Advent Lite

Less filling?Despite my best efforts/intentions, our Advent has been very pared down. St. Nicholas did come, although he was late. He brought chocolate coins, Jelly Belly beans, St. Anne medals, and Night at the Museum 2. As well he picked up the letters that the children wrote to the Christ child. So cute, the things they say. Xander wrote something about St. Nicholas bringing Easter eggs. Some theology and liturgical calendar study needs to happen me thinks.

Death and Dying

This week seems a fitting one to write this post. Our beautiful Mother Church in her mercy and wisdom offers us the loving feast days of All Saints and All Souls, where we can celebrate the transition from this world to the next. We pray for the souls of those who go before us and are unable to pray for themselves and we ask for their intercession as well as those we know are part of the Church Triumphant.
Two years ago I was travelling this road with little understanding of the beauty of these teachings. I knew some of them in theory, but that means little when your heart is hard and hurting. I should have turned to the Cross and clinged to our Lord. I should have walked with Our Lady the Via Dolorosa, but I did not. I only wanted what I wanted and I did not want my mom to die. I wanted her healed and whole, not suffering and dying.
This brings us to the present where one of the most holy people I know is dying. His is a family that lives close to Christ and has embraced me in prayer and friendship time and time again. He is suffering with cancer and heart disease, but is doing so with patience and dignity. Here is a man who is living in Christ's shadow. His wife is walking with the Blessed Virgin. But this is not a road that is foreign to them. They walked this walk with their daughter 15 years or so ago and earlier this summer when their grandson was killed in a car accident. There could be bitterness reigning, but there is joy and hope. The lessons this family continues to teach me are humbling to say the least.
May the Souls of the Faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen

All Hallow's Eve

Yesterday was All Hallow's Eve, aka Halloween. Normally I really enjoy the whole process of carefully selecting costumes, filling treat bags and carving pumpkins. But this year I was just too tired to really get into the whole thing. No matter to the children though. They gleefully decorated, filled goody bags, and carved our one pumpkin (there were none to be had for love or money this week). And then we went trick or treating. 2 hours and 15 houses later our children have a stash that would do most stores proud. People in the country only get 12 - 15 children (half of them are us) so they can afford to be generous and our children have full size chocolate bars, chips and pop plus many other assorted candies and goodies. Our family in an attempt to mark the holiness of the vigil of All Saints, said "thank you and God bless you" to their many benefactors. Usually we give out saint cards with our goodies, but I didn't remember to order them in time so that didn't happen.
Today was Patrick's first day of serving at the Holy Mass and he did quite well, but afterwards he had a tonne of energy that needed to be spent. It's such a beautiful feast day to begin this wonderful ministry. the more I understand of the Catholic Church and the beauty of the communion of saints and souls in Purgatory, the more grateful I become. Our brothers and sisters are still with us. We cannot see them. And they are helping us to perservere in the battle here on earth. It is humbling to know there are all of these holy souls praying for us and the wisdom of our Church in offering us a day to celebrate is awe inspiring. I wish that it as still an octave. It's a fascinating history. Catholic Culture has some great resources.

Autumn is Truly Here

The last couple of days definitely belong to Autumn. She's firmly grasped the trees and garden in her artistic hand. Every thing's painted in gorgeous colours of reds, yellows, golds and greens. I so enjoy the smell and sights of this season although it is slightly touched with melancholy these past 2 years. I wish there was some way to have the colours without the cold and frost. My garden has had the biscuit, although in all fairness, it wasn't a good summer for my garden. It was put in late and then neglected. We had a good month where we were really diligent, but then I became tired and apathetic, overwhelmed by projects in the house and the garden suffered. So today we harvested the last of the potatoes, dug up the sad little beets and carrots and I weeded the strawberries. Our rototiller died so it was a bit of a jungle I had to work my way through and I've only made it about 6 feet in, but I'll keep working at it.
This week has been full of feast days, Michaelmas (Angel food cake), St. Therese (cupcakes) and Guardian Angels (too tired to do anything, but next year I want to do angel hair pasta and wings with angel cookies HT to Minnesota Mom and Bless Us O Lord). October is so rich in feast days and instead of planning grandiose things and doing nothing, I'm focusing on simple things like reading about the saint and a theme in the meal. This seems doable at this stage in my pregnancy. There are many things that I have to limit myself on and set priorities. I think that I am getting better at this.
Mark is still scooching, although the last 2 days we've caught him standing in the middle of the floor. He's starting to sign (all food related). He's very verbal, although there's very little that's discernible. He says "hi", "thank you", "daddy", "Becca"? All in all he's very joyful. He has up to 6 teeth now and they're popping in like popcorn.
And finally we've been waiting to run out of propane so that Justin can change something on the tank. Unfortunately it happened last night, a Friday. No gas delivery until Monday and it is chilly. And there's not hot water. It is certainly making me grateful for running water. I don't have to haul it, only heat it. I'm also grateful for my dishwasher, my shower and my washer. And it goes without saying that I'm grateful for my husband and my children, and the generosity of a gracious God.