End of October Musings

It's been 4 long years since I've put anything on this page. Living life liturgically definitely looks different once the kids are young adults. It's simply a part of the rhythm of our lives no longer involving the search for just the right project on the internet ;-) Not to mention, there are so many bloggers out there doing this work well that this is mostly a private reflection.

November is fast approaching and there will be new pictures to put on our table of remembrance. Each year our prayer table is transformed for the last part of ordinary time to remind us that life on earth is fleeting. We remember those who have walked before us, lift them in prayer, and in our hope, ask them to pray for us in turn.

When the kids were young, there was a November book basket, holding books about various saints: 

Currently, this lovely book has a permanent space on the prayer table:

• 

Let's pray for one another as we approach the end of our long ordinary time.

<3 Beate

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

A sculpture by Heloise Crista at Taliesin West in Scottsdale:

Ordinary time...

...a time to let the joy of the Feast grow in our hearts!

This was gleaned from another formation leader at one of our sessions during the summer and I plan on using this phrase with the children in the atrium as a way to define the "growing time" of the Church. The past couple of weeks discussion topics in our home have been St. Maximilian Kolbe, sacrificial love, abundant mercy, and how to love amidst hatred. The maxim, "Do good to those who hate you," has been lifted out more than once.  However, we've also watched as our dry, brown grass was quickly revitalized by the 2" of rain that fell, and we've seen the Lantana go from droopy to blooming seemingly overnight. The Holy Spirit reminds us that we are sons and daughter of the King and "Alleluia" is our song. May the joy of Easter continue to grow in our hearts as we set out in confidence to serve our Lord.

The Feast of Pentecost

We generally celebrate Pentecost by making a 12 Fruit Salad, in honor of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, but today we're having a quite afternoon watching the rain come down and praying for the busload of young people who are on their way to LifeTeen Camp in Georgia. May the Holy Spirit guide and protect them on their journey. In a little bit, I'll pack up all of the remaining Easter decorations, pull out our 7 red candles, and we'll gather with those at home to pray the following prayer: 

CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

 O Holy Spirit, receive the perfect and complete consecration of my whole being. 

In all my actions, grant me the grace of being my Light, 

my Guide, my strength and the Love of my heart. 

 I surrender myself to You,

 and I ask You for the grace to be faithful to Your inspirations. 

 Holy Spirit, transform me

 through Mary and with Mary into a true image of Christ Jesus, 

for the glory of the Father, 

and the salvation of the world. 

Amen 

 Fr. Félix de Jesús Rougier, M.Sp.S – Founder Missionaries of the Holy Spirit

Wells Cathedral, England – Pentecost Altar Frontal

He Is Risen - He Is Risen Indeed!

Wishing you and your families a joy-filled Easter Season. During these 50 days of Celebrating our Lord's Resurrection, there are many little things easily incorporated into family life to help make this period a tangible part of our faith. In our prayer area, the purple has been replaced by white, the ashes by Easter water, and the crown of thorns by the Paschal candle. We used a plain white candle and decorated it with colored wax, focusing on the prayers for the blessings of the candle. 

                                        

Another idea would be to use parts of the Exultet as the evening prayer. We focused on thanksgiving for the bees and the lovely scent of the Easter candles and the overall joy of the Proclamation. 

Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her,

ablaze with light from her eternal King,

let all corners of the earth be glad,

knowing an end to gloom and darkness.

We've also copied and decorated the word 'Rejoice' with the younger children:

Rejoice,

let Mother Church also rejoice,

arrayed with the lightning of his glory,

let this holy building shake with joy,

filled with the mighty voices of the peoples.

Last week, all of us were amazed at the brightness of the moon, a perfect time to lift up the following verse:

This is the night of which it is written: 

The night shall be as bright as day, 

dazzling is the night for me, 

and full of gladness.

Most of all, enjoy this blessed time together. For me, it is always a reminder that each day is a gift. May God's peace be with you all ~ Beate

" Let us accept the grace of Christ’s Resurrection! Let us be renewed by God’s mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives too; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish." ~ Pope Francis

Neglected Blog

Our long period of Ordinary Time is drawing to a close and the readings are urging us to assess where we are - how are we doing in our collaboration with God? It's been a year designed to assure we don't settle into complacency over here and quite a few times I've completely empathized with the grumbling Israelites!

November came, and we put photos of our loved ones who've been called from their earthly home on the prayer table to remind us to pray for them. For the most part, they led full lives among many hardships which they handled with trust and grace. I ask them now to pray for me as this particular journey ends. Where will the Good Shepherd lead me next?

I love the upcoming season of Advent and will sing with the children,

Prepare now, prepare now,

The way of the Lord.

Make ready, make ready,

The path of the Lord.

This year, we'll have the longest possible Advent time, as Christmas falls on a Sunday. I'm looking forward to those days of joy filled preparation and waiting.

The 40th day of Easter...

..or Ascension Thursday has come and gone, which means Pentecost is right around the corner. The readings yesterday reminded us of the initial despair that the apostles likely experienced when Jesus ascended into Heaven. They needed a reminder that He would return and, in the meantime, they needed to wait for the fulfillment of God's promise. On Pentecost, fear and anxiety was transformed into courage and the apostles went forth to proclaim the Word! One by one through personal encounters they brought the love and mercy of Christ to anyone who would listen.

For me, it is fitting that the celebratory days of the Easter season culminate with Pentecost - a harvest feast of offering our first fruits to our loving Father transformed into the feast of the Father offering the gift of the Holy Spirit to us all. I tend to be prideful, desiring to do great things. Yet the Father whispers, "Let me!" I'm reminded to live my life, to proclaim the word, to "remain." Thus the fruit is born. Two thousand years after the Apostles, the teachings of our Lord must still be transmitted in a series of encounters - in relationship! Our deepest calling as parents is to transmit the love and mercy of God the Father to our children and only then can the teachings of our Lord take root.

Father Don reminded us:

"We are loved and not abandoned,

Treasured and not forgotten,

Cherished and not dismissed."

May the Good Shepherd bless and keep your families ~

Beate

Living Lent Joyfully

Back in 2008, Lent took on a different meaning in our home and I admit to dreading it since that time. It dragged on forever and the brightness of Easter was lost in the mist of our family's sadness. It was much like Narnia's eternal winter with no hope of Christmas. We've come a long way since those days, yet Lent still needs dusting off. Tonight we are spending Fat Tuesday putting out the purple cloths, putting away remnants of the Christmas season, and creating a salt dough crown. This year we'll use the crown in the spirit of the Advent wreath, adding six candles to count down the weeks until we again can see the brightness of Easter! I'll post a photo when we get it done. The big kids are helping with the crafting and hemming the prayer cloth and I'm enjoying seeing everyone working together.

There are notebooks filled with Lenten resources on the shelf, family meditations, crafts, prayers for the stations of the cross, etc. However, this year I realized what was needed was for me allow myself to enter into this time willingly and to recognize and trust in the period of waiting. Our Lord loves us so, how can we not trust in His perfect plan?

Tomorrow I'll attend Mass with the kids - our foreheads will be marked with ashes and we'll be reminded: "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel." The gospel tells us to not be afraid and to love one another. That will be my focus this year. Let us pray for one another that a spirit of peace and love permeates our families and all that we do.

Last year's post has the instructions for the Lenten Crown of thorns project and can be found here. Just remember, keep it simple and enjoy this time waiting for the Resurrection!

In the peace of the Good Shepherd,
Beate

Lent

The Great Lent  by Alexander Schmemann (intro)

...Easter is our return every year to our own Baptism, whereas Lent is our preparation for that return - the slow and sustained effort to perform, at the end, our won 'passage' or pascha' into the new life in Christ. If, as we shall see, lenten worship preserves even today its catechetical and baptismal character, it is not as 'archeological' remains of the past, but as something valid and essential for us. For each year Lent and Easter are, once again, the rediscovery and recovery by us of what we were made through our own baptismal death and resurrection.

A journey, a pilgrimage! Yet, as we begin it, as we make the first step into the 'bright sadness' of Lent, we see - far, far away - the destination. It is the joy of Easter, it is the entrance into the glory of the Kingdom. And it is this vision, the foretaste of Easter, that makes Lent's sadness bright and our Lenten efforts a 'spiritual spring.' The night may be dark and long, but all along the way a mysterious and radiant dawn seems to shine on the horizon. 'Do not deprive us of our expectation, O Lover of man!'

Chapter 1 - Preparation

The desire to see Christ - Zacchaeus, Lk.19:1-10
Humility, seeing ourselves honestly - the Publican and the Pharisee, Lk. 18:10-4

Return from Exile - the forgiving Father Lk. 15:11-32

I first heard of this book during a CGS formation in 2006. Father Schmemann was an Orthodox priest, so the book takes one through the intensity of the Orthodox Lent. It is on my prayer table every Lenten season, but I have never read it cover to cover. Instead, I dip in here and there, savoring the richness of the meditations. We will use these 3 scripture readings starting Wednesday for our prayer time, as a reflection on our journey to Easter. The scripture readings are already familiar to us, so it's always interesting to find what we hear differently this time around.

As my children have grown, it's been more difficult to gather together for most things. When they were little, they naturally gravitated towards me - they were well equiped with the Mommy radar as my husband liked to say. Now, the older kids like one on one time with either of us. They are busy and independent. It's my goal to invite and encourage, rather than insist. If nothing else, I can send them texts of quotes that jump out at me ;-)

May God's peace be with you and your families ~
Beate

Feast of the Epiphany

Advent has come and gone and the Christmas season is drawing to a close. Life has been busy in our home yet we've managed to spend some moments reflecting on God's great love for us as evidenced in the Incarnation. Each year I fall in love again with the beauty and simplicity of the Infancy narratives as I share them with the children in the atrium - their joy and wonder ignites my own and I thank God for the little ones.

This weekend we celebrate the Epiphany. As a mom, I think of Mary with the toddler Jesus - watching his first wobbly steps, picking him up when he falls. I wonder at her openess and trust, saying "yes" to parenting God! What were her thoughts when foreigners complete with entourage showed up at her humble abode with gifts for a King?

With my children at home we will celebrate on January 6, and again bake a "crown cake." We will read and reflect on the readings:

• Isaiah 60:1-6
• Psalm 72
• Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
• Matthew 2:1-12

I'll also invite them to read CCC 528: ....In the magi, representatives of the neighboring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation.

Below are some books we have in our basket. Some of these books show the Magi at the creche - in the past we've looked at maps to see how far these men traveled and looked at the wording in the scriptures. We talked about Jesus being closer to 2 than to a newborn when they arrived :-)

Mary: The Mother of Jesus 

The Legend of Old Befana 

We Three Kings 

The Legend of Old Befana 

The Stone: A Persian Legend of the Magi 

Humphrey's First Christmas 

Collect: May the splendor of your majesty, O Lord, we pray, shed its light upon our hearts, that we may pass through the shadows of this world and reach the brightness of our eternal home. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2015-01-04

Pope Francis' suggestions for the New Year

– “Take care of your spiritual life, your relationship with God, because this is the backbone of everything we do and everything we are.”

– “Take care of your family life, giving your children and loved ones not just money, but most of all your time, attention and love.”

– “Take care of your relationships with others, transforming your faith into life and your words into good works, especially on behalf of the needy.”

– “Be careful how you speak, purify your tongue of offensive words, vulgarity and worldly decadence.”

– “Heal wounds of the heart with the oil of forgiveness, forgiving those who have hurt us and medicating the wounds we have caused others.”

– “Look after your work, doing it with enthusiasm, humility, competence, passion and with a spirit that knows how to thank the Lord.”

– “Be careful of envy, lust, hatred and negative feelings that devour our interior peace and transform us into destroyed and destructive people.”

– “Watch out for anger that can lead to vengeance; for laziness that leads to existential euthanasia; for pointing the finger at others, which leads to pride; and for complaining continually, which leads to desperation.”

– “Take care of brothers and sisters who are weaker … the elderly, the sick, the hungry, the homeless and strangers, because we will be judged on this.”

ht to my friend Maria :-)

Merry Christmas!

May the incarnation of our Lord fill your hearts with peace and joy! I must say, the gift of God Himself in the form of a wee babe in a stable in Bethlehem causes my breath to catch in my throat. The utter vulnerability and poverty of that moment in time is beyond words. Yet love, hope and the sense that all will be well is perfectly conveyed. Thank you God!

Below is an unedited slide show of our Christmas pageant - thank you to all the actors and those of you who worked behind the scenes. You all helped to make this Holy Eve even more delightful :-)

O Antiphon Reflection

Thanks to CGSUSA for posting this on their website :-)

First Sunday of Advent

Happy New Year! 

How blessed we are as Catholics to live the ebbs and flows of the liturgical year. After a long period of ordinary time, we as a church move into the expectant time of waiting; a time of preparing our hearts for the one who is to come. The readings for this season give us hints of the prophets, those who listened to the voice of God and shared His message with the people. They speak to us today, illuminating our lives and our faith. The youngest children in the atrium hear five short prophecies proclaimed during their three years in the atrium. The six to nine year old children revisit those five prophecies while beginning to synthesize their messages and add two more prophecies from Isaiah to the list. By the time the children are in 4th grade, they are ready to study four of the prophets more deeply, learning about the prophets' call and their struggles, along with the contents of the prophecies. As for me, I'm happy to count these Old Testament heroes among my friends - they inspire me and give me hope as I ask myself "Am I ready for the coming of Christ?"

I do love this quiet time of waiting – the build up of anticipation for the coming of of our Lord. It reminds me of my own pregnancies, joyfully anticipating a new sweet babe. It also mirrors watching those children grow and seeing glimpses of the life that is yet to come. 

Below are some notes I compiled for the first Sunday of Advent:

CCC 524 When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor’s birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Simple Advent Wreath Blessing:

Leader: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

Leader: O God, by whose Word all things are sanctified, pour forth Your blessing upon this wreath and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may receive from You abundant graces. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

The wreath would then be sprinkled with Holy water,if you have some at home.

Leader: Heavenly Father, as we begin this Advent, give light to our eyes and peace to our hearts. May the Lord find us watching and waiting in joy when He comes. We pray in Jesus' name.

All: Amen.

Some links to peruse:

Simple Advent traditions for families

The USCCB's Advent calendar for families

Prayers for each day of Advent

Last year's post on the First Sunday of Advent

"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." ~ Pope Benedict XVI Dec. 2006

Feast of Christ the King

In his homily for the Feast of Christ the King, Pope Francis reminded us of the ultimate importance of being merciful in our lives and actions. As a mother, this was a call for me to reflect on our family life - how we treat one another. Am I a model of mercy and gentleness to my children so they can in turn be merciful towards one another?

"Today’s liturgy invites us to fix our gaze on Christ, the King of the Universe. The beautiful prayer of the Preface reminds us that his kingdom is “a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace”. The readings we have listened to show us how Jesus established his kingdom; how he brings it about in history; and what he now asks of us.

First, how Jesus brought about his kingdom: he did so through his closeness and tenderness towards us. He is the Shepherd, of whom the Prophet Ezekiel spoke in the First Reading (cf. 34:11-12, 15-17). These verses are interwoven with verbs which show the care and love that the Shepherd has for his flock: to search, to look over, to gather the dispersed, to lead into pasture, to bring to rest, to seek the lost sheep, to lead back the confused, to bandage the wounded, to heal the sick, to take care of, to pasture. All of these are fulfilled in Jesus Christ: he is truly the “great Shepherd of the sheep and the protector of our souls” (cf. Heb 13:20; 1 Pt 2:25). 

.....

"The Gospel teaches what Jesus’ kingdom requires of us: it reminds us that closeness and tenderness are the rule of life for us also, and that on this basis we will be judged. 

......

"The starting point of salvation is not the confession of the sovereignty of Christ, but rather the imitation of Jesus’ works of mercy through which he brought about his kingdom. The one who accomplishes these works shows that he has welcomed Christ’s sovereignty, because he has opened his heart to God’s charity."