Wondering

I know that it is late and that I should be sleeping, but I can't.  Why is it that with good things, we also often have crosses?

Young Ladies' Literary Club 2008-2009

I am blessed with a friend who started a girls' book club.  My two eldest daughters thoroughly enjoyed reading and discussing books with their friends last year.  They are looking forward to their first meeting this year. 

The 2008-2009 books were:
I Am David
Escape from Warsaw (Original title: The Silver Sword)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Eight Cousins (Puffin Classics)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (Signet Classics)
The Princess and the Goblin (Puffin Classics)

I will be keeping track of the 2009-2010 books in my right sidebar again.

Would You Like to Experience a Little Bit of Catholic History in the Making?

From the North American Martyr's bulletin:

Patronal Feast with the Archbishop—September 25
Plan to attend the Solemn High Mass to celebrate our first patronal feast as a parish next Friday evening, September 25, at 7:30, the feast of the North American Martyrs.  Archbishop Brunett will be in attendance and will assist with the Mass from the throne, a ceremony not seen in the archdiocese for almost 45 years! Four other Fraternity priests will be in attendance along with diocesan clergy.  A festive dessert potluck will follow in the Parish Center gymnasium which will provide the opportunity to greet the Archbishop at his first visit to the new parish.

Directions to North American Martyrs can be found here, http://northamericanmartyrs.org/

Not Something that I Would Usually Share

Me:  "Finnian, do you need me to change your diaper?"

Finnian:  "Of course, I stink, Mommy."

I changed his nighttime diaper right away.

Obedience

"Obedience does not mean the execution of orders that are given by a drill sergeant. It springs, rather, from the love of an order, and love of Him who gave it. The merit of obedience is less in the act than in the love; the submission, the devotion, and the service that obedience implies are not born of servitude but are rather effects that spring from and are unified by love. Obedience is servility only to those who have not understood the spontaneity of love...

Our Lord spent three hours in redeemming, three years in teaching, and thirty years in obeying, in order that a rebellious, proud, and diabolically independent world might learn the value of obedience. Home life is that God-appointed training ground of human character, for from the home of a child springs the maturity of manhood, either for good or for evil. The only recorded acts of Our Blessed Lord's childhood are acts of obedience -- to God, His Heavenly Father, and also to Mary and Joseph. He thus shows the special duty of childhood and of youth: to obey parents as the vice-regents of God. He, the great God Whom the heavens and earth could not contain, submitted Himself to His parents...All men may ponder well the hint of a Child subject to His parents, that no Heavenly call is ever to be trusted that bids one neglect the obvious duties that lie near to hand."

~ Fulton J. Sheen, The World's First Love: Mary Mother of God, pp. 99-101

Photos of My Niece and Prayers

My youngest niece, Julie Valerie Marie, was born on August 8 and baptized on August 22, the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Photos were a little longer than expected in coming because my brother almost died on the Feast of the Assumption.

On August 15, he went to the hospital because he was experiencing no feeling in one of his arms.  The doctors decided to do a spinal tap.  During the spinal tap, they hit a nerve which caused fluid to build up around my brother's brain.  His wife called their priest and he came to give my brother the last rites.  My brother said that as he received the sacrament, he felt a warmth come over him and he prayed that he would be well enough to go to his daughter's baptism on August 22.  He was unable to walk and had severe headaches, but by the time Saturday morning, the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, rolled around he could walk.  He still can't feel his one arm, and he has lost sensation in one side of his face, but I am so thankful that he is still alive.  I can't help thinking that our Blessed Mother interceded for him.  He and his wife were married on the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary several years ago, he went to the hospital on the Feast of the Assumption, and he left the hospital on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Thank you, God, for answering his family's prayers.

Please pray that the doctors can figure out what is wrong with him and that he is able to feel his arm and one side of his face again.

Advice from My Godfather's Godfather

In the heart of every right-thinking Catholic, God has implanted the desire to become a Saint. Yet few make a serious attempt to realise the ambition. The cause for this is to a large extent discouragement, due to the misunderstanding of what a Saint really is.

What is a Saint? The answer usually returned to this question is: one who does extraordinary penances and works miracles. Now, this is an incorrect description, for neither miracles nor great penances are essential. The man who works a miracle does not raise himself in God's eyes by it; and, while penance in some shape is necessary, still the teaching of the Saints on this difficult question is encouraging.

What they direct is not bodily penances of a terrifying kind, but rather the strict avoidance of delicacies, softness, comfort. We are told to beware of injuring our health, and to eat enough plain food to enable us to work and pray without hindrance. There is ample opportunity for the severest mortification in the restraint of eyes and tongue, and in a warfare against the seven Deadly Sins.

Thus, there is another definition of what a Saint is. It is this: One who, with the object of pleasing God, does his ordinary duties extraordinarily well. Such a life may be lived out without a single wonder in it, arouse little notice, be soon forgotten, and yet be the life of one of God's dearest friends.

It is obviously an encouragement to look on sanctity in this way. When we see that those things which so terrified us in the lives of the Saints, because we felt we could not do them ourselves, are not the important part of their sanctity at all, we should feel heartened to begin to-day and make a serious effort for great holiness. Believe this: it is only the first few wrenches given to the will that really hurt. Perhaps the following words of Cardinal Newman will tempt us to take a step forward on the road:

"If you ask me what you are to do in order to be perfect, I say, first do not lie in bed beyond the time of rising; give your first thoughts to God; make a good visit to the Blessed Sacrament; say the Angelus devoutly; eat and drink to God's glory; say the Rosary well; be recollected; keep out bad thoughts; make your evening meditation well; examine yourself daily; go to bed in good time, and you are already perfect."

Read all of Frank Duff's Can We Be Saints?

H/T:  McNamara's Blog

Nativity of Mary

Tomorrow, we will be making our annual birthday cake in honor of our Blessed Mother, doing The Litany of Loreto Match-Up from A Year with God, reading Tomie de Paola's Mary: The Mother of Jesus, singing Happy Birthday, and praying the Rosary.  I wish that we could go to Mass at our parish, too, but the cost of filling up our big van with gas makes driving out there more than twice a week somewhat prohibitive.

Happy feast of Mary's Nativity! May we always say, "Yes", to God, as the Queen of Heaven did!

Links:
The Litany of Loreto
The Birth of Mary

I Need a Break?

Recently, I have had a couple of well-intentioned people tell me, "You need a break." and "I hope your husband gives you at least an hour all to yourself each week." I took some of the children to a doctor's appointment and I read on the nine-month well-child check form that I am supposed to be getting at least 3 hours a week all to myself. The problem is that I do not want a break.

I don't view motherhood as a job that requires a break. Just as children are a gift from God, motherhood is a gift from God. Faith and family are gifts from God.

My mom used to say that I was happiest when I was busy. Having a family definitely keeps me busy and happy. Yes, there is always something to do. There are meals to prepare while I pray for my mom's soul and my dad. There are dishes to wash while I pray for my family. There is laundry to wash while I pray for my mother-in-law's soul and my father-in-law. There are clothes to fold while I pray for my husband and children. There is a husband for whom I am so thankful. There are children to hug and love. There are lessons to teach, books to read, and children to tuck in bed. There are quiet moments at night and in the early morning hours when the children are all asleep when I thank God for blessing me with such a wonderful family.

How could I ever need a break from my princess, my monk, and their brothers and sisters?

I love being a mother!