Catholic bloggers

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patch o dirt farm
http://awomansplaceis.blogspot.com/
Broken Fortress

The Childs Paper

Catholic Cuisine

Busy with blessings

Little Flower Bugs

http://www.wholeheartedcatholic.com/

Joy filled family

Tiredwang

Kint together

Our Catholic life of grace

Catholic family

Created to mother

My Domestic Church
Foot of the cross

My Faith

• Saint Francis First Nativity Scene
• Saint. Lucy (Santa Lucia)
• Advent
• Saint Nicholas
• Saint Patrick
• Blessed Mother
• All Saints Day
• Saint Francis of assisi
• Lent
• Happy-Feast-of-St-Patrick-
• Ash wed
• Little Mans words on Good Friday
• Sunshine's First Holy Communion Day

Even on my most tiring days...

Even on my most tiring days...............

You make me laugh and fill my heart with joy~

                    Thanking the Lord for motherhood~

Sunshine Girl

Christmas Program

     Following Mass we spent the day with Father and my dear friend Marie decorating the church for Christmas celebration.  Oh and my days have been filled with little voices practicing for the Christmas program. Have I told you how blessed we are to have an amazing priest? He is filled with the holy spirit and it shines through him in a wonderful way.
 He sings beautiful. This year the children sang Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. We then had our teens read scripture along with a poem of the Christmas Story.
Father Harvey  blessed us with the song Mary did you know.  It is a beautiful song, especially while looking at these sweet faces. To end the program our Star along with the Holy Family lead the play out as they sang The First Noel.   Today I am thanking the Lord for our church family as we united in the Mass.

Do you know who created the very first nativity scene? 

It was Saint Francis of Assisi, a twelfth-century churchman,  best known as the founder of the Franciscan Order of Friars. He is also credited with creating the very first nativity scene, as a way to convey the ideas of Christmas to an illiterate congregation.The First Manger Scene

In 1224, Saint Francis had the idea of creating a “living” recreation of the birth of Jesus, as a way to bring the Christmas spirit to the local villagers. Here we are today continuing this wonderful tradition.

St. Lucy (Santa Lucia) 2010

St. Lucy (Santa Lucia) was a young Sicilian girl who vowed to live pure in devotion to Christ. Saint Lucy died a Martyr, as she stood in her devotion to the Lord. Remembering her on the feast day of December 13th.

Lucy's name means "light", with the same root as "lucid" which means "clear, radiant, understandable." Unfortunately for us, Lucy's history does not match her name. Shrouded in the darkness of time, all we really know for certain is that this brave woman who lived in Syracuse lost her life in the persecution of Christians in the early fourth century. Her veneration spread to Rome so that by the sixth century the whole Church recognized her courage in defense of the faith.

Prayer:

Saint Lucy, did not hide her light under a basket, but let it shine for the whole world, for all the centuries to see. We may not suffer torture in our lives the way she did, but we are still called to let the light of our Christianity illumine our daily lives. Please help us to have the courage to bring our Christianity into our work, our recreation, our relationships, our conversation -- every corner of our day. Amen

Some of the loveliest St. Lucy's Day customs are Swedish: in Sweden, the oldest daughter of a family will wake up before dawn on St. Lucy's Day and dress in a white gown for purity, often with a red sash as a sign of martyrdom. On her head she will wear a wreath of greenery and lit candles."St. Lucy" will go around her house and wake up her family to serve them special St. Lucy Day foods, such as saffron buns and Lussekatter (St. Lucy's Cats), shaped into X's, figure-8s, S-shapes, or crowns.

Lussekatter (makes 10-12 buns)
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
8 ounces (1 cup) milk
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 cup sugar
4 ounces (1 stick) butter
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 beaten egg white for egg wash
Using a mortar and pestle, pound saffron threads to break down strands. In a small saucepan, heat milk to lukewarm.
Mix yeast with 1/4 cup milk and 1 tablespoon sugar. Set aside.
On low heat, melt butter in saucepan with milk. Add crushed saffron. Let cool.
In large bowl, mix together flour salt and remaining sugar.
Stir yeast into cooled milk mixture. Mix into dry ingredients, beating to mix well. Add beaten eggs. Knead in bowl for 5 - 7 minutes. Turn onto floured board and knead another 7 - 8 minutes.
Put dough in lightly greased bowl, turn to coat all sides, cover and put in warm, draft-free place to rise for about 1 hour.
When dough has risen, knead lightly to push out air and divide into small pieces (about 10 - 12). Using the hands, roll each small piece into a strip about 8 - 10 inches long. Shape each strip into an 'S' or a figure 8. Place on lightly buttered cookie sheets.
Cover with clean cloth and let rise again until double in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
When dough has risen, brush lightly with egg white. Bake in preheated 375° F oven for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool on wire rack.

( Not having the time to make these delicious buns, we made a pop in the oven and serve cinnamon rolls. (shape S). Sunshine served us while we each made a wonderful memory learning about this beautiful saint.)

The Saint is honored with the Neapolitan song "Santa Lucia" (click to hear

Baby Joseph Anthony, It's Christmas Time and We are Filled with Thoughts of You

......................................

  December 18th 2009)
   As Christmas time approaches I'm left with thoughts of our son Joseph Anthony.
We lost Joseph due to a miscarriage in March of 2009. Joseph would be two months old today.
 Months after our miscarriage I felt a deep sadness that stayed tucked away in my heart. I prayed that I could fully give it to God and wake up without this pain.
 I was also filled with the guilt, knowing I was supposed to put all of this in the Lord's hands, but somehow I could not find the path or the strength to do so.
 I didn't understand why or how this could happen. I became overwhelmed with thoughts of never conceiving again with the fear of going through the pain of miscarriage. In this I was trying to control my pain. I continued to ask what is Joseph's story?
 I had already thought of who he would be, who he would look like and how wonderful it will be the day I held him.
Then his story came to stop. It was over and there was nothing I could do about it.
 I had lost my child that I deeply loved.

My feelings are mending with time. I now have begun to carry  happiness and peace in my heart with thoughts of Joseph.
He does have a story. A wonderful story. He was conceived in love, over passing this world of sin and then straight into the arms of Christ our Lord and Savior.

My dear friend created this beautiful remembrance bracelet. Although materialistic items do not have a beating heart, a soul and they can not serve God.
It joyfully overwhelmed me with happiness being able to physically hold this charm with the letters writing out his precious name. Thank you Paula! I love you so much, dear friend.  

~Spiritual Leader~

  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians

   Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
    Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. 1 Peter 3:7
     But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 1 Corinthians 11:3
    Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4
     Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives.1 Peter 3:1
     We are blessed beyond with a wonderful spiritual leader. Thanking the Lord for Allen today.  I love you so much!

Feast day of the Blessed Mother

This morning the kids woke to this treat on the kitchen table.

September 8th is the feast day of the Blessed Mother. The birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been

celebrated as a universal liturgical feast at least from the sixth century. Although the actual date of Mary’s birth isn’t known, it is recognized on September 8th, and the celebration of the Immaculate Conception was fixed on December 8th. The date corresponding to nine months before the celebration of her Nativity. The two feasts commemorating Mary's conception and her birth can be seen as forming a kind of bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. With the conception and birth of the Blessed Virgin, God completed the new Ark. Mary is the Ark of the Covenant. As the Ark held the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament. Mary the Ark holds Jesus the covenant in the New Testament. We have so many reasons to celebrate and honor Mary the mother of Christ our Lord. 

 It saddens me to hear the disrespect she is given, along with the disrespect many Christians that honor her are given. The confusion of Catholics worshiping Mary have gone on for years.

Catholics worship one God in three persons {The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.}

God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. 

We honor Mary the mother of Jesus Christ. The mother of the heavens. She carried Christ in her womb. She loved and cared for him, her child. She watched him suffer and die on the cross for our sins.

Even in the prayer Hail Mary, we are honoring her. Recognizing her as Christ mother.

When the angel Gabriel came to Mary he said ( Luke 1,28) "Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women" When Mary went to visit St. Elizabeth (the mother of St. John The Baptist and cousin of Mary), Elizabeth said  (Luke 1:42), "and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus", .

 I want to end this post with lyrics from a Christmas song, I heard only a few years ago.
~Mary Did You Know~
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day walk on water?
That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
That your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, Will soon deliver you
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
That your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?
That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little boy
You've kissed the face of God
Mary, did you know?
The blind will see
The deaf will hear
And the dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
That your baby boy will one day rules the nations?
That your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding
Is the Great I Am 

Holy Trinity

St. Patrick picked up the shamrock and asked, "How many leaves are there?" They all said three. This is how he explained the Holy Trinity. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
To learn more on St. Patrick click HERE.

Adds joy to my heart

...I wanted to share something with you all that is very special to me. Something that brings a smile to my face and adds joy to my heart each time I see it.

Have a blessed day. Catherine Anne

Made by Little Man~ age 6

Sloth

The Lord says, The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied... ...Today's post is going to allow you a window into my thoughts, my realizations, my struggles, and my heart. In the past few weeks my sponge of faith has felt dry. With this I have been meditating on the sin of sloth, better understood as spiritual laziness. ..
When we allow the business of our life to take over our time with Christ or becomming lax in our spiritual life, this is sloth. I know there are different degrees of this sin.
After the ezamination of my heart I've recently made the realization that I have slipped into spiritual laziness. Though my slipping has been more of a dip and mostly unintentional, sloth is sloth. ..
.I have continued going about my day with prayer, teaching my children right from wrong and even going to Mass on Sundays. So you may ask why do you see sloth in these days.
What I know is that I have been distracted not fully present in my prayers, my teachings or even my time with Christ in the Mass.
In my exzamination I have spent time thinking over the balance of our lives.

 I go to Mass, I pray, I'm a wife, mother, daughter, friend etc. I have a to-do list filled with steps  making our weeks go round. I'm a teacher, a photographer, and an author of Blessed Adventures. 
   Looking at my list I can't help but wonder, how many weeks went past that I thought I was content with this list? Content with the amount of true time I was giving to my spiritual life? How many of us feel this way about our overloaded list, even if its unintentional. We may say "I went to church, so I'm good until next Sunday or I said my prayers so I'm good until we eat a meal or say prayers at bedtime."
 (What ever your repetitive prayer schedule may be)
I know I have.
In doing this, I've hurt myself. I've added stress to my days and experienced missed opportunities of a path God was pointing me down.

..What God wants from me and you in our life is him. Him as our center and the core of our everything. Don't just go to church, go and give all of you to him. Don't just pray, talk to God about each of your thoughts throughout the day. You then will hear him. Good things will come your way.

Deligence is that virtue that counterbalances sloth, it gives us self-discipline to work on our relationship with God and others.

.. I have noticed that I do not hear God during times of sloth. I know he is there talking to me, leading me in directions he has planned. When he is not the core of my thoughts and my life, how can I hear him.
I cant, he's not as loud or as clear as he is today.

..Today I am dripping wet with the Lord, my sponge is no longer dry. It is full. Full.
I feel his energy, peace, love, and joy.
What a difference taking a good look at your routine can do for you and others as you hear Gods will for your life. If your in a slump think about this post. Examine your life. I know a slump is something hard to climb out of. You may feel too busy or just not carry the ambition to examine your list. That's normal, but you have to take the time. Once you get started you will receive the desire to make God the core of your list. No longer will you have to push yourself. You will be so inspired, surprised, and pleased with the changes that will come. God is so good. He knows what he is talking about. He made you.

Catherine Anne

.

Raising our children the best way we know how~

Raising happy, well grounded ,intelligent, loving, caring and above all christian children. I'm sure this is something that runs through most parents minds. You can walk through a book store and view title after title on ones secrets to achieving this.

....Now that I'm a mother I realize all of those parents that I thought must have known it all, just because they were, well parents -didn't. They were praying, researching, praying some more and then going with what ever their gut was telling them to do. I know this because I'm doing all of the above and have been since the day I became a mother. Although the topics of prayer have changed as the years passed, they are always geared toward whats best for our children. Whats going to add to their raising. Creating as I said before happy, well grounded, intelligent, loving, caring and above all christian individuals. Individuals that will thrive in life, and one day being reunited with Christ in heaven.

.....This topic has surfaced after prayer and thought over Little Man, our nine year old. He is such an amazing kid, but lately has had hints of a different personality. Making statements of what is cool and want is not. I reply to him with, what ever you like on your own is whats cool. God made us all different and wanted us to have separate interest. This keeps us individuals. We talked about making sure you personally think something is neat because its something you like. Not because someone else likes it. Its funny how we as people work. We can change our own opinions just because its popular. Sadly, this usually doesn't stop in adulthood.

...We want our children to know if everyone were the same, we would not be living as our true selves. God made us unique so that we can serve him in different ways. This is the reason for our creation. To serve Christ. So make sure to live as God has made you to be, not the one sitting next to you. His purpose is completely different then your own.

....Talking with Little Man, Allen then asked him what makes someone cool?

Many people may think they get to do something you don't, or they have a nice car and expensive clothing. Some may even think this because someone is funny, loud or tuff. Maybe they play baseball well or skate faster then anyone else.

It can get confusing. Some of these topics are good to have, as in talent and personality.

When you see someone with great talent or personality, be happy for them and know you have your own gifts form God.

The other topics of acting out pretending to be tuff and wanting what others say is the best materialistics are not good at all. If someone is acting out, its to get your attention. Pray for that person and always know its never worth acting out a sin, hurting God and yourself just to look cool.

...We then went on to tell him materialistic items do not define you. They can not breath, love, teach, or serve the Lord. They are non living. Sure many of them have a purpose, making our life easier. The key is remembering the purpose. Clothing, it covers your body. So why have 20 shirts. Vehicles, they get you from point A to point B. So why judge yourself or others for what someone drives. The list can go on and on.

...Allen and I are hoping if we teach our children the purpose of every item and the reason behind every act. Then they hopefully will learn that materialistics do not define people and just being the person God made you to be, is a gift. By the grace of God each of us are granted these gifts~

...Oh how I know this is the first of many talks to come. I pray that I can understand the tools Gods has given us to guide our children into Christan lives and know when to let go and let God~

Time with Family

When I'm with Family I'm home~
 

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER.
This week has been busy. I have had the kids completing their end of the year test and they did great. It's really neat to compare their beginning of the year test results to the end of the year. I can see just how far they have come. We are still waiting on Little Mans state test scores. After talking with other HS families, we have been told it's usually sometime in June. Other things that have been going on around here are family time.
My nephew made his First Communion this past Sunday. It was so special and wonderful to see them all. With sickness moving its way in and out of our lives this year we didn't have the chance to see our family Christmas or Easter. Here are a few photographs I snapped during the family gathering.

Asking for prayer

I'm asking for you all to please lift our family in prayer. Yesterday while visiting family for Mothers day, we received a call with news of my husbands uncle passing. I say uncle with pause because they shared a brother relationship as well. This uncle was the baby of the family. He is survived by many, father mother brothers sisters etc. I ask that you keep them in your prayers but most of all his wife and three young children. This has been such a devastation to us all. The peace of our Lord is the only way anyone can get through this. I pray that everyone allows him to work in them, So they are able to heal and feel the peace of our Lord. Thank you, blessings Catherine I captured this photograph a few weeks ago and felt it was appropriate for toadys post. Cant you just see Christ here~

Meditating thoughts of Easter~

I took this photograph last week during holy week. I find myself meditating our Lords agony in the garden. It saddens me to think of him in this way. Although it is hard for me I know he would want us to meditate on his gift of eternal life. The agony our Lord experienced shows us all that Jesus was human. He taught us by word and example how to pray in time of trial. May we always be faithful to prayer and not be overcome by temptation. He persevered in prayer even when distressed of agony, grant that by prayer we may live with God despite distress and sorrow. As holy week moved on I was saddened by other trails our Lord endured for our sins. The arrest, the beatings, the suffering, the disrespect, the betrayal, ending with his death on the cross. I also thought of the blessed mother watching her child endure this pain of murder. Why would a mother be able to stand beside and watch her son endure this suffering? Her abundant trust in God... As a child of God and a mother, her strength in this is amazing. Holy week is not fully surrounded by sorrow and sadness. I also felt an amazing amount of love from our Lord. I felt joy, that he has risen and excitement that I too will be united with him one day. He loves us so much that he endured all of this for our sins so we could have eternal life. How amazing is that! I envision our Lord at the last supper, I see him as he washed the feet of his disciples to teach them humility as a condition for the practice of charity and love. Easter~ When they entered the tomb they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. They saw the linen wrappings and marveling at what had happened. They said “He is not here, but he has risen. Remember how he spoke while he was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and the third day rise again.” He Has Risen!!! Thank you Lord!!! Here's hoping you too had a blessed Easter surround with the love of Jesus Christ.

We walk for life

Pro Women, Pro Child, Pro Life
I am all of these for many reasons. I believe that life begins at conception. God says, Before I created you I knew you~ I believe in Gods plan for all of us. I have seen the devastating photographs. I have heard the ongoing pain women and men have gone through after the decision to abort their child. It is still mind blowing to me that this disgusting heart breaking act of murder is allowed in our country today. So many of Americans do not educate themselves on what is being allowed. We must pray for the importance of human life as a whole. I completely respect women and their rights. This is why I believe adoption is the loving option. My family and I have participated in 40 days for life. This is prayer for the unborn and the others hurt through abortion. We also make it to the March For Life each year. Walking with my family surrounded by thousands of others while Amazing Grace is being played is emotionally overwhelming. Each year as I march I feel the peace from our Lord and the joy in my heart seeing others doing what they can to end this terrible sadness of abortion. We walk for life~

The Epiphany

We celebrate the Epiphany 12 days after Christmas ( January 6th). As you can see from the photograph above the children are dressed as the three wise men. They each are holding their gifts for Christ. After presenting their gifts they each named something they want to give to Christ this year. Little Man~ More prayer time, Helping others and keeping his room clean Sunshine girl~ Love Sweet pea~ Well we don't really know but she was smiling. So we'll say kindness
Father, we thank you for revealing yourself to us in Jesus Christ. We realize that it was not because of our own righteousness, wisdom, strength, or power. It was simply because you loved us, and chose to show us that love in Jesus. We thank you for your love, praise you for your Gift, ask for your continued Presence with us, and bring these gifts in the name of your Son, who has truly revealed your heart. Amen.

Remembering 2009

What an amazing year, 2009 through photographs.

Thank you Lord for such an amazing blessed year!
Come Holy Spirit,Spirit of the Risen Christ, be with us today and always. Be our Light, our Guide and our Comforter. Be our Strength and our Courage. May this new year be a time of deep spiritual growth for us. A time of welcoming your graces and gifts. A time for forgiving freely and unconditionally. A time for growing in virtue and goodness. Come Holy Spirit be with us today and always~