Monday, March 18, 2013

"I love that Most Cherished Cross! That is the best!"

David loves Bernadette... he, like his grandpa Pat, has a baby LOVE magnet in his heart.  It is a beautiful sight to behold!  He adored his sister, Rose Ida, as a tiny baby, and now he is drawn to show his smiley face and touch to little Berndette and she responds to him with her joyful little face!  Being with my wonderful TEC family last evening was a gift to me.  One wonderful young college girl gave me a wonderful gift by sharing with me how she reads my posts and finds them enriching to her.  She mentioned that the Most Cherished Cross, which we were gifted with in a letter from Hallel to Nancy on the occassion of her engagement, was what touched her most of all!  So wonderful and to some very hard has been that message from little Sister Hallel!  There is one married young woman, who told me that it really was difficult to get her mind, heart and soul around the idea that her husband was her Most Cherished Cross!  The way that really helps me to look at this idea is that by embracing my husband Pat/Most Cherished Cross - I have received LIFE in the form of our 11-12 children.  I am starting to put 12 because I am reminded that at one point there were two sacks seen on an early ultrasound I had for one of my mischarriages!  Maybe I had a premonition when I told Dr LaPorte that I wanted to have 12 kids on my first prenatal visit after all!  I think that I will now officially say that I have 7 waiting for me in heaven and will name it Patrick!  The time that they saw the two sacks was when my sister Mary was dying of cancer.  I named that one Thomas as she died on the feastday of the doubting Thomas - July 3rd.  So this one I will name after her feastday of her birth - yesterday - St Patrick's Day - March 17!  So now the new litany of my children in heaven is - Christopher, Thomas, Patrick, Joseph, William, Robert and Mary!  How I love to remember them and pray for them, and no it is not too late to begin praying for this son I forgot to remember in the midst of the craziness of my childbearing years!  I will have a big crowd of children to greet me when I arrive in heaven.   With all those prayers and the desire to meet them and not disappoint them as well as the LOVE and PRAYERS  of my parents for me and my children for me... it all helps me work towards being a saint someday.  As my son-in-law, Joseph, says - "We need to be saints!  To be anything less is not to have LIVED!"
St Francis is now on my table to remind us of our new Pope/Papa! 
I am thinking of our daughter Susan/Hallel today with the thoughts on The Most Cherished Cross - If you want to read her letter, it is included on the page I wrote on our marriage called Our marriage stories - "The world needs lights."  It is a lifechanging and enriching letter from her to her sister!  I am smiling about her today as the first reading is the story of Susanna from the book of Daniel 13!  It reminds me of a young Susan, around 10 or so, coming to me and asking me what saint she had been named after.  I pointed her to the story of Susanna in the Bible, and here it is for the first beautiful reading today!  As the Magnificat pointed out - "Yesterday and today, the Mass readings remind of two women accused of adultery: Susanna, the innocent, and the nameless woman, guilty, brought before Jesus(The Gospel for Sunday was the woman taken in adultery from John 8).   We might think of them as representing the two faces of God's people: innocent and guilty.  The Lord hears not their deeds but their plight and rescues them from their accusers.  Jesus, who takes the place of stricken humanity before the wrath of the enemy, will not so spare himself."  see www.magnificat.com   Reading the beautiful Susanna story today - she was truly a picture of a Lamb - silent and trusting in the face of false accusations of the worst and most humbling kind!  And her prayers were answered!  Jesus speaks these glorious words in the Gospel today - "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the LIGHT OF LIFE."  How I love this, and the promise of our Lord that He will guide us down the narrow path as we follow HIM carrying our Most Cherished Cross!

Gus, Rose, and Lilly get to know and share time together!
Jesus, thank you for your Truth and LOVE, LIFE and LIGHT!  We see that embracing our Most Cherished Cross is where we find all that matters to us.  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Halleluia
Bless-bless, Barb
The Easter tree is in to burst forth into green leaves and small lilacs for Easter JOY!

No comments:

Post a Comment