August 25, 2011

Nos Promptus Ut Rugio (Let's Get Ready to Rumble!)

It can be so disheartening....

We just read on-line that an upcoming memorial service, to be held by NYC Mayor Bloomberg, commemorating the anniversary of the September 11th attacks SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDES religious or clergy representatives or references.  Really?  Is this how we remember our loved ones and ask God to Bless America?

Subsequent to that....

We just read on-line that, due to damage sustained by the earthquake, the service for the unveiling of MLK's memorial in Washington, D.C. will be MOVED from the Episcopal National Cathedral to the Catholic Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, "the largest Catholic church in the United States and North America and one of the ten largest largest churches in the world" (sources: www.dcquake.nationalcathedral.org/ and www.nationalshrine.com).  The Lord works in mysterious ways!

Let us pray for all who will be present for this service, as they suddenly find themselves present in the premier Catholic church in America, in the Eucharistic presence of Our Lord, dedicated to our country's patron saint!

May Our Lady gently move each person's heart closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus! 

May each person be inspired by the visual homage and praise of the cathedral!

Most of all, may the Eucharistic presence of Jesus flood each person's heart with the Joy of His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity!

Vive Jesu!

"After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.  His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women in reply, 'Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.' "  (Matthew 28:1-6a)


August 19, 2011

In Caelum (On Heaven)

So you wanna hear today's giggle from my monkeys?  We were in the van and the subject of "paradise" came up.  "What's paradise?" my young son asked.  "Some people think it's heaven," my little daughter immediately replied, and then excitedly continued, "And some people think it's Hawaii!"

My daughter also got a stunner this weekend when she had to use a one-room, unisex bathroom with her younger brother and my husband, and saw for the first time a urinal on the wall.  "What's that!?" she asked, looking concerned as she pointed at the urinal.  My son (fresh from his experience of "pee-ing like a man" for the first time on the Blue Knights camping trip with Daddy) grinned proudly and said, "That's for me and Dad.  We can pee standing up!"

My daughter looked horrified.  "You mean like an animal!?" she gasped.

The blessing of animals traditionally takes place in autumn, as the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi is October 4th.  St. Francis's love of all God's animals is well-documented, particularly in his "Canticle of the Creatures."

August 4, 2011

Lacrima Pro Vereor (Tears for Fears)

So once again, one of my kids found her suuuuuuuuffering unimaginably interminable.  You know, one of those hand-to-the-forehead, drama queen, "Woooooooooe is me!" moments (*sigh*).

"Offer it up!" I quipped (for the forty-eleventh time).  This remark was met with a blank look, which definitely would have been an eye-roll-look, if eye-rolls-at-adults were allowed in our house.  Which.  They.  Are.  Not.

"Offer it up for the souls in purgatory," I continued.  "Pick a soul," I added, just to make it interesting.  "Pick the soul who needs one more prayer to get out.  Pick the one at the end of the line who'll be locking up.  Pick the youngest soul, the oldest soul, the tallest soul, the skinniest soul, the soul who has absolutely no one to pray for him, the soul with a wart on his nose, the soul with the horsey laugh....." and on I went with ever-more ridiculous characteristics, hoping to lighten my daughter's mood.

It worked.  My wee banshee began to giggle and happily went about her assigned task, which moments ago had been the proverbial bane of her immediate existence.

But then my little son, just stood there looking thoughtful, then slightly concerned.  "I'd pick the youngest soul," he said, tears beginning to pool in his large dark eyes.  "Because he might be a little afraid to be there."

My heart dropped, my throat closed up, and I dropped to my knees on our kitchen floor to hug both these kids and thank God for them, praying we all actually might make it to heaven together some day after all.

This was a moment just too good not to share!

"He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death.  But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.  Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin."  (2 Maccabees 12:43-45)