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Yesterday at church, a new young family sat down next to us. They had many little ones and, as most parents with small children do, the parents became the bookends in the pew with the kids in the middle.
It’s the most effective way of preventing the escaping kid.
The pew corral has many benefits.
Two of our children are adults now and are out of the house and our son altar serves, so now it is just me and my husband in the pew.
Looking at the other family, I was thinking about how quickly we went from all five of us to just the two of us and it made me feel a mixture of sadness and joy.
When you are in the thick of wrangling little ones at Mass, it can seem like an eternity before you’ll be able to pay attention fully or spend an entire Mass in the seats without escorting a child to the back. You can anxiously wish that time away.
I felt sad because it ends all too soon and then you eagerly wait for the day when your adult kids come home to visit and the family is all together. I miss my two girls finding something funny at some point and then they start giggling, feeding off each other. In an effort to be quiet, they silently laugh which causes their shoulders to shake, which I imagine looks weird to the people behind them.
But, it also brings me joy because my husband and I survived those years and now we sit right next to each other hand-in-hand. We are the foundation that our children can always count on and come home to and that makes me happy.
When kids are little it can be hard to focus on your marriage, Catholic Pilgrims. Find the time, though. It doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate, but find time to connect as husband and wife. Trust me when I say, your kids need you to stay close.
Have a blessed Monday.
The other day while teaching my son religion, we were reading where St. Paul said that Christ crucified was a stumbling block for Jews and foolishness for Greeks. I asked my son why he thought the Greeks thought the Cross was foolishness. "Well, probably because people died on it." "That's right. The cross was an instrument of death and torture, but for Christians its a symbol of our Salvation. We wear a symbol of death, we have crosses and crucifixes all over because the Cross is where Christ displayed the immensity of His love to us." Honestly, nothing has changed, Catholic Pilgrims. Many people still see the Cross as foolishness. They can't understand it because they don't truly understand what Love is. Love is never inward focused. It isn't just about feelings. Christ showed us that love requires sacrifice; there will be suffering accompanied with it. To a secular world that distorts love into nothing more than sensual good feelings, the Cross seems foolish. Christ on the Cross teaches us that we must lay down our lives not for ourselves, but for the good of others--to save others from death and destruction. From a purely natural perspective, this makes no sense. But, the death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ is not natural, it's supernatural. If you only see with natural eyes, supernatural things will make no sense to you. Today, we celebrate The Exaltation of the Holy Cross. When we look to the Cross, may we always see Love, Victory, and Salvation. Have a blessed Sunday. *Statues found at Mission San Gabriel in LA
Continue ReadingOne time in high school, my teacher had to put me out into the hallway to cool off after I'd gotten in a heated debate with a classmate over whether or not we should be allowed to burn the American flag. Her flippant attitude about the topic and her lack of gratitude seared me with righteous anger. Standing out in the hallway that day, I realized that passion for what is good will always be met with selfish, indifferent attitudes. Then in college, many times, I would be the only person standing in defense of Christian conservative beliefs. It never failed, though, that after class people would come up to me and tell me that they agreed with me. They just lacked the courage to speak up. I learned in college that courage is a virtue for a reason--it's hard to live out. Virtues require effort and sacrifice. Today, we mourn and honor those that lost their lives on 9-11 and we, also, mourn the loss of a courageous man, Charlie Kirk. For far too long, we've been told to tamp down our passion as patriots for our country. For far too long, we've been told to just be door-mat Christians. For far too long, we've allowed cowards to tell us that standing for what is right makes us _________________(enter a derogatory label). I'm just sick to death of it all and I'm angry. The tide must turn and we need courageous, passionate people to step up. I'm a proud American. I'm an unapologetic Christian. I'm a conservative who knows that there is right and there is wrong and it's not that hard to figure out which is which. In honor of those Americans that lost their lives for being American and for Charlie Kirk, who lost his life for being a Christian conservative, we need to step up our game. The angry and sadness you feel, channel that into being a great American citizen. Channel it into going to church and knowing and living out your Faith. Channel it into conserving your traditional family, your heritage, and the truth. We seriously owe it to those that we remember today, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingAfter visiting St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in NYC, my husband, son, and I took a walk in the nearby park--Fort Tyron Park. We found a quaint cafe to have lunch in and afterwards went to explore the rest of the park. We came to an enchanting area with stone nooks to read in, yellow leaves were falling, and we could look out over the Hudson River. This four-seasons gal drank it in. Have I ever told you about how I'm not a desert dweller? Anyway... All my life, I've heard people talk about the Palisades, but I was too lazy to figure out what they were. However, I have finally learned. The Palisades are the shear bluffs that line the Hudson River on the New Jersey side. Rockefeller purchased this land long ago to keep it from being developed and eventually donated the land to the state of New Jersey. Today, it is a park with lots of hiking trails. So, as we were looking over at the Palisades (yes, there are some in California, too), we noticed a big building up on the top. You can see it in the picture--the orange-ish building. My husband and I were curious as to what it is, so we looked it up. Well, it's the Holy Name Medical Center and it has the Sister Claire Tynan School of Nursing there. It's a very prestigious nursing school. The plot thickens, though. As you all may remember, I was born in a Catholic hospital--St. Joseph's in Wichita. It was founded by The Sisters of Saint Joseph. Recently, I found out my paternal grandfather was born in a hospital in his small southeastern Kansas town and, it too, was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Well, I'll give you one guess as to what order Sister Clair Tynan belonged to. That's right! She belonged to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. Just another example of how St. Joseph has been ever present in my life lately. Even the building I'm staring at across the Hudson River has a connection. Hope you enjoyed that history lesson, Catholic Pilgrims. Our Catholic Faith is everywhere. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Wednesday.
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