The Mary Month of May

The Holy Father's Intentions for the Month of May 2009
General: That Christians may use literature, art and the media to greater advantage to favour a culture which defends and promotes the values of the human person.
Missionary: That just as she accompanied the Apostles in the early stages of the Church, may the Blessed Virgin Mary, Star of Evangelization and Queen of Apostles, continue to guide missionaries throughout the world with maternal affection.


Most who know me know that I converted to Catholicism when I was 33. Like many drawn to what the early Church called "The Way," I work out my salvation in fear (that is really awe) and trembling (my shaky "fallen flesh"). The move and adjusting has been harder than I thought, in some ways, and easier in ways that I did not expect. I just looked up the Holy Father's intentions for May and, in preparation for our homeschooling coop May Crowning, I am looking at the liturgy this month over here.



Lord Jesus, teach me how to evangelize. Help me to ask your Holy Mother more often to intercede for me, for my family and for the whole world.



I posted some photos here on "Uncontrolled Fits of Harmony," our hschool blog.

Vicissitudes defined and lived...

VICISSITUDE a change in fortune or in a situation, esp. for the worse, from the Latin vicissitudo.

I always thought this word meant simply the ups and downs of life, the peaks and valleys, the ins and outs, ups and downs. I was wrong. Good thing I looked it up. Well, maybe another dictionary has another meaning.

Life never changes just for the worse...you know, the whole "blessing in disguise" thing. It does seem that trouble comes in groups....down to farther down to in very deep. Often, when we are in the midst of tribulation, we say to ourselves, "Well, this is okay because without this pain, I won't really appreciate pleasure again."

That is the secular view. A practicing Catholic sees pain and suffering as with us always. We are not on the continual downslope ever. Joy and pain cooexit in time. As a wise woman I know likes to say, "It is all good." Eternity looms more present than we realize and offers the chance to breathe and laugh and live, even as we mourn our losses.

So, I was thinking of the gift of faith, why some have it and some reject it. Others, like me, accept it, but struggle to possess it as God would have us possess it. Like all moms, I am winding our academic year down, trying to discern plans for the upcoming academic year 2009-10. Educating children and young people is an adventure, an adventure on which I would not want to embark without the gift of faith. This Saturday, God willing, at our parish, in celebration of our young son's First Holy Communion, we will sing:

...Melt the clouds of Sin and Sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day!

Getting back in the groove...

Blogged over here today. We are watching World War II movies.

Photo essay -- Lent and Easter 2009

Easter blessings -- I am back!

Did anyone notice I was missing? Ha ha. Moving is hard work. It is getting easier. I was so busy cleaning, packing, hauling, unpacking, putting away, taking out, putting away again...well, whew...I can highly recommend moving from a house you've inhabited for nearly 15 years as a most appropriate Lenten activity. That's all I'm sayin' ...as that way I can try hard to offer it up to our sweet Savior, though He really needs nothing from poor ole me.

The blessings: found lots of stuff that I'd forgot I had, tried to detach from stuff, even though it seemed it was all about the stuff...have found, so far, that our greatest blessing is not the house, while it is grand and swell...It is our wonderful band of cul-de-sac friends. The neighbors here are fast becoming good friends. There are boys for our son to play with. The dogs love the yard. The girls love the kitchen and the room to have sleep overs. Dad is so very content with his new office and basement, that is more of garden apartment than a basement. I love the front porch first and the kitchen a close second.

We celebrated our cousin's bday on Sat and a lovely Easter luncheon with our dear family friends, Lisa and Tom and their kiddos. Alleluia! He is Risen! May we pray hard and work hard, so as to live for Eternity! One thing I thought about alot, as I undertook a blogging and facebooking hiatus over Lent, was this -- every thought, every action -- it all matters to God. We all know the saying "you play, you pay". I am really one to mess around, to talk and fritter away my time.

It is not my time. It belongs to Another. I wish I could truly live this reality to its fullest. I have no illusions about myself. I am weak flesh. I have a good heart, but I need more discipline. The discipline of Lent does involve some courage. I crept out of bed just at sunrise on Easter Sunday, drove to Mass to a parish I'd never entered. I realized how warm and accompanied I felt even though I was cold and alone. I love Jesus, the Christ. He died for me, weak sinner that I am. I continue to offend Him and He keeps loving me, through His faithful and through His Church. He offers Himself humbly in the Eucharist to transform our weak flesh. His Body and Blood in the Eucharist ought to rock us to the core. I love the Blessed Virgin, as she is Queen of Angels; while, at the same time, being a very intimate mother to all her children. She grieves at the sin in the world. She teaches us to be more sensitive to personal sin, to work hard to approach her Son as we ought. I wish I had the words to properly express the quiet and deep satisfaction I felt this past weekend with the end of Lent 2009.

A very fun and fat Fat Tuesday

We really lived high on the hog today with meaty meals and lots of play, talk, organizing and packing with Rach and her kiddos. Tivo and Tyler were a dynamic husky duo and Tanner got worn out fast. J, JB and A stuffed themselves and came to lunch all fattened up, laughing and bouncing off the walls and each other. We ate cheese eggs, sausage and whole wheat bagels with good apricot jam. We drank coffee early and tea later. Rach got us really organized and ready for the move. She packed and packed. Later, JB and Mom packed lots more and then everyone ate more -- spicy boneless chicken wings and pizza from Dominos with soda, as a special treat. This is our third year in a row to really live it up at home for Mardi Gras...usually we have King Cake and decorate with the festive gold, green and purple.

"...Be strong, fear not!"

From Isaiah and in the daily meditation on Catholic Culture's website. Our Little Man is 8 yrs young today. He is such a strong, faithful boy. I wish him this gift of the Holy Spirit -- the good and holy fear of the Lord -- because it is indeed the beginning of holy wisdom.

We are off for a busy day, a special day.

The Road of Faith and Its Difficult Intersections

Last Friday nite, I asked the Lord to wake me early on Saturday, so that I could get to the Sacraments of Penance and Eucharist. He woke me up at 5:20 a.m. I went and received what I could never make up on my own -- our Savior and His Mercy. I can only cooperate with Mercy. I am like someone sitting at a very busy intersection with the traffic lights wiped out, after a dangerous thunderstorm. I need the prayers of my friends. I hope to grow in faith, hope and love.

Free online greeting cards at American Catholic

I was sending some birthday and anniversary "cards". I think these over at American Catholic are particularly lovely. I am overall terrible at remembering birthdays.

Zinc melts really boost the immune system!

I have a rheumatic condition, which is really a "constellation of ailments," including fibromyalgia, erratic immune function and migraine. Our rheumatologist labeled me as MCTD ("Mixed Connective Tissue Disease") which I laughingly dubbed WOTD ("Worn-Out Tissue Disease"--we all get there some day, maybe it's better sooner than later...) Well, anyway, my hubby brought home a nasty cold last Friday, and he and I both took sublingual zinc tablets -- I bought them at Walgreens: they are called zinc cold therapy "QUICK MELTS" -- and, they work!

I experienced a complete endocrine meltdown in 2001-2002 -- I was hypothyroid to a deadly level , with complete adrenal insufficieny.... not a good combination... and... it felt even worse than it sounds.

While I believe whole foods, in general, pack better, and more sustained, nutrition than vitamin pills and powders. Certain pills and powders work better than others, like these zinc melts, and also Peter Gillhams' various magnesium products.

The Restoration of Christian Culture by John Senior

This book is so inspiring!

7 Sweet St. Valentine's Day Memories 2009

I have been on Facebook a bit this past week and am trying to psyche myself up to respond to all the encouragement to write a 25 Things About Me post. This is a warm-up:

1. Our seven year old son's new favorite food is ---lobster!!!!

2. Yesterday afternoon, after spending a rather grueling hour and a half at BrandSmart super, mega mart buying a dishwasher for the house we are about to put on the market, we had an early dinner at a Chinese restaurant in a very Asian suburb of north Atlanta off Buford Highway. Well, Canton House was delicious. Because it was their 14th Anniversary, they were offering a wonderful pan-sauteed lobster for $5. It was redolent of ginger and perfectly cooked and perfectly sweet.

3. Dad and Mom spending an afternoon and evening with their boy. Both of his sisters were spending the night away from home, so our sweet boy was all ours.

4. Even though my husband and I are a bit stressed out with the idea of owning two houses for a while, I am happy to report, that after 15 years and 4 months of marriage, our close friendship is the better part of any situation. While I am temperamentally like my dad, and he always told me to "never brag on (my) marriage", I am temperamentally very unlike my husband. I hope I am not so much bragging as I am counting the biggest blessing in my life.

5. Early yesterday morn, I sent our 2 daughters and hubby a cute little Valentine on Facebook. I thought long and hard before putting FB into our family routine; and, so far so good. I think FB, if used with prudence, can increase faith, hope and love.

6. Speaking of love, we were all about red on Friday when we celebrated St. Valentine's Day and the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit at our TORCH coop class. I am one of the lead teachers for the Blue Knights curriculum and our topic Friday was the Holy Spirit. The liturgical color for Pentecost is red. Red vestments are worn by priests and deacons on the feast days of martyrs. Love, in the Christian sense, is not just about pleasure and sweets, it is about sacrifice. I'd add that a life of sacrifice can be a very sweet thing indeed. Treat yourself to a copy of Butler's Lives of the Saints and read some love stories that will knock your socks off!

7. St. Valentine, pray for us!