Pondered In My Heart

Feast of the Holy Family

Today is the Feast of the Holy Family. It is a day to contemplate the wondrous fact that God chose to send His son as Savior, not only to live as Man, but to be part of a family. Our Lord was totally dependent on His Mother to care for Him, and as He grew He remained subject to His parents. For a beautiful example of how to live a holy family life we need only look to the Holy Family.

It sounds so simplistic, and it is. But it's true.

We have the formula for a happy, holy, peaceful family life spelled out for us in today's reading:

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives, be subordinate to your husbands,
as is proper in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives,
and avoid any bitterness toward them.
Children, obey your parents in everything,
for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children,
so they may not become discouraged.
Colossians 3:12-21

Amen!

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us!

Feast of the Holy Innocents

Today the Church commemorates the Feast of the Holy Innocents, remembering the lives of those young children slain by Herod in his quest to kill the Christ Child. It would be so tempting to just bleep over those dreadful verses in Matthew:

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

"A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more." Matthew 2: 16-18

It is a beautiful thing that the Church in her wisdom sets aside a special day to remember this horrific slaughter. It is a sobering thing to recall, when the joy of the Nativity is so fresh in our hearts. We attended a special Mass this morning celebrated by our Bishop. The Church uses red as the liturgical color for martyrs' feasts, the color of blood. It was very strange to be singing Joy to the World while remembering the horror of this slaughter. The Mass was well attended by families with lots of children, and the sight of so many mothers with babes in arms only served to drive home the terror of the massacre. The image of the Roman soldiers tearing the infants and toddlers from their mother's arms and murdering them is too difficult to contemplate.

But these innocent children literally died in place of the Christ Child. Our Lord came to die on the cross for us to take away our sins, yet so soon after His birth these children were murdered in an attempt to take His life. Herod in his selfish power-hungry cowardly rage could not bear the thought of any threat to his throne. He could not accept the reign of Christ and so sought to destroy Him. The Light of the World had been born, yet darkness remained. So very soon after His birth, innocent blood was shed in one horrific act of rejecting the Savior.

At the same time as recalling the slaughter of the Holy Innocents we prayed for an end to the modern day slaughter of innocent unborn children. Our good Bishop exhorted us to call upon the intercession of the Holy Innocents to pray for an end to this tragedy, not only today on the feast day but throughout the year as well.  He encouraged us to call upon the young martyrs who shed their blood and gave their very lives in Christ's stead. We can also thank them for giving their lives for the Holy Infant and we can implore them to assist us to sacrifice for others as well.  After the Mass the Bishop led us in praying the rosary in front of a local clinic.

With my eyes safely shut and my nose nuzzled in Kateri's neck I let myself bleep over what is too difficult for me to contemplate. I just prayed.

On this sad feast day, and every day, may we all continue to pray.

"A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more."

Wordless Wednesday-December 26th Late Night Edition

 

   

Merry Christmas!

For unto you is born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord! Luke 2:11

Wishing you a happy, holy Christmas!

Oh, Charlotte!

It lay in pieces, and the molasses made a sticky pool on the sand.

Charlotte stared at it, horrorstruck.  -Little House by Boston Bay (Little House), p.179

Actually, Kateri pointed at it with delight and said, 'Mess!'

Can You Sign 'Merry Christmas'?

If not, let Rachel show you how:

We've been having fun learning to sign Christmas carols, as Eliza loves to sing and sign. Find some familiar songs here  (some, but not all, of these have vocalization as well). Or you can watch an ASL class singing and signing many favorites here.

Have fun!

Happy Birthday Eliza!

Our Eliza sweetie pie is four years old today!

As with any child's birthday, it's amazing to think of how the years have flown by and yet it's also hard to remember what life was like before having her.

But I do remember. I remember well the dreadful pain and sorrow that so many of us know far too well of losing a little one to miscarriage. And the deep dark place I was left in as we waited and longed so for a new little one to join us on this earth. I remember pleading with St. Faustina as I was blessed with her relic on Divine Mercy Sunday. And I remember the exceedingly great joy when after a year and a half of waiting we were finally found to be with child. I remember the phone call in which my doctor told us our little one had a heart defect and likely had Trisomy 21 as well. I remember hanging up the phone and saying to Michael, "Honey, we're goin' to Holland!" And we waited with wonder that we had been chosen for this special task and curiosity to see what this baby with a little 'something extra' would be like.

We had six ultrasounds in all but we never peeked to see if we'd be having a boy or a girl. I so wanted a girl as I knew this special one would need lots of extra care and attention and would be closest in age to three big sisters. But my doctor had once referred to baby as 'he', and though she denied it, I thought she knew something I didn't. As my due date approached we decided to induce via amniotomy as we really wanted this baby to be born in the hospital (unlike Mary Rose) in case special care was needed. I went in at seven in the morning and my doctor thought for sure I'd have a baby by noon.

Not so. I was doing marathon speedwalking up and down the hospital corridors for hours, pausing and pleading every time I passed the statue and relic of St. Gerard in the hallway. At around 2:30, as the Hour of Mercy approached, it began to gradually dawn on me in my foggy-brained state that perhaps there was some chance we were going to have a girl. Our little Elizabeth Faustina arrived at 3:44! She didn't make a peep but she was pink as could be. We were all overjoyed to have her here!

I had made this tiny white hat for the new baby, with a blue pompom tied on the top and a pink bow on the front. We whipped that blue pom right off and put the little hat on our little pink princess.

Our wonderful pastor kindly came out that evening to the hospital to baptize her.

I always say that's one baptism I remember what the baby's mother wore (and no, you can't see a picture of me in my blue bathrobe). Other than briefly turning blue and scaring her mother and nurse, she did quite well that first night. We took her to the nursery so the nurse could keep an eye on her. I remember sitting in the rocking chair with my little silent baby, watching the nurses change and feed and try to soothe the other newborns as they bleated and wailed and shrieked their displeasure at the cruelties of life outside the womb. My little one had no energy with which to cry. Or nurse. I would work so hard to get her to latch on, only to have my triumph dissolve as she fell back to sleep after a minute or so. One nurse remarked about my determination as I held Eliza's little chin for guidance, "She'll get it," she encouraged. She sure did.

Miss Eliza, Queen of Cuteness, has certainly come a long way since her first night in my arms. She certainly has plenty of energy now. She is such a special blessing in so very many ways. She makes people happy every day just by flashing her infectiously joyous grin and adding a squeeze of a hug for good measure. She keeps us lighthearted. She makes us laugh. She makes us pray. She so clearly makes known the wisdom and love and generosity and goodness of her Creator. She makes us so very thankful for this very special gift that she is.

Happy Birthday, Eliza! We sure do love you!

Whirl of a Week

Like everyone else, we are in a bit of a whirlwind in these last days of Advent. Allow me to back up and show you our St. Lucy Day in the evening:

I must give one final thank you to Karen for this:

My family wanted to know 1. Who is this Karen Edmisten, 2. How come we've never had this delicious treat before, and 3. When will it be St. Lucy Day again?

Last night we participated in the fifth and final (whew!) performance of the Christmas play given at various nursing homes and for the sisters at the local hospital. Here we have the charming Peek-a-Boo Angel:

Peek-a-Boo and her sidekick The Littlest Angel kept the audience well entertained before show time.

Tonight we went out on a final run for baking ingredients. We do love the double shopping carts at our warehouse club:

The littlest sisters kissed and hugged all the way through the store.

And finally, you can find these neat star dangles kindly shared by Jenny at her craft blog Allsorts. If you print out two copies on card stock, one in color and one in black and white, you can make a quick file folder matching game.

Hope you are enjoying the last days of your Advent as well. Christmas is fast approaching and we don't really get any rewind or even a pause button. We may or may not find time to do all of the wonderful activities we would like to do with our families during this time. But remember it comes without ribbons. It comes without tags. It comes without packages, boxes or bags. He is coming. He is with us. The most important thing to make ready is our hearts.

Way Cool

Can you guess what this is? I sure couldn't. Hint: it's a Christmas gift made by Jonathan for his friend.

Give up?

Taa Dah!

I made his friend open it up because I wanted to see what Jonathan had made. This is one result of my sewing machine being kidnapped and held hostage in Jonathan's room. I had no idea what he was making. He even made the hanging chain out of leftover maille rings.

Pretty cool.

Pretty Weather

Ice

is everywhere

like dangling jewels

bringing feathered guests.