He is Risen!

Well another fruitful season of Lent has passed us. Sometimes I feel old...

Anyway, out of my six students in RCIC five of them were at the Vigil and all but one finished the sacraments of initiation. The one poor girl was sick and after throwing up twice her parents took her home before communion. We'll have to do something special for her, she was so looking forward to this experience! The sixth student is going to receive her sacraments later due to a family reunion.

Yet we are not done, there is catechesis to be taught and First Reconciliation to be made. I do love teaching the kids about the Church. Tomorrow we are going to pray the rosary in the prayer garden! One of my favorite experiences with the kids and they seem to enjoy it as well.

Holy Saturday was quite full of things to do as we had rehearsal with Father Larry in the morning, a nice lunch of vegetable soup and a retreat where the children received letters from family and friends telling them how much they love them. It is always a great experience to see the kids read their letters. We discussed what would happen at the Vigil and then they wrote their own letter to Jesus telling Him anything in their hearts and why they were becoming Catholic. These letters were carried up to the altar during the presentation of the gifts. The reception after Mass was quite lovely with lots of food and flowers. I took a dozen roses home to love on.

On Sunday I got up to make bunny shaped biscuits which were a total failure when they came out of the oven (they lost their bunny shape) but tasted excellent so I was happy about that. Matthew and I shared an Easter meal with his (soon-to-be-"our") parents and three friends were there to share it with us. It was the first time we have been able to spend time with an engaged couple from RCIA, Stephanie and Michael, and I think they had a wonderful time. A dear friend of ours, Mark, was present as well and he brought some food to share. We love spending time with Mark, it is hard to find such a wonderful friend who loves to talk about books and spirituality and almost anything! We played a game of dominoes after dinner and then we had to go feed and take Chewy on a walk. We returned to Dick and Karol's to pray the rosary together and watch the Discovery Channel's Life series. Overall a fun-filled day.

I missed my own families holiday filled with chatter and children hunting for Easter eggs and baskets full of candy. My wonderful sister, Melissa, did bring me these amazing Easter eggs called opera creams which my mother will store for me until I come home. These eggs are hand made and are such a treat!

I gave up playing on the internet for Lent and alloted myself one hour each day to check my email and look at blogs and things. So far I think I did a good job and even had days in there where I didn't get on a computer at all! I am happy to be able to read lots of Catholic blogs again. But that is for another post.

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Blessed be God.

Blessed be His Holy Name.

Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.

Blessed be the name of Jesus.

Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.

Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the paraclete.

Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.

Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.

Blessed be her glorious Assumption.

Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.

Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.

Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints.

May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with great affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen.

The Seven Storey Mountain

During the season of Lent I've been reading The Seven Storey Mountain which is Thomas Merton's autobiography. He was a Trappist Monk at Gethsemane which is located in Kentucky. Matthew and I paid it a visit in September of last year and found it remarkably full of peace and beauty. The brothers make cheese, fruit cake and bourbon fudge (yum!). Nothing was overblown, it was just beautiful in its simplicity. I can't wait to return for a weekend stay.

I'm not that far in the book, Thomas has just reached 17 and he is not Catholic (yet).

I read this passage this morning and it spoke to me. Something I think all of us can understand yet fall victim to from time to time.

People who are immersed in sensual appetites and desires are not very well prepared to handle abstract ideas.

This is why I think we Catholics pursue acts of penance, fasting and abstinence. When we starve our cravings and temptations then we truly can think clearly and think things through.

I am left wondering how we are to teach these ideas to our children. Is it that they must come to these conclusions by themselves? I suppose the best I can do is plant the seeds of these fruits multiple times.

Fourth Week of Easter

I never did let you know what it was like to give up television for Lent and now here we are in the fourth week of Easter.

The short version?  Liberating.  

Long version?  I no longer care what is on TV or care to turn it on (sometimes, yes, sometimes I think about The Big Bang Theory and Ugly Betty).  I have found so much more meaningful things in my life.  I am now able to dedicate time more to prayer, which I felt was seriously lacking.  I also have become dedicated to following Father Z's blog which takes up some time during the day, yet has deepened my knowledge and my faith.

It is hard to say how Lent would have been different if I hadn't fallen in love and spent every free second with Matthew.  I imagine I would have seen some friends more and worked on some hobbies more.  Totally would have slept more.  I don't find any of that mattering to me, though.  Come on, would it to you?  If those friends really cared as well they would have called me and set up a date.

The wonderful things have have changed since Lent:

Matthew (and all that comes with him, nuff said)

Daily prayer

Perpetual Adoration commitment

Deciding to receive the Eucharist on the tongue

Liturgy of the Hours on Wednesday evenings

Parents came to visit

Grown closer to the Gretencords

Food Pantry volunteering

My RCIC kids went through the Sacraments of Initiation

 

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, for giving me the reason and the opportunity to overcome my ridiculous amount of TV-watching.  I feel better about my life and myself.  It only frees me to serve You more.  "I will sing to you, O Lord; I will learn from you the way of perfection."

Ash Wednesday

This morning I went to church for the children's Mass which was amazing.  I've never been to one before and it was really endearing to see everyone attentive, reverent and under four feet tall.

Have you ever felt pure joy of heart?  I was thinking about this during Mass for several reasons.  When I am really focused and feeling the Lord's presence then I definitely feel pure joy.  But it is not something that lasts for long periods of time for me.  I am not an unhappy person--by all means I am very content with my life.  I am very blessed and sometimes that makes me scared.  When will the bad things come?  Anyway, I digress...  Content is not a bad word, it should be something that everyone strives to achieve.  I have everything that I could possibly need and the things that I want I pray for so I'm waiting (thank you to J.C. and his Mother and Father for lending an ear).

The church was packed with children and during the singing of the Lord's Prayer I could just hear all of the children's voices raised in unison and it flooded my heart with joy bringing

 tears to my eyes.  I don't remember the last time I felt it so strongly but I would love to feel it again... anytime... now...  I hope you experience these things as I gain strength and understanding from them.  During the song I looked around at the adults around me and I wondered if they too felt it.  I didn't want to prayer to end.

You can label me as sappy, that's okay I won't be offended.

Fat Tuesday

What is your Lenten sacrifice?  I have been turning ideas around in my head because I want to pick something that I believe I can follow through with but will still be a challenge.

In the past I have tried to conquer three or four things believing that if I failed one I still had others to work on.  That really isn't the point, now is it?  I also tried to do things rather than giving up.  Such as not fighting with others or always trying to be the nicer person.  That's something I should be doing every day anyway...

So now, I want to give up one thing and stick to it and be successful.  It also must give me some blessings that will enhance my spiritual life as well as overall quality of life.  Giving up a certain food or type of food would influence my health (maybe, I would probably wind up picking something just as satisfying believing I was holding to my sacrifice) but it wouldn't affect my spiritual life.  God does not really care if I give up chocolate, I am sure.  It will not lead me to Him.

What have I decided to give up?  Television.  I am procrastinating at home and at work by watching streaming video online of shows that suck me in.  Which most television shows suck me in really easily.  I was one of those children who watched Nickelodeon all day during the summers and so as an adult I love television.  Does it really improve the quality of my life?  Absolutely not.  In fact I could be cleaning my apartment or organizing paperwork or learning a new cooking technique.  Instead I like to plop down on the couch and unwind as I like to call it.  I could be saying the rosary every night before going to bed rather than watching TV up the point of crawling into bed.

So, is this something that I should be able to do?  Yes, it should be totally logical to believe that someone could give up watching TV for Lent, right?  I hope so...

I don't want to find myself as an older person wondering why I haven't done all the amazing things in life that other people seem to accomplish outside of work.  I want to organize programs and social functions, I want to be involved.  I don't think you can do that if you spend several hours every week "glued to the tube."  

So, if you happen to see me give into temptation.  Please, please, please please!  Sternly tell me to get up and do something else and tell me that I am hurting myself by breaking my sacrifice and that I am disappointing our Lord.  That should shame me well enough!