"Do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage."
- St. Francis de Sales
Today's quote reminds me of something Father said to me at Thursday's Confession, about this being the chance to make a fresh start. It's easy to be discouraged about my recurring sins and faults, yet true faith means accepting the wiping clean of my slate and taking courage to begin anew.
Showing posts with label sacraments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sacraments. Show all posts
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Confirmation
On Saturday Daniel was confirmed by the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, archbishop of the military. Mass was lovely, and the singing of the litany of the saints during the anointing was especially moving.We invited family and friends over to celebrate. I thought it was a low-key menu (picked by Dan), but it takes a long time to cook 40 hamburgers--just ask Len!
But Len's biggest role in this sacrament is the preparation. He's handled 7th and 8th grade religious education for all our teens so far. Of course this saves me time, but the biggest benefit is the children's exposure to my husband's thoughtfullness and godliness. He may or may not be smarter than me (why speculate?), but he certainly THINKS more (often and deeply) than I do!
White chocolate rasperry cake on Saturday--yum! And now back to Lent...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Morning Musing: The Near Occasion of Sin
Dusty is a good dog--cheerful, friendly, (mostly) obedient. A very good dog.
But when the trash can holds the carcass of last night's roast chicken, I don't leave it in the kitchen. To the mudroom it goes, behind the gate.
Dusty's a good dog, but hey, there's only so much that can be expected of him in the face of such a temptation.
This morning, when I saw what I done almost automatically, "near occasion of sin" jumped into my head.
There are many versions, but my favorite act of contrition is an old one: "Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because of Thy just punishments, but most of all, because they offend Thee, my God, who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin."
When something or someone or someplace makes it easier for us to sin, maybe even likely that we will sin, we need to stay away from it/him. We've all got our weaknesses--certain books or movies, bad friends, lack of sleep (Moms, you know what I mean!)--things that make it hard to be good.
We need to put those things in the mudroom behind the gate. We can't stay in the kitchen with them, smelling that chicken, seeing that so-easy-to-tip-over trash can, and then expect ourselves to not take off the lid and make a big mess of things. The Church in her wisdom reminds us to stay away from temptation.
Another thought I had is that we need to also make sure we're not someone else's near occasion of sin. Things that we say or do, even if they're not objectively wrong (but especially if they are), can make it hard for others to be good. Sometimes we may need to put ourselves or our behaviors behind a gate to protect others, especially those we love.
I'm thinking of siblings pestering each other, friends sharing bad language or bad images or gossip, parents nagging until anger or resentment builds, or (this is the one that jumped out at me today) women dressing provocatively. That could be a zillion posts or books by itself (and is, all over the web), but the idea of women dressing modestly to protect the virtue of men is an interesting one.
Have a great day! Share with me YOUR morning musings! :-)
But when the trash can holds the carcass of last night's roast chicken, I don't leave it in the kitchen. To the mudroom it goes, behind the gate.
Dusty's a good dog, but hey, there's only so much that can be expected of him in the face of such a temptation.This morning, when I saw what I done almost automatically, "near occasion of sin" jumped into my head.
There are many versions, but my favorite act of contrition is an old one: "Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because of Thy just punishments, but most of all, because they offend Thee, my God, who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin."
When something or someone or someplace makes it easier for us to sin, maybe even likely that we will sin, we need to stay away from it/him. We've all got our weaknesses--certain books or movies, bad friends, lack of sleep (Moms, you know what I mean!)--things that make it hard to be good.
We need to put those things in the mudroom behind the gate. We can't stay in the kitchen with them, smelling that chicken, seeing that so-easy-to-tip-over trash can, and then expect ourselves to not take off the lid and make a big mess of things. The Church in her wisdom reminds us to stay away from temptation.
Another thought I had is that we need to also make sure we're not someone else's near occasion of sin. Things that we say or do, even if they're not objectively wrong (but especially if they are), can make it hard for others to be good. Sometimes we may need to put ourselves or our behaviors behind a gate to protect others, especially those we love.
I'm thinking of siblings pestering each other, friends sharing bad language or bad images or gossip, parents nagging until anger or resentment builds, or (this is the one that jumped out at me today) women dressing provocatively. That could be a zillion posts or books by itself (and is, all over the web), but the idea of women dressing modestly to protect the virtue of men is an interesting one.
Have a great day! Share with me YOUR morning musings! :-)
Friday, June 6, 2008
Inspiration Revisited
AKA the Daily Mass Update:
As I expected, participation at noon mass has dropped off now that official classes are over. I'll usually have one or more volunteers attend with me, but if the teens are home, some littles choose to stay behind.
Still, this is more daily mass than I've attended in several years, and certainly more children are joining me than when 6:15 was my time of choice. So it is good.
BTW, my parish offers 6:15 a.m., 9:00 a.m., and noon masses M-F, and 9:00 a.m. on Saturday (which I haven't managed yet). What luxury!
As I expected, participation at noon mass has dropped off now that official classes are over. I'll usually have one or more volunteers attend with me, but if the teens are home, some littles choose to stay behind.
Still, this is more daily mass than I've attended in several years, and certainly more children are joining me than when 6:15 was my time of choice. So it is good.
BTW, my parish offers 6:15 a.m., 9:00 a.m., and noon masses M-F, and 9:00 a.m. on Saturday (which I haven't managed yet). What luxury!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Inspiration
Today is Pentecost Sunday, and the Holy Spirit has been active here this week.
First, some background: I used to go to 6:15 a.m. mass several mornings a week. It made for an early start to the day, but I am a morning person, and it fit with the morning carpool. I even took Marianna and Rebecca along when they were little babies. The daily mass habit never lasted into the summers, and it fell away completely a few years ago. I now walk Dusty in the mornings and drive the afternoon carpool.
So there I was at Marianna's First Communion mass, listening to the sermon, which of course was on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I thought, "I could be here and meet the Lord of the Universe in person every day, and instead I'm walking the dog?" It just didn't seem like I've got my priorities lined up properly. We went to a lot of effort to go to mass with the pope, but at every mass I can be with Jesus. Who is more important?
Immediately the objections began: Who will walk the dog? Can I get up early enough to walk and then go to early mass? Argh! No way! What about 9 a.m.? That would mess with the school rhythm, and I 'd have to take everyone along--ugh. I know homeschoolers who go to noon mass, but that would mess up the school rhythm AND lunch. And on and on . . .
I didn't want to let this go, though. I was really struck on May 3rd that this should be my priority. On the other hand, I do have a vocation as a wife, mother, teacher, etc., and I need to take that into consideration, too. I lit a prayer candle and talked to a "nooner" who made it sound a little less scary. On with the discernment . . .
The day after Marianna's FHC, our family stayed after mass for the May procession and crowning of Mary (by Marianna!). As left, Marianna said, "I wish I could go to church every day." !!! How can I put a limit on enthusiasm like that?
Monday I talked with the homeschoolers, explaining my call and the scheduling dilemma. They (very casually, it seemed to me) suggested that we could all go to 6:15! This sounded too good to be true, and the more I thought about it, the more I decided it was. They normally get up at 7:00, and changing that by more than an hour would either not last long or would increase overall crankiness. But now that the children [except Rebecca :-( ]want to go, I need to find a way to bring them, too.
So for now we've settled on noon mass. We made it a couple of times this week, and will begin in earnest tomorrow. We'll either get a lot less school done, or work harder to be efficient. I don't know what will happen when summer comes. There's more free time then, but the lack of structure has somehow always kept me from even trying to get out the door. Time will tell.
That's our family's "prompting by the Spirit" tale of the month. Ask me in a while how it turns out. Pray for us.
First, some background: I used to go to 6:15 a.m. mass several mornings a week. It made for an early start to the day, but I am a morning person, and it fit with the morning carpool. I even took Marianna and Rebecca along when they were little babies. The daily mass habit never lasted into the summers, and it fell away completely a few years ago. I now walk Dusty in the mornings and drive the afternoon carpool.
So there I was at Marianna's First Communion mass, listening to the sermon, which of course was on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I thought, "I could be here and meet the Lord of the Universe in person every day, and instead I'm walking the dog?" It just didn't seem like I've got my priorities lined up properly. We went to a lot of effort to go to mass with the pope, but at every mass I can be with Jesus. Who is more important?
Immediately the objections began: Who will walk the dog? Can I get up early enough to walk and then go to early mass? Argh! No way! What about 9 a.m.? That would mess with the school rhythm, and I 'd have to take everyone along--ugh. I know homeschoolers who go to noon mass, but that would mess up the school rhythm AND lunch. And on and on . . .
I didn't want to let this go, though. I was really struck on May 3rd that this should be my priority. On the other hand, I do have a vocation as a wife, mother, teacher, etc., and I need to take that into consideration, too. I lit a prayer candle and talked to a "nooner" who made it sound a little less scary. On with the discernment . . .
The day after Marianna's FHC, our family stayed after mass for the May procession and crowning of Mary (by Marianna!). As left, Marianna said, "I wish I could go to church every day." !!! How can I put a limit on enthusiasm like that?
Monday I talked with the homeschoolers, explaining my call and the scheduling dilemma. They (very casually, it seemed to me) suggested that we could all go to 6:15! This sounded too good to be true, and the more I thought about it, the more I decided it was. They normally get up at 7:00, and changing that by more than an hour would either not last long or would increase overall crankiness. But now that the children [except Rebecca :-( ]want to go, I need to find a way to bring them, too.
So for now we've settled on noon mass. We made it a couple of times this week, and will begin in earnest tomorrow. We'll either get a lot less school done, or work harder to be efficient. I don't know what will happen when summer comes. There's more free time then, but the lack of structure has somehow always kept me from even trying to get out the door. Time will tell.
That's our family's "prompting by the Spirit" tale of the month. Ask me in a while how it turns out. Pray for us.
First Holy Communion
Well, Marianna received her First Holy Communion last Saturday (May 3rd). It was a beautiful, joyous day for the whole family. It was so touching to watch 66 lovely souls receive Jesus for the first time.
Marianna's godmother flew in from Michigan for the occasion, just a week after my trip there for her daughter's FHC.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
First Communions
I've got all kinds of post ideas running through my head, but Marianna's First Holy Communion is this Saturday, so computer time is not a priority. Meanwhile, Anne wrote a nice post about my trip to Michigan for Emma's FHC.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Magnificat by John Michael Talbot
Youtube isn't working at our house, but Anne has given me access to post this beautiful meditation. I'm here in breezy Michigan for Emma (my goddaughter)'s First Holy Communion tomorrow. Thank you, Anne!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Fresh and Clean
Marianna made her first Confession on Saturday, so her soul was the cleanest in the house! As a memento we gave her some (cherry blossom) shower gel and a sea sponge.Her card contains Psalm 51:1-2, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love; according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniqity, and cleanse me from my sin!"
We made the connection in writing, too, reminding her that she needs to keep her body clean to be healthy, and that regular cleaning helps keep the soul healthy.
Special bath items make a good gift for a First Penance. I've given some to godchildren, too. Wish I'd thought of it sooner. And this CAN work for boys. I once found some soap made with mud from the Dead Sea!
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