"we proclaim Christ crucified"...The Virgin's oil is personal virtue and can't be shared

Picking the garden and picking up bales... the pet Siamese kitten join in the family day with the cuteness factor to start my sharing today.. I will be putting through vegetables soon but might find some time to share a bit about the wonderful readings for today!!!

Tomatoes rae now being made into soup with the help of family!

The cart that David rebuilt is now fun for the kids to use to spend some time getting around the yard.

Joy loves to be big and ride around the yard... special summer times!  Ruth said she is happy that the kids have an extra week of summer due to the remodel of their school. "I am not anxious for them to be away at school, and find it less stressful to have an extra week to get ready with clothes and all."  After the big trip to France and Rome for the 4 older ones... it is good to have some time to unwind on the farm with canning days and family time!

 13 year old Simon snapping beans for mom, and eating some of the freshness from the garden... life is good on the farm!

Two pails of tomatoes are now juice and then we add onions, carrots, and celery along with butter, flour and brown sugar to get our wonderful tomato soup.  The last few years we have had many pails and canners going, but this is an off year due to our time away and the rain setting back and killing some of our tomato plants.

Ruth and I always laugh at how we fill this 40 quart container up to the very top... not this time.  Only 30 quarts of our wonderful soup!  The apples are a huge crop and job this year and our tomatoes are down... good thing we have some left from last year still for our 7 families!

I just groaned last night when I read the readings before bed for today!  All are so powerful and amazing!  St Paul's words about the Cross is dynamite!
  It boils down to this..."The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

So true!!!  As Hallel told her sister, Nancy, on the occasion of her engagement that our spouse becomes our Most Cherished Cross and through him we find LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT in our marriage and our domestic Chruch/family!

To some that is a lot of soup,but when we usually do 2 or 3 times this much...

Part of Hallel's words:
 How beautiful to know that you have found your... most cherished cross. While I have never had the experience of being married, from what I hear is that he will truly be your cross. But not your cross as human eyes look at it, as a thing to run away from, as a thing of torture but rather as that which is truly the tree of life. It is only when clinging to the cross that one can truly live, it is the source of all life and of all love. Your marriage to Bill will be this, not something to run away from when it gets hard and when it hurts, but something to hold tight to, especially when it hurts because it is in this that you will find life and love. Know that it is through your marriage that Jesus wants to show you his great love for you and also that the best example that you can give to the world of Christ's love is a marriage lived in truth. 

Our first soup canning for the year... we will probably have to make other small batches for us..

2 years ago in Ruth's new kitchen!  Canning is a good and special family time... Ruth is a delight to me in her embracing the life she grew up with and it reflects such good light on her loving the life she had and now has with her own family!  LOVE!

The Gospel today, so close on the heels of our time in France with our daughter's final vows... the 10 virgins with their lamps lit as they await the Bridegroom!

The Gospel comes to life!!!

Why not share with those that are running out of oil?  "The oil filled flasks of the virgins are the fruit of virginal love: loving without possessing or manipulating.  The oil represents something we cannot lend to another: personal virtue.  'The message of the cross is foolishness' to those who live by an lesser way.  But the Bridegroom recognizes the wise virgins as the 'design of his heart."

How special for this mother to see that LOVE in action along with my family gathered in France two weeks ago now!  As son-in -law, Joseph, so beautifully put our experience with The Community of the Lamb:
It was far more than a celebration with Hallel on her vows. It was a chance to reconsider the whole Christian life. Being around such a community should convict us all to re-think our evangelical approach. For me, the trip to France was absolutely life-changing. The liturgies, the prayer, and just the simple example of the sisters has washed over me and opened me to a more complete way to live in Christ.

I love this and probably will use it daily here!  Our lives have truly been changed by having Hallel's yes in the heart of our family as we share our Faith with JOY!

Jesus, your Cross has become the Tree of LIFE and gives us the fruit that will last and feed us unto Heaven forever with you!  Jesus, we trust in you and are alert and awake for your coming into our lives!  We pray for our beloved Church, which is in crisis.  May we fight for the Truth with all that we have within us!  Bless-bless, Barb

Bishop Barron is a voice of reason and Truth!

LOVE is what makes the world go round!



Stay strong and love Jesus and His Bride, The Church!

"He will keep you firm to the end",... Jesus will not abandon his Bride, The Church!

Hallel aglow during her marriage to Jesus/final vows!  Her cross she has worn since postulancy is gone and soon she will wear her Lamb over her heart!  "I promise unto death" vow of faithfulness for the rest of her life to Jesus and her Community of the Lamb!

Now with the Lamb around her neck and in her heart and her lamp lit awaiting the arrival of the Bridegroom!!!

I am being the dutiful on call farm wife today... just back from following my husband with the pickup and a rack while he pulled the rake 10 miles, than creep feed for the calves in a pasture nearbye, then check on the heifer pasture, than drive him to check some hay, get the key for the tractor at the farm and make some quick lunch, and then back to the baler... a chunk out of my time and time for my thoughts to take form on what I wanted to address today... the crisis in my beloved Church!

All my children together in France sharing in their sister's joy... Hallel means giving God all the praise as in Hallelujah!  

There is an Hallel Psalm in mass today and in a way it gives me courage and hope and tells me that we can rise above the "ugly elephant" which is in the room as Father spoke of this last Sunday in mass. 

Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.

Psalm 145

Yes, from St Peter, the rock upon which the Church was built we have struggled forward down the narrow path!  Jesus will never abandon his Church just as he gave us freedom through the Cross!  The Church is here alive and well for our generation... I see that Truth lived out in my own Domestic Church/family!

Are you concerned or fed up about scandals in the Church? Remember that even among the Apostles was the traitor Judas. You wouldn't leave Jesus because of Judas, would you? So keep the faith and don't leave Jesus's Church because of the actions of those who do not keep the Church's teachings. Remember for every Judas, there are 11 good Apostles.

  

This speaks volumes for me!  I love, LOVE, love The Church and hence the sinful evil of some makes me so sad and sick about the way it reflects upon this glorious Bride of Christ, but there is nothing that can make me leave her and cast her aside!  The Church fills each one of my days to overflowing with graces and blessings so that I may carry/drag my most Cherished Cross and follow Jesus to heaven forever! 

 The deep LOVE and JOY of this young woman, who answered "yes" to His Call to her heart and soul... how can I ever say that Jesus is not alive in The Church?  Yes, I can admit to some bad apples but I know that the ship will stay afloat and Christ loves His Bride, The Church!   It is filled with human beings that give in to sin and death, which is our human condition, but the majority of us are longing to put sin and death behind us and to embrace LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT/the Cross and to strive to be the Saints that we are called to be!

Newly weds John and Bobbi in the Green Cathedral for Vespers... They love Jesus and His Bride, The Church!

I must get my sheets on the line in this sun and wind today... I long to capture all that is in my heart for my beloved Church.  I have quickly passed by all the ugliness and do even want to know about it in any detail.  I just hold tight to The Word each day and today all 3 readings encouraged me immensely!

Our last special meal with Hallel was filled with leisurely conversation and good food... then

Dishes complete with making fun and sharing brotherly-sisterly back and forth like at home years before!

The First Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians today seems to be his encouraging words to us in The Church today!

"to the Church of God that is in Corinth, (and throughout the entire world),
to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

I Corinthians 1

Such a promise to us and we can depend on Jesus through the constant intercession of his mother, Mary, to keep us firm in our Faith and Trust of The Church to be there/helping us every step of the way!

We are told in the Gospel to "Stay awake!

For you do not know on which day your Lord will come."  Yes!  We are not condoning the evil we are rather not abandoning the ship in the storm!  Jesus, we trust in you.  Jesus, we love you and your Bride, the Church.  Bless-bless, Barb

"For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O merciful, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, pray for us O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Amen.

We have all the amazing Saints to help us at this time, and they love Jesus and his Church along with us!

Danielle Rose - The Saint that is just me

Pat to his sister..."Mom used to stand at the sink and cut the apples, too!" Family day of canning applesauce!

Up to the top with applesauce!  Our 40 quart pan we got at an auction from Holy Redeemer school about 25 years ago... is full to the top for 4 times yesterday and we got most of these jars full for our 7 families over the next year.

Ruth and Pat's sister, Raterra, stood side by side at the sink cutting about 20 pails of apples as we picked the entire tree...  Pat commented on how seeing his sister and daughter there for hours cutting reminded him;  "That used to be mom's job of standing at the sink and cutting apples."  So many fond memories of family days of canning with many willing and cheerful hands making the work enjoyable, and making new memories with Ruth's kids in her canning kitchen in the remodeled farmhouse she grew up in... now made hers!

Joy left many apples with bites out of them around as she walked from pail to pail full of red rain washed apples!!!  She is walking at 17 months!  Why walk early when you have...

Grandpa's big arms to hold you and shoulders to lay your head on?  Pat worked hard all day putting through applesauce - 216 quarts!  But he always had time to hold and snuggle his Joy! 

We used two stoves and 4 canners to get the sauce soft for those putting it through the colanders... we had two of those going this year with different workers...

Rose and Luke worked on the first apples and got warmed up after picking apples in the cold rain.  How different to need jackets out side, after the heat of this summer.

Two canners on the stove up stairs and two down the basement on our old stove... It truly is amazing what we can accomplish as a family sharing work of putting up food for now 7 families as John and Bobbi joined at the beginning of the summer.

I asked Pat why the jobs in the house with the family are enjoyable times of sharing together and when we have family jobs involving the livestock it is usually tense and less than pleasant... I do know the answer in part... the big and unpredictable animals are difficult to work with and make for tension and harsh words and actions from time to time... it is the nature of the beast! 

David with muddy feet after picking apples in the rain and they all came in with tales of grandpa lifting them in the bucket high into the apple tree... we picked the entire tree and then got them all made into applesauce!  There is a pie tree and eating tree left filled with so many apples!  HELP!!!

Today is the feast of the passion of St John the Baptist... my stomach starts to cringe thinking about the head on a platter... the King offered up to half his kingdom for her dance and that was what they wanted - to end this voice of Truth!  John's motto for his mission:  "I must decrease, He must increase."   So true for all of us, and never stop living and sharing the Truth!

Part of the apples awaiting their fate.  I had already cut about 3 pails and there were 4 more pails by the door... probably close to 20 pails picked = 216 quarts of sauce for our 7 families including Hallel and her Little Sisters in KC!

 It was so wonderful to take our homemade food to share with our daughter, who was here in the U.S. for the first time in 10 years last year, and we hope and pray she will return for another year here again this year!

Luke's job was to push up the pails of apples to the sink and snuggle with baby Siamese kitten while he had stories to share with any and all!

It is hard to find places for 200+ jars, so we got creative!

Simon and Mary getting ready to can on both sides of our big pan filled with 40 quarts of sauce while Ruth and Raterra cut and cut and cut somemore!  Carrying forth the tradition of their mother and grandmother... how we love our great-grandma Ann and how she passed on her love of the farm and all that it entails!

There was a line in the Psalm from mass today that made me smile after our huge day of making food for 7 families... maybe 8 as Raterra will share some with her son's family which now includes Lawrence, who is 3 months old!
R. (1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
Psalm 128:1-2

 Filling the jars and pushing through the sauce!  Yes, we will eat the fruit of our handiwork until we can again next year, and we know not how many apples our trees will produce, but it could be an off year as they tend to be every other year.  We were delayed by France, and the county and the state Fair... but I think we made good and total use of the apples ready to be used!

Buried in apples!!!  With 2 new babies coming in March this will be special for them!

 It was a good day indeed! 

Jesus, there is joy to be found when we can work together in harmony and share in a huge family job of putting up food for many families over the next year!  May that happiness of sharing in our work carry over to all areas of our lives in the ways that we give without counting the cost!  It tastes so good and feels so wonderful to see the smiles of delight when we "eat the fruit of our handiwork."  Handiwork of taking the fruit of the gardens and of the trees and making healthy wonderful food for our family to grow and develope sharing our Faith as a domestic Church/family with JOY!  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Hallelujah

The two youngest girls sharing and smiling are a gift in our busy times together... the two canners on the stove are filled with jars processing now that all the sauce is made and the last 40 jars to fills!  Such a good feeling to see the end in sight!  Bless-bless, Barbara Mary Luke

 Grandma got to dress Joy twice, but couldn't spare the time to do her hair... for grandma to miss doing that is a sure sign that we were busy!

About half the jars left to process with 6 year old Rose, who is always a good hard worker!  LOVE to see the little ones learning to share in this farm work and happy family times!

Saint Therese of the child jesus, pray for us ❤️

Love her, and think of Bobbi as she is her patron Saint as well as granddaughter, Therese! 

Solanus is huge for our family as his relic came to John during his brain cancer!
http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/johns-cancer-stories.html

His promo video!

The Passion of St John the Baptist
Saint John the Baptist
Died: 30 AD
Feast day: June 24 (birth) August 29 (death)
Patronage: convulsions, epilepsy, hailstorms, baptism, converts, lambs, Jordan
John the Baptist was the son of Zachary and Elizabeth and cousin of Jesus. John began his ministry around age 27, preaching a message of repentance to the people of Jerusalem. He converted many and prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. He Baptized Christ, after which he stepped away and told his disciples to follow Jesus. Imprisoned by king Herod and was beheaded.

In the midst of our big day... I missed St Augustine, Gus's feast day and his parents' 8th anniversary! 

Let's have an Adventure!

PS: I love that this man's feast is the day after his beloved (never-stopped-praying-for-his-salvation) mother!!!

Nancy and Bill in Lourdes almost 2 weeks ago!!  Happy Anniversary!  WE love you so much!  

Danielle Rose - Small things with great love