A sea of BLUE - St Dominic celebration!!!

Maria had this sweet picture of her kids surrounded by a "sea of blue" - the little sisters - when we went to pick up Hallel in April!  I love the blue as an ocean of LOVE/LIFE/LIGHT...  We are celebrating this day - knowing that it is St Dominic's feast day today.  It is so wonderful to learn more about him and his praying with the Word - which is so huge in the Community of the Lamb!  I knew that St Dominic started the Order of Preachers, and now I see that it only makes sense for them to ground that preaching in The Word!  "St Dominic took delight in God's Word of Truth and preached it with zeal.. His Order of  Preachers has continued his work of proclamation nourished by prayer and study from his day to our own."  see www.magnificat.com   I see now more clearly when Little Sister Marie went back to their roots in the early 70s with the request of Vatican 2 that she found this beautiful Truth that they carry forth into this new branch of the Dominican order - "chewing" The Gospel and taking it into themselves - becoming the Word and carrying it forth into the world they encounter.

Arriving in Kansas City in April... the blue sea surrounding us! 

So much today with the feast day of our daughter, and our new family though her becoming a Little Sister in the Community of the Lamb!  We know, without a doubt, that she was up very late into the wee hours of the morning with a vigil for St Dominic.  We have experienced these amazing vigils at times when we have visited the Community.  There is much singing, reading of the Word, and reading the writings of the saints, and it all is very powerful and uplifting and reminds me that our Church is one of great JOY and celebration!   Most every day in The Catholic Church is a special feast day of one saint or event or another.  The ones that are very important to our Hallel and her Community are very special to us, her family, also.  Then the readings today are very amazing too!  The first one from Numbers 20 is about God giving them water from the rock in the desert!   So powerful knowing that we are fed through The Church built on the Rock - St Peter, and that happens to be the Gospel for today!  "And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build up my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."  Matt 16  It was so crazy out-of-this-world to watch Rome when they were electing our new Pope Francis... there were CNN reporters out in the streets reporting that starting with St Peter and down to this Pope - the line of succession revealed that we were the True Church instituted by Jesus!  They acted like they were strictly announcing a fact news story, and not really knowing that they were saying/reporting to the world that we are The True Church!  How I love it without reservation!  There is nothing that I do not embrace and acknowledge as The Truth!   I am not ever or will I ever allow myself to become a shopping cart Catholic - picking and choosing what I believe and will follow in my LIFE!  I embrace it all - knowing that foremost in that is embracing my Most Cherished Cross and finding LIFE eternal!

Benedict showing Therese and David the Lamb that she wears - indicating that she has taken her final vows and that she will live her life - "Wounded, I will not cease to LOVE."  This is how the Lamb gave us LIFE in that with undying and unconditional LOVE - He went as a spotless Lamb to death on the Cross without a sound of complaint!  Hallel wears a wooden cross around her neck, but will receive the Lamb when she takes her final vows in about 5 years or so.  We are very excited to know quite a few that will be taking their final vows in a few weeks in France!  How we would love to be live closer and be able to go and celebrate this powerful beautiful step in their journey!  We do plan to go in a huge Verly caravan to Kansas City for the weekend of Sept 14-15 for the dedication of the Little Monastery they have put down roots in the heart of our country!  The next day Marie - the second American after Hallel will change her name and take the habit!  Then the other 3 Americans will go to France and be scheduled to take their habits in a year in France!  The beauty of their LIFE and the Lord's call to young men and women is beginning! 

http://www.communityofthelambusa.org/monastery_progress.html  Here is the site that shows the progress and soon they will be moving in!  Soon we will be joining them for the celebration of the dedication and we hope and pray that Hallel will be along with the group coming! 

Hallel having Therese help her with the sanctuary after mass!

Jesus, we thank and praise you for all the JOY that surrounds us this day of great celebration of their patron Saint - St Dominic!  A man, who truly recognized Jesus in His Word and carried that forth into his LIFE.  "St Dominic prayed standing bowed to express humility, laying prostrate on the ground to ask forgiveness for his sins, kneeling in penance to share in the Lord's suffering, his arms wide open, gazing at the crucifix to contemplate Supreme LOVE, looking heavenwards feeling drawn to God's world."  Pope Benedict XVI  How I am longing to come to YOU today in Adoration... so often I find my hands lifting to you with the palms up- pleading for YOU to use me as a vessel of your LOVE for those closest to me in my domestic Church/family.  That family is growing more and more - we are close to 100 members on both sides!  There is so much need there as I go down the list and place each one with you there in the monstrance.  As Maria reminded me long ago - "Mom, there is prayer that you can do for them.  Repeat these words as you lift them up - 'Jesus, and Mary I love you.  Save souls.' "  Yes, Lord, I fall on my knees in your presence and take the time to contemplate You and all that you have blessed and graced me with through the Glory and Beauty of the Truth that dwells within your Church!  The True Church instituted by YOU, and your Beloved Bride!  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Halleluia

Bless-bless, Barb

As Maria stated on her blog today - we LOVE the Little Sisters and Brothers and it is a great gift to have them showing us a beautiful way to serve Our Lord.  It is so precious to me knowing that my granddaughters and grandsons will spend time with the Community over the years and consider a call through their exposure to their beautiful LIFE!  So excited about this!  I had to send my girls to Schoenstatt camp here in the area for them to even see Sisters in habits!   Now for our grandkids to have a Little Sister for a cherished Aunt - too amazing! 

"After reciting the liturgy of  the hours and after celebrating Mass, St Dominic prolonged his conversation with God without setting any time limit.  Sitting quietly, he would pause in recollection in an inner attitude of listening, while reading a book or gazing at the crucifix.  He experienced these moments of closeness to God so intensely that his reactions of joy or of tears were outwardly visible.  In a way, through meditation, he absorbed the reality of Faith."  Pope Benedict XVI

My Aunt is a nun!!!  So blessed are they and we!

 

 

 

 

A fun new picture from Maria's blog

Hallel in her work habit helping Therese and David over a very big snowdrift in our April snowstorm gives me a lot of joy.  I miss all three of these people, so it is a great delight to see them smiling and enjoying each other in our winter wonderland.  Therese and David live in El Paso, Texas - a dry brown hot desert place, so they were thrilled to have a couple feet of snow greet them and snow us all in together as we gathered for Hallel's first home visit in 3 years.  Hallel lives mostly in France and some in Kansas City when she is in the U.S. so this is more snow than she is used to seeing too.   We just like to impress here in the North country - Minnesota!  Tonight is a beautiful night - cool and we were all out doing a family job of bringing the cows and calves across the road and into our pastures here by the house.  It was a pretty sunset and Ruth and I park our vehicle on either hill and stop traffic while the cows and calves are crossing.  It would have made for good pictures, but my camera just died, sooooo.... I just had to watch it and weep.  It was super nice to find this fun picture on Maria's blog today to brighten my day.  Thank you, and Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb

The reason Hallel knew she had better bring her work habit - the farm always has some jobs to do, and you can get dirty.  There are dirty jobs to do in the Community too, so they need to have an old habit that can get dirty. 

Light Incandescent Fire Eternal - LIFE!

 

Sometimes I just need to make an acronym out of a word to really delve into the meaning it has for me... LIFE just called for that this morning, and for the "I" I came to the word Incandescent - looking it up - "characterized by ardent emotion or intensity or brilliance."  Wow!  That truly speaks so true for me of the LIGHT I witness in those that are luminaries for Christ and His LIGHT of LIFE and LOVE!  This morning Fr Craig had put this Utube video about the sisters of LIFE

So beautiful!  I pray that you can watch it and truly realize that there is a strong work in the world to protect all LIFE no matter the cost.  Of course, I think of Little Sister Hallel when I watch this, who is also in a Contemplative Community and also gives her all to the poor and all LIFE!  Being called to be His Bride is so precious and truly fills the woman/girl with such an incandescent glow of brilliant LIGHT.  It is visible to all those they encounter, and for those that are allowed to have LIFE in this world that allows the taking of innocent LIFE... that is a precious thing indeed!  Lord, please end abortion!!!!

Rose is now walking...

Lord, how we are filled with such a desire to scream with all our might that LIFE is a gift - without exception!  We long for each life to be protected and cherished - yet we find that there are those, who are not wanted and cast aside, or are not given the chance to live in this world and make a difference or shed their LIGHT here in this world.  May we show them your Truth and LOVE by being incandescent in the face of the growing evil/darkness!  As Pope Francis told the youth at Rio/ WYD - "Make noise!  Please do not water down your faith in Jesus Christ.  Make yourselves heard!"    Pope Francis continues..."We are all tempted to put ourselves at the center, to think that we alone build our lives or that our life can be happy if built on possessions, money or power.  But it is not so.  Put on Christ in your life: place your trust in Him, and you will never be disappointed!  You see how faith accomplishes a revolution in us, one which we can call Copernican, because it removes us from the center and restores it to God; faith immerses us in his love and gives us security, strength and hope."  He reminds us that we need to be "witnesses of JOY."  Our new Pope fills us with the basics we need to truly be LIGHTS in our world.  May we embrace our Most Cherished Cross and follow after HIM no matter the cost.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Halleluia

Bless-bless, Barb

This is the picture that John just put on his webpage he is developing for his call to not be silent - to "make noise" and share with the world that Jesus is walking with us, feeding us, and forgiving us our faults... we turn to Him in our weakness and know that Jesus is in control. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXaPwHPqJi4  Danielle Rose singing Wonderfully Made - Psalm 139

Miraculously in France for Susan's habit and changing her name - Little Sister Hallel!  "Everytime someone says my name they are giving God the highest praise!" 

 

 

Doing a rain dance? - no, walking into LIFE!

Little Rose is officially walking!  She is cutting it close to the arrival of her next sibling in a few months, but it has given her the freedom to head for what she wants in life - here it is the swing by the garden. 

First she had walked from the house out to where her brothers were on the hay racks.  She looks determined to join them up there.  Then the swings were spotted...

Always keeping an eye on brothers while they play with the hose in the garden.  With a baby brother coming after her - it seems like she could be a tomboy and for sure she will have the influence of brothers on both sides of her. 

Big sister, Mary, keeping watch over her. 

Lord, we need rain so badly - hear our plea for rain this night.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb

Luminaries for Christ... Transfiguration LIGHT shine in us

I love the lighting part of photography!  I also love the pictures of our family worshiping together at mass.  I can never use flash in church and have to get them before or after mass, but I do manage to get a few there, and I find them very special...  We are there gathering to worship and receive the graces of our Faith - we love our Lord and yearn to be there together with HIM.  We take that LIGHT along with us as we go forth.  Last night I went to work at the Birthright office right after mass, and although it was very quiet with only one phone call.  As I was saying the rosary and looking around at all the messages for LIFE around me... I noticed that the rosary and prayers were very rich and deep.  I realized that I had newly taken my Lord into me in His Body and Blood, so that all things that are deepest within me - that I am more fully and completely HIS - this cast a great LIGHT upon my prayers and thoughts!  It truly was as though the great blinding LIGHT of Christ had entered me and I was His luminary shining with HIM within.  How I pray for this and long for this in each day of my life.  I find that this is the hardest to accomplish with those the closest to me in my domestic Church/family.  Why is it the ones that you love the most that you treat the worst?  Lord, help me to LOVE as you love -without counting the cost!

John and I preparing to pray morning prayer from the office yesterday morning... the LIGHT streaming in the huge picture window was very bright and illuminating - very reminiscent  of the feast day we are celebrating today - the Transfiguration!  John is here now - starting a webpage that will be helpful in his ministry of not being silent now that he has been given LIFE!  We just watched together - John seeing it for the first time - an amazing Utube video called Adoramus te - We adore thee, O Lord... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGmK8rIX8H0  The story is that our friend, Fr Kucera, was watching some Utube videos and was very surprised to see at about the half way mark a picture of John being anointed in Mayo hospital the day before his brain biopsy!  It is a most beautiful and powerful picture and Fr Craig sent us the link - as I watched it suddenly there was John - I burst into tears at the power of it in the midst of this beautiful creation of the highest Praise and recognition of the LIGHT shining there on the altar in His Body and Blood!  The Church has it ALL!  To "see" the reality of Faith is the utmost message that Christ is alive and well in this world of darkness - LOOK to the LIGHT! 

Our wonderful cabin in Michigan has all windows looking out to the South - the Big Lake Michigan is before us!  So much LIGHT/LOVE/ LIFE shared there as we gather in a single space to share the larger domestic Church/family time.
Jesus, the bright and beautiful LIGHT we see in you this day of the Transfiguration... may it shine through us as we are luninaries for YOU.  May we become what we behold as we see with eyes of Faith that You are truly God and man.  How could you humble yourself so much out of LOVE for us - not only taking on the human person, but then submitting as the spotless Lamb in sacrifice for our sins?   We are changed from the inside out as we embrace our Most Cherished Cross as you have asked us, and follow your example of sharing the Truth no matter the cost, and cherishing ALL LIFE without any exception, being open to LIFE without thought of self, Not being silent as we are called to share the work that Lord has done in our lives.  Life is so rich and full and any thing but boring as we embrace your LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT within us.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Halleluia

Bless-bless, Barb

"We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."  I John 3:2

"As we gaze in the dark faith of prayer upon the glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ, we are transformed into his likeness.  As the leave the work of prayer for the work of charity in our world, we live in his likeness."  2 Corinthians 3:18

Watching for grandpa to come to the cabin - he is the Champion for LIFE and raising LIGHTS for the world... a  legacy that has now passed on to the next generations!

Bernadette discovering ice cream cones thanks to grandpa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaVg0cWkgAw&list=TL0tYmhBjh3EI  Casting Crowns - the Voice of Truth

 

Smile says David

 

Peace

There are times in the day when I am filled with such calm and peace...  Those times are usually related to prayer.  Those times are scattered throughout my days and for sure the beginning and the end of the day.  How wonderful is this wafting of gentle breezes through my soul as I am drawn into the presence of My Lord and his Queen Mother of heaven and earth throughout the landscape of my day.  Praying with my husband before we get up, then hoping to have a window to pray the office with John as we join with those around the world that are praying these prayers, reading these psalms and readings, and singing these hymns!  There is so much power to know that there are thousands of priests, nuns, deacons, seminarians, and lay people in The Church that are joining with one voice in prayer and praise!  If there isn't huge comfort and JOY and peace to be found in this place of prayer and worship - I don't know where you could encounter anything more than this.  Then I either say my rosary as I am traveling to work and then have it in my pocket to give me that peace and assistance to remind myself that I am the Lord's and with the intercession of Our Spiritual Mother - I can do a good and caring job for those that I work for and with.  If I am home than I long to get my chores done and to spend some quiet time with my wonderful rosary - saying up to 10 decades of the rosary for my 5 children with their families and my husband and on and on...  I am soon to bed and to my evening prayers and JOY of JOY - reading the Gospel for tomorrow.  I find the excitement building within me as I look ahead and it is always a blessing to me.  I carry that deep within me as the new day unfolds before me and once again I am immersed in peaceful rivers of graces through prayer - with every breath that I take and with every beat of my heart.

Jesus, we are filled with the fruits of your Spirit as we follow after YOU carrying our Most Cherished Cross and finding LIFE eternal/LOVE/ and LIGHT in the midst of the darkness.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb