Franciscan Focus

Josephology: Joseph, Man of Dreams

2012-03-19T22:05:00.001-05:00

Recently, the subject of Joseph and his dreams came up in an online Bible study, and I said I'd do a little lookin' around t'see what I could find on the subject. Seeing as how today's the Solemnity of Joseph, Husband of Mary, it seemed appropriate to toss out another Josephology post. :-) Happily, in Joseph in the New Testament by Fr. Larry Toschi, OSJ, is a wonderful chapter, "Joseph, the

Happy Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus

2012-01-03T22:12:00.000-06:00

Happy Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus! In honor of the day, I decided to create a royal-looking image of Jesus' name, since I love an excuse to play with fonts. :-) About the Memorial "The Holy Name of Jesus was invoked by the faithful from the very beginning of the Church. In the fourteenth century it began to be venerated with liturgical celebrations. Saint Bernardine of Siena and

Book review: "Hungry Souls"

2011-12-31T22:29:00.000-06:00

Hungry Souls: Supernatural Visits, Messages, and Warnings from Purgatory by Gerard J.M. van den Aardweg (2009, TAN Books) I finished this a couple days ago, and I highly recommend it! Well-written, even-handed, tons of endnotes -- which add greatly to the book! -- and a substantial bibliography. It's a fascinating, sobering, compelling, and hope-inspiring read, all jammed into a short 157 pages

A better way to pray

2011-12-21T21:24:00.000-06:00

For ages, I've been trying -- and failing -- to remember to regularly pray the Morning Offering, and such failure has annoyed the heck outta me. Along with that, there are a bunch of other splendid prayers that I like, but they're scattered throughout the various prayer books/booklets and holy cards we've got. (There's a great Act of Confidence in Booklet A, don't forget that short-and-sweet

We are "those people"

2011-11-29T20:04:00.001-06:00

I'm tired. Tired of seeing folks sharing articles/blog posts/tweets/whatevs in which the authors oh-so-smugly climb atop mountains and sneeringly look down at those people. Tired of hearing self-styled Group X'ers belittling Group Y'ers, chortling among themselves about how stupid/intolerant/petty/slothful/subpar those Group X/Y'ers are, and if they had any smackerel of sense, they'd do us

Missal toe rule

2011-11-27T17:55:00.000-06:00

Well, here we are. After lotsa fun giving thanks, we've reached the end of my week full of Thankful Thursdays! Yes, it's ... Thankful (Thurs)DAY #7: Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are: 1) The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order. God knew that, left to my own devices, I'd quickly devolve into a big amoebic blob of spiritual schlepitude, so He gave me my Franciscan vocation. Which

Plumbing font cams

2011-11-26T23:43:00.000-06:00

Aaaand we're in the home stretch of a week's worth of Thankful Thursdays! Thankful (Thurs)DAY #6: Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are: 1) Indoor plumbing, with hot water. OK, so mebbe that technically counts as two, but whatever. :-P I love how, no matter the time of day, I can step into the shower and summon a steady stream of (clean!) warm water. And it all tidily disappears down the

Home eggnog weekend

2011-11-25T19:17:00.001-06:00

Continuing on with 7 days of thanks, it's ... Thankful (Thurs)DAY #5 Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are: 1) Eggnog. Also known as nectar of the gods and ambrosia. Husband Mike brought home a whole bottle of the good stuff. Woohoo! 2) A nice, long holiday weekend. Sleeping in, snuggling with the cats, watching the glut of Christmas specials that the networks have already started airing

Sensing in-laws gravy

2011-11-24T02:20:00.001-06:00

Turkey from Google's 2011 turkey doodle generator. :-) Woohoo! Thanksgiving Day is here, and that brings us to ... Thankful (Thurs)DAY #4: Thanksgiving Edition! Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are: 1) My dad-in-law's Frickin' Fantastic Gravy™. My sis-in-law and I most look forward to this singular aspect of Thanksgiving dinner. We joke (though only partially) that all the other food --

Cats typing quotes

2011-11-23T10:46:00.001-06:00

Oyez, oyez, oyez! It's time to get yer gratitude on with ... Thankful (Thurs)DAY #3 Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are: 1) Life with cats. Even when they're walking all over us in the morning because "ZOMG I'm wasting away from hunger and if I'm not fed right now I'll expire so get up and get out the noms and WHY ARE YOU STILL LYING THERE?!", life with kittehs is sweet. And good for

Classical telecommuting jammies

2011-11-22T14:52:00.001-06:00

Continuing from yesterday's post in which I kicked off a Week Fulla' Thankful Thursdays ... Thankful (Thurs)DAY #2 Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are: 1) Comfy jammies. Being able to putter around in soft, comfy pajama bottoms paired with cute tops like these are instant mood-bosters. Especially on the days I'm telecommuting. Which brings me to ... 2) The ability to telecommute. An

A week full of Thankful Thursdays!

2011-11-21T15:58:00.001-06:00

One of the things I enjoy doing every week is playing Thankful Thursday*, in which every Thursday, folks share three specific things for which they're thankful. Since in the U.S. we're celebrating Thanksgiving this Thursday, I thought it'd be fun to stretch it out to a week full of Thankful Thursdays! Hope you'll play along! Thankful (Thurs)DAY #1 Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are:

The Lord bless YOU!

2011-11-17T20:13:00.001-06:00

I've always loved this blessing of St. Francis to Brother Leo, which is based on Numbers 6:24-26. For fun, earlier this evening I decided to play around and make it into a graphic. What ya think? Share and enjoy! :-)

Messengers of perfect joy

2011-11-16T20:48:00.001-06:00

"As the Father sees in every person the features of his Son, the firstborn of many brothers and sisters, so the Secular Franciscans with a gentle and courteous spirit accept all people as a gift of the Lord and an image of Christ." (Article 13, SFO Rule) "Messengers of perfect joy in every circumstance,* [Secular Franciscans] should strive to bring joy and hope to others." (Article 19, SFO

Keep to the code!

2011-10-31T22:32:00.001-05:00

When I started playin' around with social networking sites/services in 2007, I asked myself: 1) what exactly I hoped to accomplish, and 2) what my rules of conduct were. I never really formalized those beyond the nebulous "share and grow in the faith" and "be yourself". But, after reading post after discussion after tweet from others about How To Behave Online, Things You Must And Mustn't Do

My Top 10 Saints

2011-10-17T21:36:00.000-05:00

With All Saints Day coming up in a few weeks on 1 Nov. (and All Saints of the Franciscan Order on the 5th), I thought it'd be fun to share my absolute fave saints -- my Saintly Circle, in Google Plus parlance, if you will -- and a little bit as to why I like them. There are loads more saints that I love, like St. Anthony of Padua, St. Dominic, and St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort to name

Of hiccups and hellspawn projectors

2011-10-08T23:11:00.000-05:00

Pooped doesn't even come close to describe how I feel after today. My Secular Franciscan fraternity held a Day of Recollection for the first time since 2004, and it was the first time I took part in coordinating such an event. I'm told it was a great day. But even though the thing ended hours ago, I'm still a limp rag from the can o' whupass that Murphy's Law opened on me. THE PLAN. 9:15 a.m.:

Happy Feast of St. Francis!

2011-10-04T20:53:00.000-05:00

In honor o' the event, I present to you a Franciscan Family Portrait, in doodle form! (Click for larger image.)

Screamin' toward Sister Death

2011-09-25T22:42:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I posted the following on Google Plus: During my Secular Franciscan fraternity gathering [the other] night, our spiritual assistant was discussing Article 19 of our Holy Rule, which ends: "Since they are immersed in the resurrection of Christ, which gives true meaning to Sister Death, let them serenely tend toward the ultimate encounter with the Father." However, I misheard him

MugQuest: A Wild Goose Chase

2011-09-23T19:31:00.000-05:00

My beloved old Winnie the Pooh travel mug (don't judge me) -- which had faithfully conducted Tasty Caffeinated Beverages to my innards for years -- went on the lam last month. Which wasn't as tragic as it sounds, considering it was making Ominous Mystery Swishing Sounds when empty, suggesting some sort of hole in the insulation and therefore tossage was imminent, anyway. But still. No Tasty

Experiencing Technical Difficulties ...

2011-09-21T18:03:00.000-05:00

... Please Stand By! I hadn't played around in Blogger since they switched to their fancy new interface/settings until today, when I attempted to update an older post*. Once I did that, my whole custom blog template went blooey! It's displaying something I never selected, and it's not letting me revert to my original template! So, please bear with me while I attempt to get things back in order.

St. Anthony Chaplet: Make it, pray it!

2011-07-06T23:29:00.004-05:00

One of my Secular Franciscan sisters has a devotion to St. Anthony, and so I decided to make chaplet for her. I actually didn't know if such a chaplet existed beforehand, but figured I'd do a search and lo! It does indeed! Thank you, Interwebs! So I figured I'd share back with the Interwebs. Here's a picture of the chaplet I recently knotted up, along with information on how to pray it. Make It!

It's Mass o'clock!

2011-07-05T15:16:00.005-05:00

Serendipity alert! Some nifty lil' bits led to my finding this delightful post, It's 5:00 Somewhere: Bit the First: While browsing around a spiffy Catholic bookstore with a pal this Saturday, I came across The New Revised Jesus, Mary, Joseph Novena Manual. Which I (of course) bought, being the prayer book junkie that I am. (And let's not even talk about holy cards, m'kay?) Bit the Second:

Lullaby and Good Night

2011-05-27T22:10:00.015-05:00

My mom died at 5:48 a.m. today of a heart attack. She had a host of chronic medical and psychological issues that culminated in her being admitted to the hospital at the end of January for breathing problems. A week later, she was transferred to a rehabilitation facility to work on her mobility and respiratory issues. She was supposed to go home tomorrow. Twice during her stay in rehab, she

What'cha readin'?

2011-05-20T12:13:00.022-05:00

In answer to Marco's question, What are [you] reading??, I thought I'd share my current reads. I have a pernicious habit of consuming books buffet-style in that I rarely plow through just one tome at a time. So, here's what's on the menu, in alphabetical order by title. Note: Titles with an asterisk (*) indicate ones we own. We usually just check out stuff from the library -- much cheaper that