Feast of the Holy Family

"The best and surest way to learn the love of Jesus is through the family." ~ Mother Teresa

Today is a wonderful day to celebrate the family in our own homes. As a family, read:

Colossians 3:12-17

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

What would our world be like if all families clothed themselves in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience? I will make this quote my copywork for the week and post it on the fridge as a reminder. In the past, we've had a 'special' plate in our family. At dinner time, the rest of the family would say something nice about whomever had the 'special' plate. In honor of the Holy Family, I think I may resurrect that tradition this evening.

Shared meals are so vital but as children grow and spread their wings they seem harder to come by. Personally, I need to make a bigger effort to assure that we eat meals together as often as possible. During the Christmas season, the table is adorned with a lovely centerpiece and white candles in glass holders. There seems to be something magical about eating dinner in the candlelight.

May the peace of the Good Shepherd reign in your hearts and in your families this holy season ~

Beate

"The family is the basic cell of society. It is the cradle of life and love, the place in which the individual ‘is born’ and ‘grows.’" ~ JPII

Pope Francis' Urbi et Orbi..

Here is a bit of the Pope's message "to the city and the world" for Christmas 2013:

"Lord of life, protect all who are persecuted for your name. Grant hope and consolation to the displaced and refugees, especially in the Horn of Africa and in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Grant that migrants in search of a dignified life may find acceptance and assistance. May tragedies like those we have witnessed this year, with so many deaths at Lampedusa, never occur again!

Child of Bethlehem, touch the hearts of all those engaged in human trafficking, that they may realize the gravity of this crime against humanity. Look upon the many children who are kidnapped, wounded and killed in armed conflicts, and all those who are robbed of their childhood and forced to become soldiers.

Lord of heaven and earth, look upon our planet, frequently exploited by human greed and rapacity. Help and protect all the victims of natural disasters, especially the beloved people of the Philippines, gravely affected by the recent typhoon.

Dear brothers and sisters, today, in this world, in this humanity, is born the Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. Let us pause before the Child of Bethlehem. Let us allow our hearts to be touched, let us not fear this. Let us not fear that our hearts be moved. We need this!.....God is full of love: to him be praise and glory forever! God is peace: let us ask him to help us to be peacemakers each day, in our life, in our families, in our cities and nations, in the whole world. Let us allow ourselves to be moved by God’s goodness."

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

In our home, that meant it was time to go buy a Christmas tree ;-) It is in the house and has joined us in waiting. Generally, the decorations are put on Christmas Eve, although some years the evening of the last Sunday of Advent seems perfect.

Isn't it wonderful that Momma Church tells us the story of the very first Christmas on this, the last Sunday, just to make sure we are properly anticipating the birth of our Lord? At the parish where we attended Mass this evening, the priest reminded us that while we view everything which transpired as extraordinary, the reality at the time was rather ordinary. A young couple travelling for the census, the fact that there was no room at the inn, and people staying with animals - all normal for that time. His point was to look for God in the ordinary moments of our lives. Rather apt for a blog on living life in the Domestic Church :-)

I love keeping Advent - that joyful anticipation of something that we haven't experienced but know with certainty will arrive! God always keeps His promises. Christ will come and it will be beautiful. Today the boxes of Christmas decorations came down from the attic. Tomorrow evening stockings and garland will replace the purple candles and plain green sprigs on the mantel.  Yes, it is yet another way we are counter cultural yet what a lovely, quiet and reflective time this season can be if we just allow it to unfurl in its own time.

Mary and Joseph are approaching the Creche, the shepherds are in the fields, and a young woman is feeding her flock of chickens. The sky is filling up nicely, don't you think?

May the peace of the Good Shepherd be with you ~
Beate

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;"

Gaudete Sunday

Part of Pope Francis' Angelus message on Gaudete Sunday:

"The Church is the house of joy! And those who are sad find true joy in her....But the joy of the Gospel, however, is not just any joy, it is motivated by the knowledge that we are wanted and loved by God …"

Wow - no matter how small and little we may be, God has made us worthy of His love! This must surely fill us with joy, a complete unadulterated joy that fills us to the brim! If we live this joy within our families, what a wonderful witness we will give. I will try to remember that as Advent winds to a close and Christmas approaches. In my home, that tends to coorelate with stress :-( The Advent candles are growing shorter and Mary's sky is filling with stars but there is so much to do! We were to start the O'Antiphons two days ago!! 

Tonight we will focus on the one for today... One step and one day at a time we will pray for another as we try our best to live life in the Domestic Church!

May the peace of the Good Shepherd be with you all ~

Beate

The O'Antiphons:

December 17

O Wisdom of our God Most High,
guiding creation with power and love:
come to teach us the path of knowledge!

December 18

O Leader of the House of Israel,
giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai:
come to rescue us with your mighty power!

December 19

O Root of Jesse’s stem,
sign of God’s love for all his people:
come to save us without delay!

December 20

O Key of David,
opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom:
come and free the prisoners of darkness!

December 21

O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the
shadow of death.

December 22

O King of all nations and keystone of the Church:
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!

December 23

O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law:
come to save us, Lord our God!

For more info and to see the symbols click here

Happy Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Some of us started our day with Holy Mass, where Father shared the history of this devotion with the congregation. At my former parish, they will have a feast this evening complete with a Mariachi band! We will have our favorite Tex Mex for dinner and culminate our evening with some Mexican hot chocolate - Yum!

In 1531, there was a major faith crisis in Europe but because of Juan Diego's humble faith millions of native people converted to Catholicism in the Americas!

A brief history of Our Lady of Guadalupe from the Queen of the Americas Guild.

Science Sees What Mary Saw From Juan Diego's Tilma - this is from an article that ran in Zenit and surprised me :-) I always read that it was Juan Diego displayed in the Tilma, not what Mary would have seen when the Tilma was being unfurled in the Bishop's quarters.

God of power and mercy,
you blessed the Americas at Tepeyacwith the presence of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. May her prayers help all men and women to accept each other as brothers and sisters. Through your justice present in our hearts may your peace reign in the world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.   ~  Amen.

Meanwhile back at St. Thomas, sharing laughter and fellowship while rolling tamales, a very appropriate activity for this feast day :-)

Second Week of Advent

How is Advent going in your homes? We've been on the road, so it has been a case of Advent interupted ;-) Saint Nicolas did make an appearance in Henderson Nevada on Friday night - we are a bit worried that he may have tripped over some bushes in unfamiliar territory!


We attended Holy Mass at a lovely parish where the priest reminded us to take a moment to place ourselves in the presence of God. I thought of Msgr. Doerfler, who always prefaced the Holy Mass with those words. It was only later that I found out he passed away that very morning. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him . May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

As I listened to the first reading (Isaiah 11:1-10), I thought it would be helpful to set the scene. Prior to the shoot springing from the stump of Jesse, there is massive, loud destruction. We talked about that later in the day, how our world often seems like the world in Isaiah's day and how easy it is to miss the beauty God places in our path along the way. So we played in the snow and appreciated the wonder of it all.

Week 2 Advent Wreath Prayer:

Let us pray:

O Lord, stir up our hearts that we may prepare for your only begotten Son, that through His coming, we may be made worthy to serve you with pure souls. Through the Same Christ our Lord. Amen.

If any of you are doing the Jesse Tree, please comment and let me know how it's going!

I'll close with a quote I found last week that really spoke to me and gave me joy, I pray it touches you as well!

In the peace of the Good Shepherd,
Beate


"The one true God, ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,’ is not a God who is there in Heaven, unconcerned with us and our history, but he is the-God-who-comes. He is a Father who never stops thinking of us and, in the extreme respect of our freedom, desires to meet us and visit us; he wants to come, to dwell among us, to stay with us. His ‘coming’ is motivated by the desire to free us from evil and death, from all that prevents our true happiness. God comes to save us." ~ Papa Ben 12/06

The First Sunday in Advent

Happy New Year!

As we begin our Church year, we are reminded to prepare the way of the Lord. The season of Advent is a time for joyful anticipation - we await the birth of our Savior just as the prophets of old, we also await the coming of Christ at Parousia, and at the same time await the coming of Christ into our daily lives through participation in the Eucharist and through our acts of charity.

It is a good time to reflect on how Christ centered our lives are - do we turn to Him first? What needs to change, what can we add, what could we improve? By the end of the long period of ordinary time, I tend to be just coasting along, so Advent reminds me to turn off the cruise control and think about where I am and where we are as a family ;-)

As a mother, my heart often aches for my children. I pray that I sufficiently prepare them to weather the storms of life and ultimately must face the realization that people have free will which seriously impedes my control! Advent is a time of hope - like the prophets I can live with the assurance that God's plan is good and all will be well.

The photo shows our Advent wreath on the prayer area (with pumpkins still in the background.) I've pulled out a book of Advent reflections from JPII for myself and the older teens. Tonight we'll bless the wreath using the prayer found at the USCCB's site.  Their Advent calendar has click-able text for each day, offering suggestions and activities. We plan on lighting the wreath at dinner each evening that we are home and praying the "stir up" prayer for the week. Another site we've used in the past is The Advent Workshop. We've gone there primarily for the Jesse tree activity and the O'Antiphons. I've literally spent hours at Praying Advent, which has some nice reflections for adults. I like the One Prayer a Day page.

This year we won't do the Jesse tree as we will spend an entire week away from home at the beginning of Advent. I've tried catching up before and it rather took away from the meditative spirit of things ;-) However, delving into the Old Testament stories for the genealogy of Christ is definitely worth it if you have the time.

Instead, we are resurrecting "Mary's Star Walk." Each day of Advent Mary and Joseph will move a bit closer to Bethlehem and another star is added to the sky. As the time draws closer we also add a bit more scenery. Eventually they will see the stable in the distance. It's a lovely and simple way to count the days until Christmas.

I think this idea was inspired by a Waldorf type book, but I'll have to look for the title some other time.

Even though I've shared many links, it's important to remember to keep things simple and doable! In the past I've tried to implement every activity that happened to catch my eye and in the end none of them received the attentions they deserved!

May the peace of the Good Shepherd be with you and your family ~

Beate

 "Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope.…It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope." ~ Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger 1986