Times in life that are foggy

Nancy arrived with her two for some time on the farm while her husband is in Brazil for work for a couple weeks.  Ruth's two youngest were happy to see little Bernadette at mass last night.  It is so good to share that wonderful time at mass!  I am still recovering from a day away with my husband to see a rodeo in Fergus Falls.  It was a whirlwind 24 hours and then to return to a house full of family adds to the sense of being overwhelmed and "foggy" in my personal thoughts and actions.  I do not feel that fire within from which I usually express myself, so it is a sure sign to me that this should be short and might be best if I say very little.  I need to just let go and let God be in charge.  I am HIS and I want to LOVE and serve HIM in all that I say and do.  What I say is to be minimal but what I do should be a sign to all those within my domestic Church/family that I am a servant of the Lord of Mercy!  He is merciful to me a sinner, and therefore I need to be merciful in return to all those that I come in contact with!

A sight from the rodeo...
Jesus, just as your Gospel today is one that is not very clear or powerful to us as we read about paying the temple tax with a coin found in the mouth of a fish that St Peter pulled from the sea... we listen to YOU in our lives - we are weak and foggy sometimes and just need to trust in YOU, and know that you are in control of all in our day to day life.  We are yours no matter how we feel - feelings are not facts!  I have heard that many times, and as a person who find tears coming easily to me whether happy or sad... I know that I am yours and yours alone.  The notion of putting one foot in front of the other, and following YOU down the narrow path carrying our most Cherished Cross truly is how I feel today.  That is all you ask of us, O Lord.  Some days the fire is very hot as we share/evangelize in our lives/world, but others we merely inch forward and trust that our light is shining with our being unaware of it.  Jesus, may we show mercy always!  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Halleluia

Bless-bless, Barb
Psalm 147 - the psalm for mass today and a Hallel Psalm!  We continue to hope and pray and prepare for our trip to Kansas City on the weekend of Sept 14-15 with the hope that Hallel will be here for the big dedication of the Little Monastery and taking of the habit for one of the American postulants! 
"Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem;
Praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
His ordinances he has not made known to them. 
Halleluia."

ice cream out on grandma's deck on a beautiful night after sharing mass! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=othmFqaw0Yk  Casting Crowns - Who am I

The ebbs and flows of Family

We were up early this morning grabbing the help when it can be found... John is on his way to become a Knight today, Paul and family are heading to Sioux Falls for a Lanoue family weekend, and Pat and I are going to Fergus Falls to take in the rodeo.  Pat and the guys put the tarp over his hundreds of bales of hay, and I was out in the beautiful morning putting a couple of loads of clothes on the line.  A thought crossed my mind from the wedding last night.  It was a very special wedding with all that is beautiful about the sacrament of marriage within our glorious Church was highlighted.  We were smiling and poking each other and Pat was very much holding my hand tight throughout the entire wonderful event!  Afterwards I was visiting with a friend that had moved away years ago and her family started when mine ended.  Her oldest of her 3 is John's age, so her youngest is heading to college this year.  "Empty nest" came to our tongues at this point.  But both my other friend and I said immediately - "It doesn't stay that way."  It doesn't!   And the three of us agreed that is a good thing!  Now I have John here with us, and Nancy and her two little ones are on the way for up to two weeks here on the farm.  Then, of course, we have the blessing of Ruth and Paul and their growing family just 3 miles away. 

The sweet corn is starting - we plan to have a big freezing day with 3 of the kids and their families to help on Tuesday! 

Lord, we are so blessed with Family that comes in and out of our lives as LIFE moves along.  How we love to share our Faith as One with Christ and his Bride, The Church.  It was wonderful to see a great article in National Catholic Register... "6 Ways to Pass on the Catholic Faith to Your Children"

1.  Teach them the basics... the Trinity, the True Presence in the Eucharist, why we have saints, the wonder of the Christ in His Word.

2. Saturate your home... fill it with prayers, love, Christian virtues, statues, pictures, medals and other reminders of our religious heroes.  These things can't just exist at church; they need to be in the home.

3. Make religion relatable and engaging for children.... crafts, activities, and songs reach kids with the Word of God on their level

4. Make sure that they get a really good Catholic Education.... more than one hour of CCD per week - it has to come from you, the Parent.

5. Weave the faith into your life.  The faith should be so interwoven into your life that if you tried to remove it you wouldn't even know to start - the whole masterpiece would be destroyed!

6. Lead by example

I LOVE this!  Thank you, Lord, for families that have found your path of Truth - for YOU truly are the Way, The Truth, and the LIFE!  Passing on our Faith in our homes is pure JOY and allows us to find a little slice of Heaven in our domestic Church/family.  A family that is always there with open arms to welcome those that come and go from our home and continuing to share Faith without end.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Halleluia

Bless-bless, Barb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO_YUOAA1HU  Small Things with Great LOVE by Danielle Rose

 

 

 

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself..." Matthew 16

When I was looking at pictures to use with my sharing today... I came across the October story of Patrick!  If there was ever a poster child for dying to self - Patrick Joseph is that!  He died in the womb after being without oxygen for 20 minutes - he was brought to LIFE and was healed!  Just as with John we feel that Patrick has a special calling and will be the Lord's boy!  He taught many the reality of PRAYERS being heard and answered as the Lord takes pity upon those so poor and helpless before HIM!

Patrick one day old with his cool cap on his head that was there to protect his brain from damage...  Lord, in the last 4 years we have been taught over and over that we are not in control of life, but are weak and need YOU.  The times of struggle and pain and sickness and any of the hard things that come to us - that is when we know that we cannot do it alone - we need YOU!  May we forever keep the Truth within us that we need to listen to You and your Bride, The Church, alone.   The wrong message of the world is so contrary to yours to us!  How often do we hear in advertising for things that make life more easy and indulgent - that we need to do what we want and to have what we want without thought to others or to our Faith?  All the time!  The message of the world is opposite that of Christ's today!  Without even knowing it we are forever bombarded by selfishness and we start to think that we are entitled to seek pleasure and the easy way out of life.   May we bring to mind the picture of our Patrick, who embraced the Cross in the womb and showed us that in our helpless and lowly state is where we find Christ's healing and LOVE/LIGHT/LIFE!  "Take up your Cross, and follow me."  May this ring in our hearts as a bell that calls us to be YOURS alone, and not to listen to that nagging and demanding voice of self.  Looking to St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross today as she modeled listening to YOU and giving her LIFE for the Truth.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Halleluia.

Joe returns from Afghanistan to be at the side of Patrick!  He sang to him in the midst of NICU!  I am sure that Patrick has that deep memory and LOVES when his dad sings and plays the guitar for him and his siblings now!  Bless-bless, Barb

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!  Serve the Lord with gladness!  Jesus, we trust in YOU!

The calves are much bigger after a few months on grass...

The cows came across the road last night as the grass was very scarce after a month without rain.  Today they are in the pasture around the house and I could see the calves closer.  They look nice and sure have been growing on momma's milk and that nice grass. 

We woke to the most wonderful sight and sound - RAIN!!!  We are forever grateful and thanking the Lord loud and clear after over an inch of rain since the weekend!  So now the grass might start growing in the pastures and the creeks might start running again.  Thank you, Lord!   Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb

 

 Hard to tell which are the cows and which are the calves... growing like weeds!

The world has been washed by wonderful rain!!!   It was a great cow wash - all of them are fresh as a daisy now!

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.