How Sweet it Is!

The feast of St. Ambrose...sound like something you have heard of before?  Whenever I hear about St. Ambrose, my first thought is always of ambrosia salad.  I am not much of a fan but I can understand why people like this dessert.  It is just a little too sweet for me!  This sweet treat is a reminder of the promise from the Old Testament for the Israelites to enter into the land of milk and honey (ambrosia is Latin for honey).

Here is a little information about this saint:  Born in Italy in the year 333 to a noble family.  A legend states that as a baby a swarm of bees landed on his mouth to signify that he would be a great speaker.

What I love about this saint is the dedication he had to the Lord.  He was only learning about the faith, when an argument broke out between two groups, and he was chosen as the new bishop!  This could easily have been an opportunity to be prideful and worldly.  However, Ambrose took this as an opportunity to devote himself to learn more about theology and gave all his possessions to the poor.  He then used his amazing speaking ability to convert many to the faith.  He is most 'famous' for his conversion of St. Augustine.

St. Ambrose is also known as the "Honey-Tongued Doctor," a pun on the saint's name...his sermons were as "sweet as flowing honey."  We have a special interest in this holy man, as St. Ambrose is one of the patron saints of beekeepers.  I am sure, in all of our blessings, we can find one to bless a bee hive, so we will be heading out to our apiary (3 hives!) to bless our bees at some point today!

What a great start to the day to learn about such an important lesson of humility and devotion to the Lord.  We continued our nativity scene with the placing of the hay in the manger.  That we might "overcome all feelings of pride, anger or envy and soften our hearts for Jesus.  Jesus, teach us to know and correct our greatest sin. Amen."

Again, I can see how the saint who we look to for an example today shows how he overcame pride (taking on humility) to give his life for God.  May we also find ways to do the same.  How powerful it is to think that by first KNOWING our own personal sin we are on the right path to humility and away from pride.  I was once told that we all have a vice that causes us to struggle...knowing what that sin is and accepting that we need to turn away from that temptation can then give us the greatest fulfillment in the virtue that replaces the bad habit.

Now...I am so glad we woke up early this morning and I had the opportunity to type these thoughts down before I left for the rest of the day.  God must have known that the day was going to get wild until late into the evening.  AND, I had the sense to listen to that whisper and follow through.  Otherwise, you might not get this on the right day!  LOL!

If you read my 4H blog, then you know that we had a big project on our hands for today.  We had collected over 150 household items along with 36 dozen cookies to give to a local women's shelter. At the meeting, our club manager (Brenda) suggested that we try to get a little gift for the moms and children.  I told them I would like to also try to assure all the women were given the same basic household items and place them in a small laundry basket.  We loaded all the items into our vehicle and sorted them last night (Thank you Henry for staying up to help me!)  We took note of items that were still needed.  Then we rushed to town to go by the store for the items to fill in as needed.

Did I mention that it is First Friday?  Oh...well it is and we were determined to keep our appointment with God today, so we got to Mass just in time to take a breath and worship the Lord.  I love that our priest was able to bring in the stories of St. Ambrose and the boys nodded in understanding.  Made the message of the morning that much more meaningful!  Besides it is always good to have someone they respect and admire (a man...a priest) tell the information to assure they believe what we are learning.

I am so glad we did not put off this time of worship...it was like a refueling of the Spirit as we then RACED back to the house with our store treasures and started an assembly line of activities.  Made lunch...sorted items into each of the baskets to assure they were evenly dispersed as planned...and prepared a dinner for our church celebration (yeah that's tonight too!)...WHOA!!!!

WAIT!...the easy dinner that everyone loves...the one I could throw in my slow cooker at the last minute and enjoy for a potluck...What do you mean we only had 8 little meatballs in the freezer?!!!
Oh my!!!  Believe it or not...I kept my cool...I already had everything for the sauce in the slow cooker...I already had Henry making rice...all that was needed was a quick trip to our local store AGAIN!!! to get meatballs.  We could make this work!  My mantra all day was...We are not going to let Satan have a victory...he light have one a battle or two but in the end we would have victory! So we were going to make this work!

All the gifts for the women were loaded in the car via relay of boys handing off the assortment of baskets!  I fed the baby and in record time all were back in the car with it loaded down to meet Brenda to assemble the other little gifts for the moms and children.  We tied ribbon on cars, princesses, lip balm, kitchen towels and lotion...along with a candy cane.  We also had 2 special crocheted teddy bears and hats crocheted for the smallest of the children (So sweet of Becca...she had one she did not finish until we were taking the baskets into the center but she persevered and got it done!)

We got to the center right on time to meet all the 4H families who could attend.  We also brought along a quilt the 4Hers had made last spring.  We always intended to give it to the center for a special situation but had not taken the time to get it there.  We were able to get all the 4Hers (minus two) to take a picture with the director.

Let me tell you...the director was so surprised when we continued to take out all of the gifts!  Over 350 items were collected by the time we all came together at the center!  I think we were just as surprised as it had not sunk in that we had accomplished such a task in less than 24 hours!  I admit...we were a little proud of our small group of 4Hers!  But I will also say that we give all the glory to God as we know that it through our blessings from Him and the openness of our 4H families to share these blessings with others that brought so much joy to the women.  It makes us want to go back and help more.  Such a small cost but a priceless gift for all involved.  As I drove away, the boys and I could only think about how much God's love was shown today and it was like fulfilling the true meaning of the season.

Remember that quick trip to the store for meatballs?  Neither did I...but I got clever...I asked one of the moms to watch the children while I ran in to get the ONE item needed.  Thankfll she agreed and I was in and out of the store in less than 5 minutes!!!  Do you know how long that would have taken had I taken all of them in with me?!!?  I could not even unbuckle all those sweeties in 5 minutes!!!  LOL!

Then back home to change into church clothes and heat up those meatballs miraculously!  We were back in the car and back at church in time to turn the slow cooker up to high and settle into our second Mass of the day.  This Mass was in celebration of the Immaculate Conception.  A special day made even more special because it is the name of our church as well.  I will talk more of the feast day in my blog tomorrow...just to avoid confusion and end an already LONG post!

We had a nice potluck dinner after Mass with our church family.  It was so good to finally sit down after the full day!  And the meatballs with rice turned out wonderful!

We got home and actually added two more Jesse ornaments to our tree.  We added a bag of wheat that represented the story of Joseph (Genesis 41:47-49).  Although Joseph was cast out by his brothers, his faith in God allowed him to feed his family during a famine.  What a wonderful story of God's providence!  Then we had the famous burning bush (Exodus 3:2-10) that spoke to Moses of God's plan to free the Israelites and lead them to the Promised Land.  Of course, the first time the Chosen People are promised what was thought to be an earthly kingdom....oh how wrong they were!

We read about the promise of the kingdom to the line of David.  Although the promise would be placed on hold for generations, God never turned his back on this promise.  Through the acceptance of Mary to God's plan, the promise can be fulfilled in a way never imagined.  The kingdom would be one for eternity with an everlasting King!

We also read about the Annunciation of Jesus to Mary.  The only time it is recorded that a person did not bow down in fear at the sight of an angel.  Why would Mary not have a fear of an angel?  My thought was that she had no reason to be afraid...she was full of grace and knew that God had already given her the joy of salvation!  She knew God's love at its fullest and was open to God's plan.  It was as if she was comfortable with having a conversation with an angel!  We will continue to discover the understanding of Mary's reaction the angel's message tomorrow.

I do have to say that my intent was to at some point bless our bee hives.  There was just too much activity for one day!  I figure the blessing of the bee hives can wait a day so it has more meaning to us.  I think St. Ambrose will understand!  ;)

We did find a nice blessing (meant for the feast of St. Benedict, another patron of bees, but still a good blessing for bees anytime) and will attach a medal to each of our beehives to remind us of this blessing from God (especially on those not so fun days when we are stung!).  In my search for a blessing, I also found this funny prayer that is so true in its humor...I just had to share.



Dear Lord,
Please Lord, guide that beekeeper, the one so faithful,
The one so proud and thankful for that golden honey so tasteful,
for Lord, he puts his trust in you and in hives of honey bees,
Lord with hopes that a bountiful harvest of honey he soon sees.
Please Lord, send him blessings for his toil, his devotion and his trust
because Lord, going to the bee yard each day is a must.
And Lord whether you send hot or cold, rain or shine,
He, on that day, must trust those bees to be ever so kind.
Please Lord, give him strength and courage in those hard times,
for Lord he knows the ladder to success is sometimes hard to climb.
And remember Lord, in those hard times he always comes to you with his prayers,
Lord, not prayers for himself he dares, but those for whom he cares.
Please Lord, provide him and his bees with all their needs,
for Lord, much of the world their labor feeds,
for without those bees plants could not produce seeds,
and what would we all eat with only fields of weeds.
Please Lord, laden him with knowledge and wisdom, the kind only you provide,
Lord, for him to recognize the work and loving support of his bride,
Lord, for the joy that she brings just by being on and by his side,
and too, Lord, that next to you, she is one reason for his pride.
Please Lord, because life can be burdensome
Lord please continue to bless his home.
Fill it with laughter of children not to be so lonesome,
for Lord, young beekeepers, there is need for some.
Please Lord, not to make this prayer too long,
please keep him and all from doing wrong,
but like King David fill his heart with joyful song
so Lord he won't be kicked out like a drone.

(courtesy of Philip Earle)

And, so we go to bed a little more blessed than we started the day.  Just how I would like to remember at end all our days!

The Truth about Santa

The children come running down the stairs and rush to the presents galore under the Christmas tree!  The mad frenzy to see what they are getting begins the mayhem, as wrapping paper is thrown around the room, beyond anything they could ever imagine...Santa arrived sometime in the night to bring all these amazing...

WAIT....STOP!!!!

I don't think so...not in our house!

Today is the celebration of a man from the 4th century who lived a devout life as Bishop of Myra (in Asia Minor) during a  time of persecution.  Not only did he lead those around him in their faith by his example of piety, but also great miracles took place around him.  At one time he was imprisoned for the faith, and he gave a great confession before the magistrate of Dioletian.  One other point of interest is his defending the faith at the Council of Nicea against the Arian heresey (the belief that Jesus in not equal to the Father).

So, why is he associated with children and gift giving?  It is believed that he would help the poor by providing for their needs (he was from a wealthy family and he was determined to use his wealth for this good).  One such story is about a man who lost his wealth and could not afford to pay the dowry for his three daughters.  He planned to sell his daughters into slavery.  When the time came for each daughter to wed, Nicholas went to their home at night to place a bag of gold in the window  to cover their needs.  And so, his kindness for children and gift-giving comes from these activities.

The main lesson we teach our children regarding St. Nicholas is his desire to perform acts of charity and mercy in secret.  No one knew that St. Nicholas did these things for the poor because St. Nicholas boasted about his deeds.  Instead, those who he helped discovered his deeds by trying to find out how they were being blessed.  The man with the daughters watched out the window to see gift giver.  Whether this is truth or legend...the idea is valid...we do not need to be praised for all our good deeds.

Another lesson we add to this day has evolved from making sense of our secular version of Santa.  When we first started our transition to bring Christ into our season, we were not sure what to do about Santa Claus.  I really never cared for the greedy and selfish trend of this side of Christmas, but giving to others has its merits.  I will speak more on this later in the season, but I think it is important to mention that some secular traditions do have religious background and can have meaning for us to grow closer to God.  It is how we present the ideas that make the difference.  For instance, we do not give gifts because society tells us we need to do this.  We try to think of others before ourselves in our gift giving.

On the morning of the feast of  St. Nicholas, the stockings hung the night before are filled with small gifts.  Usually these gifts are not toys but something of use. The gift is a way to keep with the idea that St. Nicholas wanted to help the one gifted, but it also is a way to bring excitement in the opening of the stocking (we are talking about children after all!)  There is also candy and fruit in the stocking.  The candy is placed in the stocking to remind us of the sweetness of heaven.  The fruit reminds us that in God's word we are nourished in our spiritual life.

There is also a personal note from St. Nicholas.  To me, this is the most important part of the morning.  It brings the shift in the season inward.  The notes tell the child (and adult) what they do that is pleasing to God and then ways they can change to grow closer to God.  A lot of thought and prayer is put into these notes.  When they are read, the individual is expected to reflect on the meaning and find ways to make changes.  The remaining days of Advent are spent deciding how to make these changes a reality.  In many ways, we do this with little thought and call them New Year's resolutions!

We had a lot of wonderful Scripture lessons today and all of these lessons tied together so nicely.  I could not have planned it had I tried!  I love it when God works that way!

First we woke up to our Bible devotion which was from Matthew 7:21-27....the parable of the house built on firm ground (Jesus is the rock!) versus the house built on the sand (shifting life of sin!).  Where is the truth in our lives?  We can only find truth in the stability of Jesus.  It is not enough to say we believe...our actions must be rooted in the belief of Jesus and then dispersed to others around us.

We then continued our nativity scene with the placement of the manger.  That we might fix the best and warmest corner of our hearts for the manger of Jesus...we should try to abstain from what we like most...and ask Mary to use these sacrifices to prepare a soft bed for Jesus. Amen.  In this way we remove the need for worldly attachments that take us away from Jesus (the Rock!).

Our Jesse Tree ornaments (still doubling up to get caught up!) continue to show God's providence in preparing for Jesus.  The ram from Genesis 22:11-12 that God provided for a sacrifice because Abraham was willing to give his only son.  This is the first real glimpse at what would be needed for the ultimate sacrifice that would wipe away all sin for those who believed.  The second ornament was a ladder to represent the dream of Jacob in Genesis 28:12-15.  This ladder would show that God wished to reunite earth to the divine.  The only way this is possible is through a mediator...Jesus!

Now here is where I am so amazed by our Bible lessons of the day.  We were heading to our 4H meeting tonight without a clue that we would be blessed with a youth pastor who would take the message stated in the last paragraph and take it to the next level.  To read about that experience, you will need to check out my other blog!

We then came home in time for bed (thank goodness!).  We had just re-read the Bible Scripture from the morning (Had I mentioned that we begin and end our day with the same Bible verses?  Well...we do!)  Brendan was so sweet...he must have missed it this morning ... or maybe he had been thinking about it all day..but after we read about the wise man building his house on the rock, he ran over to get a book off the shelf and came back and said..."This man was the wise man in that story!"  The book he brought to me was about King Solomon!  WOW!  I was surprised...and so pleased to see he had made that connection.  It made my day and I needed the assurance that all of these Advent activities made sense...Leave it to God to send the youngest of the boys to show me that it was all good!  Praise God for that boost of inspiration to continue.

We headed up to the quiet of their bedroom to be able to focus a little more on the message we are to find in Jesus of Nazareth.  Tonight our focus continued to be on the annunciation of John the Baptist.  The link between John and Old Testament prophecy led us to Malachi and Daniel tonight.  In the third chapter of Malachi, we learn that Elijah must come to herald the coming of the Messiah.  John the Baptist takes on this role as prophet at the ultimate level beyond that of all other prophets of old.

Then we turn to Daniel 9:21 and see that it is the angel Gabriel who will announce the destiny of the chosen people at the evening sacrifice.  Then Gabriel is the one who greets Zachariah in the Temple during the evening sacrifice to announce the birth of John the Baptist.   In the Old Testament account, Gabriel explains the need for everlasting righteousness.  In the New Testament,   Gabriel shows that John would be the one to show that the prophesied everlasting righteousness is being fulfilled.  Really this so deep and so glad I have the joy of reading this and slowly digesting the meaning.

Zaira with her first teether thanks to St Nicholas 

Tonight I had that opportunity as I sat on Brendan's bed waiting for him to finally drift to sleep.  My thoughts continued to reflect on the amazing reality that God would plan so far in advance for all of this to come together at just the right moment in time at just the right place.  We take for granted that God is all-knowing and beyond all time....but then to take it further into our own time.  God cares no less for us today...He has planned for our time as well and we each are here at just the right time at just the right place!  It makes me so thankful for my life and how I am to live it for God's glory.  God is so good!  

SIDE NOTE...Many people have fallen into the Elf frenzy with the Elf on a Shelf book.  I was so happy to see an alternative that brings the Advent themes into effect.  Thanks to my dear blogger friend for creating the Advent Angel idea!  I am sure I will try to incorporate this idea in some way next year.

Also, normally we have a wonderful St. Nicholas Soup for dinner, but because of our evening activities we were not at home to enjoy....I did want to share unless anyone was keeping track of activities for next year.

Ordinary Day Made Special

The children and cousin Karen woke up to the smells of blueberry pancakes this morning!  It was ice to have the time to do something special for my cousin!

I forgot to mention that my very talented cousin made a special quilt for Zaira.  It is so perfect for our nature loving family!  There is a large owl on a branch...placed on an owl background.  I love it!  AND...I know Zaira will come to love it as well.


Speaking of nature...soon after breakfast we set out for a hike through our wooded area (what the children call...Illunia).  This was so much fun and such a shift from our busy pace of 'speed-schooling."

Our Bible devotional was from Matthew 15:29-37...the miracle of feeding the crowd!  Oh how I wish we could have multiplied the hours we had with Karen.  It was such a wonderful time.  We talked...played games...toured the property...got stung by bees (well...just me but I was being silly and not following the beekeeper methods we know...not smart but I will be OK) and discovered a family treasure in a trunk in the garage (shhh...it's a surprise!)!  It could not have been a more exciting time!

Just as Jesus took an ordinary day and made it special...our days were made special by sharing time with Karen.  Just think how much MORE special our days are when we open up to the possibilities that are available to us when we follow Jesus.  The disciples did not know how to feed the crowd but by offering what was available (just as we offer ourselves) the miracle was available for all those present (just as we are available to bless others).

Our nativity scene was given a fence today.  May we guard your eyes, especially during prayers from all distractions! Sweet Jesus we long to see you.  Amen.

We were able to add two more ornaments to the Jesse Tree today.  The first was Noah's Ark (Gen 8:15-17), which shows when God sees the best in us in spite our sin.  And the second was a picture of the stars to represent how God promised Abraham put his faith in Him and his descendants would number more than the stars (Gen 15:5-6)!  God keeps His promises...we need to be reminded of this sometimes, especially when we feel lost in this world.

We also continued our Wednesday tradition of going to feed the hungry (college students that is).  It is so good to see the college students excited about holding the baby.  They all wanted pictures with her because they knew they would not see her until the end of January.  So sweet...I will need to get these pictures somehow.

Jesus of Nazareth has become pretty advanced in its understanding of Scripture.  The boys may not understand everything we discuss but it is never too early to expose them to higher level theological thinking.  They take what they can now and it becomes easier the next time we discuss the information.  Tonight we read about the Annunciation of John the Baptist which is closely tied to the Annunciation of Jesus to Mary.  The idea that John the Baptist bridges the Old Testament covenant to the New Testament is fascinating and leads us right in the direction we need to follow to find God.

And...right before bed the boys set out their stockings!  We do not celebrate Santa Claus on Christmas Day...this is our special way to honor the saint and keep with the message of Advent.  Tomorrow is St. Nicholas' feast day...more on that tomorrow!

Company's Coming!!!

There is a lot of excitement in our house right now...I am starting to wrote my day's blog post because I know we will busy throughout the day and I wanted to share a thought I had related to this moment.

 You see our cousin is coming to visit for the next couple of days.  We do not get to see her very often so we are all very excited!  We have cleaned the house...prepared the guest room...prepared a special meal...and are finishing up all our chores...Why?  So we can enjoy our cousin Karen when she gets here...of course!!!!

Maybe you have figured it out already...but this is what the season of Advent is all about!!!!  We are preparing our home...but hopefully we are more fervently preparing our souls for the coming of Jesus.

Now...here is where it gets interesting...and we need to make a shift.  Most people get the idea of preparing for the coming of Jesus.  Unfortunately, what we might not realize is that it is NOT the baby Jesus we should be preparing ourselves to meet!  It is the risen glorified Christ who sits upon his throne (his judgment seat) that we need to anticipate.

Once we realize this is the reason we need to clean our souls of sin, it becomes more obvious why we should anticipate the coming of Jesus.  Going back to the Bible readings of Sunday we can see that there might even be reason to be frightened by this thought.  Have we done all we can to prepare for Jesus' second coming?  Have we not done something that we should have done?

This morning we read our Bible devotional from Luke 10:21-24.  Jesus is filled with joy at the thought of being revealed to his disciples as the Son of God.  He wants us to see Him and follow Him.  Jesus says, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it."

Notice that Jesus calls the disciples little children.  Can you imagine these grown men being called little children?  Yet no one complains because Jesus is referring to the state of their souls!  They are like little children...innocent and open to the message Jesus has for them.

We are those disciples today...we have had the Messiah revealed to us!  It gets me excited just thinking about this reality!!!  That anticipation to actually know that Christ reveals Himself to us and wants us to follow Him!!!  I hope that we can all see that Christ opens His arms to us with welcoming joy!  Then we too can be filled with the "joy of the Holy Spirit" as the little children Jesus speaks of in this passage.

Once again our little nativity scene is building on this idea as well.  Henry used the little broom from our nativity set to sweep away any cobwebs (all the desires to be praised for your good deeds) from the stable.  We prayed, "Jesus, may we please YOU in all we do today. Amen."

We did (FINALLY!) find our Jesse Tree ornaments...and we were able to talk about the start of our salvation history.  However, we are further behind than I thought.  I want this to be meaningful if we are going to actually continue this activity.  SO... I think we will try to just add the ornaments slowly (my original thought was to try to double up and have two ornaments each day) even if it carries over into the Christmas season.  We will see as the season unfolds.

Today the ornaments placed on the Jesse Tree were related to the prophecy from Isaiah 11:-10...it was really an introduction to the idea of the Jesse Tree.  The second ornament was an apple which represented the firs sin of Adam and Eve.  Now we see why there was a need for the Messiah.  We will continue adding to the story each day.

With our cousin with us we were able to enjoy a fun day...setting school aside and giving her our full attention.  The boys were so excited and the house was loud but it was with joyful noises..and...sewing machine.  Karen loves to sew and she asked if we would like her to bring her sewing machine.  I asked if she would like to help me make bow ties for the boys and she graciously agreed.  Why bow ties?  Believe it or not...they asked for them!  It all started when I bought the cutest little dress for Zaira.  I asked the boys if they would be willing to wear purple ties to match the dress...they said only if they were bow ties!  I am not sure how this idea came about but they all agreed to wear the bow tie, so I figured the best plan was to make them.  I was so thankful Karen was willing to help me figure out how to make that happen.  They turned out so cute.  I originally thought I would post a picture , but decided that it would be more fun to share when they are all dressed up....so wait for the picture later this month.

We never got to the Jesus of Nazareth tonight...the boys were just too wound up from the excitement of the day.  That's OK...we still have many more days to enjoy the lessons.  A great day!

Francis Xavier

We started out our morning with our Bible devotional.  The verses were from Matthew 8:5-11.  The centurion (non-Jew) came to Jesus and asked for his servant to be healed.  Jesus said to take him to the servant so he could heal the man; however, the centurion said that all it would take was Jesus' word and the servant would be healed.  We could focus on the fact that Jesus healed the servant but the true message of this story comes when Jesus says, "...no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this. And I tell you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of Heaven."

And the boys picked up on the response from the centurion quickly..."Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter my house, say but the word and my servant will be healed."  These are the words we speak right before we go to the altar to receive the precious Eucharist!

I thought it was interesting that this passage would be our reflection for the day as today is the feast day of St Francis Xavier.  A man who had such faith in Jesus that he gave his life's work to spread the message.  I pray that one day I will have such faith.

I have talked about the importance of saints in past blog posts.  These special people, who walked this earth and showed an amazing (supernatural) ability to live their lives as Christ asked, are great models for us in our lives.  These are our heroes who we look up to for encouragement when we are unsure and need guidance.  These examples of Christian life far outweigh those sports heroes and movie stars who are lifted up in our society today!  The feast days for these individuals are celebrated on the day the person dies.  The idea is that they lived such saintly lives that we celebrate their death as the day they enter into Heaven.  We do not worship these saints but remember their lives and look for their examples of virtues that we can emulate ourselves.

During the Advent season, there are many of these saints who guide us in our search for Christ.  As we go through the season, I will show you what this means for our family.  Today is the first example of a saint we wish to learn to mimic in virtue.

Francis Xavier was born of noble parents in Spain in 1506.  He could have chose to live out his life in luxury basking in his wealth in privileged society.  However, upon his travels to Paris for education he became friends with Ignatius of Loyola (another saintly man).  Ignatius was a very devout follower of Christ and he spoke to Francis Xavier about his lifestyle and saving his soul.  Francis asked why he should not be successful in life.  Ignatius' response to Francis is recorded: "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul?"  What an example of how we should always be willing to be good friends and speak the truth!

These men (along with some of their friends) formed a group that would come to be known as the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).  He would be ordained a priest and then began his missionary work in India.  He taught adults and children, ringing a bell to gain their attention.  He also visited the sick in hospitals and the imprisoned.

One of the special gifts Francis Xavier had was to be understood in all the lands he visited.  He traveled throughout India and surrounding islands and even to Japan...he was able to speak to all of the natives without struggle.  In 1552, he began his journey to convert China; however, he died on an island before reaching the mainland.  Through his perseverance and humility to give of himself for the faith, he is considered a patron saint for those who are foreign missionaries.  We enjoy reading his stories as a missionary in foreign lands.  We learn so much abut how we are also called to be missionaries in our lives.

Not only do we read about his life, but we also try to bring these virtues to light in our lives.  We ask the questions:  What does it mean to be an apostle? Consider how you might imitate St. Francis Xavier in apostolic works in your own situation.  We also pray for the Christians in these countries that they may continue to live in peace.  We also learned that St Francis Xavier's favorite prayers was the simple phrase:  "Give me souls!"  He spoke this when he wanted to share the faith during difficult situations.  May we also learn to seek Christ during our difficult times, so more souls come to know Christ.

This theme seemed to continue as we went to our nativity scene.  Edward added blankets to all the openings in our stable.  We prayed, "Jesus, help us to keep temptations out of our hearts, and especially guard our ears against sinful conversations."  How we could change the world if we avoided the temptations of gossip in our day to day conversations.  Add to that the removal of doubt in our faith and we could move mountains...or maybe just evangelize a little more.

One of the things I like to teach the children is having the heart of missionary sometimes means doing without.  St. Francis Xavier went to India with very little funds to help him travel and spread the message of the Gospel.  So to show this aspect of missionary work we only have a simple dinner of soup.  We found this recipe at a website called Xaver Suppa...it is a simple broth soup with dumplings which we serve with cheesy bread.

We worked on our puzzle a little more as we gathered all the outside pieces to put together tomorrow.  It is always slow going when we first start a puzzle.  Once we have the outside framed, we move a little faster.

We also have a few pieces of straw in our manger...most of the time was spent doubling up on school work today so we could take off for the holidays in a week.  Then we will have more time to focus on our good deeds around the community.  It is always nice to see the good deeds around the house as well.

Still no Jesse ornaments this year; however, I think that might change tomorrow...Edward saw my post and he is determined to find our ornaments and set up our Jesse Tree!  YAY!  So glad someone sees the importance of our salvation history and is eager to help me with this tradition.

We ended the evening with a reading from 'Jesus of Nazareth.'  We learned about the different genealogies found in Matthew and Luke.  We also learned that although John's Gospel does not list out the ancestors he takes the bold step to proclaim Jesus as the Word made flesh!  Who needs a genealogy when you can say you are the Son of God?!

SIDENOTE:  Little Zaira is now mobile...she can roll around the room and is only getting better by the second!  She might be moving around the room by the time we get our Christmas tree set up in a couple of weeks.  What a great motivation, right?!  Life is only going to get more interesting as we see what she tries to find around the house.

Stir Up Sunday!

Also known as the First Sunday of Advent...today is the start to a season of preparation for the coming Christ that will lead us into the Christmas season.  Throughout this season, I will be sharing our family traditions.  I hope that these ideas will bring as much meaning to your Advent as it brings to our family.  I would love to hear your Advent traditions as well.  However, I beg you to consider (as we did over ten years ago) if this time brings you closer to your Savior, which should always be our ultimate goal.

I will begin by giving a quick story of our Advent-conversion...what I like to call my seeing the light moment in which our traditions changed to bring us closer to the true meaning of this season.

In 1999, we were stationed in Germany...we were due to return back to the States and it came about right before Christmas!  In fact, the Army decided to have our household goods packed the day before Christmas!  I was mortified at the thought because I knew that all of our traditions were centered around things that would need to be packed and only presents that could be carried on a plane with us would be allowed.  It really was a devastating moment for me and I was lost in providing a remedy.

Michael had been told that military movers are notorious for breaking or losing items, so he suggested that we inventory all of our possessions, including our ever-growing book collection.  I set about doing this and in the process came across a book entitled "Winter: Celebrating the Season in a Christian Home."  I had never seen the book before and I was curious if it was worth adding to my inventory list, so I opened it up, and in the process opened up the true meaning of the season of Advent.

Looking at the title doesn't sound like a book about Advent does it?  I truly am convinced this book was brought to us from the Holy Spirit to break us from the secularism that has taken over this precious gift of the Savior.  Since this time, I have done many workshops and talks about the season of Advent.  I am happy to be able to share some of these ideas with you as well.

WARNING!!!  These are traditions that would be very overwhelming to take on all at once.  Maybe some of them will never fit into your own family's celebration.  Whenever I share these ideas with others, the main reaction I have heard is that it would be too overwhelming to take on this way of celebrating Advent.  My answer is to always place the traditions in your home that will best help your family (remember the reason we are doing this in the first place).  These ideas have come into our home over the years and not all at once.  Our children were also young (and fewer of them...only two of our children know any other way of celebrating and they were very young when we made these changes!) and it was easy to make these changes.  The main thing is to take it slow and add to the idea from one year to the next.

We add and take away each year making the experience fresh and meaningful.  As you will learn more later, our family does not exchange gifts.  A friend asked me earlier this week what we planned to do for Christmas.  I told her I did not know...we would spend the Advent season deciding what our Christmas would be like.

That might not make a lot of sense to you now, but hopefully as the blog posts come throughout these next few weeks it will be more apparent.  I am so excited about this opportunity to share...my fingers are not working as fast as my mind and I am fumbling over myself...I better get to today's activities so you can begin to see what I mean.

On the First Sunday of Advent, we begin as we do every Sunday...at church for Mass.  The first of the Advent wreath candles (purple) is lit.

The Advent wreath is a tradition that has its roots based in Germany.  At home, we intentionally save this tradition for our meal time to allow us to enjoy the benefit of a candle lit dinner as well as begin our family meal with a focused prayer time.  There are four candles (3 purple to remind us of the penitential time of Advent and 1 rose colored candle to show the anticipation time of the 3rd week of Advent).  These candles are evenly spaced around the wreath representing the eternal promise of God's presence.  Add to this the evergreen of the wreath to show everlasting life and there is great hope in the symbolism itself.

However, the prayers are the real purpose of this tradition.  The wreath visually reminds us of the significance that God and prayer have in our lives.  I think that it is interesting that in the blessing prayer of the Advent wreath (that we pray each year on this day) we see that it is not really a blessing for the wreath but for those who use the wreath.  It brings to mind that the tradition of the wreath in its notions of life are really about our lives fulfilling our calling from God.

The Scripture readings are so special on this day to remind us of the anticipation that should already be building in our hearts.  Each year, our Church tradition is to begin with a new look at the story of our salvation.  This Sunday also marks the beginning of a new liturgical year.  We are called to renew our commitment to the faith and truly welcome the message of Jesus, who will give the ‘Light’ to the womb of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem  but essentially in our lives.  In fact, I was able to take this a step further with the boys today when we returned home.  I asked them to recommit themselves to their baptismal promises.  They recited the creed and I blessed them with holy water and asked that God guide them through the Holy Spirit during this season and beyond.

We are reminded that Jesus is the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies. (Jer 33:14-16)  We are given the instruction just as the Thessalonians to conduct ourselves to please God as we are instructed, and even more so then we desire. (1 Thes 3:12-4:2)  However, to bring us back to our present era we must know that Christ has promised to come again.  We must anticipate that the second coming where "there will be signs in the...(heavens)...and upon the earth, distress of nations... beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap." (Luke 21:25-36)

On His second Advent at the end of the world Jesus will come in the fullness of Divine Power. Then we will be obliged to accept Him as King of Justice.  This time is not just about preparing our homes with decorations...it is more about preparing our souls for this coming of Christ in the end of time or the end of our lives...neither of which we know the time or place.  Aware of the dangers ahead during this preparation, we call upon His power to protect us and to cleanse us.

Back at home we have already cleaned the main living area of all debris and dust and taken all symbols of Jesus away (I just cannot bear to not have any reminders of Jesus throughout our home, so I have limited the things we put away!).  We do this to remember that there was a time when everyone anticipated the coming of the Messiah because he had not become the incarnate God we know in Jesus!

One of these symbols of Christ in our home is a family treasure (given to us from Michael's Aunt Margie who has now passed away)...a large baby Jesus in a manger.  The baby Jesus is removed from the creche for safe keeping (to be returned on Christmas morning) but the manger is left in place.  We take the time to remind our children (and ourselves) that we are called to help others through works of charity and mercy.  Each night we take a moment at our family prayer time to add a piece of straw to the manger in the hopes that our good deeds will soften the bed for the baby to come!

The tradition of the Jesse Tree is one that comes and goes in our house.  It is one of my favorite traditions (our first Advent described above included a paper Jesse Tree that became our Christmas tree!) but it does not always seem to work itself into our daily routine.  Since my main desire has always been to bring Christ into our home without rushing or stressing, I let it come and go as the children are able to understand.  The main idea of a Jesse Tree is to trace our Christian heritage back through the Old Testament.  Why did we need a Messiah?  How did God promise through the ages to fulfill his desire for us to enter into Heaven?  Through the Jesse Tree we are able to see that God was always there for His Chosen People and will here for us as well.  The link provided gives a full understanding of the tradition.  We will try again this year to incorporate this tradition into our days.

One of the favorite traditions for the children was inspired by a toy company!  We had discovered Playmobils while in Germany and they have a nativity scene that we still use today.  The same year we were given a activity to create a nativity scene through prayerfully placing pieces to the scene each day.  We began today with the stable and inspecting the roof for holes.  We prayed for a pure home to house the Lord in our hearts.  (If you would like these prayers for yourself, sending me a note and I will send them by email.)

One other tradition that we began by chance a few years ago is our Advent family puzzle.  We begin the puzzle (religious theme...usually associated with Jesus in some way) on the first day of Advent and try to complete by Christmas or before the Christmas season ends.  It is a fun family bonding activity and we are blessed with a counter designated for piecing puzzles.  Our puzzle this year is a picture of the Good Shepherd.  We look forward to seeing it form over the next couple of weeks.

On the First Sunday of Advent, the traditional opening prayer at Mass (that I intentionally did not mention above): "Stir up Thy might, we beg Thee, and come." With this request to God to "stir up His might," this day was traditionally called Stir-Up Sunday. Many families create a traditional plum pudding or fruit cake or some other recipe that all the family and guests can "stir-up." This activity of stirring-up the ingredients symbolizes our hearts that must be stirred in preparation for Christ's birth.

We are not much on plum pudding in our house.  However, we do have a traditional cookie that takes several weeks to 'cure' before baking...anise cookies!  So, we take this day to stir up a large batch of these cookies that we will place in our frig to set until later in the month.  Too bad the internet has not learned to send smell across the cloud of information!  My house smells so good right now!

One last tradition that we have is to read from the Bible more frequently as a family.  We start and end our day with Bible devotions.  I am also reading from the newest edition of Jesus of Nazareth from our spiritual leader, Pope Benedict XVI.  It is a fitting read because it is about the infancy of Jesus.  Books are a big part of our family's night time routine so it is a nice way to end the day with the continued focus of Advent.  Throughout the season I will talk about other ways books are incorporated into our family time.

Serving at the Altar of the Lord

Today the boys and I woke up early and headed to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler for the annual Altar Server Mass.  The boys really enjoy this special Mass dedicated in honor of their service.  This year was especially exciting as we would be with our newly ordained, Bishop Strickland.

Mass was very nice and Bishop Strickland emphasized the "calling to serve at the altar of the Lord" throughout the Mass.  His homily was truly from the heart.  He was so funny...he wanted to make a point about the importance altar serving had in his calling to be a priest.  He asked the group (there were about 200+ present) if anyone was from Atlanta (where he and I grew up) but no one was present.  This threw him off guard as I am sure he was expecting some of the group to be there.  I don't think he took into account that most of the Atlanta congregation had just made the trip three days before!

Boys with our College group

However, he gained his composure quickly and said..."Well, I will represent the altar servers of Atlanta!"  Then as he was turning around he noticed me off to the side, and he exclaimed, "Wait!  You're from Atlanta!  Why didn't you say anything when I was asking for someone representing Atlanta? You and I can represent Atlanta of the past today!"  The lady next to me asked if I was an altar server.  I told her that girls were not allowed to be altar servers at that time!  How funny!

Bishop Strickland got back to his message and told the group that it was as an altar server that he began to hear the call from God to become a priest.  However, if someone had asked him if he would one day be the bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, he would have told them they were crazy!  First, there was not a Diocese of Tyler at that time, but also he was just a normal boy who was just happy to serve the church in a small way.  Now he knows that the role of the altar server is not a small job.  As a priest (and now bishop), he has come to realize the importance of the job an altar server does for the church.  They keep the altar ready for the Mass and assist the priest in the most important role.  Each of us is called at our baptism to taken on the roles of priest, prophet, and king.  We cannot leave these duties to the priests.  

After Mass, we had the opportunity to meet with Bishop Strickland for a luncheon.  We talked to him and had our picture taken with him.  Zaira had fallen asleep but we were able to transfer her to his arms.  Another funny moment...as he was not sure what to do with his crosier.  He looked around and he did not have his assistant with him (normally he would only need this help during Mass), so he looked at Sean and said "Here...hold this!" and took Zaira.  It was not until after the picture that he turned to Sean and told him that God might be calling him to the episcopacy...you never know!

During the luncheon, we also met a nice family from a near by parish.  It was interesting how things work out.  I was given the name of this family a few weeks ago.  I had decided to wait to contact them until Michael came home.  However, there they were and we had a good discussion about a situation concerning our family (more on this in later posts hopefully!).  It is nice when things like that work out!

We headed home at a leisurely pace.  We stopped at a lookout point that we have always wanted to see.  There is a sign from the road and we have always been curious.  It turns out that this was a historical site with a beautiful view into a valley 700 feet below!  I was able to take a few pictures but the boys did not cooperate so well.  No one was ever looking at the camera at the same time...LOL!  We will just have to stop here again some time!

We got home and decided that I needed to keep a promise to Edward related to pictures as well.  He asked me back in September to take a picture of him with Zaira in their sacrament clothes.  I decided that it was a good day for this photo opportunity...not to mention I was getting worried about them outgrowing the clothes!  This was such a blessing for the two of them to do...and a blessing for me to photo.  I am glad we did this!  At the end, I told him we took all the pictures needed.  He told me that he wanted to do one more thing before getting out of their dressy clothes. He wanted to dance with Zaira to 'Ave Maria' (her favorite song).  What a special moment and so sweet.  I told him that from now on he could not refuse her if she asked him to dance...she was hooked!  They both truly enjoyed the experience!

Days like today are easy to enjoy!  I will cherish this day and hope my children do also.  We are truly blessed.