Saying Yes 2 Life!

Catholic Confession and the Gift of Reconciliation

2015-07-09T14:44:00.000-04:00

According to the Catholic Bible Dictionary, by Dr. Scott Hahn, "repentance" is "a conversion of heart away from sin and toward God". So, it would likewise follow that if we are not repenting, we are living in sin and our hearts are turned away from God. Even if you are a regular "confession-goer", is there one sin - or maybe more than one - that gnaws at you from the deepest part of your soul?

It could be something from your past that you've even justified in saying you really didn't know what you were doing at the time. But then why does it continue to gnaw at you like a hunger pain? Your soul hungers for God, as we came from Him so we will return to Him, so it is intuitive that when we become aware of our sins - past or present - our souls become unsettled. We cannot expect to grow further in Christ with a tremendous weight pulling us down and farther from Him. In other words, you may feel that you are not growing in your faith and it may be because of an unrepented past sin holding you back from moving forward. Christ does not want us to be stagnant Catholics. We are a living, breathing Church - the living, breathing body of Christ!

As Catholics, we are so fortunate to have at our disposal the gift of the sacrament of reconciliation. Jesus is in the confessional, and He hears our confession, and He knows our hearts. It is vitally important - as in vital to our eternal livelihood - that we visit Christ in the confessional and repent of our sins through the priest.

Christ charged his apostles with this when He told them in Matthew 18:18,
"Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven."

This is one of our seven sacraments - and a very underused one at that! And just why exactly is that??? I'll tell you why! It's not so easy to walk into a confessional with a priest you may know well and tell him something you've done that you are really ashamed of. It's just not easy! I will tell you that priests have heard it all! They are there to help you, not condemn you. The mercy of God is infinite and the priest is there to help you receive it - just as the apostles were. If you really would rather not visit your parish priest, remember that you probably have another Catholic church near you that you could visit. But go! Run! Don't walk!!!

You will not believe the unbelievably huge burden that will be lifted from your soul when you confess your sins. It is tough to get in your car, drive to the church, stand in line for confession, and think of your sins. That stinky old thing called "pride" tends to get in the way. Our pride is very strong - especially in this day and age of relativism. We tell ourselves that we're okay - everything's okay, everybody's okay, we're all okay! ... And nobody confesses their sins. It's archaic, right? Wrong! Nothing about Jesus is archaic for he is eternal, right?

Visit a confessional. You will thank God you did! Literally, you will walk out thanking God for his mercy. I usually leave a confessional like a dog leaves a bathtub - shaking off the last bit of dirt and then running and jumping for joy! That is how you will feel. Help yourself grow in your faith by shedding those past sins. They are only weighing you down. Don't let pride get the best of you. If you're still sitting on the fence, let me give you a visual. Remember where Satan ended up because of his pride? Yeah, I thought that visual would help. That's not a good option! Go on, find out when your local parishes offer the sacrament of reconciliation and go cleanse your soul!!!

God bless you all and your families and remember you can connect with me more readily through my Facebook page, "THE CATHOLIC LIFE"

Sincerely, Katherine

Jesus' Death and Burial Sites: Where Exactly Are They?

2015-04-15T23:09:00.000-04:00

"Sepulchre: A small room or monument, cut in rock or built of stone, in which a dead person is laid or buried"

How is it that so many Christians are unaware of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre? I don't really have an answer to that, but I'm positive many do not know what it is or that it exists!

How would you feel if I said you could walk up to Calvary and see the spot where Jesus' cross went into the ground? What if I told you that you could then walk a short distance to the tomb where Jesus was laid to rest? Now how would you feel if you found out that they were in such close proximity to each other that it is all enclosed by a massive church? That's right - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is alive and well in Jerusalem.

A birdseye view of the Church

I think when I first found this bit of information out, my mind was blown! I guess that I figured you could maybe go to the approximate spot where Christ was crucified, but the actual tomb? And it's all under the same roof? Now what about the actual stone where Jesus was laid to be prepared for burial, immediately after death? That's right you can see that stone. And it too is under the same roof! This is the stone our Lord's body was laid upon and was prepared for burial. Surely, Our Lady touched this stone as well? How many of her tears fell here?

The actual stone!

Remember the wealthy man Joseph of Arimathea who requested Jesus' body? He felt it should be properly prepared for burial, and he felt Jesus should be laid to rest in his (Joseph's) own tomb.

"And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus." Mark 15:42-43

Holy Saturday at the tomb of Jesus

Here is a photo of the entrance to the tomb of Jesus. Can you imagine being in there? Can you imagine what you would feel?

"Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid." John 19:41

All awesomeness right there!

I think it is a bit shocking to find out for the first time it is all under the same roof. The distance from the cross to the grave was not a huge one. Perhaps, he could have seen the tomb from the cross? What would Jesus have seen from his view? He would have seen the people down below him jeering him. He would have seen the Roman guards completely at ease with what was going on - casting lots for his garments. He would have seen his beloved apostle John, Mary Magdalene, and his mother, the Virgin Mary, there at the foot of the cross crying... praying.

Mosaic inside the church

You can go there to Jerusalem and see this all. It's definitely on my bucket list! I might add that if you are thinking of going on a pilgrimage, look into going on one with Steve Ray or Fr. Mitch Pacwa. I've always said that when I get the time and money, I would only go on their tours. Steve Ray is a Catholic convert and apologist. He gives tours to the Holy Land year round. His pilgrimages always look like such fun!!! He usually posts multiple videos from his tours. Here is the LINK to his website. Fr. Pacwa is a host of multiple shows on EWTN. He is a Jesuit priest and accomplished scholar. Here is the LINK to his events page. It looks like he'll be giving a tour to the Holy Land this upcoming Christmas!

Here are two parting photos showing the floor plan of the church as well as a drawing depicting how the church is built on the actual sites.

God bless! ~+Katherine

Holy Thursday and The Upper Room

2015-04-02T14:25:00.002-04:00

The mass on Holy Thursday marks the end of Lent and the beginning of the Triduum - from the evening of Holy (Maundy) Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday. In the mass, we celebrate three things: the washing of the feet (signifying a humility to service and the institution of priesthood) just as Jesus washed the feet of his twelve apostles, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist just as Jesus instructed his apostles to eat his body and drink his blood as the new covenant, and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament just as Jesus instructed his apostles to stay with him and keep watch in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Garden of Gethsemane today

So where did that last meal take place - the famous supper at which Jesus informs his apostles that one of them would betray him, the famous supper at which Jesus institutes the Eucharist, the famous supper at which Jesus institutes the priesthood, the famous supper that which has been painted and interpreted over and over for the last two thousand years?

Well, Scripture tells us in Luke 22: 7-13 ...
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it." They said to him, "Where will you have us prepare it?" He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house which he enters, and tell the householder, 'The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples?' And he will show you a large upper room furnished; there make ready." And they went, and found it as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

It has traditionally been called the Cenacle - or "supper room" translated from Latin. It was an upper room in a house in Jerusalem on Mt. Zion. This upper room was also the same place in which the apostles stayed and prayed after Jesus' Ascension and before Pentecost (when the Holy Spirit entered the room). It was also the same room in which Jesus appeared to his apostles immediately following his resurrection, showing them his hands, feet, and side. It is the same room in which Jesus instructs his apostles that any sins they forgive will be forgiven and those that are not, will not (thus the institution of the sacrament of reconciliation). This upper room was key to the early Church. In fact, many scholars even refer to it as the "first church". It served as a safe house for Jesus and his beloved apostles in his final hours and the days following his death and resurrection.

Today it is a room you can visit; however, it is a room that was built most likely in the 12th Century on top of the ruins of a 1st century synagogue/church. Below are a few pictures to give you a better view. May you all have a blessed Holy Thursday. May your love for Christ grow even more in the next three days! ~+Katherine

The Upper Room as it probably looked in the 1st Century.

Stairs leading up to the Upper Room today.

Inside the Upper Room today

Holy Thursday and Judas Iscariot

2015-04-01T23:15:00.002-04:00

On my Facebook page this morning I posted a current picture of the site of Judas Iscariot's suicide. I think at this time of year, especially, it is imperative that we be as close to Jesus as possible. Since most of us cannot walk the actual roads he walked, we can at least visit them through cyperspace - thank goodness for the internet!

In Matthew 26:14-16, we read that Judas plots to hand over Jesus to the chief priests. During the last supper, Judas gets up and goes to meet with the priests. Jesus then goes to the Garden of Gethsemane with the remaining apostles to pray. While he is there, Judas leads the chief priests, scribes, and elders to Jesus and betrays him with the infamous kiss. Judas had told them he would identify Jesus with a greeting of a kiss on the cheek. Immediately, Jesus was arrested and crucified the very next day.

Matthew 27: 3-10 describes how Judas feels guilty over Jesus' death sentence. He goes back to the chief priests with the thirty pieces of silver and says "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood." Their reply is, "What is that to us?" Basically, they couldn't have cared less. What was done, was done. Hearing their reply, Judas throws the silver down at their feet, flees, and hangs himself. Matthew 27: 8 states, "Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day."

Judas is sometimes an overlooked character in these final hours. We tend to look at the big picture, as we should, but he is also very important. This morning, I saw an old clip of Fr. Benedict Groeschel from EWTN, and he really summed it up best. You see, God asked for human help through Mary in bringing His own flesh and blood TO earth, and he asked for human help in bringing him FROM earth. He asked for Mary's hand in his birth. He also had human help in his death - not only with the priests, scribes, elders, and the myriad of others, but with one man who betrayed him. Judas was one of the twelve. Jesus knew it would be Judas who would betray him.

Jesus answered, " It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Juda, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." ~ John 13: 26-27

The Field of Blood exists to this day. A Greek monastery sits on the exact site of Judas' hanging.

Ave Maria!!! Cancer Free!!!

2015-03-26T09:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, on the Feast of the Annunciation, as we celebrated the announcement of the most wonderful news from Archangel Gabriel to Mary that she would give birth Jesus, the son of God, I received the best news of my life. I am cancer free!!! The past couple of weeks have been rough as doctors have used words like "very concerned" and "bizarre" when viewing my mammogram images. With four children, and three of them still very young, my mind traveled to the unimaginable. With so many women being diagnosed with breast cancer, and so many of them not making it, the suspicion of my doctors was unsettling, at the very least.

If I said I am unchanged or life goes on as usual now, I would be lying. My life is forever changed. I cherish every moment with my family. Petty things have become just that - petty. I see things with different eyes - literally and figuratively. For example, I notice with much more intensity every leaf on every tree, the breeze, the warmth of the sun, the smells, every movement my children make. I laugh harder and love more intensely. For some reason, within the past two years, I have stared down my own mortality. The first was a horrific miscarriage in September 2013 when I almost bled to death on the floor of my bedroom. Last week, as I lay on the biopsy table, I couldn't believe I was back in that space. How was it that I, a reasonably young and healthy mother of four, was staring my own mortality in the face. It is said that hardships in life are God's way of showing us humility and redirection towards Him. I have found this to be true! There is nothing more humbling than almost dying or facing the notion that your life might be ended earlier than you'd like, only to be given that second shot at life. You have a heart filled with gratitude and you can only thank God.

Aside from lessons learned, I did have an amazing, or you could say "awesome", experience during the biopsy. As I lay on the table, I was experiencing pain and I was scared and began to cry. It is very uncomfortable and a very unsettling test. I don't normally have pain in a mammogram, but I did with this. At the moment I thought I might scream or pry myself from the machines, I prayed to Jesus for help. I immediately saw Jesus in the Eucharist! It was so bright and brilliant. My body went completely numb. I felt absolutely nothing. I was at complete peace. Seriously, I felt nothing. The doctor and nurse assured me they were getting a great sample because I was so calm.

As my husband was driving me home, I received a text from a priest friend of mine who gave me a message that carried me through the weekend waiting on the results. He told me that during Mass, he presented me to "Jesus the Healer". He said he heard Jesus tell him, "All will be well." It is no accident that as Father presented me during the sacrifice, I was seeing the Eucharist. God sees no time or space. I was sharing in that same sacrifice as part of the Body of Christ, which is THE reason for Mass. Those words carried me through the weekend and I knew all would be well. Late yesterday afternoon, I received the wonderful news that indeed all WAS well. I think I'm still in shock, but I will tell you that nothing will ever be the same.

I want to share an extraordinary short video with you all on the Mass. There is a particular quote in there that made me cry when I saw it over the weekend.

"Without doubt, the Lord grants all favors which are asked of Him in Mass, provided they be fitting for us." ~ St. Jerome

It too was not a coincidence that I would see this over the weekend. God is always in conversation with us, we just need to listen. Life is so precious and as always, I place my life in God's hands. Praise God!!! Thank you Jesus!!! Ave Maria!!! Hail Mary!!!

Go make today the best day of your life!!! ~Katherine

The Brilliance of Spring and the Life Jesus Brings

2015-03-24T10:12:00.000-04:00

Are we living each moment of our lives - really living them - and savoring all that God has given us? Do we see the beauty around us? Well, down here in South Florida a usually obscured and often overlooked tree comes center stage. Every year, I drive around my town like a crazy woman on a mission to find as many of these blooming trees as possible ... because the magic only happens once a year!

It is a "yellow tab" or Tabebuia Chrysotricha. I search and search to see if I can spot all of them because I don't want to miss this annual colorful show - and it is always around Easter time - which is perfect. They are so beautiful up against the blue sky! The yellow is so brilliant that they stand out from areas of the street that you've never even noticed before. The rest of the year, their leaves are a silvery green, the trunk is pretty scrubby, and they really just blend into all the greenery. You'd never notice them the other eleven months of the year. But it's difficult not to notice this!

They are like God telling us that Easter is around the corner and Jesus lives! These trees are so vibrant, you can't help but think of life and the living and everything you're living for. They speak to my soul. They just put a smile on my face. Wherever you are, even if there is snow on the ground right now, seek out the beginnings of Spring when it comes. It is revival, new beginnings, and life. This too is what Jesus brings us: revival, new beginnings, and life! May God continue to bless you all during this Lenten season, and may you see God in all you encounter each day. Easter is around the corner!!!

Early Spring Gardening in South Florida

2015-02-28T23:01:00.000-05:00

By the time you read this, it will be March 1st, and as I sit here and look out the window at the rain, I am reminded that our intense summer rains and scorching heat are just around the corner. March is the time to fertilize!!! March is the time to get out there and do heavy gardening, preparing your yard and gardens for the summer. This will include raking, fertilizing, and sanding the grass, trimming hedges back by about a third, and fixing all your garden beds. You should probably also look into saving money for a company to come out in May or June to trim your trees for hurricane season.

For the lawn ...

We have three large live oaks on the property and they drop all their leaves twice a year. I've been raking for the past couple of months! All those leaves will completely destroy your lawn. They are too heavy and dense for the sun and rain to reach the grass, so you will need to get out there and rake those off your lawn. As soon as you rake, hit your grass with a Southern weed & feed. This will kill the weeds that have crept in during the holidays.

After raking and weed & feed, look for bare patches in your grass and fill them in with play sand. Yes, you read that right. Go get a few bags of play sand from Home Depot and pour it on the bare spots. Rake it smooth and within a few weeks, your grass will shoot runners all over the top of the sand filling it in nicely. It's so easy for our lawn to have its soil depleted down here with all the rain and the electric blowers. Those blowers are great for getting debris off your lawn, but they're also great at blowing away your soil. Our Florida grass grows best in sand, so don't be shy with it! This year, we are going to have to order a dump truck of sand to be delivered to our property - yes, the oaks have done that much damage!

Now that you've taken care of your lawn, walk your property and take a good look at your garden beds. Is the soil depleted? Is there any mulch left? What do your plants look like? My garden beds are in dire shape. The oak leaves have really wreaked havoc this past year, so my garden beds look dingy and tired and my lawn is in bad need of sanding. Just last week, I completely overhauled a corner garden bed of ours and would like to share with you the process I used & always use when fixing my beds.

Here is a step-by-step for a garden bed ...

Rake out all the leaves and pull any weeds or old/dead plants. Assess the size plot you have and map out how many plants you would like to put back in (you might want to make a drawing & bring it with you to the garden center). In my case, I bought three different colors/types of flowers - blue, red, and lavender. You also want to consider the color of greenery - there are dark greens, sage greens, and yellow-greens. Consider the colors with the color of your house and driveway/walkway.

Dig holes where you want the new plants to go - wider than the plant and as deep as the plant is. You may want to water the soil before digging to loosen it up a bit. Digging in South Florida can be difficult as you will encounter rock, shells, and roots of neighboring plants or trees. If you're having a lot of trouble, you may have to step back a minute, take a look at your garden, and rethink you map of plants. Keep in mind that if you are planting plants in a row, you can dig a trench and place the plants in. Either way, back fill after you plant them and push the soil down around the plant so that there are no air pockets. Once all the plants are in the ground and planted, shake some fertilizer pellets around the base of all the plants. I used Miracle-Gro for flowering plants. Water the plants to moisten the ground and the fertilizer.

Next, grab those heavy bags of mulch and begin adding the mulch an inch or two thick around all the plants. I like to use cypress mulch as it is natural to our area and has a pretty color and nice smell. I don't like the "colored" mulches as they lose their color and that color ends up in our soil, canals, and water. Try to find something natural. Another nice one is eucalyptus. Don't completely smother the base of the plant - you want it to breathe a bit. Once the mulching is done. Step back and admire your new garden! Finally, you can add in the fun touches like statues, garden flags, a potted plant, stepping stones, small garden gates, bird baths, etc.

If you're a Catholic family like me, you will have small children at home who will want to be in on the project. I suggest doing the bulk of the work on your own, but plan something they can do to help. My four year old daughter dug holes and put the flowers in. She had an absolute ball!!! Remember to add in small garden features that will be fun for children such as a walking path, a fairy house, a frog home, etc. This will promote a love of gardening with your children that will last a lifetime.

Here are my befores and afters:

BEFORE #1: Looking from my house's walkway down onto the corner garden.
It's looking tired, lacks color, and does absolutely nothing to enhance my home.

BEFORE #2: Looking towards the house onto the garden.
I had a lot of leaves to remove - as well as the old red flowers (their time had sadly come).
The red flowers were vinca - or periwinkle. They thrive anywhere - great for So.FL!

The new side entrance to the garden. Mostly used by the kids :)
The new red flowers are begonias and the blue ones are lobelia.

Looking down on the garden from the house's walkway.
I made this small area of stone set in sand because of water run-off
from the house during our heavy rains. If I mulch here, the mulch just
runs all down into the bottom of the garden as it's a slight decline down the yard.

Another view from above - a new garden flag adds color to any garden!
The green grassy plant is liriope, which is VERY hardy. If you fertilize it, it will
bloom in July with little purple flowers.

Up close shot of the stones in sand. The plants in pots are old - had them for years!
They are society garlic and I still need to give them a bit of attention! They will also bloom light purple.

A child's view of the garden entrance … a charming stepping stone to greet them,
as well as flowers of varying colors and a bunny await their arrival!

Along the front of the garden, you can see solar lights, the new walking path
for the children, the new garden gate, and some touches of purple.

What do you think? I would love to hear your comments either here or on the Facebook page!!!

Don't let gardening intimidate you no matter where you live. Do your research on native plants to your area, assess your yard and garden, and make a game plan! Some things will fail, that's okay … but you will have fun in the process and you will learn. Go spend some time in the dirt and you will spend time with God. He is there in all His marvelous creation!

Roast Chicken with Potatoes 'n Onions

2015-02-22T23:25:00.001-05:00

Hey there! How are you all doing with your Lenten journey? On a previous blog, I wrote about keeping yourself healthy - mind, body, and soul. It all goes together. You can't leave one of those components out. Here is a delicious, filling, and nutritious recipe for your family. It is earthy and real and you will have so much satisfaction knowing you made it all yourself. It has the winning combination - meat and potatoes but without the fat from red meat.

I have been making this roast chicken recipe now for years and it is definitely a favorite of my family's, as well as being a favorite of guests. You just can't beat that earthy flavor of roasted meat and potatoes. Soooooooo comforting and oh so yummy!!! Since I am learning how to add recipes to my blog, please bear with me as I do not yet have a "print"button with the recipes. I guess y'all will just have to copy it down by hand! *gasp* No, I promise I will learn how to get that pesky feature on the blog for easy printing. Without further ado…

Roast Chicken with Potatoes 'n Onions

Ingredients:
4 lb (approx) roasting chicken
Spice mix (salt, pepper, sage, thyme)
Olive oil
Yukon gold potatoes (about 5 good size potatoes)
1 large white onion ( I like sweet onions )
1 lemon
1 cup white wine (can use cooking wine)

Buy a roasting chicken that is somewhere around 4 lbs. I have bought larger, but it's difficult to find them too much larger when you're buying free range ones organic ones.

These spices are all you need for this bird!!!

Prepare your spice mix in a small bowl and set aside:
2 T kosher salt
1/2 - 1 t pepper (however much pepper you like)
1 t dry sage (I usually just eyeball it - you could use more here too)
1 t dry thyme (same as sage)

Here is the spice mixture all mixed together.

On a cutting board, cut a lemon and a large onion into wedges.

I did not have a large enough onion on hand - you can add another small onion.
I just went with this as I was in a hurry!

You will use about half the lemon and about half the onion. The other half of the lemon you can use for a tall glass of cold iced tea, and the other half of the onion will be thrown together with the potatoes to roast.

You will need to pull the onion segments apart for roasting.

Wash your potatoes and set them on paper towels to dry them off. I usually use half a bag of yukon gold potatoes. Cut the potatoes into about 1-1 1/2 inch wedges/chunks. They shouldn't be perfect - this is a rustic meal!

Aren't these gorgeous???!!!
I usually use yukon gold potatoes - which roast so beautifully,
but these little beauties were at the store and I couldn't resist!

Throw the potatoes into a large bowl. Take the remaining onion and pull the segments apart and throw them into the bowl.
Liberally coat them all with olive oil and some of the spice mixture. Now get your hands in there and mix them all around.

Here are these gorgeous taters all oiled up and spiced up!!!

Rinse the chicken under cold water, remove any innards, and set breast down on a bed of paper towels. Dry it all over.

Spray your pan with some non-stick cooking spray. I use a 10 x 13 pan.
Rub the side of the chicken that's facing up with olive oil - be generous. Liberally sprinkle with your spice mix.

This is the bottom side of the bird before flipping over and spicing up the top!

Liberally sprinkle spice mix to the inside cavity of the chicken and place breast side up in your pan.
Stuff the chicken with your lemon and onion chunks - about three or four pieces each.

All stuffed and ready to infuse the meat with lemon and onion goodness!

Oil the top (breast side) of the chicken and liberally sprinkle the chicken. Give her a pat just for good measure! :)
Pour the potatoes and onions all around the sides of the chicken.
Pour about a cup of white wine (yes, you can use white cooking wine) into the bottom of the pan without washing off the spices from the potatoes. Oh yes! White wine and chicken and potatoes and onions and sage and thyme will fill your home with the aroma of the best home cooked meal - EVER!!!

Oh my goodness, can you stand it???!!!

Roast this bird at 350 degrees Fahrneheit for 20 minutes/pound. So, if you bought a 4 lb chicken, you will roast it for 1hr and 20 minutes. When it's done, take out of the oven and let it rest for about ten minutes. Remove the potatoes from the sides of the pan and place in a separate serving dish. Keep them warm by gently tenting them with foil.
Remove the lemons and onions from the inside of the chicken and discard.

Roasted and caramelized potatoes and onions - mmmmmmm!!!

Place the chicken on a large cutting board. Carve the breasts out first and set aside. Carve out the thighs and legs and set aside. Flip the bird over and remove any meat from the underside. Throw away the carcass (I'm not "foodie" enough to save the carcass to make homemade chicken stock - lol!)
Cut the breasts into slices and remove all meat from the legs and thighs. Place all the meat on a serving plate and drizzle pan drippings over all. (You could strain the drippings into a separator first if you're really watching the fat.)

All that hard work really payed off!!! Look how beautiful that chicken is?
Can't you just taste it now???

All you have to do is serve this with something green - a salad is usually the easiest as the chicken is taking up the entire oven. Here is the simple salad I whipped up … (butter lettuce, tomato, cucumber, feta, and homemade salad dressing)

Although, you could roast asparagus in the oven while the chicken is resting. Whatever green you like - serve it up and you have a complete meal!!! I will blog about my super easy homemade salad dressing in a future blog - so look for that!

I hope this recipe finds you and your family well. Please drop me a note here or on my Facebook page and let me know if you made it and how it turned out. If you roast chickens regularly too, how do you make yours? We would all love to hear!!!

May God continue to bless you and guide you during this Lenten season. Stay healthy - mind, body, and soul! ~+ Katherine

Mind, Body, and Soul Lenten Program!

2015-02-12T21:49:00.000-05:00

Are you tired? Do you feel like your body is "out of whack"? Or maybe it's just your mind … or your prayer life. We are just so darn busy these days that it is really easy to forget to lead a balanced life. I was reading an excellent article recently about how our body and soul are one. Christians often forget this. Our soul is not this type of ghost running around inside our shell of a body. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. They are one. Our spirituality and what we do with/to our bodies are woven together from the same thread. You can read the article here. It is much more in-depth and a very beautiful article.

Pharmakeia, Contraception, and the Interior Life

Having read that, my mind wandered to the upcoming Lenten season. It begins next week on Ash Wednesday. I realize that I have a very difficult time keeping my mind, body, and soul balanced as a busy mom of four. I know I'm not the only one out there! It's easy to forget to exercise, eat right, and pray daily. Each day that passes - each night I lay my head down on my pillow - I remember something I had wanted to do during the day and had forgotten or my day was just too full.

This Lent, I would like to change that. I'm proposing that this Lent, we pay close attention to our minds, bodies, and souls with activities that we can easily accomplish. When we close our eyes at night during the forty days of Lent, we should feel content as our minds have been stretched, our bodies were well-fed and exercised, and our soul was fed with the Lord.

For the mind:
Set aside thirty minutes each day to read, write, journal, or complete a crossword/sudoku puzzle. Believe it or not, when you look at your day, you will find some time to stretch your mind. It might mean you will be turning off the television. Horrors!!! Television may be good for zoning out, but reading and daydreaming are better. Start now seeking out what book you will be reading during Lent. I recommend anything by Saint John Paul the Great, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, any of the saints' works, or something more contemporary from Dr. Scott Hahn, Patrick Madrid, Matthew Leonard, Johnnette Benkovic, Jennifer Fulwiler, or Teresa Tomeo. Start now doing your research and pick that book!

I'll be ordering this book - I hear it's great!

For the body:
Since you've turned off the television and carved out thirty minutes for reading, why not carve out another thirty minutes for exercise?! I understand this might be a difficult one, especially for those of you who work full-time away from the home, but it's one you should really try to accomplish. When I exercise, my day goes so much better. I would recommend exercising in the morning when your energy level is at its highest. Take a good look at your days and see when you can squeeze in some exercise. You may have to get up earlier before the kids wake - but you won't believe how good you'll feel if you do that. Exercise doesn't have to mean a rigorous run or exercise class or weight training at the gym. Although all those are awesome, you may not have the time or ability to do those. Try walking around the neighborhood. Drive the neighborhood first and find a good route and exactly how far your route is. Try to walk at least a mile a day. If you are unable to walk, gentle stretching, sit-ups, and push-ups right in your own family room are just fine. The point is to not be sedentary all day every day. Get up and breathe some life into those bones and muscles of yours!!!

Get to steppin'!

Along with exercising, goes eating healthy. I would have to say, my number one rule for my family is to try to stay as far away from boxed/packaged food as possible. If it comes from the earth, it's likely that it does not have additives and preservatives. The boxed foods are killers - filled with all kinds of things that are not naturally from this earth. If you are interested in losing weight, I would suggest the "Lose It" app. It is wonderful for keeping track of the calories you're actually ingesting.

Lose It tracks your daily caloric intake - you can even scan the barcode on food items!

Overall, stick with:
whole grains, lower carbs (than you're probably used to), fruit as snacks, organic granola bars and cereal bars (my family likes the Cascadian Farms chocolate chip, as well as the blackberry graham), real cheeses (and not a lot of them), lean meats (without steroids and nitrites), fish, salads with homemade dressing (the bottled dressings have all kinds of unnatural ingredients), roasted vegetables, soups (preferably homemade), etc.

If you're a snacker, look for:
Veggies and hummus, fruits (strawberries are low in calorie), pretzels, natural popcorn, rice cakes, peanut butter (again, look at the ingredients), mixed nuts (although high in calorie), dry cereals (go for all natural ones), raisins and dried fruits, yogurt (frozen too), applesauce, and hardboiled eggs.

Look how all that healthy food looks so delicious! All natural, all from the Earth, all from God!!!

For the soul:
I think each of us is guilty of not praying enough and definitely not doing enough acts of charity. This Lent, I propose you pray before getting out of bed in the morning, as well as in bed at night before you fall asleep. One wonderful way to start your day is by reading Fr. Robert Barron's Lenten reflections sent right to your phone. Fr. Barron, in case you are not familiar with him, is singularly converting the world to Catholicism by evangelizing through the truth and the beauty of the Catholic Church. I have signed up for the daily lenten reflections and can't wait for my first one!
Sign up here!!! FREE Daily Lenten Reflections from Fr. Barron

Along with praying morning and night (which could be a short prayer or as long as praying the rosary), I propose visiting the Lord in adoration at least one time a week. I have written many times regarding the benefits from attending adoration. Find out when your parish has adoration hours, and make it a point to go! If you've never gone, or not in the habit of going, I will tell you that going there for the first time is intimidating and definitely feels outside your comfort zone. I have even gone and said, "Lord, I don't know why I'm here, but I'm here. I feel you calling me." I think that's what Jesus wants. He wants us to be there with him - communicating with him. Sometimes I have nothing to say at all and just sit in silence … and listen. Sometimes, I hear him and sometimes I hear nothing. However, I hear Him later. He will make Himself known to you. It may not be on your timetable, but He will. One last thought on adoration - if your parish's hours are not convenient for you, find a parish's that are. Some parishes have 24 hour adoration!!! That's convenient for everybody.

Our Lord is waiting for you...

Along with adoration, I propose daily mass. If this is not possible for you, how about a weekday mass one time a week? You won't believe how much better your day will go! Again, find a parish with hours that are compatible with your schedule. There is a great website for United States mass times as well! I think it is also an app. Their website is here: Mass Times

You'll be surprised you won't be the only one at daily mass!

Along with praying, adoration, and daily mass, comes confession at least once during Lent. That's right. I said it! Get yourself over to a confessional and confess those sins! Come on, those sins are weighing you down like weights around your ankles. Slough it off and start out right. Think of how much better your Lent will go if you visit a priest and confess right at the beginning of Lent. Don't wait until Good Friday! Here is a wonderful printable brochure entitled, How to Make a Good Confession.

For those who don't understand the sacrament of confession, this picture says it all!

Acts of charity might be the toughest to squeeze into our busy schedules. If you have time, visit a hospital and see about their volunteering policies. You can also visit you local Respect Life center, a nursing home, soup kitchen, St. Vincent de Paul Society, etc. If you can't find something, ask your priest. Prison ministry may also be available and a calling for you.

Defend life from conception to natural death!

Lastly, don't forget that you are obliged to fast and abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. You are also obliged to abstain every Friday during Lent. How about fasting every Friday as well? You will align yourself with the sufferings of Christ … and who knows, it might help with the waistline as well? Fasting is very biblical. It can be found mentioned in the Bible several times and for several different reasons: in secret, for humility, for God's intervention, and to overcome addictions, for example.

For humility

I have written a lot here, but we Catholics have a responsibility to take care of ourselves as a temple of the Holy Spirit. Lent is a wonderful time to begin good habits for your mind, body, and soul. Take advantage of the remaining days before Ash Wednesday and write down a "do-able" attack plan. What will your strategy be? How can you incorporate these good habits into your daily lives within the Lenten 40 days? Plan now so that Ash Wednesday will be the start of great lifelong habits! Please leave me a comment and let me know your plan, as we can all learn from each other. What book will you be reading? How much exercise and what type will you be doing? How will you alter your eating habits? How will you be spiritually growing closer to our Lord??? I am challenging you to the Mind, Body, Soul Lenten Program. Our Lord is challenging you to treat yourself as the temple of the Holy Spirit that you are!

The Real Presence

2015-02-08T16:52:00.001-05:00

Do you believe in transubstantiation? Do you believe that upon consecration, the host and wine are turned into the body and blood of Jesus himself? Right there on the altar? Every day of the week in every Catholic Church around the world? Many Catholics sadly do not believe this - the most important aspect of daily mass.

In today's world, where we tend to be so removed from our spiritual nature, and God himself, it may be difficult to believe in this daily miracle. Let me ask you another question. Do you believe God can work miracles? If so, could he not do the aforementioned without batting an eye (not that God has eyes, per se)?

Let me quote Jesus himself on this matter:
(John 6:48-58)
"I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread whih comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

The jews then disputed among themselves, saying. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."

I would say that Jesus was very clear here. He is not speaking figuratively. He emphatically states we must actually eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life and for Him to live within us. He was speaking so literally, in fact, that his audience could not believe him and were shocked. If he were speaking figuratively, they would not have reacted the way they did. As Jesus compared the bread which he was giving them to the manna which fed the Jews daily for forty years, he tells them He (as the bread) must be eaten daily. We even say this in The Lord's Prayer!

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread …

Jesus is very explicit in what he wants his followers to do. He does not ask his people to drink something else or eat something else, and only do it occasionally. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood through the consecration of the bread and wine by the priest on the altar has ALWAYS been the teaching of the Catholic Church ~ I'm talking since the beginning. The actually beginning. You know ... since Christ himself.

The Council of Trent, which was held from 1545-1563, in response to the Reformation that was occurring throughout Europe, stated:
"Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."

I will leave you with a quote from St. John Chrysostom:
"Let us in everything believe God, and gainsay him in nothing, though what is said be contrary to our thoughts and senses…Let us act likewise in respect to the Eucharistic mysteries, not looking at the things set before us, but keeping in mind his words. For his word cannot deceive."

St. John Chrysostom was telling us that it is difficult for our earthbound minds to understand Jesus' words, but to not question it for they are Christ's words. He "cannot deceive".
God bless you all and may you love Christ even more through the eucharist He freely gives us every single day of every year in every Catholic church all around the world! ~+ Katherine

John Chrysostom (349-407 AD) Preaching in Constantinople

A Preschooler's Spring Birthday Party!

2015-02-05T13:39:00.000-05:00

My three year old turned four this week, and every time one of my children's birthdays draws closer I begin to get a bit of anxiety over what "kind" of birthday we're going to give. I don't know about you, but I honestly think the whole kids' birthday industry has gotten WAY out of control. When my oldest was little, a very expensive party - at a place with helpers, cake, goodie bags, etc. - cost about $200. Now a party like that costs $400-500!!! Seriously, we parents need to examine our heads.

If you have a preschooler and the time of year is right, you can always have a park playdate birthday party with some preschool friends. The great thing about this, is you won't have to pay to reserve a park pavilion if you do it on a weekday. Since most preschoolers are only in school a few days of the week, choose to have the party on the day they are all out of school. Moms might really thank you as it gives the kids something to do to burn up all that extra energy on their day off! Remember that archaic and always now overlooked rule of only inviting the same number of kids that your child is turning? (For example, a three year old should invite three or four children.) This helps them not get over-stimulated, over-tired, and then start to cry or fight.

BURNING THAT ENERGY!

And what about those darn "goodie bags"? I swear those have stressed me out a few times over the years! What to give? Will it be meaningful? Will the kids actually like it? Will it just be candy from a piñata? Will it, please God, not cost another small fortune on top of what I'm already spending for the party? I swear, some years, it has felt like adding insult to injury! Well, this year, I headed to my local dollar store determined to not spend a fortune on them, but make them really cute.

I walked past all the Valentine's decorations and St. Patrick's Day decorations and made my way to a new shipment of some early summer toys. I spotted some purple sparkly beach buckets with pink shovels attached. Hmmmm…..

PURPLE! PINK! SPARKLY! BINGO!!!

I immediately imagined the girls' names painted on the front and remembered I had some paint pens I had saved from my son's party two years ago. Yeehawwww!!!

Then I spotted a purple and pink pinwheel… and … purple butterfly wand glow sticks! Aha! I was on to something.

PURPLE, PINK, AND SPINNY!!! YES, YES, YES!

OKAY, PURPLE, BUTTERFLIES, AND GLOWS! OOOOOOOOOOOHHH

Digging around some more, I found bubbles that came in purple butterfly shaped containers, preschool-friendly candy, and party whistles (with a butterfly decoration on them).

SERIOUSLY, HOW CUTE ARE THESE???

I got lucky, but honestly, just look around for things you think kids will actually play with. Here are all the items all laid out:

LOOKS LIKE BUCKETS OF FUN!

Additional ideas for a summer or spring beach bucket? You could add sidewalk chalk, cheap jewelry, Hot Wheels cars, green ARMY men, a small puzzle, crayons, inflatable beach ball, seeds for planting in the spring, gardening gloves, etc. So what did each completed bucket cost me? Only about $5 for all of that! It looks like I spent more, the girls were out of their minds excited when they received them, and they are practical for future playtime adventures at home! I do wish your children many many happy birthdays to come, and may they be easy on the budget but high on the fun factor!!! Drop me a line in the comment section and let me know how you've thought outside the box for a birthday party. I'd love to hear your ideas too! ~+ Katherine

YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THESE BABIES TWIRLING IN THE WIND AT THE PARK!

Super-Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

2015-02-03T18:26:00.001-05:00

Okay! Are you ready to eat the most delicious and soft sugar cookies … ever??? If you like those soft frosted cookies from the grocery store but feel a little guilty wondering what the heck is in them (preservatives, lard, food coloring), then you never have to worry again! This recipe is not only SUPER EASY, but the cookies are YUMMY!!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour (I use unbleached - I think it's supposed to be healthier for you)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened (I buy gigantoid packs at Costco)
3/4 cup sugar (I use organic cane sugar - Costco has a great deal on this)
1 egg (I used organic free-range)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (Again, Costco's deal on vanilla cannot be beat!)

Frosting:

1 1/2 -2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk (maybe a dash more)

Mix together well. You want the frosting to be tight enough not to slip off the cookie but not so tight that it doesn't spread. You can fool with sugar/milk ratio a bit.

*Add-ons: sprinkles, colored sugar, flavored extract (lemon, orange, strawberry), or you could add a dash of coloring to the frosting for a special event like a drop or two of red will yield pink just in time for Valentine's Day!

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit (180C).
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder - set aside.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter & sugar for about 1 minute.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
Add the flour mixture slowly and beat together, scraping down sides of bowl.
Using a small ice-cream scoop, scoop out balls of cookie dough and place on cookie sheet.
Slightly press them down.
Bake 8-10 minutes ( I think I only needed 8 or 9).
Remove from oven and let rest a couple minutes or so.
Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack carefully - they will be soft.
Allow the cookies to completely cool before frosting them.

If you are transferring them to a party or as a gift, why not place them in festive cupcake wrappers? The cookies won't stick to one another, they're easy to hold with out sticky fingers, and they're just so darn cute like that!

READY FOR TRANSPORT!!! And to be gobbled up!!!!

Let me know how yours come out!
~+ Katherine

"The Catholic Life"

2015-02-03T14:06:00.000-05:00

Well, my goodness, I'm a bit late at saying "Happy New Year!" I am certainly hoping you all are having a good start to the new year. Never forget that every day is a chance to start over - whether it's in your prayer life, your relationships, your diet, or your exercise regime (or lack thereof). You can begin again at any time. God wants us to grow - never stagnate.

Speaking of new beginnings… I'm so excited to let you know that I've started a new Facebook page called "The Catholic Life". It is a beautiful page for you to briefly connect throughout the day with our faith. Whether you are a cradle Catholic, re-vert, convert, or fallen-away Catholic this is a page where you can feel at home. As I've said so many times before, I am a twenty year convert, but I still have SO MUCH to learn. My hope is that this page serves as a break in the day when you can read a quick prayer, view a beautiful photograph, or share in daily Catholic life.

Aaaaaand… In case you're new to my blog, welcome!!! I'm a wife of twenty-five years and mother of four, ages 18 down to 4. This new Facebook page will also include recipes, household tips, gardening tips, and parenting info as well. I've started this page to share the beauty of the Catholic Church and living a life of faith. PLEASE feel free to comment on the page and share a bit of your personal journeys as we go along this together.

God bless you all! ~ Katherine

THE CATHOLIC LIFE - FACEBOOK PAGE

Being Compassionate

2014-11-25T23:35:00.001-05:00

This is hopefully going to be a short posting. I really have only one thought, and that is "Be kind." I think it's an appropriate message given the time of year, but that message just continues to resonate with me lately. It's really more than being kind; it's "be compassionate". I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, or our society is getting sicker, or it's just weird timing or luck, or whatever, but it is probably a combination of all those factors. I personally know many people who are suffering. Within this past year, I have known people who have lost their spouses, their great life-long friend, their co-worker, their cousin, their father, their mother, their grandmother, their brother…as well as others who have been diagnosed with various cancers or MS …and yet another whose child was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Yes, each of us is suffering through our own daily mundane trials and sacrifices, and then there are those who are suffering more than others can even imagine.

When you go about your day, try to make eye contact with everyone you meet and share a smile or a kind greeting. It might be the only bright spot in that person's day. You just do not know what is behind anyone's smile. We all are hiding something. We go about our days trying to hide what ails us, but it is always bubbling within our psyche. For some, the pain is immense. It can be a physical pain, an emotional scar, or financial troubles. In being kind to one another, we Christians have the opportunity to minister to others about Christ's life…simply through our actions.

We, Americans will be celebrating Thanksgiving this week. I do hope each of us takes more than a moment to truly thank God for ALL the blessings in our lives. I do hope that each of carries that gratefulness within our hearts into the Advent season. We must be like Christ and tend to the poor, the widowed, the weak, the sick, the elderly, the abandoned, and the lonely. When we think of Christ tending to those people, do we see ourselves in those stories? It is us he is tending to. Don't you see? WE are the poor, the widowed, the weak, the sick, the elderly, the abandoned, and the lonely. It is each of us. Each of us has a broken heart for one reason or another. Christ is telling us we must tend to EACH OTHER. This Advent season, be compassionate. Be like Christ. He is the light of the world, so go light up your corner of the world with compassion and love for others.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." ~ Matthew 11:28

Etching by Rembrandt: "Christ Healing the Sick"
"The print depicts multiple events from Matthew 19, including Christ healing the sick, debating with scholars and calling on children to come to him. The rich young man mentioned in the chapter is leaving through the gateway on the right"

Dignity: The State or Quality of Being Worthy of Honor or Respect

2014-11-03T22:14:00.002-05:00

That title is the definition of "dignity". It is a word that is being used now in conjunction with suicide. I had promised myself I would not write about the Brittany Maynard case because I figured everyone and their brother would, but I cannot help but put a few thoughts down here regarding this. I am not writing this for the ardent Catholic who knows euthanasia is wrong or for the pro-euthanasia person who feels Brittany's decision was a "brave" one, but for the Christian who is sitting on the fence regarding Brittany's decision.

It wasn't that long ago that I was "pro-choice", "pro-euthanasia", and "pro-capital punishment". It still seems a little strange to hear myself saying that I am no longer any of these. Is this a radical viewpoint? Am I radical for thinking that humans were made in God's image, that He knew our names before we were born, that He knows every hair on our heads, that we are His children, and thus because of all this, we are supposed to stand for LIFE from conception to natural death? Okay, if society deems saving human lives a radical concept, then I am a radical by today's standards.

In suffering, we are given lessons interwoven into the threads of pain. In death, we learn to succumb to God's will and not our own. We learn to let our loved ones pass back into God's eternal resting place. For those who are dying, they come very close to heaven or hell - staring death down in the face. Some even have the grace given to them to survive death and be cured of their sufferings. Through others' end-of-life experiences, we take a glimpse into God's exponentially wide arms of mercy and His ability to work miracles in our lives. Those of us who have bounced back from the brink of death know what it is like to be held in the palm of His hand and given a second chance. Our lives are not for naught. Each of us has a mission and a God-given purpose to use the gifts He gave us at conception.

Between January of 2013 and May of 2014, I lost three babies all at different stages of life. Each of them was precious, but they were brought back to heaven for reasons beyond my earthly understanding. I suffered immensely, not only emotionally, but physically. The second one landed me close to death passed out on my bedroom floor after hours of pain and blood loss that are beyond description. When the paramedics arrived and revived me, my heart rate was very low and my body was numb. It was a very calm and ethereal few moments as they prepped me for the stretcher. I really couldn't care less about what they were doing. My eyes were on God and thanking Him for my life, my husband, and my four beautiful healthy children. Laying in the hospital for two days with no visitors (outside my immediate family at the onset of my admission), gave me so much time to pray and think. Briefly touching death's door allowed me a very intimate time with God. In a way, I wouldn't take that time back. There were so many lessons of thankfulness, forgiveness, and healing that were learned there.

I would imagine all who suffer, and all who are near death, experience God in this intimate way and feel His love and grace if they allow Him in. As painful as death is, it is a part of our lives and it is a step to life-everlasting with our Creator. We don't know how each of us will go. We don't know if we will suffer. We do know that God has a plan for us and that our pains and struggles here on earth are temporary. We know that through our sufferings, we are united to Christ on the cross and His sufferings. We get a glimpse of God's immense love for us through the pain on the cross and through our own crosses.

Brittany and her family do not know what graces would have been given to them through her death from cancer. They will never know that nor will they know if a miracle would have occurred. Miracles can and do happen; they are not fairy tales. What I do know is that we are not allowed to play God. It is not our role here to determine who gets to live, who doesn't, and for how long. Our society tells us that it is merciful to kill and calls it "death with dignity", yet God tells us in no uncertain terms that murder is a sin and "thou shalt not". We must pray for our world that we see murder in all its forms and reject it. Suicide is never the "brave" option. It is far braver to stare down your death sentence and grow through it moving ever nearer to God. It is far braver to teach those around you about death, suffering, strength, forgiveness, healing, prayer, God's graces, and God's miracles.

Simply, each life in its entirety has meaning and should be cherished and protected from conception to natural death. We must trust in God's plan for our lives ...and not plan our lives and deaths and play God.

Here are three pro-life messages from a very brave teenager, a a very brave thirty year old seminarian, and a very brave middle aged woman all diagnosed with terminal brain cancer…

A letter from Philip Johnson, a North Carolina seminarian, who has terminal brain cancer:
Letter to Brittany

…and a story about Lauren Hill, the nineteen year old college freshman basketball player, diagnosed with terminal brain cancer:
ESPN reports Lauren Hill Fulfills Dreams

…and a video message from Maggie Karner, a Connecticut woman, also diagnosed with glioblastoma like Brittany was:

Four Visions During Mass Today: An Angel, the Infant Jesus, A Suffering Jesus, and A Crucified Jesus

2014-10-06T00:38:00.001-04:00

Recently, I have been praying to my guardian angel and asking him to help guide my thoughts and actions. I have been trying to "reach out" to him, if you will, like how one gets to know a new acquaintance and hopes it turns into friendship. Only, I already know my guardian angel is my friend, so it's more about me reaching out to him.

During mass today, my pastor was telling a story during the homily and I was trying with all my might to follow him, but finding it very difficult. I, oftentimes, will close my eyes during the homily and various times during mass so that I can listen intently without the distractions of what's going on around me in church. Today was one of those days. I closed my eyes to better hear my pastor, and I instantly saw a pair of massive wings bowing before me. I was so focused on the massiveness and power of the wings that I failed to see the figure attached to them in the middle for quite some time. All of a sudden, my focus shifted to the wings' owner….and I gasped just a bit. He was an angel…bare chested and very mighty in his muscular stature. He was bowing but looking straight ahead. His face was rugged and even though human looking, somehow otherworldly. His stare was peaceful, yet mighty all at the same time. He wore a rugged short beard and his hair was light reddish brown, wavy, almost unkempt looking - like he could go to battle at any moment. I thought, "Am I seeing my guardian angel? Am I seeing him or another angel?" And at that moment I opened my eyes … and felt an overwhelming sense of joy and gratefulness to God.

I immediately thanked God for this gift of prophecy He has given me and promised Him I would continue to be open to this gift. I promised, as I often do, that I would give any message He wants me to give. Not long after that, my pastor began the part in the mass that is the Liturgy of the Eucharist and I closed my eyes to better focus on what was happening on the altar. In that moment, I was standing amongst people in a field. It was night, the air was cool, and I was having trouble seeing beyond the heads of the people in front of me. Just then, a bright light appeared about 20 feet in front of me and I was looking at a baby in a wooden trough. It was the baby Jesus laying in the manger just before me …and I was one in the crowd who came to pay Him homage. The people were absolutely silent. The silence was almost deafening as they came in awe and joy to see the Savior before them. Love, respect, reverence, and submission abounded that night. I was focused, however, on the wood of the manger for some reason. It seemed so rustic - dirty even - and yet there He lie.

Immediately, I was standing in another crowd. This time, I was on a stone street. It was daytime and hot. All of a sudden I was five feet from Jesus as he passed before me carrying his cross. He was severely struggling. Again, I focused on the wood of the cross beam of the cross. The massiveness of the cross. The wood piece was enormous and I wondered how any human being could ever lift that. I could see the roughness of the wood. It was not only heavy and awkward, but painful to touch. I looked into Jesus' face and saw the pain. There was extraordinary physical pain, yet also frustration - like how could His Father in heaven create him to be human and feel this torture? I saw Jesus turn slightly to his left and appear to look up. He fell before me. The crowd did nothing. People were yelling. Women screamed. The crowd was not there to pay him homage. God's people had ordered the brutal killing of God's son and they were there to see it happen.

All of a sudden, I was two feet from Jesus' face and the massive cross beam. That wood that he was birthed into, he was now nailed to. I watched the agony in his blood-stained face as they lifted the cross from the ground. I was right there with him - loving Him and feeling His agony. Why was He wanting me to see this I thought? The cross, as they lifted it, slightly and quickly fell to his right side, and he closed his eyes, his head fell to his right shoulder, and he let out a guttural sound from the excruciating pain. They straightened the cross and then slowly raised it into position. The crowd behind me was calling out at him. The air was thick, His pain was unbearable and punishing, and the people were relentless in their mocking of Him.

I opened my eyes. My pastor had just finished consecrating the host and wine into the body and blood of Christ. The crowds of people that I saw and stood amongst had all drastically changed from one vision to another. God had shown me my Guardian angel, and then brought me into the birth, suffering, and death of our Lord today. As He was born into a wooden manger, he died upon a wooden cross. He entered and left this world upon a mighty tree. The people who came to pay him homage when he was born were there out of love, respect, and knowing the babe in the manger was their Savior they had always prayed for. The people in the street, as Jesus slowly passed through, were not there to pay him homage. The people beneath the cross were the worst as they jeered and yelled. How odd that Jesus would be born to a crowd who loved and revered him and would die to a crowd who hated and mocked him.

I can tell you that when I looked into the face of Christ, I saw a human being with a heavenly understanding of His Father. He knew this was to be and submitted, yet felt the pain the same as you or I would feel it. My words can never do justice to the pain he felt in His death.

Later today, I looked up and read about today's readings because I really didn't hear them or the homily. I learned today's Gospel reading was the parable that Jesus taught about the landowner of a vineyard and his tenants who killed his son. (Mt 21:33-43)

'This is the heir.

Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’

When Jesus was asked what the vineyard owner would do, he replied…

"Therefore, I say to you,

the kingdom of God will be taken away from you

and given to a people that will produce its fruit."

The kingdom of God was taken from the Jewish people and given to the Gentiles. Many of the people who came to pay homage to the infant Jesus in the manger would have been Gentiles. The people who ordered His crucifixion were the Jews. This is what God was showing me today. Perhaps my guardian angel had a hand in helping me see the aloneness of Jesus, His beautiful birth, His horrific death, the people who praised him in his birth, and the people who rejected him and crucified him. I saw the wood that cradled him as an infant and the wood that he was nailed to in his death, the difference in the crowd who welcomed him to this earth and the crowd that sent him from it.

As Msgr. Pope so aptly stated in this week's homily, "Either we accept the offer of the Kingdom and thereby yield to the Lord’s work and bring forth a harvest, or we face judgment for the fact that we have chosen to reject the offer of the Kingdom. God will not force us to accept His Kingship or His Kingdom. We have a choice to make and that choice will be at the heart of the judgment we will face."

These were only my personal visions. I share them as I promised God I would. I pray I do my visions justice and send forth the images correctly. God bless you all ~+

Stevie Nicks' "Sara"

2014-09-30T18:54:00.001-04:00

Today, I read that Stevie Nicks publicly announced that her famous song, "Sara", was written about the baby she aborted back in the late 70's. This was a baby conceived from her affair with Don Henley, of the Eagles. This story has absolutely shook me to the core, and I have not been able to get her, the song, or baby Sara out of my mind all day. The sadness I have felt for Stevie, Sara, and Don has just overshadowed my day. Fleetwood Mac is probably my all-time favorite rock band, and truth be told, I wanted to grow up and be a female rocker with a kick*** voice like Stevie Nicks or the Heart sisters, Ann and Nancy Wilson. One well-recorded night (in my memory) in 1977, my family went out for pizza and immediately after wandered into a nearby record store. My parents bought two albums that night, I believe. One was Heart's "Dreamboat Annie" and the other was Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours". I played those albums over and over and over. I memorized all the lyrics. I, of course, belted out those songs day after day …for years to come. Stevie Nicks was a personality I kept up with all these years, and every time I heard one of her songs I was instantly transported to my childhood - the warm Tampa, FL air, the dancing and twirling, the singing, and the emulating.

"Sara" was released a couple years later in 1979 on their album, "Tusk", and "Sara" became my favorite Fleetwood Mac song…but I wondered about the lyrics. I remember my father telling me that the band members were kind of all dating each other and it wasn't really working out. That was a lot for my child brain to wrap around. Of course, children see the world so simply. In years since, I have come to find out that Stevie Nicks has struggled with a heroine addiction, has had an abortion, has had failed relationships, and on and on. Will celebrities ever really be able to put fame in its place? It always seems to have a stranglehold on its victims.

Pro-lifers have long been speaking about, writing about, marching about, and shouting about the horrendous side-effects associated with abortions. Addiction, depression, suicide, failed relationships, miscarriages, infertility, breast cancer, a life of regret, and various other internal physical problems - including death - these are the side effects that we are legally bestowing on the maternal life-givers of our society. This is what we are encouraging women to do to themselves…and their babies. Yes, that's right. We are encouraging this. Millions of women have suffered through this barbaric, torturous, and deathly experience, and most suffer in silence for a lifetime.

I don't know what Stevie Nicks truly feels about her experience, as I am not in her heart. Only God knows what is in her heart. I can tell you that writing a song about the baby she killed is not just a ditty about a blob of cells. The "pro-choice" camp will tell you that it is, and that every woman has the right to expel that blob. Sadly, they just don't see the whole picture. They are seeing the trees and not the forest. This is such a bigger matter than a medical procedure. Stevie Nicks wrote a song about her baby girl, "Sara". Every time she sang that song - every performance she ever gave - she thought of her baby and the death of her baby at hers and Don's own hands. Clearly it was a "choice" she has lamented all these 35 years.

I had read somewhere else (I can't remember where) that she was surprised at Don Henley's sort of indifferent reaction to her decision. I think that was the hardest part for me to read. This is an all too familiar scenario for women and their "choice" to abort. Of course, we have heard of the heinous crimes men have committed against women literally dragging them to abortion clinics or forcing abortifacient drugs on them. We don't hear the millions of stories of women who kill their babies because their lover, boyfriend, or husband simply is indifferent …leading the woman to believe she will have no help in raising this beautiful gift from God and sending her into disparity and a "choice" that will have deathly results and lifelong harm for her. No, we don't hear those stories. This is profoundly sad. These women whisper everyday in their cavernous wounds of regret.

Stevie Nicks grieved, and she is probably still grieving for Sara. I am grieving for Sara today. I am grieving for Stevie and Don. I pray that baby Sara is praying for her parents to grow closer to our Lord and live in His light - not the limelight. I am so happy for Stevie that she decided to publicly disclose this very personal piece of information. It puts a very public face on the dark private world of the abortion business. It is bleak, smarmy, dirty, deathly, at times covert, and always evil. It has touched the lives of millions of women and men and robbed 56 million people of their lives. Sara is a precious gem in God's eyes. She is also - painfully for me to say - common….for she is one in 56 million. Pray for women around the world every day that they will make the right choice ~ that they will say YES TO LIFE!

If you or someone you know has had an abortion and needs help or has worked in the abortion industry and now regrets it, please know there is help.
Project Rachel/Hope After Abortion : http://hopeafterabortion.com
Silent No More : http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/index.aspx
Rachel's Vineyard : http://www.rachelsvineyard.org
And Then There Were None : http://www.attwn.org

There are other organizations. You can search "post abortion counseling".

These are the lyrics to "Sara":
Wait a minute baby
Stay with me awhile
Said you'd give me light
But you never told me about the fire

Drowning in the sea of love
Where everyone would love to drown
But now it's gone
It doesn't matter what for
When you build your house
Then call me home

And he was just like a great dark wing
Within the wings of a storm
I think I had met my match, he was singing
And undoing, and undoing the laces
Undoing the laces

Said Sara, you're the poet in my heart
Never change, never stop
But now it's gone
It doesn't matter what for
But when you build your house
Then call me home

Hold on
The night is coming and the starling flew for days
I'd stay home at night, all the time
I'd go anywhere, anywhere, anywhere
Ask me and I'm there, yeah
Ask me and I'm there, I care

In the sea of love
Where everyone would love to drown
But now it's gone
They say it doesn't matter anymore
When you build your house
Then please call me home

Sara, you're the poet in my heart
Never change, and don't you ever stop
Now it's gone
No it doesn't matter anymore
When you build your house
I'll come by

Sara
Sara

Kindergarten!!! The Flying Dutch Monkey Swings On In

2014-09-11T13:57:00.001-04:00

This one's for all the parents of kindergarteners...

It is that time of year again…you know, when the loving teachers ask the parents to "let them know" a "little something" about their children. Well….my youngest son started kindergarten this year, and since I have already dedicated a post on my blog to parenting him (which you can read HERE ), I figured I would write my letter to the teacher and post it here as well…

Dear "My Son's Teacher",

When I was pregnant with this beautiful boy, I kept hearing God telling me that he would be sweet natured, loving, and obedient. Yes, those were the words I kept hearing. Those words ran around in my head as my insatiable appetite grew along with my belly. They grew and grew and grew until I thought I might be carrying Godzilla inside!

Then the kicking began. This wasn't the ordinary kicking that babies do. Oh no. This little boy thought he was sitting on little tiny bleachers in there and he took great glee in stomping in a downward motion, as if he was at a basketball game stomping to "We Will Rock You"! Seriously, I did not know that babies could squeeze little chairs in there with them! Those words of obedient and loving kept running around in my head and I really wondered.

After tipping the scales at 200 pounds, I gave birth to the tiny saint only for him to let me know that the same mama's milk that had grown and nurtured two babies prior would not be enough for him. Don't get him wrong …he loved it, but he'd need another 8 ounces of formula as the chaser.

By the time he was two years old he had a new baby sister, and his father and I had lovingly nicknamed him "Blonde Destruction" and "The Flying Dutch Monkey" - as seen here in these photos…

THIS is how his days started.

Thus the "flying" part

When he began preschool the following year, I kind of quickly kissed him goodbye at the door …and then ran for my life - praying all the way home that I would not get the phone call from the preschool director that Blonde Destruction was sitting next to her in the "uncooperative chair". To my extreme bewilderment, the teacher said he was "sooooooo good" and "soooooo quiet". She said he was the most well-behaved boy in the class! Had I reached an all-time low??? Were the other boys so bad that my Flying Dutch Monkey's behavior paled in comparison? No! Apparently, he (upon setting foot inside the preschool classroom) became my sweet-natured, loving, and obedient saint of a child that God said he was. Wow! Didn't see that one coming!

So, you see, it seems as though Blonde Destruction saves up all that goodness for you teachers. As a matter-of-fact, he informs me that he is "the bestest boy in the whole kindergarten"!

Here are some interesting facts about the Flying Dutch Monkey:

His passions are dinosaurs - the scarier the better - especially when they're terrifying his little sister, drawing and painting, and Godzilla!

He is a "Master Builder" of LEGOS and loooooooved the new LEGO movie. Blonde Destruction loves to keep all LEGOS in tiny pieces all over the floor just so mom can scream in agony as she's walking across the floor - ahem, I mean, so he can really get those creative juices flowing and build spaceships, monsters, and trucks.

He loves putting on costumes and wearing them in new and innovative ways - as displayed here:

A new version of Spiderman…or a cowboy…or Captain Underpants?

My Flying Dutch Monkey is a funny, creative, intelligent, energetic, sweet-natured, loving, and obedient boy who thinks outside the box. As his mother, I have learned to be more patient, and my heart has grown immensely from the love this boy gives.

My hopes and dreams for this year? I pray he doesn't help you to learn to be more patient, but I do hope your heart will grow from the love this boy gives.

Sincerely,

Bearer of the Flying Dutch Monkey aka Blonde Destruction

Women: We Are Comrades, Not Competition

2014-09-06T23:06:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, I happened to be in a waiting room with my 18 year old son. It was filled with mostly women. Upon leaving, my son remarked to me that women are very different from men. I said that was true, but asked him what he meant. He said that he notices that when women are all in a room together all we do is look each other up and down and give each other dirty looks. He said that if it were men all in a room together, they'd be instantly talking about sports or something and laughing. He asked me why women treat each other the way we do. I didn't really have a great answer other than informing him I had decided LONG AGO that when I enter a room full of women, I look at no one. I don't want to engage in anyone's stares or nasty looks.

A few days ago, I read this article about a Yazidi Girl who escaped ISIS. It is a harrowing tale and one that the whole world should read and be extremely concerned about. She speaks of escaping with another girl and running into the arms of the PKK who helped her ultimately escape. Do these girls look one another up and down when meeting each other for the first time? I know you just snorted. It's laughable. It's laughable because these people have real problems and are fighting for their lives. I doubt there is a lot of cattiness involved when women are huddled together praying for their lives. The Iraqi women are in it together, and by "it" I mean life. They see the big picture. They know what is important because so many of them have had it taken away - their husbands, their homes, their children, their virginity, their innocence, their freedom.

So why in the world are we free women so cruel to one another? Do we have too much? Are our lives so superficial that our mind's most important thoughts revolve around which handbag is on our arm, which shoes are on our feet, which car's steering wheel we're sitting behind, or which fellow female we're being seen with? Really? It sounds absurd when I paint this portrait of extreme landscapes - we women in the western free world and the women of Iraq and Syria.

I will say that we modern free women in the U.S. are basically all the same. When you get down to it, we are simply women created by God. We are entirely feminine. We are daughters, sisters, aunts, wives, mothers, and grandmothers. We probably genuinely care about the same things. When we encounter each other, we must see a comrade, not competition. We are all in this together. Think about how much better our days would be if we all supported each other versus tearing each other down. We complain that we don't get the same jobs men get or that we're not paid the same, yet we will degrade each other in the workplace and beat each other down to the point where someone loses their job. We complain that no one listens to us, yet roll our eyes at the the woman who speaks of her "problems" in public.

As a Christian woman, I implore all Christian women to reach out to other women every chance you get. We are in this together. We really do get each other. We have husbands who may be great and supportive or may be abusive or neglectful or just difficult to talk to. We have elderly parents we're caring for. We have children with multitudes of issues. We have difficult jobs and responsibilities. We all have our insecurities. We all have dreams. Let us build each other up and build a culture in this country that is truly pro-feminine. We can never do that without first starting with ourselves.

Western Women are Free - Yet Enslave Themselves?

2014-08-12T22:27:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article about a Syrian woman who had been pushed from her home along with her seven children due to terrorism. She had no husband as he had gone out into their town to fight and never came back. She described the "tent city" in which she was now living, and told the harrowing tale of many mothers who were marrying their young daughters off (some as young as 9) to wealthy older men from foreign lands so they would be taken care of and not raped by strangers passing by the tents. They were all terrified to bathe and definitely could not bathe alone. The details of the lurking male eyes gave me the chills.

I cannot imagine living in her reality. That is not a reality here for us in the United States. Girls are not married off in their preteen years so that the family does not have the burden of raising them anymore or the burden of watching them like a hawk to prevent rape and violence. These girls on the other side of the world are enslaved to men and their own sexuality. They are seen merely as sexual objects of a man's desires and the one who will bear children, clean the house, and cook the meals. If they are single into their teen years, they will most likely be raped and/or murdered. It is the genuine hope of the parents that their daughters will be married at a young age in order to "protect" them. This mother in the article went on to include her fears for her daughters as they marry. What will the nights be like with the new husband? Will he treat her well? Will she be cared for? Will she be forced to move to another country and never seen again? Very real fears …and a very harrowing tale.

Her story would not leave my mind. Day after day, I thought of all the middle eastern women - millions of women - who are enslaved by men and valued only for their sexuality. I thought how these women might act given true freedom from their brutal environment. I surmised that so many of them must be bright and creative - yearning for the opportunity to share their God-given talents with the world. …Then I opened up Facebook, and my teenage son's page popped up (since we all share the same computer in our house). I was going to log out and log back into my page, but the top story on his newsfeed was a picture of three girls with whom he grew up. They had taken a "selfie" of their group dressed in stripper-worthy bikinis and jacked-up high heals. It was like a bomb exploding before my eyes. Truly. I could not take my eyes off the photo in disbelief. I kept saying to myself, "I can't believe that's so-and-so", and "I can't believe their mothers don't know or don't care this photo of their daughters is on the internet!" The photo was so disgusting that I thought to myself, "they are enslaving themselves. No one is doing it for them."

Why, you say, are they enslaving themselves? Most women are, and we don't even know it. In our attempt at "freedom", we have adopted the attitude of, "I can dress however I like and men had better keep their eyes in their heads and their mouths shut." Looks good on paper. Doesn't translate to reality very well. If we as modern free women have a desire to be truly free, we must begin with the way we present ourselves to the world. What are my son's friends really saying by dressing like that and advertising it on Facebook? Are they saying, "Look at how smart I am? Look at what a very accomplished young lady I am about to embark on my higher studies at the University?" When we dress in revealing ways, we are saying the complete opposite. We are not celebrating our freedoms, we are enslaving ourselves to continue to be merely sexual objects.

I have been saying for YEARS that we women dress too scantily and we bring all kinds of negative attention on ourselves. If teens and young women were to dress more modestly, don't you think others around them would concentrate on their faces and the words coming out of their mouths? We mothers have allowed society to dictate to our daughters how they can/should look in public. Recent role models have included: Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, JLo, The Kardashians, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, and Hugh Hefner's many girlfriends including Kendra Wilkinson, Holly Madison, and Bridget Marquardt. Great list! And that list could go on and on. Women across America are also tuning in to The Housewives of Beverly Hills, New Jersey, Atlanta, etc. These are the women we hold in esteem??? I think most would agree we don't (I hope). Many "keep up" with these people just to watch the train wrecks. But seriously ask yourself how much you HONESTLY want to dress and look like many of them? HONESTLY. Our malls are filled to capacity every weekend with girls, teens, and women looking for clothing, shoes, and accessories that help them emulate all these women they see on tv and in the tabloids.

Turn those shows off! Stop buying the tabloids! Stop buying clothes that barely cover your bodies and scream to the world that you're available for abuse! That's right. I said it. You are asking to be abused by dressing in a provocative way. I would dare anyone to tell me something really great and virtuous that came from wearing a skin tight dress, too short skirt, shorts smaller than a bathing suit bottom, jeans like a second skin, blouse open below the breast line, tank top showing everything, or a teeny tiny bikini to the pool or on the beach. Seriously. Tell me! You can't because that scenario does not exist.

Women half way around the world are dying because they are Christian, and they are enslaved to their sexuality because of where they were simply born. They would give anything to be here in a free country to advance themselves intellectually, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. I am sure many of them go to sleep at night wishing for their chains of imprisonment to be broken. We women in the West are free, and yet we are choosing to make our statement to the world be a sexual one. Through our simple daily choice in clothing, we are choosing to promote ourselves sexually and give ourselves away to numerous men - and asking to be abused. We - OURSELVES - are willingly perpetuating a lack of respect for our daughters, friends, mothers, sisters, and ourselves. We can change that ...because we are free. We must begin respecting ourselves as the truly intelligent, creative, loving, nurturing, sentient beings who were intricately crafted by God.

P.S. This is not the original article I referenced as I cannot find it; however, this is a good article on the Syrian woman's plight.
Syrian Women's Plight

New Saying Yes 2 Life Facebook page!

2014-07-20T23:02:00.002-04:00

If any of my readers would like to join my Saying Yes 2 Life Facebook page, share the Catholic faith, and spread a culture of LIFE… please click here:

Saying Yes 2 Life Facebook page!

I will post my blog entries as well as Catholic and pro-life news and events. Please join - I would love to meet you there!

Hail, Full of Grace...

2014-07-18T01:05:00.000-04:00

Hail Mary, full of grace….How many times have we Catholics started our prayers this way? Have we ever stopped right there and thought about just those words? Those are the words that the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary when he greeted and gave her the wonderful news that she would give birth to our Lord and Savior.

"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" Luke 1:28

Why did Gabriel say, "full of grace"? This actually goes back to the original Greek word "kecharitomene", which means that Mary was "filled and endowed with grace" from the moment of her conception until her assumption into heaven. She was sinless from conception. The word "grace" was a greeting and blessing from God. It was "God's giving of himself in Christ in order to bring salvation" (Catholic Bible Dictionary). So when Gabriel greets Mary as "full of grace", he is saying she was completely filled with grace from conception to assumption and by the fact that she was carrying our Lord in her womb. God literally gave Himself in Christ to Mary "in order to bring salvation".

So many times we overlook Mary in our quest for her son. Yet it is she who beckons us to know Him. She calls us. For me it is a very strong tug in the center of my soul. She called me to this faith, and once a Catholic, she continued to nudge me closer to her Son. She is miraculous and glorious; beautiful and serene. She answered the call to life with a resounding yes. She answered with a yes because she was full of grace. She was unwavering in her love for and obedience to God. She is the prototypical Christian and someone we can look to for help, love, and guidance.

She is our greatest intercessor. She deserves our love, our attention, and our hearts.

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end."
Luke 1:30-33

Biking For Babies!

2014-07-14T16:39:00.004-04:00

Did you know that right now three teams of pro life young adults are riding bikes from Dallas, New Orleans, and St. Augustine all the way to Chicago? That's right. They're biking across a good portion of the U.S. to raise funds and awareness for the Respect Life movement. These young adults deserve our attention, our promotion, our prayers, and our financial backing. Please take a look at their website and see all that the three teams are doing. Praise God we are raising up a culture of LIFE in this nation!!!

Here is their website:
Biking for Babies

Here is a great, fun, and short video showcasing getting ready for the start of the ride and Day1!

A Servant of God Passes...

2014-06-19T16:31:00.001-04:00

Saying goodbye is just so hard. Whether it's saying goodbye to your kids in the morning as they head to school, or saying goodbye to your hubby as he prepares for a long day at work, or saying goodbye to loved ones when you may not see them again for months or even years, it always kind of brings a lump to my throat. The most difficult goodbye is the one that ends with, "'til we meet again in heaven." Even though we know we may see that person once we pass into eternity, it is so difficult being the one left behind. The goodbye because of the death of a loved one makes us so sad we may cry for days or years. It's a tough one to get over.

Recently, a friend of mine passed away, and I definitely feel a void in my life. He is no longer here to talk to in person, listen to his sage advice, see his smile, have his help with church matters, or just notice his fidgets and quirks that made him "him". He was a retired priest from New York working at our parish. He and I became friends many years ago when my oldest son was in junior high at the parish school. There's something about a priest who makes the effort to be at the kids' dances and in the classrooms talking with them when he, himself, is in failing health.

Here is Father Jerry at the Women's Conference…
fully engaged with one of the participants as he was
with each one of us.

When I began to run the respect life ministry for our parish, I was four months pregnant. I was told a "Walk for Life" was already planned to be held at our parish for the end of January - I would be nine months pregnant (yikes). Fr. Jerry offered to help numerous times and in numerous ways. He was always concerned for me, my health, and the health of the baby. He came to me one day a few years back and said he wanted to start a women's healing mass at our parish and asked if I would help him. Of course I said yes, and we were on our way. This year, our parish will hold its fourth annual healing mass. When we held the Archdiocesan Women's Conference, he of course said he would be there all day to hear confessions. This was a man who suffered physically everyday and was on multiple medications.

When his time came to finally meet our Lord, I was, of course, overcome with tremendous sadness over losing my friend, pastor, and confessor, but I was also happy for him as his pain and suffering had ended. I would not be able to hear his homilies anymore. I would not see his smile. I would not see his tremendous efforts at our parish in being what he was called to be… a shepherd to the people. But…I would forever hold those memories in my heart and in my memory. The day he died, I heard his voice in my ears non-stop all day. I kept going over old conversations I had had with him - hearing his advice, his laugh, his kind voice, and the way he sometimes fumbled for words when he wasn't feeling well. I could feel his hand on mine when I was sad or tired or in need of a friend.

I brought my oldest son with me to the visitation (his funeral was in his home state of NY), as we were all so close to him, and we both did a lot of crying. It was beautiful to get to say goodbye to him face to face though. He was lying there so peacefully and dressed in white. He looked like an angel. Honestly, as I stood beside his casket and looked at him one last time all I could do was smile. He had brought so much joy to my life and to my family's life, and I knew he was finally home and free from his earthly pains and troubles. It definitely brought closure. I will miss this humble servant of God, this man who was never afraid to admit past failures publicly, and help us with ours privately. He taught us over and over to live as Jesus lived, to love each other, to see everyone as God's loved creations, to give of ourselves to others, to seek help when we go astray, and he taught us that God loves us and forgives us. I am a better person for having known him and he will live with me and my family for all eternity.

"Well done, good and faithful servant…" Matthew 25:21

p.s. About a year ago, Father Jerry flagged me down after mass. He pulled me aside and told me he wanted me to have this…his announcement card when he was ordained a priest. He said he had saved several of them over the years and wanted me to have one. The night he passed, I kept it very close to me. He had a great love of the mass and truly believed in his calling to the priesthood. Please pray for the soul of Father Jerry Hafner.

Letting Go and Having Faith in the Storm

2014-04-28T09:43:00.001-04:00

Back in the 80's, when my parents were attending new age churches, I remember a saying that I used to hear over and over.

"Let go and let God"

It's not so new-agey, really. Its roots are deep in Judeo-Christian teachings. The Bible is riddled with one story after another of God testing one's faith. We see numerous stories of people showing us how to let go and completely trust in God's ways. Abraham climbs a mountain to do the unimaginable - kill his son - all because God is testing his faith. Abraham trusts in God and is ultimately rewarded as his son's life is spared. Noah is asked to build a really big boat with very specific instructions…and he does it. Daniel is thrown into a lion's den, yet his faith in God saves him at the hands of an angel. I could go on and on right on through to Mary and Joseph, and ultimately Jesus.

We are no different from the characters of the Bible. We are ordinary people being called to faithfulness. This often comes in times of deep trial. We are called to completely let go of our earthly expectations of how a circumstance "should" unfold. Sometimes the outcomes are not good. Are we still faithful even when things don't go our way? We have to be. This is what God is asking of us. As the song goes, do you "praise him in the storm"? I would say that if you are in the beginning of a tumultuous time, or in the eye of the storm, or in the aftermath, you must praise Him all the time. You must praise God in all his infinite wisdom and glory, for He knows better than we.

As humans here on this earth, we can ONLY know true freedom when we give up ourselves to God's will. When we try to force our own will, we only end up frustrating ourselves and those around us. I was just telling my husband yesterday that I admittedly sometimes don't want to get myself to mass on Sunday. I'm too busy with my errands, or my cooking, or my laundry, or my exercising, or my … my … my. And then I go. I go to mass and sit their in the pew and feel happier than I ever have in all my life. Church is the happiest place on earth for me. It is a joy like no other. When I'm there, I'm pretty sure it is heaven on earth. My selfishness could have prevented me from enjoying that one hour of heaven. Letting go of my worries and giving them over to God is unimaginably freeing.

I will leave you with a clip from a Disney movie which I adore in its simplicity, and yet its very deep meaning. Let go and let God!