The Community was so excited to think we were coming. I hope and pray that it can still happen. Maybe I will drive and let Pat sleep if he gets the bedding done super early in the morning...
https://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/my-most-cherished-cross-patrick-gerard.html
I admit that there were many times during our weekend of Christmas Camp that I would hold my namesake and enjoy just sitting and taking it all in! I shared that "I want to enjoy every minute" and the kids were thoughtful as they made the meals and cleaned up after. Pat and I had planned ahead and picked up a lot of paper plates etc while we were at Sam's a month before! So quick and easy for the cleanup!
Romeo and I had spent some time watercoloring together earlier that day and he wanted to be close to grandma. I see that sharing our gifts and joys with each other as well as our prayer time together makes us closer.
Paul returning the favor to me... I do appreciate it though. Hector lives 2 days away and we only get to see him a couple times a year if we are lucky! It is wonderful to see his love and sweetness in my arms!
My namesake is such a sweet gift to her grandma! We now share our topknots, too! Grandma is silly and appreciate when their moms allow me to do silly things with them too.
The crazy picture with a chicken... not my favorite but some need this, so I do see now that it is something we will laugh at for years to come. There is talk of doing an annual Christmas camp book with pictures covering the happenings. This one will definitely make the cut.
Now with the families all returned home, the kids to school, grandpa to the farm, parents to jobs, and me to my quiet existence here in my "deserted place." I do see that there are things that need to be attended to now that Christmas is truly over, and part of that is getting back to "ordinary time" and writing here. It is a place that I longed for over the days away, but was pulled this way and that and could see the beauty of sharing and growing together as a family. Just as the 22 month old boys are starting to relate to each other and they will grow into friends sharing life... so I could see others coming together as they played or made meals or staggered to be in a picture that grandma wanted again!
"Through all things, by day and by night,
in clear light or in darkness,
let us live like the Magdelen, always under
the eyes of Unchangeable Beauty...
St Elizabeth of the Trinity
"In the Eucharist there is a beauty,
a hidden loveliness, beyond the beauty of all art.
The Lamb of God comes to the altar of His Bride
in the glory of the Father and the Holy Spirit, invisibly
escorted by the angels. Only humble accidents
veil the radiance of His flesh.
Christ is beauty, and He becomes present
to make us beautiful.
...Christ in all His matchless beauty is substantially present
in the Eucharist, and His Church strives to worship
that beauty with all the accidental beauty of her sacred art -
by vestments and vessels, by chant and icons,
by the consecrated space of her temples.
The bride knows that no human art can be
worthy of her Spouse, who is the eternal Son
and Splendour of the Father.
... the hidden beauty is always greater
than the visible forms."
John Saward
From The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of BeautyThis is so amazing! Look at the beauty of our church here in Marshall and it cannot hold a torch to Jesus!
Today in the Gospel Jesus is pulled in many directions and also finds a "deserted place" to spend time with his Father in heaven!
Rising very early before dawn,
he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come.”
So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons
throughout the whole of Galilee. Mark 1
he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come.”
So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons
throughout the whole of Galilee. Mark 1
—Image: Raitenhaslach Catholic Abbey in Burghausen at Bavaria, Germany (courtesy of
Garry Moore Soronio
).LOVE! May the beauty of The Church bring many to love you, O Lord!
Zach Williams
Danielle Rose
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