Prayer Request

Please pray for a friend's son that he is safe and that he contacts his family soon.

Thank you.

The Walls are Broken Down and I am on my Knees

It's been a hard week.  By the time yesterday rolled around, I was ready to hold up a white flag.  As I worked on lesson plans, Finnian scattered flour all over the kitchen, the dining room, the hallway, and some of his siblings.  No one said a thing.  I knew something was wrong, when I said, "What is going on?"  The only response I received was the sound of a certain two-year-old's feet scampering away.  I spent a couple of hours vacuuming and cleaning the floors.

My husband knew that it had been a difficult week and joked with me, "Your walls are broken down.  You have no defenses left and they know it...  I can bring in the big guns if you want."  I let him know the walls were not completely gone.  I went to bed feeling optimistic, knowing that things could only get better.  Then, today dawned.

This morning left me reeling and feeling completely sick to my stomach.  Someone sent an email, letting me know that they were planning on jumping off a moral cliff.  I responded out of love and let the person know that I could not support them in their decision.  I received an eloquent email from someone else basically saying that I had no right to judge, only God can do so.  I wanted to ask, "If someone were about to jump off of a cliff, would you let him do so or would you advise him against it?"  My husband encouraged me to simply remain quiet.  I am doing so and I am reminding myself of my mom's words, "God knows the truth and that is all that matters."  The walls are broken down and I am on my knees, but I know that tomorrow is another day and I will take up my cross.

...After Cain had killed his brother Abel, our Lord came to him and inquired concerning the whereabouts of Abel. Cain replied: “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9).

6. Christ has supplied the definitive answer to Cain’s question in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and ultimately, on Calvary, by giving Himself up to death for the salvation of the world (John 3:14-15; and 12:31-33). Yes, we are our “brother’s keeper.” We are responsible for the good of all our brothers and sisters in our nation and in the world, without boundaries. The Good Samaritan gave every possible care to the foreigner, a citizen of an enemy people, whom robbers had left along the roadside to die. His fellow countrymen, indeed religious leaders, saw him and “passed by on the other side” of the road, avoiding him and failing to help him. As followers of Christ, who is the Good Samaritan, we can never excuse ourselves from responsibility when there is something to be done to save the life of a brother or sister in great need. We are called to be “Christians Without Borders,” without boundaries to our love of neighbor.

~ Most Reverend Raymond L. Burke, D.D., J.C.D., Civic Responsibility for the Common Good ~

It's All About Charlotte

Finnian:  "Mommy, I like going to Mass.  I like going to the potluck and I like playing on the playground."

Me:  "I am happy that you like going to Mass..."

Finnian (before I could finish):  "I get to play with Charlotte."

Hopefully, in a year or two, it will be all about loving God.

North American Martyrs: Solemn High Mass with Archbishop Brunett

This Solemn High Mass celebrated North American Martyrs' first patronal feast. Archbishop Brunett assisted with the Mass from the throne, a ceremony not seen in the Archdiocese of Seattle for over 40 years. The celebrant, Fr. Gerard Saguto, FSSP, was assisted by Fraternity of St. Peter priests Fr. Erik Deprey and Fr. Dan Geddes from Vancouver, BC, together with Fr. Matthew McNeely from Sacramento, CA and Fr. Gregory Pendergraft from Scranton, PA. Paul Grady directed the choir. The organist was Dr. Tom Joyce. http://www.northamericanmartyrs.org/

The direct link to Gloria TV is http://gloria.tv/?media=34323  The video can also be seen here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6S1GEh_xOw

Repentance

Yesterday morning, Finnian's first words were, "I love Daddy, too."  Throughout the day, he kept telling me, "I love you." and "You're my best friend."

I wondered whether he was trying to make up for Monday.

Say What?

Yesterday, a statue fell on Brendan's head, making a small, but wide cut.  Two hours later, it was still bleeding, so I called the doctor's office and spoke with the nurse telling her about the cut.  She told me to bring Brendan in to the office at noon.  I did so, leaving all of the other children, except Elizabeth, at home.  We spent an hour and a half at the doctor's office and Brendan left with two stitches in his head.

During dinner, Finnian informed me, "I was crying for you when you were gone."  I told him, "I am sorry that I had to leave you at home."  He responded, "I was crying and saying, 'I hate Mommy.'"  I replied, "You know that's a bad word.  It's not a nice thing to say.  Why were you crying if you don't like me."  Without thinking, he said, "I was saying it because I was angry with you for leaving me."  I am truly sorry that I had to leave you, my little boy, but I still love you with all my heart, even if you were angry with me.

Thankfulness

Continuing with last week's post, I am thankful:

1. for the breathtaking Mass my family and I went to on Friday evening at North American Martyrs.  Photos can be seen here and an article can be found here.  Archbishop Brunett, four FSSP priests, and two diocesan priests helped Fr. Saguto, FSSP celebrate the Mass.  Eighteen boys and young men served and approximately 700 people (diocesan clergy and Knights of Columbus included) assisted.  The choir sounded beautiful.
2. that my son served at the Mass on Friday evening.  He was one of the torchbearers.  He also met Archbishop Brunett and kissed his ring.
3. for a sister who shares her children's accomplishments.  My niece's (Kourtney) mural won first place for judge's choice at the Puyallup Fair.

4. for my father who calls and is very good about sharing his life with his children.
5. for a friend, Shelly, whose love for her husband and children is inspiring.
6. for being able to spend Thursday at the zoo with some of my children and one of their friends.  We are all looking forward to visiting the zoo again.  My husband and older children hope to join us next time.

This peacock walked right in front of me, stopped, and looked at the camera.

The children liked watching the sharks. Posing in the shark's mouth was an added bonus.

The tiger acted like he wanted to get out.  One of my children thought that he just wanted to eat us.

The polar bear is always fun to see.  He went swimming and ate apples while we watched him.

Gratitude Community

I Miss Her

Sometimes, I find myself wishing that my mom was still here.  She was a truly amazing Mother.  I often think about her and wish that I could ask her how she disciplined my siblings and me.  I know that this might sound odd, but her form of discipline was completely different from anything I have witnessed or read.

Like most mothers, my mom disciplined us out of love.  However, she did not use spankings, a raised voice, time outs, or visible incentives to do so.  Rather, she used love.  My four siblings and I were fairly well-behaved children, because we did not want to hurt our mother or father.  I distinctly remember doing two things that I should not have done and although my mom did not say a word, I felt so guilty because I knew that I had hurt her.  I never did them again.  I remember my mom calling my dad at work once due to the fact that a sibling had yelled at her.  A "punishment" was not administered.  My sibling never yelled at my mom again because he knew by that simple phone call how much he had hurt my mom.  When we would fight with each other and then claim our innocence, she would remind us that it takes two to fight and that there are two sides to every story.  When a curious sibling learned what she was getting for Christmas, my mom switched gifts. When one of us would threaten, "Well then I'm not going to do my homework."  She calmly and simply replied, "The only person that will affect is you."  When we were falsely accused, she would remind us, "God knows the truth and nothing else matters."  She disciplined calmly and effectively out of love and with love.

The manner in which my mom disciplined us, helped us (or at least it helped me) to realize in a very real way that when we sin, we hurt God.  I am thankful for the sacrament of Confession.  I am thankful that God provides us with an opportunity to apologize for our sins and to let Him know that we love Him.

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven  and the pains of hell,  but most of all because I have offend Thee, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance,  and to amend my life.

Amen.

Gratitude

I am accepting Meredith's challenge.

Gratitude Community

Thank you God for:

1. a loving and understanding husband.
2. a little girl who is just starting to walk.  As we prayed the Rosary on September 16, she took one step and then four more.  She has taken a total of six steps without falling.  It is fun to see her clapping and saying, "Yeah!" after she takes a few steps.
3. a little boy with an incredible vocabulary who keeps us on our toes with the things that he says.
4. a son who celebrated his birthday recently and really likes his walkie talkies.
5. a daughter who enjoys helping me in the kitchen.
6. a daughter who likes reading and sharing what she has read.
7. a son who loves his youngest sister.
8. a daughter who makes me smile with her cute little ways and spontaneity.
9. a friend who will always be a friend even though we no longer go to the same parish. (Thank you, Peggy.)
10. another friend who has been incredibly helpful over the past two years. (Thank you, Peggy Sue.)
11. a very good start to our school year.  We are working on Week 5.  I credit the good beginning to morning prayers and some advice that I received from my pastor a few months ago.  The children all seem to be enjoying school this year.  Enrolling my eldest son in Seton (my husband's decision) has been very beneficial to him, so far.

Thank you, God, for all these blessings!