I thought that I would be up to my chin in sweet corn today, but it will be tomorrow instead. It could turn out to be a big day with 3 of the kids home, along with 4 of my 6 grandkids, and Pat usually is a part of the big job too! Nancy is coming home with Augustine's first visit to the farm! I am excited to have a relaxed day today with taking Gus to see the cows, but most importantly... his grandpa, Pat,who hasn't seen him for a month or so... since his baptism day.
In the midst of reading a wonderful book about the beauty of being "small" and humble - A Cry of Stone by Michael D. O'Brien... So powerful to follow the life of a native girl from Northern Canada - small and with a deformed spine, yet filled with love for the "Beating Heart" and His Church as well as filled with an artistic gift... which is used by Him to touch those around her with the Truth! I would encourage one and all to take some time this summer to read a good book! This would fit the bill in such a powerful way! 
Today is also a feast day of St Lawrence - a name given to one of our grandsons in honor of his grandfather... and in morning prayer we realized that he was a martyr as well as a deacon. My father, being a deacon in the Catholic Church... some of the parts of morning prayer spoke to me quite powerfully. A mixture of the smallness and the deaconate... always so much to digest, and take in, and fills me with wonder and awe of the depth, and power, and majesty, and glory of His amazing awesome Catholic Church!Again from Psalm 116
"Turn back, my soul, to your rest
for the Lord has been good;
he has kept my soul from death,
my eyes from tears
and my feet from stumbling."
More of sweet Simon and his pig... too sweet, and as the judge desribed him... as he was presenting the pig with a state fair trip..."with a hide that only a mother could love." Spot thinks that he is a good looking pig, and he had personality plus to make up for his red spotted hide! Tonight I will have baby-Gus-on-the-farm pictures, and that will be so fun! On this beautiful cool clear day!
Prayers for those in the deaconate... it is an exciting time in our diocese as they are starting a deaconate here! There are men in it, that we personally know from our area, and from TEC... How amazing to be in the first group forming, and learning, and taking the "faculties" in the form of vows to our Church!"You call deacons to be servants of your word ad your table;
-inspire in them a deep love for prayer, for preaching, and for the poor. Hear the cry of our appeal!"
"You took your place among those caught by sorrow and distress;
-fill all deacons with compassion for the sick and the suffering. Hear the cry of our appeal!"
Who is a Deacon?
"A deacon is an ordained minister of the Catholic Church. There are three groups, or "orders," of ordained ministers in the Church: bishops, presbyters and deacons. Deacons are ordained as a sacramental sign to the Church and to the world of Christ, who came "to serve and not to be served." The entire Church is called by Christ to serve, and the deacon, in virtue of his sacramental ordination and through his various ministries, is to be a servant in a servant-Church.
What are these "various ministries" of the Deacon?
"All ordained ministers in the Church are called to functions of Word, Sacrament, and Charity, but bishops, presbyters and deacons exercise these functions in various ways. As ministers of Word, deacons proclaim the Gospel, preach, and teach in the name of the Church. As ministers of Sacrament, deacons baptize, lead the faithful in prayer, witness marriages, and conduct wake and funeral services As ministers of Charity, deacons are leaders in identifying the needs of others, then marshalling the Church's resources to meet those needs. Deacons are also dedicated to eliminating the injustices or inequities that cause such needs. But no matter what specific functions a deacon performs, they flow from his sacramental identity. In other words, it is not only WHAT a deacon does, but WHO a deacon is, that is important." I just googled the Permanent Deaconate and went to the site by U S Conference of Catholic Bishops, and got this info... Yes, my dad has married myself and my siblings and most of my kids, he baptized all of my children, and has preached many times at the occassion of weddings, but also at masses I have attended on Sundays, where he is serving as Deacon - most recently ST Francis de Sales in Manistique, MI... There is a wonder, for our family, to hear my dad preach in a Catholic Church, after all the years of watching him preach as a Protestant minister! My mother shares that when she looked up to see my father assisting the Bishop in the Cathedral in ST Paul... just shortly after he had been ordained a permanent deacon... "It just hit me how crazy amazing it was that the Lord has answered my prayers to be Catholic in such a huge way!" She had felt called in her heart, and was encouraged to forge ahead, without my dad, as he was a Protestant minister and looked to be not interested in the change. But she waited for him, and prayed to the Holy Spirit, and in the Lord's timing... He spoke to my dad while on a silent Ignation retreat... Isaiah 55: 1-2... and in this beautiful Eucharistic scripture... my dad heard the Lord tell him to become Catholic, and then in the first Deaconate class! Such a journey and I thank the Lord every day for it!
Lord, thank you for the way that you answered the prayers of my mother, and for the lesson she lived... of waiting for her husband with hope and prayer! The result of her not forging ahead, is beyond anything that she could have ever hoped for! She became small and obedient to her husband, and he was allowed and blessed with the ability to recognize and hear the call, and with brave heart and unwavering strength to face all the difficulties that this meant for him... turning away from what had been his life and his occupation and embracing the Truth! I am forever grateful to you, my Lord and my God! Jesus, I trust in you! Amen and Hosanna and Halleluia!
Bless-bless, Barb
The Gospel for today - John 12:24-26
Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen,amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me." How I love it when Our Lord, Jesus Christ, speaks to us, and these words are "The Cross"! Jesus, give us the strength to embrace "Our Most Cherished Cross!"
http://www.usccb.org/deacon/faqs.shtml this is a great place to go to learn more about the Premanent Deaconate!
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