The Pat and Barb Verly family and their 5 children, in laws and grandkids along with many prayer warriors have been drawn together by John's cancer... sharing daily for 8 months started this blog- Family Soul Story - Our faith, family, farm and now our cancer journey called HEALING have colored and deepened our world. WE continue to share and depend on the support of our prayer warrior community, that has lowered us into the Lord's presence for His healing!
"What about you?" the theme of Pope Francis's homily in his first mass in Philly this morning. A call to serve and make a difference in this world with the many pressing needs we encounter. Gathering in Kansas City for Easter with our Hallel and her Community of the Lamb in April... we were invited to join them for a overnight Easter vigil... to the delight of Hallel, Simon got up very early to join grandma at the last few hours of the vigil. He answered "yes" to "what about you?" He shared in a powerful coming of LIGHT into the world with the rising of Christ after 3 days in the tomb and his excruciating death on the cross!
The LIGHT has chased away the darkness of sin and death! May this day with the Pope strengthen the Truth of Faith and Family for all the world to see and take to heart!
We received a newsletter from The Community of the Lamb in KC yesterday! So much LIGHT/LIFE/LOVE/Jesus is pouring into the heart of our country though the PRAYER - "perpetual prayer" that takes place there in their glorious humble chapel in the poor neighborhood in Kansas City - Lumen Christi/Light of Christ is the name given their little monastery there!
Hallel and now Little Sister Amaya (Beloved) raise the LIGHT for all to see. Yes, Maggie who is now Little Sister Amaya took her habit in France on the Queenship of Mary feast along with 6 other women from 6 different countries! We received a photo of them glowing and smiling in their habits of blue - "the shape of the cross and the color of the sky"- describes their founder Fr Jean Claude! Amaya and the other 6 all answered "yes" to the question - "what about you?" She is called to a life of contemplative prayer and bringing Christ to the poor as they knock on their doors and beg for their food... radical and powerful and life-changing!
Simon and Hallel ponder the empty tomb and the LIGHT and life-giving waters of Baptism which cleanses us and renews our call to love and serve Jesus and His Bride, The Church!
We also continue to go on mission and ask for our daily bread, knocking on people's doors and praying for those whom we encounter. One of these missions led to an Native American reservation. Three little sisters were guided by the Holy Spirit to the chief's house. He asked them, "How did my people welcome you?" They had been welcomed with open arms and hearts and much generosity! Another time, a man invited us in saying, "I am glad you came. I don't go to Church, but I know that it is God who sent you to me. This is one of the best days of my life because you came to my house!" A wonderful quote from their sharing with us... the mission is when they go to beg for their food from the poor and share the Gospel/Jesus and ask for their prayer requests! So humbling! They do know Pope Francis - he met them and loved their lives in Argentina and now in Rome and throughout the world!
Hallel playfully splashes Simon with Easter water... so reminiscent of how we were encouraged to "play" in the holy water by beloved Fr Jerry as the kids were growing up - remember Breno, John and Hallel??? JOY shared one with the other - we are washed clean basking in the LIGHT of Salvation!
What brought Hallel to answer "yes" to her call to be contemplative nun? A small voice that first appeared when she was about 12 years old after a week of Schoenstatt camp.... http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/susan-angela-agneslittle-sister-hallel.html Huge was her love of Jesus in His Word and how that it such a big part of each day for The Community!
Another part of their sharing from the newsletter yesterday. I did not know that they were doing this... it so reminds me of Pope Francis and his call to reach out to the down and out! Once a month we offer this "School of the Word" at a juvenile detention center. We don't always know who is evangelizing whom! One of the young women said, "The time has come for me to open my heart to Jesus and put him in the center of my life." While talking about the Gospel of the lost sheep (Lk 15) another said, "It is very simple: I have to recognize that I am the lost sheep and allow Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to come and find me." Quite often, they who speak about the need of forgiving others and asking for forgiveness.
Such a powerful blessing for the grandchildren - Hallel's nieces and nephews - to have her example, love and prayers for them and their families! Mary and Therese already know that they will discern their own calls and spend time with the Community when they are old enough to be there with them for some time! They are prepared to know that they will be asked - "What about you?" I have no doubt that each one will listen to what the Lord tells them is His plan for their lives! Simon and I are having this conversation as he is always wondering what he will do when he grows up... lately we have been saying that all he needs to do is ask The Lord on his journey and He has a plan just for Simon!
Hallel taking Simon to the Easter Celebration after being up all night welcoming the coming of LIGHT into the world!
St Katherine Drexel mentioned today by the Pope - she certainly answered with great results for the downtrodden for the American Indian and Afro Americans! http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=193 If you are interested in her amazing story!
Jesus, so much fills me this day... watching the Holy Father still touching many, but also have a most humble daughter as a nun in a small but bright burning LIGHT in the heart of our ailing and sick country! Lord, we know that You are at work and we must be your hands and feet. "What about you?" May we listen to your plan for us and courageously go forward sharing your LIGHT/LOVE/LIFE! Jesus, we trust in you. Amen and Hallelujah
Mary puts on her blue apron and joins in the dishes!
So much JOY shared with the little ones!
Basking in the beauty of Jesus and His Bride, The Church!
So very lucky to have this wonderful blessing as part of their lives!
We have an enlarged family through Susan/Hallel's call to celibacy and The Community of the Lamb - we have not lost family, but we have gained! Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
O God beyond all praising - this amazing hymn was used along this journey and always brings tears to my eyes... both Maria and Nancy used it as part of their wedding mass!
Another sweet moment with little Rose - Hallel loves peeps and she is kidding Rose that she wants to take them and eat them! How my heart sings to see Hallel being the crazy silly girl she always is in our family dynamic!
Luke's dad brought him in today with his loader and his bale spear made out of a popsicle stick! He wanted me to find some bales - toilet paper rolls!
Rose brought her's in too. While the older 3 were in NC visiting their cousins with grandpa and grandma... these two started picking up bales like grandpa. Today they took turns riding with grandpa and watching him grind and bed bales.
Picking up bales like grandpa!
At grandma's they had 3 bales/rolls of TP to play with, but...
This was the sight at their house when I took them home.
Looks like they have a lot of work to do...
Fun and work in the sunny living room at their house. The kids are sure loving their life on the farm, and that seat next to grandpa has given them quite the view and experience.
All you need is duct tape and a popsicle stick to pick up these charmin bales... talk about imagination!
John stopped in for lunch - unexpected family time is the best! Bless-bless, Barb
Love this picture of the Handmaids in Philly tonight! Can't wait for the Pope to arrive there tomorrow!
Mary with her two sweet bunnies - sisters that find comfort in each other... so soft and gentle.
I am so touched by the Pope here in the U.S. It is hard to tear myself away from each new appearance and I marvel that he has the strength to put in these huge days! It is truly the Holy Spirit at work and the wind beneath his wings. It is so marvelous to see the faces of those in Congress smiling and listening intently to him and today nations of the world likewise smiling and applauding and truly listening with their hearts. Yes, he did mention LIFE!
A picture taken in Philadelphia where he will be heading for the forum on The Family... truly the heart of his visit and the healing that needs to take place in our families/domestic Church.
I do feel tremendous HOPE fill me on this occasion of his visit here. I am sad that none of my girls or John have cable and cannot be following his words and actions. To hear him has led me to a place of confidence in his Papacy, and a better understanding of where he comes from and how that influences his concern for the environment and the marginalized. I recall how touched and moved Pat was after his trip to Guatemala and the degradation brought upon the native people there. Yes, we need to not become too comfortable in our wealth. Lord, show me how to better give til it hurts!
Lord, bring peace into the world through each of our efforts - most especially by protecting all life from conception to natural death. Jesus, we trust in you. Bless-bless, Barb
The Pope turned down lunch with the people of power and prestige and joined the homeless at Catholic Charities!
Half way through Vespers in NYC - St Patrick's with the Pope - I went to Vespers/Evening prayer/the office on my phone and they were following word for word. All the religious the world across were sharing the same prayer! I was super excited to reread the reading from I Peter as it was so powerful! There is cause for rejoicing here. You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials, but this is so that you faith, which is more precious than the passing splendor of fire-tried gold, may by it genuineness lead to praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ appears. Although you have never seen him, you love him, and without seeing you now believe in him, and rejoice with inexpressible joy touched with glory because you are achieving faith's goal, your salvation. I Peter 1:6-9 Read in English in Vespers shared with our Pope Francis!
Stopped in for Adoration this afternoon, and Holy Father was so much on my heart with all his requests for our prayers and so touched by the way he is touching our "jaded" country. Yes, I am hanging on every word from EWTN, but I have found myself amazed to hear such admiration and words of Faith... So I took this picture from my blog and put it close to Our Lord in the monstrance! Prayers for the Truth to be known and believed.
Took a lot of Mary with her bunnies last night...
Soft and fluffy with twitchy noses. Sisters that love to be together!
David takes him for a ride in his truck!
So thrilled that our church is being shown as the LIGHT/LIFE/LOVE that it is! Bless-bless, Barb
Saying a prayer by the relics of St Maria Goretti!
It is so great to see this... I have heard this explanation of the work and mission of the last few popes, and how they are bringing us to the important place of going to do the work - be Christ to the world!
Watching this unfold before my eyes is so amazing - Yes! He did mention the value of ALL LIFE and the attacks on the most important unit - family/the domestic Church.
How amazed was I when he based his speech on two of my heros? Out of this world when he mentioned Dorothy Day and Fr Thomas Merton! I have read a biography about Dorothy Day and my early romantic Catholic Days back in the early 1970s were seeped in Thomas Merton. Seven Story Mountain was huge for me!
"Three sons and a daughter of this land, four individuals and four dreams: Lincoln, liberty; Martin Luther King, liberty in plurality and non-exclusion; Dorothy Day, social justice and the rights of persons; and Thomas Merton, the capacity for dialogue and openness to God."
- Pope Francis, address to U.S. Congress
So amazing to see this happening, and the kind words from both sides!
I am thrilled to see the Hallel Psalm 149 in mass today! What is a Hallel Psalm - a psalm which is filled with Praise for God! I am wanting to thank God for the beautiful LIGHT in which my amazing Catholic Church is seen by the entire world! Let them praise his name in the festive dance, let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp. For the Lord loves his people, and he adorns the lowly with victory. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing with joy upon their couches; Let the high praises of God be in their throats. This is the glory of all his faithful. Hallelujah. The Lord takes delight in his people.
So fitting in light of the words and actions of the Holy Father! http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/pope-francis-visits-america/spiritual-shot-arm-pope-visits-nuns-obamacare-suit-n432931 So wonderful that he stopped to physically show his support to these wonderful nuns that are standing up for The Catholic Values of LIFE!
Love this!!
Jesus, may this visit to our country bring LIGHT to reveal the lies of Satan and the culture of death. I cannot stop watching and the rosary beads were in my hands as he spoke to Congress that he would share our basic Truths yet not close the door to the world listening with their hearts - he did! Jesus, we trust in you. Bless-bless, Barb
