child got to lead a Hail Mary as they hung their flower on a string I had strung across an arbor in the yard. Very simple, and a very nice craft. It was perfect for a variety of ages because some of the older children were into decorating their flower more elaborately, and the pre-schoolers were really good at taping things together!  Everyone was happy. This craft was embarassingly simple, so I decided against step-by- step photo instructions. Here is the finished product.

On the top are the finished products. Below are the flowers hanging after we prayed.

And no Catholic party would be complete without silliness and donuts!

In honor of St. Isidore the Farmer's Day...

      I thought we would get out and do some planting today. I set my goals high hoping to  get the soil turned, work in the compost, and get the plants in. I have some tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, and peppers. I am also going to plant string beans, eggplant and zucchini. If I can squeeze in some summer squash, I will.

     So, in my mind I was going to get all this work done, but as you can see from the picture, my back had its own ideas... the first one being not cooperating with the plan! I did get the soil turned and managed to get some compost moved onto the space, but the rest of it will have to wait for tomorrow, or the next nonrainy day. Unfortunately the forecast is for rain for the next whole week!

      The compost pile is looking great. We added lots of ash from our woodburning stove this winter.  One note of caution: be sure all ash is finished burning before adding it to the compost or you may get a phone call like I did one year: "Um, you may want to check the compost... as I was backing out of the driveway,I think I saw smoke rising over the fence!" This was an actual call I received from my husband at 7A.M. one day! Some ash still had a little something going on and it smoldered in the compost overnight! You would not believe how long it took running the hose on it til I was convinced it was really not going to kick back up!  Now we use a metal garbage can for ash and wait a few days before adding it to the heap.

     The main ingredients of this compost are coffee grinds, eggshells, ash and vegetable peelings. I definitely need to turn it more than I do because the deeper down I go, the more dark and rich it all looks!

     While working in the garden today, Hannah made it her job to transfer worms from the garden to the compost. I'm not sure why she felt this was so necessary, but it sure kept her busy! See if you can find the particularly looooong fellow we found!

It is alot of work getting the garden up and running, and sometimes my enthusiasm for it wanes as the heat of the summer really sets in and demands of the family take precedence. But I don't want to lose the habit of doing the garden because every year is different. I will document my progress, or lack thereof here. Maybe that will give me the incentive to stick with it!  Tune in to see how it all turns out!

Thomas Receives Jesus for the First Time

This past Saturday was a big day in our home. Our fifth child, Thomas, received his First Holy Communion. Having been homeschooled for all of his 71/2 years, I especially enjoyed the time leading up to this day. It has been so special for me to be teaching him about Jesus in the Eucharist, about Reconciliation, the Mass, the Saints, and all the treasures of our Catholic faith that make me so glad I am Catholic! And he is so receptive to hearing about the faith and can grasp the concepts with the child-like faith we are all called to believe with. Teaching him has energized my own faith and I am so thankful for the opportunity to learn and grow in the faith right beside him. Here are a few pictures of our beautiful day!

Sweet, innocent praying hands.

                                                                                                                                               Hands in pockets, always!

Thomas and me awaiting the big moment

                                                                                                                                              A big, beautiful grin after receiving!

Our tradition in this family is to have a big Communion party for each of the children and this year was no different! All of our friends tend to have large families, so just inviting the friends alone would make the guest list close to fifty.  Then add on immediate family and some extended family and our guest list usually comes close to eight or ninety. We always have our parties at home. This allows a more relaxed environment for all the little ones to run around and for family and friends who don't see each other often to have plenty of time to visit and catch up. This time around I had some food brought in from a local caterer (it was delicious!) and some homemade dishes. The menu consisted of eggplant rollatini, chicken francaise, penne ala vodka, chicken cutlet hero, roast beef, meatballs, brocolli in olive oil and garlic, rice pilaf, and ceasar salad.  As an after thought, for the kids I added a tray of chicken tenders and a taco station. Believe it or not, even with snacks, most of the food went! There was enough leftover to feed my family several meals this week, but I usually plan for that because I am so exhausted after these events!  For dessert, Thomas had to have a chocolate fountain.  It is a huge mess, but it was the only thing he specfically requested, so I really couldn't say no to the guest of honor. I also made "dirt cake" which is a layered chocolate dessert made with a pudding/cream cheese/cool whip mixture which is folded together. It gets layered with crushed oreos which resemble dirt. I made them in (new) plastic flower pots. The top layer is crushed oreos with gummie worms poking out. And the finishing touch is a small bunch of artificial flowers! I made two small pots and they actually made the dessert table look rather pretty!  I also made small favors to give out to the guests. These were done rather inexpensively by buying the boxes in the dollar store party section. I also bought some pretty organza ribbon there and printed out labels for the front of the boxes.  Each box is filled with a handful of chocolate kisses. The day ended with an outdoor fire and a few close friends chatting and enjoying a much-deserved glass of wine!

The next day was Sunday, and as is the tradition in our parish, the First Communicants are asked to wear their Communion outfits to Sunday Mass all throughout the month of May. This is such a lovely tradition and it is so special to see all the children dressed up for Jesus! Thomas, however was over wearing the suit. He says "But mom, this isn't my First Holy Communion... it's my Second Holy Communion. I don't have to wear the suit!

But mom won... for Mother's Day, he wore the suit!

Eighty-three years ago today, the world was changed for the better when my father was born into it.

This year he will be celebrating his birthday in heaven for the first time ever. We miss him here, but find hope in the confidence that he is in a better place , hoepfully blowing out his 83 candles with Mom right by his side!

I wrote this poem about two weeks after his death this past April 4. The ideas expressed are  my own thoughts, combined with words of some of my six siblings during the time we were together immediately following his passing.  I don't believe in living with regret over past mistakes ...we need to heal from grief and move on, determined not to make the same mistakes with those loved ones who remain.  Whether we did our absolute best in a relationship or we could have done better is a matter for us to come to grips with in our own conscience and with God. I hope this poem reminds us not to put off letting those we love know it and also to work on healing the relationships that are still in our power to heal!

We will always miss and love you, Dad!

If  I Had Known...

If I had known that day was your last, I would have called that morning like I had planned;  instead of adding your name to my weekend to-do list.

If I had known that day was your last, I would have sprung for that plane ticket; and lived with that old couch a little longer.

If I had known that day was your last I would have lingered a little longer over coffee; relishing every last detail of that story I'd heard a hundred times before.

If I had known that day was your last you would have left this world knowing just how necessary you were.

Now in these first days without you, I think I finally know.

Spring is in the Air... and a few parties!

These next few weeks I feel I am living up to the premise and title of this blog. Below is a schedule of coming events in our household... and these are just the "biggies"

May 7  Spring Concert at Becky's school

May 10 Thomas receives his First Holy Communion

May 11 Mother's Day

May 28 Becky receives Confirmation

May 29 Hannah's fifth birthday

May 29 Jessica's "Senior Sendoff" (semi-formal cruise around Manhattan)

June 1 Jessica's High School graduation

June 16 My 40-something birthday

June 17 Jessica's 18th Birthday

June 18 Father's Day

June 21 Jessica's Graduation blow-out BBQ

June 21 Dan's and my  22nd Anniversary

June 29 Hannah and Jessie's ballet recital

My motto is "one day at a time". It will be the thing which preserves my sanity!

Really, we are so blessed to be having so much to celebrate and I pray that in the whirlwind, I can remember to savor  these moments, take lots of pictures, and count my many blessings!

Must get to work now, eighty people will be at the door Saturday afternoon for a Communion party... they may be hungry!

On a somewhat springtime related note,I am so  proud of my dear friend, Mary Ellen, for putting into words what is on the heart of so many moms concerning the issue of modest dressing. Her article will be in today's diocesan newspaper and I am anxious to see the reader response to it. I suspect, if we are honest with ourselves, we will see the truth in her words. And the truth she puts out there is this: parents are to blame for the sorry state of affairs in children's dressing. We are not allowing kids to be kids and to enjoy one of the most beautiful, innocent times of their lives. As the mother of four daughters, and two sons,  I have to applaud my friend for her courage in writing this and I pray it touches the hearts of those who need to hear this!

Who Do You Say That I Am?

A special memo in our parish bulletin yesterday had as its subject line: "Desecration of the Blessed Sacrament". That was quite an attention-getter, and I truly hope it  grabbed the attention of the offending parties. It seems that as of late, consecrated hosts have been found around the church on the floor beneath the pews, in the pew book racks, and between the pages of hymnals.  I was shocked and saddened to see this abuse occurring in my own parish. Several years ago, my then two-year old was sitting on the kneeler and I noticed something in her hand. I was horrified to see she had picked up a host from the floor and was about to eat it! How this host got there, I could only imagine, but the optimist in me wanted to believe it was a mistake someone had made, and a rarity. Imagine my shock several weeks later when the incident occurred again!

I am wondering , since reading the pastor's memo, whether this is a worsening problem. It seems everyday there are knew reports of churches being vandalized in one way or another. Many times the vandals target the very things we, as Catholics, hold in high esteem, such as the Blessed Mother, or the saints. I choose to believe that these acts, as with the desecration of the Eucharist which our Pastor writes about, are done mostly out of ignorance and lack of Faith and knowledge of the truth. How can I , as a Catholic, help prevent these acts from occurring? It can be difficult, because the reception of Holy Communion should be a prayerful time, not one where we should feel the need to "police"our fellow parishioners. Many times, if I feel distracted during this time, I close my eyes and pray a prayer of reparation for offenses against the Eucharist which I or anyone receiving that day may knowingly or unknowingly have committed. Also, I have returned to the practice of receiving the Body of Christ by mouth- a practice I grew up with, but abandoned when the "new way" of receiving in the hand was implemented in the 70's. I feel that receiving in the hand may be part of the reason we are seeing abuses occurring more frequently. Perhaps my example may encourage someone else to return to this practice.  By treating the sacrament reverently, keeping quiet in Church, making visits to the Blessed Sacrament, teaching our children to pay reverence to the tabernacle, and teaching the children the importance of frequent confession to keep our souls pure for Jesus , we can turn the tide from ignorance and lack of understanding about the Eucharist to deep devotion and love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I think if everyone did a little something to help turn this tide we will see the "Springime of the Church" which John Paul II so frequently referred to, in our own time!

At the end of the pastor's memo he says:

"If we continue to find consecrated hosts as mentioned above, I will notify Bishop M. and forbid the distribution of Holy Communion in the hand at all Masses and under all circumstances."      And to that I say a loud "Amen, Father!"                                                                                                                                                         

Dan's Big Break

My dear friend at the Bonny Blue House was kind enough to give my husband his big break and post a video of his weekly "after prayer" jam session with the guys. Friday night Rosary has become a staple in our family's prayer life, and after a long week of commuting, working, and living in a very busy household, the guys look forward to unwinding with their guitars. It's lots of fun!