John the Baptist

Only 3 births are celebrated by the Catholic Church: Jesus, Mary, & John the Baptist. John the Baptist was born 6 months before Jesus; during the summer solstice. Jesus was born around the winter solstice. I heard a priest say on a podcast yesterday: John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30. John was born at a time when the days began getting shorter. After Jesus was born, the days started getting longer. God’s timing is so good.

Fr. Mike on the New Ark of the New Covenant

So I wanted to write this down to remember for future reference. Many times when I need a pick-me-up, I'll click on my label PTL (Praise the Lord) and read previous posts. So I'm listening to Fr. Mike Schmitz's Bible in a Year podcast. On May 4th "Covenant w/ David" Fr. Mike said that Mary is now our NEW Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant contained the 10 Commandments (John 1:14 Jesus is the Word of God made flesh), the staff of Aaron (Hebrews 4:14 Jesus is our high priest), and the manna from heaven (John 6:35: I am the life). Both Arks were taken up into the hill country of Judah; David to the house of Obed-e′dom and Mary to the house of Elizabeth. 2 Samuel 6:9 - David said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” He leaped and danced in the presence of the Ark. Luke 1:43 - Elizabeth says, "But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" as the babe leaped in her womb. I do love the similarities and to see how God's plans unfold.

God Comes to Women

Have you ever noticed how in the scriptures men are always going up into the mountains to commune with the Lord?

Yet in the scriptures we hardly ever
hear of women going to the mountains,
and we know why — right?

Because the women were too busy
keeping life going;
they couldn’t abandon babies,
meals,
homes,
fires,
gardens,
and a thousand responsibilities to make the climb into the mountains!

I was talking to a friend the other day,
saying that as modern woman
I feel like I’m never “free” enough
from my responsibilities,
never in a quiet enough,
or holy enough spot
to have the type of communion
I want with God.

Her response floored me,
“That is why God comes to women.
Men have to climb the mountain to meet God, but God comes to women where ever they are.”

I have been pondering on her words for weeks and have searched my scriptures
to see that what she said is true.
God does in deed come to women
where they are,
when they are doing their ordinary,
everyday work.

He meets them at the wells
where they draw water for their families,
in their homes,
in their kitchens,
in their gardens.

He comes to them
as they sit beside sickbeds,
as they give birth,
care for the elderly,
and perform necessary mourning and burial rites.

Even at the empty tomb,
Mary was the first to witness Christ’s resurrection,
She was there because she was doing the womanly chore of properly preparing Christ’s body for burial.

In these seemingly mundane
and ordinary tasks,
these women of the scriptures found themselves face to face with divinity.

So if — like me — you ever start to bemoan the fact that you don’t have as much time to spend in the mountains with God as you would like. Remember, God comes to women. He knows where we are and the burdens we carry. He sees us, and if we open our eyes and our hearts we will see Him, even in the most ordinary places and in the most ordinary things.

He lives.

Original 🖌: Heather Farrell

Words from Bishop Robert Barron

Friends, in today’s Gospel we meet a prudent steward who serves his master wisely. I would like to say something about prudence and wisdom. In the Middle Ages, prudence was called "the queen of the virtues," because it was the virtue that enabled one to do the right thing in a particular situation.  Prudence is a feel for the moral situation, something like the feel that a quarterback has for the playing field. Justice is a wonderful virtue, but without prudence, it is blind and finally useless. One can be as just as possible, but without a feel for the present situation, his justice will do him no good. Wisdom, unlike prudence, is a sense of the big picture. It is the view from the hilltop. Most of us look at our lives from the standpoint of our own self-interest. But wisdom is the capacity to survey reality from the vantage point of God. Without wisdom, even the most prudent judgment will be erroneous, short-sighted, inadequate. The combination, therefore, of prudence and wisdom is especially powerful. Someone who is both wise and prudent will have both a sense of the bigger picture and a feel for the particular situation

Suffering

I threw my back out this wk. Ever since my second pregnancy my SI joint can slip out of place and I’m in agony for weeks-even with chiropractic care and self stretching. Last time this year was when I caught a falling patient. 

One thing I’ve learned as a Catholic is to “offer it up”. You can pray for healing, but while you’re in the midst of suffering you more deeply understand the suffering of the Passion of Christ. 

“Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus – a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.” -Mother Teresa

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church (Colossians 1:24).

St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace."

— St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Saint Monica-Pray for Us

Saint Monica (c.331/2−387)^[1] (AD 322–387)^[2], also known as Monica of Hippo, was an early Christian saint and the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. She is remembered and honored in in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, albeit on different feast days, for her outstanding Christian virtues, particularly the suffering caused by her husband's adultery, and her prayerful life dedicated to the reformation of her son, who wrote extensively of her pious acts and life with her in his Confessions. Popular Christian legends recall Saint Monica weeping every night for her son Augustine.

On my right hand I wear a simple gold band my husband bought for me. 2 years ago I was able to see a relic of St. Monica.  Her constant dedication to her abusive husband and wayward son inspired me as she prayed for them and thy both came to love Christ. It gives me hope that if she can do it in her situation, I can become the wife and mother God wants me to be. I rarely take this ring off as a constant reminder of my devotion to God and my family and hope that St. Monica prays for us wives and mothers in our very important jobs here in earth. Thank God for a woman like St. Monica. 

Prayer

"A soul which does not practice the exercise of prayer is very like a paralyzed body which, though possessing feet and hands, makes no use of them."
— St. Alphonsus Liguori

Quote

“He who does not count on God, does not know how to count.”

Quote by Elizabeth Ann Seton

“The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more we are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him."
— St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Goodbye Father Don

Last night we went to a prayer service (wake) for our friend, Father Don Braukmann.  He was diagnosed with ALS December 2017 and (thankfully) died of a heart attack July 17, 2019. He told us he watched a friend/parishioner die of ALS and prayed that, of all things he would die from, that God would spare him from this disease. Well, he got it. BUT he was spared that last leg of ALS that is the worst; mentally cognizant but physically trapped in your own body. He was in a power wheelchair, able to type on his weekly caring bridge post, in a nursing home due to his level of cares needed. We brought him lilacs (his favorite) and chocolate milkshakes. He blessed Elizabeth’s first communion crucifix. He loved dogs, but was also fond of our chickens. :) Last night singing “I’ll fly away” and closing prayer, we did a group rosary with the knights of Columbus. Felicity finally saw his body in the casket and it hit her hard—this was her friend.  During the rosary I had a vision of Fr Don in heaven, Mary’s hand on his shoulder and Jesus’ scarred hand holding Fr Don’s. Fr Don always had a quick remark for everything and I heard him say, “wow, that sounds great up here,” referring to the acoustics of our rosary heard up in heaven.  Fr Don went to seminary with Bishop Robert Barron. Here’s the bishop’s email I received today: “Friends, today we celebrate the feast of St. Mary Magdalene. Our Gospel says that Mary came to the Lord’s tomb early in the morning on the first day of the week. Let’s place ourselves there: it is still dark—just the way it was at the beginning of time, before God said, "Let there be light." But a light is about to shine, and a new creation is about to appear.  The stone had been rolled away. The stone, blocking entrance to the tomb of Jesus, stands for the finality of death. When someone that we love dies, it is as though a great stone is rolled across them, permanently blocking our access to them. And this is why we weep at death—not just in grief but in a kind of existential frustration. Undoubtedly, Mary Magdalene thought that a grave robber had been at work. The wonderful Johannine irony is that the greatest of grave robbers had indeed been at work. In the book of prophet Ezekiel, we hear this: "I will open your graves and have you rise from them." What was dreamed about, what endured as a hope against hope, has become a reality. God has opened the grave of his Son.”

Meditation if the Day

"If we do not risk anything for God we will never do anything great for Him." — St. Louis De Montfort

MEDITATION OF THE DAY

"An excellent method of preserving interior silence is to keep exterior silence. . . even in the world, each one of us can make his own solitude, a boundary beyond which nothing can force its way unperceived. It is not noise in itself that is the difficulty, but noise that is pointless; it is not every conversation, but useless conversations; not all kinds of occupation, but aimless occupations. In point of fact, everything that does not serve some good purpose is harmful. It is foolish, nay, more, it is a betrayal to devote to a useless objective powers that can be given to what is essential. There are two ways of separating ourselves from almighty God, quite different from one another but both disastrous, although for different reasons: mortal sin and voluntary distractions—mortal sin, which objectively breaks off our union with God, and voluntary distractions, which subjectively interrupt or hinder our union from being as close as it ought to be. We should speak only when it is preferable not to keep silence. The Gospel does not say merely that we shall have to give an account of every evil word, but of every idle thought." — St. Alphonsus Liguori, p. 44

October: the Month of Miscarriage, Stillborn, and Infant Death

October 15th a day of remembrance for pregnancy loss and infant death, which includes, however is not limited to, miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, and the death of a newborn.

Tonight, October 16th our Catholic Church celebrated our little saints in heaven, including our boys, "Darren" & "Baby Brooksie".  Darren left our home, but not our hearts, 11/18/2016.  The following month we lost a baby to miscarriage.  Even though we took nearly 2 years to name him, we officially named him this month: "Gerard". Gerard is the patron saint of unborn babies & expectant mothers.  

Every year our church celebrates this day.  I've never allowed myself to go, so this was our first as a family.  Last night at mass each family lit a candle and brought it forward for their babies.  It was a beautiful way to celebrate and grieve together.  

Father Chuck (father of 7 children himself) made these points in his homily: God's mercy is beyond our understanding.  Jesus tells us, "trust me."  Our Lord's ultimate goal is to bring us all home, some just make it home sooner than others.  

Helen Keller said, "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart."

Until we meet again...

Letting Go

If you lend only when you expect to receive, what kind of graciousness is yours? For sinners also lend to sinners, expecting to receive something in return. But love your enemies and do good to them, and lend when there is nothing to expect in return. Then will your reward be great and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High. For He is kind towards the ungrateful and the wicked. 

»Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Don't be a judge of others and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back.

This passage came at just the right time. This summer I gave away a majority of my baby stuff to a friend who was surprised with a beautiful addition to their family and to the Pregnancy Lifecare Center. I did hold on to my cloth diapers (because they were SO expensive and also held sweet memories of diapering my babies) & strollers (because Felicity can still fit in them). When I found out two friends of mine were in need of some items I still possess I hesitated. These were mine, my memories, my just-in-case-there’s-another-one.  It’s hard. These are MINE. “No they’re not,” I hear in my mind. “They’re mine. I let you use them and now you share.” Is it God speaking or my guardian angel? Likely. But I bought them with my money. “I gave you the money,” I hear. OK God. You love a cheerful giver. But what if they don’t appreciate the gift? What if they’re misused or not use at all. “It’s just stuff. Gifts are given w/o strings attached.” 

Why let material possessions rot away for just-in-case when they could be used by some little bundle now?  I can always buy more if I need. Why not bless others? Thank you, God. Let me be a blessing to others are you are a blessing to me. 💗

Quote from Pope St. Gregory the Great

"When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice."

— Pope Saint Gregory the Great

What is Pride?

What is pride? It is the inordinate love of oneself at the expense of others and the exaggerated estimation of one's own learning and importance.

Well that's humbling!  Praise the Lord!

Gifts

The important thing is that each believer discern his or her own path, that they bring out the very best of themselves, the most personal gifts that God has placed in their hearts, rather than hopelessly trying to imitate something not meant for them. - Pope Francis in Gaudete et Exscultate

Words from a saint

If I had to advise parents, I should tell them to take great care about the people with whom their children associate. Much harm may result from bad company, and we are inclined by nature to follow what is worse rather than what is better. - Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Jesus:

If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;

Words of wisdom

1 PT 4/5-14

Reading 1 1 PT 5:5B-14

Beloved: 
Clothe yourselves with humility
in your dealings with one another, for:

God opposes the proud
but bestows favor on the humble.

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

Be sober and vigilant.
Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, steadfast in faith,
knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world
undergo the same sufferings.
The God of all grace
who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
after you have suffered a little.
To him be dominion forever. Amen.