My Lenten Journey: What I Will be Reading Along the Way

                       Our Parish Spiritual LIfe Committee offered each of us a chance to journey with a saint this Lent, and I chose my Patron, St Margaret Mary Alacoque (until I was 10 I thought the church had named a saint after me, then I read about her in A Child's Book of The Saints.  

I had never read her autobiography though so this Lent I will be reading that to journey with her throughout  these upcoming 40 days.

The other book Small Surrenders is one I have read before. It was recommended to us by Fr. Bill our Pastor who just left us for a new job at the Chancery.  I thought that I might not miss him as much if I re-read this wonderful book of wisdom on how important learning to let go of the small things every day really is to the spiritual life.

So,  that is what I will be reading.  What are you planning for this lent?                                   

An Eye For an Eye

This is an awesome article concerning the message of yesterday's gospel.

Something most people don't know if they haven't studied the bible is that when Jesus is quoting "an eye for an eye" he is actually going back to the law of Leviticus, in which what was taken from you was exacted from the one who took it.    Back in the times of Leviticus it made sense,  it brought things back to level.

Jesus was radical though.  He asks us endure more.  He asks us to not seek revenge, but rather work toward a spirit of forgiveness.

I remember a saying of my mother's (used in the article)  An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

We need to be radical, like Jesus.  We need to find a different way to settle our differences at every level.

Besides,  despite the resurgence in Pirate movies,  no one really looks good in eye patches.

Pax

Austen-tatious

So, I freely admit I have never been a very big Jane Austen fan.   Somehow I always thought her heroines were overwrought and her heroes were, well Victorian.  I just couldn't get into the first book I ever read, and never tried a second one.

But then,  I saw Pride and Prejudice made for BBC and PBS starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.  ~ Sigh  ~

I still didn't much like the story, but well, Colin Firth.  ~ Sigh ~

But then in the past year I have seen Bride and Prejudice  a Bollywood version of the classic story, and The Jane Austen Book Club,  (which had the added attractions of Marc Blucas, Hugh Dancy and Jimmy Smits ~Sigh~ ).  

And then just recently the angelbaby and  I discovered   Lost in Austen  in which a modern British woman (albeit an Austen lover) gets transported into the novel Pride and Prejudice.

And of course my favorite way to read Jane Austen of all:  Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, because
If I have to read Jane Austen the addition of zombies makes the novel all that more fun to read.  I may be becoming a Jane Austen fan despite myself.












Pax

He's Baaack!

My childhood friend (I won't tell how old we are if he doesn't)  is blogging again at:

The Daily Oldman


His comics are slightly off and very funny.  

Enjoy, Oh and leave a comment if you dare.  You never know, you might find yourself a character in one of his future comics.

Pax

Snopocalypse my Eye, We're Having an Icetastrophy

 If you are anywhere in the Midwest then you know that we are being buried.  Those to the north of us are being covered with snow, but down here in South Central Indiana we are being blanketed with a really thick layer of ice.

The treas look really cool but the roads are treacherous and schools and businesses are closing all over the place.  20,000 Hoosiers are without power, luckily we here at Geene Acres still have our power.

We did lose a big limb off of the 100 plus year old Oak tree in the back yard.  That is gonna take a lot of work to clean up.  I just hope that we don't have too many more trees go down over the next few days.

We are all home and safe and I made sure that I got a lot of foods that could be eaten without being cooked or cooked on the camp stove, so we should be okay if the power goes out here over night.  I don[t know how warm we will stay here, but we do have a fireplace downstairs and can sleep down there if we have to.

I remember an ice storm like this back when I was in high school.  But back then schools were closed for nearly a month what with one storm or another.  Heaven forbid I hope this one isn't quite that  bad.

Tomorrow is Groundhog day.  We will either be having Salad or Groundhog steak for dinner depending on if the stupid over-sized rodent sees his shadow or not.  It is entirely his call.

Stay warm everyone.

Pax

Happy are they . . .

Back when I was a catechist the fifth grade teacher taught a lesson on the Sermon on the Mount.  She had the kids in her class draw pictures to illustrate what Jesus was trying to teach.  On one of the pictures, a student wrote the heading:

The Beautitudes

There was something so perfect about the malapropism that it has stuck with me all these years later.  Happy are the poor in spirit,  Happy are they that mourn,  Happy are the persecuted. . .   how beautiful it is to follow after the will of the Lord.

As I am working on the difficult changes that God has asked of me in my life:  my husband's job, the death of my mother,  changes at my beloved parish, my daughter moving so far away from home,  learning how to parent young adult children into healthy whole lifestyles;  I continue to remember the lesson I learned all those years ago from that wonderful young girl.  

Following after the Lord, wherever He leads me is all part of the Beautitudes.  My life is beautiful and I am happy in my surrendering to the will of God, even when it means I will mourn, or be meek,   misunderstood, or persecuted .  

In my weakness I will find the strength I need, because He has promised it to me. 

Have a Beautiful day.

Pax

The Lie of Choice

I know women who have had abortions.

Each one of them felt at the time  that there was no support from family, or the father of the child for them to do anything else.

They did not make the decision lightly.

They felt trapped.

They made the decision to abort because they had no other choice.


To a woman,  each and every one regrets what they did, and mourns the life of the child they killed.

Not one of the women I know was offered any kind of post-abortion counseling from the clinic which "provided" them with the service.

A few truths to ponder.

Pax

Living In The Light

Darkness hides things.  Illumination brings knowledge.  Knowledge is power and truth.

One of the tactics of the Pro-life movement that has been reviled by many is the use of images of both pre-born infants by way of ultrasound, and pictures of the tiny dead bodies of aborted babies.  

In many states Pro-life workers have tried desperately to make the viewing of an ultrasound of the "product of conception" a part of the pre-abortion appointment.  This is because we are sure that once a mother sees her child it will be less likely that she will "choose" to kill that child for any reason. 

The other side fights desperately to keep this image from having to be revealed to the mother.  Keeping the mother in the dark, and allowing her to continue to think of her baby as "products of conception"  is a way to depersonalize the baby.  That will make it easier for the mother to "choose" to take action against it without thinking about it as a person who will die by her actions.

The womb is supposed to be a safe place.  Safe passage for the developing baby, not a place where the child is in danger of being ripped to pieces because he or she is an inconvenience.  Many women (and some men) who experienced abortion feel crushing regret, and trauma from the experience.

If we keep showing the pictures of the pre-born, and help the parents to see their child as a child and not something less than human we can't but help to become a more compassionate society.

We need to let the light shine in (or in this case sound waves shine their light).  

Pax

Teacher Watches as Second Graders Perform Oral Sex in Class

I am rendered practically wordless at the profound wrong that was done to the children in this classroom. Our society is sick and if we don't do something really quickly, the epidemic will have too much of a stronghold.

What really bothers me is how the principal tried to almost downplay the harm done in her letter home. What is happening?

Teacher Watches as Second Graders Perform Oral Sex in Class

Pax

This is Indiana!

This is why we are fans through thick and thin.

Pax

Dealing With Change

Our parish is grieving this weekend because our beloved Pastor announced at the Masses this weekend that he will be leaving us in less than a month for a new assignment with the Archdiocese.  The Archbishop has asked him to become the Moderator of the Curia which in layman's terms means he will in effect be the CEO of the Diocese.

This is a huge job and he is well qualified but when he spoke to us at Mass you could hear in his voice that it was only out of obedience to the Archbishop that he is able to leave us.  He asked to come to us four years ago, and he has cherished his role as pastor and parish administrator, something he was never allowed to do before because of his duties within the Chancery.  We were his first official parish assignment, and he really loved being here.

So, while we are all saddened to lose our pastor, maybe we should take a page from his book.  Obedience is part of what we believe about being members of this church.  If Fr. Bill can do this out of obedience to the Bishop, then we can accept the new interim pastor who will serve from February till July and welcome a new pastor in July, just as humbly as Fr. Bill is accepting this move to the Chancery that he must make in the next four weeks.

I know for my part, my prayers go with him.  And I will remember every lesson I learned from him while he was our pastor.  How arrogant would it be not to be willing to share his amazing gifts with the greater church of south central Indiana?

For the next month I am really going to cherish his homilies, and his hugs.

Pax

More on Our New Auxiliary Bishop

Here is a video from Fox 59 news on the Press Conference announcing Fr. Coyne as the New Auxiliary Bishop:

http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-pope-benedict-xvi-appoints-ind-01142011,0,6670957.story

"It is what it is"  I really like him now.

Pax

Interesting News

It was announced today that Fr. Christopher Coyne of the Archdiocese of Boston has been appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.  Rocco at Whispers in the Loggia has the news.   Rocco has done a much better job than I ever could of explaining the ins and outs of the possible reasons why the diocese received an Auxiliary Bishop when in fact our Archbishop asked for a coadjutor.

If you want to know a little about Fr. Coyne,  happily he is a blogger.  You can read his blog here. 
I have been reading through it since I heard the news and like what I have read.  I also like that Fr. Coyne is a Liturgist.  (Bless my loving liturgical heart.)

I do know that Archbishop Buechlein has had a very rough couple of years health-wise, and has been in our prayers as he struggles with his cancer diagnosis and treatment.  His asking for a coadjutor is proof of his concern and care for the diocese.

Welcome to Indiana, Fr Coyne.  Here's hoping we can turn you into a Colts fan really quickly,  because I don't know what I will do if I have to follow a Bishop who is a Stinkin' Cheatriots fan.

Pax

Ghosts of Christmases Past

We went to Midnight Mass, and in a real departure for our family we even opened our presents before Mass so that we (meaning mrangelmeg specifically) could all sleep in this morning.   Well then, what am I doing up at quarter past why the heck am I awake?  Maybe it is the fact that unlike the last four or five years, we actually have snow this Christmas (boy have we had snow).  Maybe it is because this is the first Christmas since our oldest daughter moved so far away and she couldn't get back this year.  Maybe because this is the first Christmas since my mom died and I am really missing her.  But I am sitting here on Christmas morning and remembering absent family members and Christmases past.

We opened presents on Christmas Eve most years when I was little, because we went to Midnight Mass and we could all (meaning my dad specifically) sleep in on Christmas morning).  We always got crisp new jammies on Christmas,  they were never wrapped, but would magically appear on our beds somehow while we were eating dinner on Christmas Eve.  The Jammies were supposed to help us sleep better on that magical night.

On the occasions that we didn't open gifts on Christmas Eve,  we would still have gone to Midnight Mass, so our parents had a rule about when we were allowed to wake them to open presents in the morning.  We had to wait patiently,  or as patiently as nine anxious children could, until the streetlight out in front of our house went out.  it was then and only then that we were allowed to knock on their door and tell them the exciting news that we had already discovered;  Santa had been to our house.  

I remember waiting anxiously, sitting on the radiator by the front window in the living room willing with all my might that the light would go out.  We carried this forward for our children by telling them that they weren't allowed to wake mrangelmeg on Christmas morning until the security light in our driveway went out.  

On the sleep in mornings we were allowed to wake up any time we liked, but we were not allowed to wake or disturb our parents on Christmas morning.  We had to play with our newly received loot as quietly as possible.  This was always much easier for me, who usually got books than my brothers who got GI Joes or Rock-em Sock-em Robots or Slot Hockey games.   Inevitably, they would get really noisy.  

The lasting memory I have of those Christmases though isn't the gifts, but having the family all together.    One year, we went into Midnight Mass with just a few flakes wafting through the air, and came out an hour and a half later to a total blanket of white, that by morning was one of the worst blizzards the area had ever seen.   The snow was so deep that hardly anyone drove on the streets for days.   We lived about seven weeks from Church and the entire family, all eleven of us walked through the two feet of snow to Mass the following Sunday.  

Christmas was a time to be together.   Another of our spectacular Christmases was the year my oldest brother came back from his Naval posting to Okinawa to spend Christmas with us.  We were so happy to see him, and he decided to "share the wealth" with his military pay that year.  The very large living room seemed to be buried in gifts.  But we were so happy to have Mike back that our bountiful harvest didn't seem to matter.

Our greatest gift on Christmas was family, which isn't a surprise at all to me since the real gift of Christmas was the Christ child.   For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.  The greatest gift of all was a gift of Divine Family. It's not the Christmas presents that we love so much, it is the Christmas Presence.

I think I will call some of my siblings today. 

Pax

Christmas Baking

So I spent the day baking.  For those of you who know me, you know that I really hate to cook, so this was not helping me get into the Christmas Spirit.  In fact, I think my Facebook Status today might have said Fa la la la la de freakin' da.   


In honor of everyone doing so much baking I wanted to share a post from my beloved husband mrangelmeg;  This goes back to 2005.    Enjoy:


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This all began with an inocent enough request from a friend of mine for a recipe for Persimmon Cookies from my husband's mother. The following is what she got in three email exchanges. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Mrangelmeg is a genius, and very funny, and I love him dearly.

Part I: Here is my Mom's recipe for Persimmon Cookies:

1 cup persimmon pulp 1 teaspoon baking soda (not powder)

1 cup sugar (it used to be 2 cups, but since you're so sweet, 1 cup is enough)

1/2 cup margarine or butter (Mom just uses stick margarine)

1 egg 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cloves (I asked Mom to pick one and she said she uses somewhere in between. I guess that means 3/8 of a teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1 cup chopped walnuts (Mom had an option to substitute raisins for the walnuts. She has never put raisins in persimmon cookies, but if you want to go ahead and ruin a perfectly good batch of cookies, feel free to use raisins)

Instructions: Beat persimmon pulp thoroughly. Mix in soda. In separate bowl, cream sugar and butter/margarine, then add egg and mix thoroughly. Sift together dry ingredients and mix into creamed mixture. Combine all ingredients and drop by teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Mom reminded me that this was for one batch and she always makes a double. She further reminded her engineer son - no fewer than three times - that in order to make a double batch, you need to double the above ingredients. Since you have the PhD, I'm only telling you once.

You can freeze persimmon cookies to enjoy later ... say when we might be back at St. Meinrad again. If you freeze them, or leave them out for a few days, they will turn from reddish-brown to almost black. They still taste as good.

Part II: Raisins and Persimmons

And, for the record, I like raisins, too ... but only in oatmeal-raisin cookies (2nd favorite), raisin bran, and raisinettes ... as God intended them to be. Raisins do not belong in persimmon cookies. I even have scriptural backing on this from the Book of Raisins found in Codex XIII from the recently discovered Nag Yerhubbi Library (the Nag Yerhubbi Library also includes "The Gospel of Trash" and "The Apochryphon of the Leaves").

A fragment of the surviving Book of Raisins text was originally interpreted as: "... thou shalt not combine the dried fruit of the vine with other fruits ... ... verily I say: excessive combining of fruits will bring about the people of the village." Of course, now we know the end of that sentence should have been translated as "The Village People."

Regardless of translation, raisins are not to be combined with persimmons. Speaking of discovering ancient religious texts, another little-known fact is that Rastafarians actually discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls and were told by the Jewish scholars of the day that God's Word could be found inside the scrolls, also known as the rolling papyrus, or more to the point ... rolling papers. And that is how they got their start.

I just heard that on Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story" on the way into work this morning, so it must be true. Feel free to cite any of the above research in your coursework; and have a nice day!

Part III: Further Research

The Nag Yerhubbi writings as the Neuter-o-Canonical apocrypha (apocrypha meaning "hidden away" or secret -- so don't be surprised if even your professor hasn't heard of them). They're also sometimes referred to as the Canon-and-on-and-on-ical Scriptures.

As hidden as they may be, I'm sure that John has heard many of the Nag Yerhubbi volumes proclaimed in his household ... perhaps "The Exegesis on the Toilet Seat" being one of the most cited books. Certainly, John is familiar with the longest book, "Litany of the Honeydew," the first Chapter of which begins: "Now that you're retired, maybe you could help out some around here."

On a historical note, the scribes that copied the sacred texts would meet about once a month and painstakingly copy each letter. Some would write so hard, they would even get cramps. Of course, the Nag Yerhubbi texts were not written on scrolls, but on individual sheets of paper and bound into large books, called Codexes, as at Nag Hammadi. The blank sheets were manufactured in pad form, similar to paper pads we have today, but the Nag Yerhubbi paper was much, much larger than the pages found at Nag Hammadi. Thus, the Nag Yerhubbi scribes called their paper source the Codex Maxipad. I know a few more historical details along these lines, but enjoy sleeping indoors far too much to list them here.

Finally, the Nag Yerhubbi documents will not be hidden much longer, as the Lifetime Network plans to feature them as part of a miniseries about all Old Testament and early Christian scriptures. The first episode is being shot right now and the working title is "The Burning Bush" featuring Farrah Fawcett as a young Moses (a stretch, but this is the Lifetime Network after all). The final release title is expected to be "Torah! Torah! Torah!" which ends with Pat Morita starring in the role of Joshua as he plans the sneak attack on Jericho. The scripts for the Nag Yerhubbi segments have yet to be written, but I'm sure the Lifetime Network will portray the men as kind, caring, and sensitive (that has to be the least believable line of this entire thread).

I think that's all I can safely say about the sacred texts in the Nag Yerhubbi Library; I'm already at risk of a discovery any day now at Nag Damaggi.


Pax

Tommy Blaze gives us the Reason . . .

Becoming a Responsible Adult

Our beautiful Autistic daughter is the only member of our family who didn't get today off from her new job.  On top of that, her County Transit bus line didn't run today so she had to have alternate transportation.  Anyone who knows anything about autism will understand how a simple change like that to her regular schedule could have been reason for a huge blow up, but she was very calm.

Dad got up and took her to work and we will pick her up when her shift is through.  As a treat we are heading to the Mall this afternoon for a little shopping.  She has earned the use of some of her hard earned wages.

Yesterday she did the dishes with only a little help from dad.  She did a wonderful job too, everything  was loaded carefully into the dishwasher (sometimes she can be a little reckless with her dish placement.)  

She has been taking her medication for allergies like clockwork ever since the Dr. told her that her eczema would not get better unless she took the medication every day.   She uses the special cream correctly as well.

Each day I see great strides in her maturity level.  Now, if only I could get her to clean her bedroom.

I know, but a mom has to have one impossible dream.

Pax

Being Thankful

I thought I would write this post today since I won't have much time tomorrow because I will be busy preparing a meal.

my faithful readers (all two of you) may probably remember that while I love to eat I really don't like to cook, especially big elaborate holiday meals.  Normally Mrangelmeg and I compromise by finding a really nice Thanksgiving buffet somewhere and take the whole clan out to dinner on the holiday.  I love this because I don't have to cook or clean up and everyone gets exactly what they want to eat.  The only negative is that there are no leftovers to munch on for the rest of the weekend.

This is such a pattern in our lives that when our oldest daughter was in elementary school and her class was discussing their favorite thing their mom's made for Thanksgiving dinner she actually said "I don't know,  Reservations?" with a shrug.  

Anyway, what with all of the turmoil in our lives recently I thought the least I could do for the members of my immediate family would be to suck-it-up and cook a meal for them here at home.  That way Mrangelmeg's mom can be with us and the kids can have tons of leftovers to munch on the rest of the weekend.  

Little did I know when I decided to do this though that 1) I wouldn't be able to find a fresh turkey and 2) I would be spending the night before Thanksgiving at the sleep lab getting my new CPAP machine titrated to help with a newly diagnosed sleep apnea problem.

But everything will work out.  I am sure that the frozen turkey I bought will be thawed in time  and with the help of the girls I will be able to get everything cooked in time for a wonderful meal tomorrow afternoon.

I am thankful for so many things this year.  I am thankful that most of my family is together for this holiday (only one daughter isn't living here so the rest of us will be together.   I am thankful that  Mrangelmeg's mom is healthy enough to come over and be with us,  I would have loved to have my mom with us for a holiday anytime in the last eight or nine years.   I am thankful that I have a nice new stove to cook in, the old one was a bit notional.  I am thankful that we have plenty of food to eat and a nice warm home to live in. (Especially on a rainy day like today).

So, while I think I may be crazy for deciding to cook here at home everything will work out the way it is supposed to work out.  I have faith that my family will step up and take up the slack to make sure that things get done when they need to get done and that I will get enough sleep during the night to be  rested enough to cook tomorrow.

Hey, stop laughing,  it could happen.

Pax

De Profundis

For those of you who don't read Latin,  the title of this post is the first two lines of a psalm that is read during the Office of the dead: Psalm 130:

Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;
  Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
   to my cry for mercy.

    (v 1-2)

It is one of my "go to" psalms when I am in the Dark Night,  feeling cut off from God and wondering if the Infinite Threeness  is even taking notice of little old me.    It has become even more meaningful now in my present darkness.  With the death of my mother not only am I cut off from God, but I am untethered from a connection to that grounding sense that I belong to someone here on earth.  Today I feel utterly orphaned, and it makes me profoundly sad in a de profundis way.

I used to wonder if it was something I had done that sent God away from me.  Had I been so obstinate and selfish that God had just given up on me and turned away from me as a lost cause.  Was I just too proud of my own will to be worth anything to God?

 If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,
   Lord, who could stand?
 But with you there is forgiveness,
   so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

(v 3-4)

I realize that I have a connection to other people, like my husband and my children,  and that they need me and I need them, but, as Fr. Bill put it this morning when he talked with me a bit after Mass,  You just don't  belong to anyone the way you belong to your parents.  

I am beginning to wonder though if my sense of longing isn't more profound because I entered the dark night long before my mother died.  I was already trying to find a way to pray that brought me consolation.  I had been. for over a year in a spiritual land where the scenery was unfamiliar.   God was trying to communicate with me, but I was struggling to decipher the new language that was now flowing in my direction.  

I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
   and in his word I put my hope.
 I wait for the Lord
   more than watchmen wait for the morning,
   more than watchmen wait for the morning.

(v 5-6)

And then mom died, who hadn't said anything meaningful to me since 2007 really, because of the prison in which she had been trapped by her disease.  But I loved her and I know that in her way she loved me.  I could go and sit with her, ore even just know that she was there and it made me feel connected.  

Not so now,  that connection has been severed.  I hear a song on the radio, or see a movie on television that she used to love, or something happens in my life and I would love to tell her about it,  but then I remember that she isn't there.  The only analogy that comes close is what it feels like when you lose a tooth,  there is a physical space that you can feel where the tooth used to be.  I can feel that space in my life where my mother used to be.  It is gaping and empty -- de profundis .

The one thing I know, in all of this is that I may be orphaned, but I am not alone.  All those other people in my life; my family and Fr. Bill and my parish family, and my friends are there because God doesn't want me to have to go through this alone.  So while I may not understand God's language in prayer, I do feel God's presence in others.  Everyone who brightens my day, or brings me comfort, is sent from God.   And while they can't take the place of my mom,  they can help me past the bad spots.  God will do the rest,  all I have to do is have faith and hope.

(Israel), put your hope in the LORD, 

   for with the LORD is unfailing love 

   and with him is full redemption. 

 He himself will redeem Israel 

   from all their sins.

(v7-8)

PAX

What am I Reading

So I am still working my way through  this wonderful book by my professor.  I am finding that to do it justice I have to read a bit more slowly than I normally devour books.

It is well worth the effort though as I am learning things about myself and why and how I react to the world around me based upon my emotions.

Next in my pile of books is one that was on my wish list, and I am happy to say I came into possession of  recently and can't wait to start reading.

This one should be equally as helpful in the whole emotional wellness,  area, and I am hoping that I will gain as much from this as I am from Ryan's book.

This was one area of our training in Spiritual Direction that I felt we needed much more than three hours to cover, so all the extra reading I can do to assist me in learning how to help others will make me better at my work with them as they tap into their own emotional responses to the world around them and by default, God's movement in the world.

I will give you an update as I continue to read.

What are you reading?  Leave me a comment and let me know.

Pax