The way of the Cross.The weather is so hard on Pat right now with all his calves - about 100 on the ground and the ground is continually getting wet with dark cold clouds and rain all the time... It is a different Easter weekend as Pat just pointed out... I worked a couple overnights so that some others could travel for Easter with their families. My family is understanding and we are able to still worship together,which is the highlight of our Tridium weekends!
Tending to Oliver's wounds - we are reminded of those that suffer and need us to care for them. We can pray at all times and that is what is what we are called to... make life a prayer!
Today Christ is dead and buried and we are in this darkness as we watch His body lying there lifeless in disbelief and fear!
Serving one another without counting the cost...
John helping his dad with his tie on the way to Good Friday services... Serve with love and respect and caring for the needs of one another.
"Beneath the cross the Mother kept Bleak vigil under darkened skies. Upon the cross her Son hung nailed, Stabbed through by crowds of hostile eyes." morning hymn 
Ruth and Mary venerate the cross and all that it means to us... LIFE everlasting when we pass through the Cross! 
How powerful to hold the cross as person after person come forth and show their love and appreciation! "He decended into hell." The apostle's creed... "God does not redeem from afar. The Word descended into our humanity; the Lord descended into the depths of our suffering; Christ descended into the very realm of death itself in order to set free its captives." see http://www.magnificat.com/ 
The gift of family in the midst of life can be a hugely healing and wonderful gift to carry us past all that pulls us away from the Lord. There is the face of God in our midst!
Faith and family... no more wondrous combination can be found to give our life meaning and combine to bring LIFE and LOVE into this world of "darkened skies."
Outside the doors of Church little 2 1/2 year old Dave has found a statue of the Mother of God that is just the right size for him to hug and adore!
His older brother, Simon, says in his simple beautiful clear view of life - "Everyone loves this lady!" I smile to hear him speak from a deep clear wisdom... Thank you Lord! Today we stand with her at the foot of the cross, and she is given the body of her dead son to hold in her arms... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5npOxjWOhUI Here is profound words in the form of a song - bringing this to us!
"Upon the cross the Savior died;
Beneath, the Mother bowed her head;
Above, the storm broke harsh and wild-
God's word be done, was all she said."
Good Friday at the school chapel - all our kids, Pat, his mother and now the 4th generation - Simon and next year Mary too have all gone here and continue to! So much history of faith and family! 
Godfather, John, helped Davey take off his shoes, so little Dave is helping John take off his shoes to return the favor... Serve one another without counting the cost! "Mary, Mother of God,
receiving the dead body
of Jesus Christ your Son
taken down from the cross
and laid in your arms,
receive us,
to whom He had given His life,
and lay us with Him
and in Him
upon your sinless heart."
"We are sinners,
but save us from despondency
and despair.
Save us from morbidity
which kills the soul.
Save us from dwelling on the past.
Take our heads into your hands
and turn them gently
to look upon the light of God.
Let us feel the warmth and radiance
of the healing sun,
although we are still too weak
to bear the blaze of its glory.
"By the dead body of Christ
laid in your arms,
save us from the death of sin.
Ask our Heavenly Father,
whose will is your will,
to restore us to life,
to Christ's life in our souls,
so that in each one of us
you may see your only child,
the Child Jesus,
and give us the heaven
of your tender love.
"By the passion
and death
of your only Son,
give us His life.
Make us new,
give us the trust of children,
give us the childhood of Christ.
Grant to us,
Virgin Mother,
a new heaven and a new earth,
because we see with His eyes,
hear with His ears,
work with His hands,
walk on His feet,
trust with His trust
in His Heavenly Father,
and love with His Heart."
Caryll Houselander (1954)
Lord, we are filled with deep dark longing to be yours... to embrace the freedom and truth that you show us by your denying yourself to the point of the most brutal of deaths... nailed with our sins to the Cross! We fall on our knees and worship you! "It is finished." And bowing his head, he handed over his spirit." John 18 We look for the Easter joy to come with the Light into the world! Jesus, we trust in you! Amen and Halleluia!
Bless-bless, Barb"The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things."
Ephesians 4: 10
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