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!
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 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 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!
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