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Pat is thinking about you today, Sam. Bless-bless, the Verly farm bunch
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Sam Cross stuff...
"Those who run after nothing become nothing." Pope Francis
I am borrowing from Nancy's family blog today to start my sharing... Yes, her kids all take after their dad in many ways. but they all have Nancy's beautiful brown eyes and dark complexion. Each one of our 12 wonderful grandchildren here with us and the two in heaven are a gift beyond measure. The most important thing of all is that they are being raised to be LIGHTS to the world! Pat set this as the capstone of our marriage and it is now being carried forth into our extended families - being open to LIFE and raising them as LIGHTS! http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/my-most-cherished-cross-patrick-gerard.html I shared at great length our marriage story on this page if you wish to delve deeper.
Now the 3... they will be coming for a few days on the farm at the beginning of the week. The weather will be "calving weather" according to my husband and I foresee many little ones with calf pictures in my future. We made it through the coldest night of the winter with 2 healthy new calves this morning! Thank you, Lord!
I was so excited last night to read the Gospel for today and discover Lazarus and the rich man from Luke 16! Even before we started morning prayer this morning, and before Pat went out to take care of our two new calves - we read together the Gospel in all its power and Truth! Then we read together the amazing Meditation of the day by Pope Francis. He pointed out that the rich man has no name in the story. "Think of it: the rich man in the Gospel has no mane, he is simply 'a rich man.' Material things, his possessions, are his face; he is nothing else... Those who run after nothing become nothing." Reading this we all were convicted and there was an intake of air as we realized that all those things in our lives that we enjoy and pursue are robbing us of our identity as followers of Christ and living as he did - a servant to all!
Now sitting up in all their differences yet definitely siblings that love each other.
The first reading lends itself to the idea of how we are deprived of LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT if we follow the lies of Satan and the world...."Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from The Lord. He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, But stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth. Blessed he who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord. He is like a tree planted besides the waters, that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat (nor the cold) when it comes, its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit." Isaiah 17:5-10
I see her mom reflected in her eyes... my zesty special 2 year old Bernadette!
Having my mother-in-law on hospice now has reminded me of why I love the end of our lives so much, and the gift we are allowed when we face it with the help of hospice to walk into the sunset with peace and Joy! To meet all the needs of the patient and family - most importantly to realize that all that it comes down to is Faith and Family and for us the Farm -which is a lifestyle and not just a job. John was praying this morning while we watched Pat ushering the new calves and their mothers to a spot in the barn reserved for them..."For all the new life we are blessed with... both nieces and nephews and the baby calves here healthy and safe." Life is all around us this time of year, and when things go well due to the hard work of our farmers and the answer to many prayers, too, we are in awe of the gift of LIFE! Well, I digress a bit, but I am trying to share that facing the end of our days gets all the "nothing" we have been distracted with like possessions and vacations and "sumptuous feasts," and "purple garments," and all the "I need this" or "I want that" or "I deserve this" or "I am what matters and nothing else is important." All the lies of Satan that distract us from listening to Jesus in His Word or The Church, which is there to help us get to Heaven... not picking and choosing what we will believe or follow, but taking it all to heart! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE The Church and have no reservations on what she asks me to do in my life!
Sweet 3 year old Augustine has eyes so brown that I cannot see mom in them reflected, but I know she is there, too! He will be 4 in May and is a very wonderful farm boy growing up in the city. I am a city girl come to the farm and it is a wonderful thing to have my farmgirl daughters loving the farm from afar and making sure their kids can come and fall in love with it like they did!
The newest member of Nancy and Bill's family is a gem! Dominic is now 8 months and such a happy and healthy boy!
Jesus, there is so much this day that is filling me to the brim and overflowing about The Truth that I have found in my life with you and your beautiful humble gentle Bride, The Church! I am eternally grateful that you called my entire family to come to your Church 43 years ago! We swam against the tide of those leaving and misunderstanding the changes after Vatican 2. It just speaks volumes of how your Holy Spirit was at work in our lives! http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-amazing-story-of-13-becoming.html Tomorrow is my dad's 90th birthday and I am filled with so much love and gratitude that he listened and heard your call! Bless us with more special time with this wonderful and humble and wise disciple of yours, O Lord. He and mom have modeled for me how we trust in YOU for all that we need and you provide for us in most miraculous ways. How about the 9 bedroom in Kenwood by Lake of the Isles you provided for our family of 13 to live in when we moved to the Twin Cities?!? With a ballroom in the 3rd floor, no less! Yet, dad opened our home to those that were down and out, and we watched how to recognize and give without counting the cost to those in need! Now our horizons have broadened by The Community of the Lamb - the poor in our midst including our daughter... yet, they go and beg for their food from the poor to share The Gospel of Truth and LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT with them. Mindbending and powerful! You do call us to be the poor man begging at the gate, O Lord, and covered with sores... as we recall that we are nothing without YOU to fill us with all we need... your Holy Spirit. Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen
Now some from Maria's blog - 5 year old David with his brown eyes and long lashes and heart filled with Jesus!
Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
Yes... we need to be forgiving as we have been forgiven.
Another great one!
Onward armed with the Fruits of the Spirit!
Tobymac - Lose my soul
Sanctus Real - forgiven
The dogs licking the sores of Lazarus as he suffers in this world but not in the next!!!!
Looking for some tbt pics of my dad for his 90th - getting "The Blessing song" on my birthday years back - "God is blessing you now."
Found a great one!
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
"Mommy talk about Jesus." Rose after mom left to teach FF
Soft and warm and loving. It is supposed to be the coldest night of the winter. Lord, keep the calves safe tonight. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for allowing us to have grandparent times so that Ruth and Paul can share their sacrament of marriage far and wide with the youth and that the Truth about the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman until death does us part and being open to family and raising LIGHTS... and sometimes use words to share the Way, The Truth and the LIFE - Jesus Christ and His Bride, The Church. Bless-bless, Barb
"I wish them happiness in their married life - no, I wish them JOY!"
Married life is a strong emotion for me today! John prayed for his best friend, Brad, who also happens to be Paul's brother. In just about a month Brad will be marrying Lindsey, and it is the big party weekend of all those in the wedding. John prayed for "happiness" in the sacrament of marriage between Brad and Lindsey..."No, I want to pray for JOY and not just happiness for them." So true.. with all the falsehood presented to us by the world representing what it takes to be happy... it has robbed this word of having much True Value anymore. Joy is not only a fruit of the Spirit which gives it tremendous value and worth, but it speaks much more of all that goes into it and is very REAL to me!
Ruth had the kids do this canvas as a family art project and put a family picture in the middle! It has been a great time having all their hard work for agriculture recognized nationally!
Marriage is a lot of hard work! We all know that this is true. Ruth and Paul seem to have a wonderful relationship and a lot of it comes from the foundation of always doing and saying "life-giving" things one to the other. Ruth has shared this with me, and although I don't always have it in mind when I serve Pat - it has helped me to think before I speak or act. It would be so great if I could remember 100% of the time. I find that I learn from each one of my daughters in how they show their husbands so much love and respect, and serve without counting the cost!
Nancy and her family a few weeks ago just before I headed back to the farm! It was pointed out that Gus's sweater was the shape of a heart... so special in the heart of their family to find LOVE! Yes, that is what we find when we embrace our Most Cherished Cross - our spouse- and find LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT as Jesus showed us by embracing The Cross and bringing LIFE into our lives, and being the embodiment of LOVE as The LIGHT came to reveal the Truth to us!
Looking to The Cross and LOVE is there!
I must share here the wonderful letter Nancy received from her sister, Susan/Little Sister Hallel, on the event of her engagement to Bill...
"Nancy, Look I am writing you a letter... aren't you impressed? Well, you better be because both you and I know how often this happens. I am writing to tell you now extremely excited I am about your engagement to Bill. I have to admit, when I got the news I wasn't really shocked but that night as it sunk in during adoration and the next day during mass I was so happy. My heart overflowed with joy for you. 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. So, in other words, know that I am so happy for you and that I love you a whole lot. Know that you are in my prayers during this crazy time of wedding planning; that you may not go crazy but rather learn to love each other better and that you may both have great joy and great peace. Remember to pray for me too! God Bless, Your little Sister Hallel "
Quite something to have this insight as a celibate sister married to Christ! Yet, it truly makes sense that being married to Jesus - you would have a deep personal understanding of The Cross, and it certainly is The Most Cherished Cross!
Today it was announced that this married couple - the parents of St Therese - will be Canonized together! The first married couple to accomplish that in The Church!
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2015/03/historic-first-married-couple-to-be-canonized-together/ Here is the site to read all about it!
Benedict XVI beatified both parents on October 19, 2008. Their canonization will be the first joint canonization of a married couple. Many have proposed their life of daily holiness as a model for our time. It will take place in October and in line with the Synod on The Family at that time. How much we need to have a holy Saint couple to help us on this difficult journey of dying to self so that we may serve one another and find that small slice of heaven - that JOY in our daily living of the Sacrament of Marriage!
Sharing some time out helping Pat this morning... only once did we have a disagreement and that is good for us! After asking for humility and repeating the litany yesterday a few times.. my saying "I don't deserve this" really rang in my heart and ears. Did Jesus complain when he certainly did not deserve the wrongs done to him? We are called to become the servant and to serve and not be served! Jesus reminds us of the upside down Truth in the Gospel today! Everything the world tells us is totally contrary to what we are called to do as Christians! That is why it is so important to spend time in prayer throughout our days and to listen to Jesus come to us in His Word and Sacraments and look to the lives of the Saints. Now we will have a married couple to look to and pray to! All 5 of their living children entered religious life! That is a sacrifice, too, but such a beautiful powerful one!
Some of the emotion that is tugging at me today is from a brief encounter I had in the grocery store yesterday. An old acquaintance passed me 3 times as we passed each other going opposite directions... finally I just had to ask how the family was. She shared that they just had their second grandchild, and what some of the kids were up to. I asked if they still lived in the same place, and she looked sheepish and told me that she and her husband had divorced about 6 years ago. "I am sorry." I told her and was sad to hear of another marriage that didn't make it. Of both Pat's and my families there are quite a few divorces and it is a blow to so many when it happens. Such an epidemic! Such wounds and suffering comes from these break ups.
Jesus, marriage is a wonderful gift we are given in which we are open to family and raise LIGHTS for the world, in which we are perfected in our journey of becoming less and less so that you may become more and more in us, in which we become a domestic Church/family and share a small slice of heavenly Joy as we share our Faith and grow in the knowledge and love of you through sharing our LOVE one with the other, in which we walk hand and hand to face all that comes to us such as John's brain cancer over 5 1/2 years ago and finding healing through prayer and the Church, in which we learn to take up our Most Cherished Cross and follow down the narrow path to LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT! May we find JOY in the midst of all the craziness of life. Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen
Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
Do you think we can get some help in our marriage from Jesus? Yes! Ask, look to Him and Trust! He wants us to continue to be united in LOVE!
This could transform my relationship - if I truly could put this small thing into daily practice. Why is it so hard to just be nice sometimes everyday? How can my hateful ways be any part of True LOVE? Lord, help me to love more like You!
Danielle Rose - True LOVE
Danielle Rose - Your Bride from I thirst album
Casting Crowns - Broken Together
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