Family picnic in the field/St JPII..."Through years of painful unity with Christ's Cross, he focused always on the Resurrection." "We are an Easter people, and Hallelujah is our song."

Ruth was raking ahead of Paul as they, together, baled corn stalk bales by the hundreds!  We brought out a picnic supper to share in the setting sun in the back of a pickup.  A corn stalk bale picture with all 8 was quickly grabbed on the fly!

I just noticed the bunny ears, but that is what makes it a great picture of LIFE!

Mary missed the first time we went out, but said that supper and getting into the traditional bale picture more than made up for her missing our first adventure...

Quesadillas with our homemade salsa and lots of sour cream and apple from our tree went over well!  Ruth remembers our picnics in the back of the van or the pickup in the busy fall as we can share a meal with the hard workers!  With her dad. Pat's birthday, on September 15th... there were birthday parties in the field in years gone by.  Love to share family time all together sharing food in the beauty of nature!

Ruth with 6 year old Rose and 1 1/2 year old Joy with the baler, rake behind and the bale that Paul had just dropped out of the back of the baler.  Grandma is in Faith/Family/Farm heaven as the sun sets in the West!

We are so blessed to have the beauty of God's creation all around us here on the farm.  Such a beautiful reminder today of my all time favorite Saint - Pope John Paul II the great!
Saint John Paul II liked to paraphrase Augustine:  "We are an Easter People and Hallelujah is our song!"  Through years of painful unity with Christ's Cross, he focused always on the Resurrection.  Just as every Sunday is a little Easter, so every single sunrise a reminder of God's glorious victory over sin and death.  see www.magnificat.com

I was very moved to read this from Nancy today about a daily podcast she is doing for her kids and others...

Hey there!

Today is the feast day of Pope St. John Paul the GREAT! YAY!!!

I love JPII and, since he was our beloved pope for most of my life, I think of him as a loving father and will always cherish the handful of times I stood in Saint Peter's Square, squinting at him way up on that balcony, screaming "Papa!" with thousands of his other children.

The closest I've ever been to a saint!

So, this WHOLE week we will be talking about JPII! He had a remarkable life, so it was easy to come up with a whole week's content.

Here is what you can expect:

Monday we will be discussing JPII's early life, from birth to his papal election and all the remarkable history he lived through in Poland.

Tuesday we will spend time talking about JPII's impact on Poland after he was made Pope, specifically how he was able to defeat Communism through the love of the Gospel.

Wednesday we will discuss how JPII worked for unity between countries and religious groups and how he also worked very hard to heal the wounds of the past.

Thursday is an important day as we discuss the Universal Call To Holiness. JPII, starting with his priest days of working with young people, never tired of telling EVERYONE that they too are called to be holy.

And finally, on Friday we will examine what JPII has to teach us about suffering. As you likely know, JPII's life was full of suffering: emotional, social, and physical. Studying the way he suffered, even in his last days of illness, offers a powerful lesson about how we too are called to grow in holiness through suffering.

I'm excited to have you and your little ones join me this week as we fall even more deeply in love with this modern saint.

Listen here: https://dosmallthingswithlove.com/catholic-sprouts

And, make sure that you are in our private facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2125545047685401/

Have a wonderful week!

Your sister in the small things,

Nancy

It was very revealing to me to read Nancy's words and to know of her love for JPII!  I do know that Bill and Nancy studied Theology of the Body before their marriage and were very personally touched by it.  And she is right is saying that he was with her for the longest as Pope in her lifetime... from her birth in 1982 to her birthday in 2005... he died on April 2, 2005!  That is exactly 23 years of her 36!  

Our first trip out with fuel for them we missed Mary, who was making a fort on the rock pile... a cat came along for this time on the bale!

I have always proclaimed from the rooftops my love for my hero of family and LIFE... Saint John Paul II, as a newly wed and fairly new Catholic since 1971 Christmas Eve, he became Pope just a couple months after our wedding on August 3, 1978!  My love for him runs deep and will never fade!  To know that Nancy shares my love for him and taking this week to broadcast his life and message to us all as a universal call to holiness/become the Saints that we are each called to become!

It sure is special to have time as family when we can find it.  I love that Ruth has the life she had growing up now with her own kids!  She seems to like it and her kids are happy to have those same experiences, too!  I would say that it is a wonderful proclamation to all that this is a good life indeed!  As they say..."Memories made" and now with the next generation!

And with my pictures for sure they will remain memories in the books Ruth makes for each year of their lives and family.  With the avalanche of pictures from me... she has had to make 2 books to cover a year!

"But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of the great love he had for us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
raised us up with him,
and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come
he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;
it is not from works, so no one may boast.
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works
that God has prepared in advance,
that we should live in them."
Ephesians 2 - the first reading today... It was all so good, and thinking about JPII seated up in heaven with Our Lord and His beloved Mary the Mother of God... it was spectacular to my heart and mind and soul!

The dog jumped up to join in the family picture.  This beautiful family shows the world without words how being open to LIFE and raising LIGHTS is an answer to the call that we are each to become Saints!  LOVE!

Jesus reminds us today that we are to be "rich in what matters to God."  There is such an amazing example of this in our wonderful Saint John Paul II!  Even if we are not children it would behoove us to listen to Nancy's sharing each day in her Sprouts podcasts!  We are asked to become like little children hence we can grow with them!  Humility is foremost in what we are called to become in our lives as we love and serve others without counting the cost.   

Taking my hubby his lunchpail this morning as they combined... hauling to town today.

How we love to have the sun bright in the clear sky!

Jesus, we love you and are filled with every blessing of Faith/Family/Farm.  Thank you for the bountiful crop and the weather to get our harvest into the bins.  Yes, your parable today reminds us that this is what we do to feed the world, yet what really matters is that we give you all the honor and glory as we live our lives according to your plan for our eternal salvation and that of our domestic Church/family.  Saying "yes" to life and raising LIGHTS for the world of sin and darkness to reveal your unconditional love and forgiveness.  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Hallelujah

Ruth loves to be out working with her dad and husband, and I help out with the kids.  It really helped that we had such a beautiful day yesterday, and they are great kids for grandma, too!  Pat and I count our blessings and pray for their safety each day... "guardian angels watch out for them."  We love to be passing on our family farm to this group right here!  They are each of them precious to us!  Bless-bless, Barbara Mary Luke

“If He asks much of you, it is because

He knows you can give much.” – St John Paul II

This picture says so much of how Ruth's two youngest girls, and each of her 6 children, are learning to love being a mother/parent and farmer and having a large happy family!  I see the Truth of LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT being passed on as we share our Faith with JOY!

"We must understand that in order 'to do',

we must first learn 'to be',

that is to say,

in the sweet company of Jesus

in adoration."

St John Paul II

1920 - 2005

nee: Karol J Wojtyla (Poland)

Pope: 1978 - 2005

Apostle of the Eucharist

Prolific writer

Inaugurated (and now Patron of) World Youth Day

and World Meeting of Families

Feast Day - October 22

"When confronted with the abyss of evil,

the only response is the abyss of love. - St John Paul II




Listen here: https://dosmallthingswithlove.com/catholic-sprouts​

"rich in what matters to God."  John sharing what he found through brain cancer - FAITH!

The Saint that is just me - Danielle Rose

Lauren Daigle - Look up child

Happy Feastday Evangeline Mary!   She is just weeks away from being 2 on All Saints Day!  Maria and Joseph said that her Saint JPII is who calls us to the New Evangalization... hence her Patron Saint and she has one of the Best!!! 

The other picture Maria sent to me... well, we are all have work to do to reach that place of Sainthood, right?  In a few months she will be a big sister and that should rub off a few of those rough edges...