"Making Christmas Camp Great Again" - Verly style "Crazy Catholic!"/"God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. " I John 5/Nothing is too unclean for Jesus!

These two are 3 weeks apart in age, and it was challenging to get them to sit still in the same space... but baby Jesus and the donkey were helpful to allow them to "be together."  Soon their other 22 month old cousin will, who is the oldest of the 3 boys by 3 weeks will arrive and grandma has a goal to get them happily together.  

On some big wheels in the same space...

We have made the heated shop clean and inviting with a seating spot for us to gather throughout our weekend to share and pray and laugh and cry... hopefully those are tears of JOY on grandma's part.  

As we gathered John led us in a decade of the rosary for the Luminous Mysteries!  "Let's do the wedding at Cana -#2 mystery as we are gathering for a family party and celebration!"  Then we each shared an intention - safety and health were huge!  How we love to share our Faith as a family!

Maria thought it would have been humorous to have our Tshirts say:  "Making Christmas Camp Great Again" after this year without due to covid, and the previous few years Maria and Joe were unable to come from Washington.  

The 2019 CCC was very small, and my father traveled with a granddaughter to be with us leaving mom at their Assisted Living in the Cities alone.  Many very close by did not make it even, so it was a low key to end my parents here with us and sharing this supreme family time.  Yes, the Verlys are excited to have our first ever VCC!  With both my parents gone in the last year... it is like we are embarking on a new horizon.

Starting with the oldest to the youngest last night - Simon gets a 6 decker cone!  Grandpa loves to be the dessert guy!

Grandpa still working all day on the farm... a light show with the grinder!

Today his bench will be cleared and used for our serving table... yes, the big transformation happening to allow us to try to "Make Christmas Camp Great Again."  

4 year old Evie rarely does not have a kitty to hold.

The dining area and the meals have been assigned to one family or the other.

Birdie and Jude arrive and are a magnet for Maria's family, who have not seen them since August.

3 of the girls that remind me of their mothers and their brother.  I call them my Verly girls.

Breaking in the shop for our meal last night with 20, Nancy will round us out today when they arrive!  We will be 30 including our newest member, Magdalene Rose Marie, who is a life in the womb!  Only missing our Little Sister Hallel! 

Hector riding the sheep...

It was wonderful to hear from our nun a night ago... she sent pictures of the new snow and the chapel that she is in charge of building at Saint Pierre, France, where she is living this year.  She might show up in some form for our family picture, so that I don't have to add her later.  

Maria with her #7 - baby girl to arrive on June 1st!

The donkey got ridden too by Hector...

Adoring baby Jesus!  This light up nativity is very special to share our weekend as it was my father's and was displayed outside their home in SCF year after year.  It was in front of my red barn the last few Christmas Seasons and seemed right to add to our atmosphere for VCC.

Hector getting ready to join the circling riders on all sorts of wheels...

Riding the sheep...

Hector's shirt for today is Truth!

Love the first reading today from I John 5!  How we cling to Jesus these days of unrest and uncertainty!  

Now the testimony of God is this,
that he has testified on behalf of his Son. 
Whoever believes in the Son of God
has this testimony within himself....

And this is the testimony:
God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. 
Whoever possesses the Son has life... I John 5

Each day we receive Jesus in The Word of God, and each week in The Body and Blood of Jesus/The Eucharist!  The Holy Spirit dwelling in us is Christ in us!

Always need 2!  Then again today in the Gospel of Luke 5 we witness Jesus having no hesitation of touching the unclean!  "A man full of leprosy" which was never to be touched and was considered unclean!  Jesus touches him and heals him!  There is nothing too filthy and evil and unclean in us that we cannot take to the Lord and be touched and healed by his LOVE for us and unconditional forgiveness!  All we need do is humbly present ourselves to him as this man did...he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” 
Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I do will it.  Be made clean.”   Luke 5

Gathered for a night cap with grandpa!

Traditions with the grandkids are fun and remembered especially when they involve popcorn and pop before bed!

Dad's underlined words from Isaiah this morning in morning prayer .  It is reassuring to us knowing that the current situation in our country and world are in the Lord's hands and we can continue to find inner peace in our inner temples because we are His!

I jumped ahead to tomorrow with Brother Victor and found this page of peace as we contemplate our Lord coming to us in this quieter winter time on our farm.  The pace does slow down a bit, and we can be more contemplative.  Thanks, dad, for this gift to me each day of continuing in our shared "religious life"  now with this sweet and deep Brother!  Bless-bless, Barbara

Gregorian chants - Christmas

Bach - Christmas Cantatas

 

The decoration day - Therese and Ruth/House full of family/A promise from Jesus..."A year acceptable to the Lord."/2021

6 months apart - four and three and a half are these two girls soon ine will arrive and make the three some complete!  Grandpa just served up a dessert that we have had in our weeks in Michigan in the past... ice cream cones!  So fun to move our tradition to this family gathering and we all smile at the warmth that cold ice cream gives us... cherished memories sharing family time supreme!

Oldest Therese with the two youngest, Evie and Hector, how I love to have my family here after 4 months.  They brought their dad this time, and he has not been here since John and Bobbi's wedding June of 2018.  We did see him that summer in France for Hallel's final vows when the mountain - 21 of us traveled to France for her words; "I promise unto death."

Such a little sweetheart and Maria shares how good he is for her!  

Patrick is now 8 with the other 2 - Rose and Bernadette will be together tomorrow!   The mountain of family should all be together by tomorrow afternoon/evening.  

Romeo and Evangeline ready to work on getting the shop ready for our big gathering for the weekend, our first ever VCC - Verly Christmas Camp!

Pat was impressed with how quickly the shop was ready to be power washed... The puppy had a ball chasing around the little guy - tomorrow our 3 grandsons, who are around 21 months - only 6 weeks apart will be together along with the new puppy, kitties...

And the chickens giving us our eggs daily and some background noise of their calming peeping.

18 week baby bump - our 20th grandchild is growing and healthy!  So many hopes and prayers!  

The Gospel for today from Luke 4 calms our fears with the sad state of our country and world... as our family gets together we are filled with hope that the Lord will indeed make it "a year acceptable to the Lord."

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day. 
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. 
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” 
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. Luke 4

Grandma doesn't do videos - just takes numerous pictures to share our time together.  

Lots of visiting and sharing and kid time when you get 12 cousins together for the first time in 4 months!

Artsy picture of Ruth's warm welcoming door...  I am called over to the farm for lunch.  Bless-bless, Barbara

The two 12 year olds...

Two eights and a twelve...

Youngest to oldest in line for ice cream cones from grandpa Pat.

The teenagers/tween agers getting along

Hector and Joy with the nativity hands on...

Ruth with crochet needle

Breakfast with family.

Eating his brother's waffle... life is good in this 2021 which is promised to become a year acceptable to the Lord" with our Jesus and His glorious bride, The Church!  

 

rowing across the choppy sea while Jesus is on the mountain praying, He comes to us!/A snowy message from France - prayers from our nun

I was overjoyed to get a email from a tired Little Sister Hallel last evening complete with pictures of a chapel they are constructing - she is in charge of construction as well as a few nights a week caregiver for one of the older sisters.  The big news was that they had gotten some snow, and a sister from Columbia had never seen snow before... "Today it snowed a little here. We maybe had an inch of thick heavy snow. A lot of it melted already. You can't imagine the joy of ls Natalia who is from Colombia. It was the first time that she say snow falling from the sky. She ran around all day long throwing snowballs and taking pictures."

It truly was a thick beautiful snow sticking to each small branch, too!  Snow is so white and beautiful to behold when it is newly falling.  Seeing it for the first time in your life must be quite something indeed.  Even for us, who have had snow all our lives, can still marvel at how beautiful it is.

Coming home from Nancy's on Sunday was so beautiful that I attempted to capture it through the speeding car windows as the sun set on the while landscape.  I know that  our family were thrilled to see show in abundance on their landing in Minnesota!

We are actually getting some rain today to glaze over our disappearing snow.  The hopes of a white snowy Christmas camp is looking to be less than wonderful here.  More time spent inside visiting and sharing and praying on the mountain as Jesus did today in the Gospel from Mark 6.

After the five thousand had eaten and were satisfied,
Jesus made his disciples get into the boat
and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd. 
And when he had taken leave of them,
he went off to the mountain to pray.   Mark 6

As Joe and Maria drive here today they will see less and less snowy landscape.  Our fields are black once again here...

Yes, I am super excited about my family gathering, yet I am realistic that it will be a huge crazy zoo, too.  I am a bit nervous and anxious as the noise and mayhem get to me a bit.  I find myself clinging to my rosary beads and reminding myself "I can do this."  I can relate a bit to the disciples as they row against the choppy sea, and that Jesus comes to them across the waters as He cares and is in control!

When it was evening,
the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore. 
Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing,
for the wind was against them. 
About the fourth watch of the night,
he came toward them walking on the sea. 
He meant to pass by them.  
But when they saw him walking on the sea,
they thought it was a ghost and cried out. 
They had all seen him and were terrified. 
But at once he spoke with them,
“Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” 
He got into the boat with them and the wind died down. 
They were completely astounded. 
They had not understood the incident of the loaves. 
On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.  Mark 6

I know that Jesus is in our midst and that I need not be afraid of him passing me by.  I told someone lately that all I want to do is enjoy every minute with my family around me.  She reminded me that I need to give the control over to my kids, and that is a good reminder.  Jesus will calm the choppy seas around me and if I am not afraid and trust in Him... I will find the joy of our coming together and sharing our lives and our faith as a family on the farm!

A very excited 12 year old, Therese!  They are on the road coming to be with us on the farm.  Many prayers for safety!  Bless-bless, Barbara

Today is the last day of the daily Advent - Christmas meditations by St John Henry Newman and dad embellishing much with his underlines and notes!  How I will miss this time with dad each day.  I still will have Brother Victor-Antoine daily and mom's Pope Benedict XVI...  

It was so interesting to read today about how Christ was acknowledged as a King only as an infant and youth up until he was 12 years old in the temple - then he took on the role of a servant.  St John Henry was a man of great depth and wisdom... I will miss him with me each day - reminding me powerfully of my father, who was also a man of very deep faith and who included me in a very personal way while he lived here for 6 months, and then with the blessings he left me in his daily office and readings.  I find myself speaking to him and thinking of him often throughout the day.  Marveling that our time came to an end, yet that it was such a special time for me and for him!

A miracle happened while dad was here with me!  My brother and his wife came to be with dad so that Pat and I could make a trip to KC with 2 of the grandchildren, Big Dave and Rose again.  While there the Holy Spirit reminded Little Sister Judith that we could bring Hallel for her home visit as she was due to come home every 3 years!  She had not seen her grandfather for 12 years... They were able to pray together and now Hallel has joy and peace knowing that she saw her grandfather a few months before he died and was sharp and prayerful.

A picture Maria asked for of Pat and I with Hallel and added my dad... making it that much more of a special gift/keepsake!

So great that dad could watch sweet baby Birdie grow up as she was born shortly after he arrived here.  

Happy Feast Day
Saint Andre Bessette C.S.C.
1845-1937
Feast day: January 6
Brother Andre, a French Canadian, came to the Brothers of the Holy Cross in 1870 with a note from his pastor saying “I am sending you a saint”. The Brothers are a teaching order and Andre at 25, still could not read or write and had stomach problems (that he had for his whole life). At the request of the Bishop of Montreal, he was ordained a consecrated religious Brother, and given the position as doorkeeper at the Notre Dame College. (A position he had for 40 years, perfect for praying with the people). He had a great devotion to St. and the poor and afflicted. In 1904, he started building the St. Oratory in Montreal with nickels and dimes he had collected. It was completed in 1955 as a basilica. Millions of people were and still are, cured through his prayers and the intercession of St. . Today Saint Andre Bessette is known as the “Miracle Man of Montreal”.

Showing us the importance of humility in our lives.  

 

Danielle Rose - the Litany of Humility