"Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock!" Moving vs unmoving...

Nancy's bunch preparing for the Feast of St Nicholas today!

The kids all work together on making the banner for special occasions!  St Nicholas is such a beautiful example for the Season of caring for the poor and lowly.  May we humbly fall on our knees beseeching the Lord to show us how to see him in the poor in our midst.

Nancy works hard to keep their hearts and minds focused on the real meaning of the Season! 

I have been happy with sharing this Advent unto it's own with being laid up and relying on my husband to give me rides, prayer morning and night, do the shopping, and my cheerful helper.  I am grateful and appreciative of his sweet care of me.

Many thoughts going to Hallel in KC.  Nancy saw her briefly yesterday as they wheeled her out in her wheelchair after Nancy was done with adoration.  "He can't bend her knee at all... I see that they have a spot for her in the chapel to put her foot up, too." For me moving my leg hourly and exercising 3 times a day to get it to bend more and more is part of my sanity/getting back on my feet!  To think that Hallel can't stand on her leg or move it for 6 weeks is enough to make me get kind of crazy!... I ache for her!  If I don't move every hour, I am so achy and miserable.  Prayers amped up for my Little Sister Hallel!

In France in 2011.  

John just stopped in and reminded me how great it is that the "gentle giant" is my foremost caregiver with this recovery!  Both Hallel and I are on our roads to recovery and this too will pass.  Jesus, we trust in you forever!  The Lord is the eternal Rock on which we depend!  Psalm 118 from mass today reminds us!

This brace on her leg for 6 weeks... in the scheme of things a small time out of her life of poverty, chastity and obedience. The Lord is truly an eternal Rock!  Bless-bless, Barb

O good St. Nicholas, you who are the joy of the children,put in my heart the spirit of childhood, which the gospel speaks, and teach me to seed happiness around me. You, whose feast prepares us for Christmas, open my faith to the mystery of God made man. You good bishop and shepherd, help me to find my place in the Church and inspire the Church to be faithful to the Gospel. O good Saint Nicholas, patron of children, sailors and the helpless, watch over those who pray to Jesus, your Lord and theirs, as well as over those who humble themselves before you. Bring us all in reverence to the Holy Child of Bethlehem, when true joy and peace are found. Amen

"Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope...It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope."

~ Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

Happy Feast Day

One month now... Advent is very powerful this year... Jesus, I need you to come and be in me more and more

A month ago I made the treak to KC for the Little Brothers blessing of their monastery and all that fills it and surrounds it!  I drove all the way there and back by myself with my rosary beads and Christian music. My last hurrah before my knee replacement just days later.

Now even the  thought of riding that far is giving me pause... but we have fake plans to go there for Christmas with Nancy and Hallel, and I am trusting that I will be in a place to do this big trip with a few more weeks to go on the recovery.

All you need do is look to see that this is chapel filled with Jesus and so much LIGHT/LOVE/LIFE!

After our time in France this last August and living out the true miracle of moving the mountain to France for Hallel's final vows... The Lord's Mountain has filled me with JOY!  At this time in early Advent we await the Lord's coming and vow to be ever prepared as we know not when!

On this mountain the LORD of hosts
will provide for all peoples
A feast of rich food and choice wines,
juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples,
The web that is woven over all nations;
he will destroy death forever.
The Lord GOD will wipe away
the tears from all faces;
The reproach of his people he will remove
from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 25

The celebratory meal on the hillside with Hallel after her vows. "I promise unto death!"

The Isaiah reading is a good description of the beauty we encountered as we were gifted with a glorious day sharing Faith and family in the foothills of France with 21 of us there for Hallel!

This year Advent has taken on a deeper meaning and Pat and I are sharing prayer morning and night together, which is a great blessing to me!  I pray for my close walk with Jesus, and in my weak and lowly state I am fully aware of how much I need him.

Pondering using this for my Christmas Card this year... All married!

Jesus, how I need you and long for the perfection of your Holy Mountain to dwell on forever with you, your Mother, Mary Most Holy, all the Saints and those touched and healed by you, including this old weak woman.  Jesus, we trust in you.  Bless-bless, Barb

He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then he took the seven loaves and the fish,
gave thanks, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.
Matthew 15

I am yours, O Lord!

Childlike/Humility...eyes and ears so blessed to see and hear!

Love this!!!  Our Thanksgiving gathering a little over a week ago.  Now the anticipation of my huge family gathering called Cross Christmas Camp - CCC-  a week from Friday through the weekend. Family time is the best!!!

All but Hallel at John and Bobbi's wedding should be my Christmas card for this year, yet I struggle to move forward. I feel like a shadow of my self in the day to day life as I slowly regain my normal life with some pain and suffering.

It seems that the computer gremlins are at work today... I must abandon this attempt to share much today.  My wish to be more childlike and humble are coming to me as I attempt to be patient with things that are out of my control.  Jesus, we trust in you. Bless-bless, Barb

Love this from the wedding with their 5 Godchildren! Soon they will welcome their first child in March!  Life is a gift indeed!

Jesus reminding his disciples how lucky they are to see the fulfillment of the prophecy - Jesus,God made man in the flesh!  We too have the eyes and ears blessed with seeing him and hearing him!  May is shine forth in our lives, families, domestic Church, in all that we do and say and act!

Turning to the disciples in private he said,
"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."  Luke 10

"Let us climb the mountain of the Lord...let us walk in the light of the LORD!"

15 years ago... a ice storm outside on Nov 22, 2003.  Ruth the oldest and first to get married... those 15 years now has been filled with all of them now married.  Three discerned a call to the priesthood or religious life - my heartfelt wish for all of my kids and grandkids- and we have a nun having taken her final vows on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.

The Lord showed each of them their path!  A mother's heart is full with the ongoing story of their living their faith with Joy and sharing it with their spouse and family!

Our family had grown by Nancy's wedding in 2010!  Soon to jump from 15 grandchildren to 18 as 3 are due in March!  Life is a gift!

Recently the "mountain" came very real to me when our huge bunch went to France to share Hallel's final vows.  The Lord made the way for 18 of us to get there, and it was all that it could be!

Sitting here with my new knee going on 4 weeks in a few days... the words from Isaiah 2 ring very real and a goal to strive for with my getting back on my feet with less pain and more stamina and stronger and able to eventually climb that Lord's mountain!  Yes, I am always weak and turn to Jesus, but I can gain strength through Him, who led me to it and is now leading me through it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7V33peaIhY&feature=youtu.be  Nancy on her devotion to Mary!

St Francis Xavier pray for us! 

Returning the Love he was shown!

Standing on the Lord's Mountain in France is a way to describe the powerful event we shared with our youngest daughter!  "I promise unto death." rang out and our hearts, minds and souls were awakened to the Truth of what we are called to do in our day to day journey and our marriages and our families!

We are to LOVE Jesus first of all and although unworthy we are loved unconditionally in return... that love grows only if we then return it to those around us!  "Wounded, I will not cease to love."

We are each other's most Cherished Cross for 40 years!  There is so much we have shared, and more to come!...  Lord, in order to climb the mountain of life leading to YOU... we need to be able to see and believe and trust in you.  We long to have your LIGHT always surrounding us!  Jesus, we trust in you.  Bless-bless, Barb

The words of our nun to her sister on the occasion of her engagement...

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

Advent begins with a white blanket and family sharing our beautiful Faith!

My family is disappointed that I am not up to sitting up towards the front of church with them in our usual family spot, but my leg can't tolerate the entire hour yet.  So I sit in the back and was gifted with this wonderful sight... Ruth's 3 oldest serving together!  This was David's second time, and how wonderful they look in the new robes for the servers.

My dear friend, Father Denny, was presiding!  So wonderful to have him here sharing each week in our parish!

Over night we got about half a foot of beautiful snow!  The only way to church was by pick up, so we helped out getting some grandkids to mass with us.  Lots of snow to move for the farmers today.

A picture postcard with the new blanket of white... Ruth put the garland on both our porches just before the snow came to make it more beautiful!

I surprised myself getting up and out with Pat for 8a mass, but now I am dragging.  This needs to be short today.

So pretty!  Father reminded us that Advent is not all about Christmas but preparing and waiting for Jesus... yes, to come as a baby, but also being ready at all times for when we are called to leave this earth with death to eternal life or when He comes to bring all to himself at the end of time.  We know not when, but we need to always be prepared.

Father mentioned the focal point of the Advent wreath, and lighting the candle each week as a family at the evening meal or after to share some deeper prayer and worship. 

Advent brought our family together in prayer year after year, and sharing the lives of the Saints was a highlight for the kids as well as singing praise and worship songs, reading scriptures, and doing a decade of the rosary.  Cherished times indeed!

My Mary statue almost hidden in the whiteness!

Jesus, we love you with our all.  Come Lord Jesus fill us with your LIGHT/LOVE/LIFE!  Jesus, we trust in you.  Bless-bless, Barb

Sitting in the back with the sick, elderly, weak... I fit all those categories!

Advent and winter arrived at the same time!

Bishop Robert Barron

Page Liked · 7 hrs · 

 

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus tells his disciples to be vigilant. Today marks the beginning of Advent, the great liturgical season of vigilance, of waiting and watching.

What practically can we do during this season of vigil keeping? What are some practices that might incarnate for us the Advent spirituality?

I strongly recommend the classically Catholic discipline of Eucharistic adoration. To spend a half hour or an hour in the presence of the Lord is not to accomplish or achieve very much—it is not really “getting” anywhere—but it is a particularly rich form of spiritual waiting.

As you keep vigil before the Blessed Sacrament, bring to Christ some problem or dilemma that you have been fretting over, and then say: “Lord, I’m waiting for you to solve this, to show me the way out, the way forward. I’ve been running, planning, worrying, but now I’m going to let you work.” Then, throughout Advent, watch attentively for signs.

Also, when you pray before the Eucharist, allow your desire for the things of God to intensify; allow your heart and soul to expand. Pray, “Lord, make me ready to receive the gifts you want to give,” or even, “Lord Jesus, surprise me.” 

"Night will be no more,...the Lord God shall give them light" Rev 22/Lights before the storm

The Advent wreath is ready to be lit nightly beginning tonight... the Vigil of the first Sunday of Advent!  I know that the Little Sisters will be awake long into the night as they Fall on their knees before our Lord, who is coming into the world to chase away the darkness and bring LIGHT eternal!

Each night up until the 21st of December gets longer and longer... more darkness and it is truly getting to me this year with this insomnia that is the plague of my nights!  How the words from the first reading came flooding me with hope that this too will pass... "Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord shall give them light."

I do know that this is temporary and with each new night I hope and pray... many Hail Mary's in the hopes that I will awaken hours later after a nice stretch of sleep! 

My sweet hard working selfless daughter, Ruth, came and gave me such a joyfilled boost by lighting up my porch.  O had just thought that this would be a lightless Christmas as I am not up to doing all the decorating.  Soon the ground will be covered with white as the promised storm just arrived and the snow is falling!

Ruth hard at it got me moving on finding the Advent candles and getting my wreath ready for Advent with just hours to spare.  Advent is always a time of gathering around the wreath to share prayer, scripture, rosary and singing from when the kids were little. 

How I love to see the deep and meaningful family traditions that my kids are developing with their families.   Open to LIFE and raising LIGHTS!

The coming of our Savior into the world so humbly in a tiny infant born of the Virgin Mary!  Saturdays are devoted to Mary!  The Blessed Virgin Mary is the pinnacle of God's creation.  She is the most perfect, the greatest, the holiest human being ever to live.  When we repeat her name, we greatly honor God her Creator.  Mary never keeps any glory for herself.  Her soul magnifies the Lord. (Luke 1:46)

Mary's "Yes" brought The LIGHT into the world to chase away our suffering... by his wounds we are healed!

Also grateful to Ruth, who took me in for my hour of prayer in the Church... Advent wreath ready for tonight - the beginning of Advent!

The Gospel reminds me that I will get through this and I must and long to always love and serve him no matter the cost of what I am experiencing!
"Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Yes!!! Strength does not come easy these days... I must suit up with the armor of Faith!

My kindred right knee surgery and recovery daughter... Little Sister Hallel is with me on this journey... I feel her prayers as I send mine to her!

Jesus, I need you and long to give you my all, which doesn't seem like much these days.  May I give from what little I have... my all!!!  Jesus, I trust in you.  Bless-bless, Barb

A Saint that Hallel introduced me to some years ago... 

Our whole life must cry out that we belong to Jesus, reflect a Gospel way of living. Our whole being must be a living proclamation, a reflection of Jesus." 

- Bl Charles de Foucauld

"The goal of every human life
should be

the adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament."

Bl. Charles de Foucauld

Priest, Martyr ~ 1858-1916
nee France ~ Missionary in the Sahara of Algeria

Inspiration and writings led to the founding

of the Little Brothers of Jesus congregation

Feast Day – December 1

Charles returned to the Faith, after living an immoral life.  Regarding his conversion, Charles said,

"The moment I realized that God existed, I knew I could not do otherwise than to live for Him alone.  …My religious vocation dates from the same moment as my faith:  God is so great.  There is such a difference between God and everything that is not."

Prayer of Bl Charles de Foucauld: both prayed and lived...

Father, I abandon myself into Your hands; do with me what You will. Whatever You do I thank You. I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only Your will be done in me, as in all Your creatures, I ask no more than this, my Lord. Into Your hands I commend my soul; I offer it to You, O Lord, with all the love of my heart, for I love You, my God, and so need to give myself - to surrender myself into Your hands, without reserve and with total confidence, for You are my Father.

Mary did you know? - Jordan Smith