Let's work hard against contempt, let's adore Him, let's love...

"We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can -- namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us." --St. Teresa of Avila

I have a few quiet moments and am thinking about how fast the rest of the year will go by...and, I want to bring a grateful heart to each day, not worrying if I "get everything done". I am a "worry wart," as they used to call my grandpa (my dad's dad). It is important for me to stop and see the big picture, to stop and adore our Eucharistic Lord, even when I am not directly in front of the Blessed Sacrament. He, the Prince of Peace is, so very mysteriously, living inside of me and, as a beautiful song goes, "He is the air I breathe..."

We are all called to be living tabernacles. I love this thought and know that the Incarnation made this all possible. No wonder so many love Christmas. The miracle of Christmas is the gift of Mother Church. Christ came as a baby and would become even smaller in the Sacred Host (think of that!). As a convert, I am still learning and renewing, via His sacramental graces, my knowledge of the truths of the Faith. We know that Purgatory is the "Church Suffering" and that we, pilgrims on earth, are the "Church Militant" and that all persons are created to journey in faith, hope and love to our ultimate destiny of utter refuge, known to Catholics as the "Church Triumphant."

Heaven is the goal. It is the place to which we run. I was talking to some of the members of my Regnum Christ small prayer group (know as our "Encounters with Christ")about the idea that Heaven will be, for me, a place not of rest, as we tend to think of it. As a disabled person, I like to think of Heaven as a place where we are always free to move, free to act with verve and full-blown energy to love perfectly all the time. Come to think of it, that would be eternal rest because we would "rest" in the peace of a fully certain conscience, meaning that our hearts would be utterly pure. We would be unencumbered by our mental, emotional and physical disabilities. Living fully in the embrace of the Blessed Mother gazing in complete communion with the Blessed Trinity, we would be one act of pure love all of the time -- Heaven!!!

I know it is not a sin to be tired, but, as I am so tired so much of the time, I am blessed, if you will, to think, from time to time, of all the good works that I could initiate, if I were to have more energy. Alas, nothing is wasted! What I mean by that is that we can pray with all of our might for souls. We can offer everything up to Him who is Love. And, we must do what we can when we can to inspire and encourage ourselves and others.

We can offer each and every aspect of our daily lives for the salvation of souls, beginning first with our own. A related item I have been pondering is the fact that we must work and pray very hard not to be contemptuous of our own failings or those of others. Our Lord warns us of the only "unforgivable sin" being (all) that which opposes the Holy Spirit (do not quench the Spirit!). God never fails to forgive. We condemn ourselves. We know this. When we make our morning offering and ask for the special intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the mercy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we must do so humbly and in full recognition of our potential for contempt, of ourselves and of others.

I just looked up contempt and you may be given a bit of a jolt --it is from the Latin contemnere, meaning to despise. Wow! Contempt is "an attitude to something (or someone, I add) which one despises as worthless, insignificant or vile; total disregard." (Webster's)

I believe this is key to understanding the internal persecutions of Mother Church. When any human person is deemed worthless (which can happen internally or externally, or both), then the demons leap in to the situation. When an idea that is good, truthful and beautiful is distorted, then the same occurs. The godly practices of celibacy for the Kingdom, worship of the Blessed Sacrament, family prayer, parish renewal, true friendship, authentic love, filial obedience to Mother Church -- there are so many more -- when these are held in contempt, watch out!

But first, return every hour of every day to the Lord with your whole heart. Ask our Lady to be your mother, to guide you, pray with you and for you. Ask for prayers from the holy souls and pray for them (then you will have "friends in high places," as I tell the kids). Here is a good link on Purgatory.

The one, sure prophetic word of God is to love. Spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament will increase your capacity to love, of this I am sure for I have experienced it in my own life. I know it to be true both from doctrine and from experience. Both are good and sound. Only magisterial doctrine is constant, but it must be experienced to be transmitted, so that we may evangelize the world.

Is it possible that the teaching can be more sound, more constant, than the teacher? I am speaking of apostles, not our Lord Himself, of course. He mysteriously acts through clay pots. I have more cracks than most! I do know that true and real devotion to our Blessed Mother includes an ardent desire to free the holy souls from Purgatory.

Holy Souls in Purgatory, pray for us! I pray that the holy souls know that we care, that they do have us to pray for them and that they will help us love ourselves as children of the Most High God the Father and that they will help us love others as our Savior has loved us! Amen

St. Teresa of Avila (my Confirmation saint), pray for all inhabitants of this good earth!

The prophetic writings of John Senior

I still want to learn Latin, and, truthfully, haven't gotten very far. This past week I finished The Death of Christian Culture by John Senior and plan to go back and re-read The Restoration of Christian Culture, which I bought and read first. Senior's writings kindle the fires of Love. Go to IHS Press and learn more.

We've often heard it said that "there is nothing ordinary about Ordinary Time". This summer 2009, I am finding this true in a particular way.

We are having blinds installed on all our windows, so I am signing off...

Potential versus Progress

Are we asking God for the graces we need to tap in to our potential as His holy servants? Lent: Pray = good morning prayer with St. Casimir and daily Mass, Fast = Mom fasted from her common tendency to get distracted from her duty to manage household properly. Give = here at home and outside the home...we all need to work harder to do a little every day in our home, while also setting aside time and energy to give to others. Let's give more effort to our community involvements (various: our neighborhood, friends and family near and far, Challenge, our parish, TORCH, BSA).

Scientia potestas est. "Knowledge is power." This was our Latin quote for the day. I was taken back to all that literary deconstructionist jargon of my college days. How beautiful to be a Catholic and to no longer be saddled with all the immediacies of Marxist, feminist literary criticism and its companion ideologies. Whew! How I hungered and thirsted for truth in those days and was so impressed, and so often misguided, by my instructors and professors in the ivy league.

Dr. James Leek, who wrote Our Roman Roots, commented in the teacher's manuel that "Knowledge is power" could be a dangerous maxim. So true! Why? As happens often in my discussions with children, we came up with a short "answer" to a social ill: Our Lord does not need a microscope to see a molecule. He created everything from nothing! The pride of our modern, and post-modern, scientists and social scientists is so evident from the perspective of faith. Faith is potentially the freedom from the burden of sin. Grace is power. I am new to Latin, but I think that this might be expressed, Gratia potestas est. We will be buying a Latin dictionary soon.

Learning notes: It is nice to make some progress. Like many educators, I am sometimes frustrated when I see the untapped potential of one of my scholars. As their mother and primary educator, the untapped potential of the person relates to the whole person, not just to the scholar as scholar. Academic pursuits are part of a larger vocation. It is hard for me to manage the entire range of my children's daily duties. I try to pay particular attention to their personal habits, as so many youth, at present, have atrocious personal habits. Sin and sinning are deeply ingrained in our nature and manifest in habits both large and small. Our God-given temperaments are such gifts, and we must see ourselves as created good by a good God, while, at the same time, we all wrestle with our sinful nature, a consequence of that first fall of mankind. I think it was Cathy Duffy (others too, probably) who called homeschooled children "hothouse flowers". We are not truly in that category, as we have been in and out of both private and public schools. No matter where a family has been with regards to education, grace can perfect nature. Grace is so powerful. We need to ask our Lord to bless the little knowledge we have and to direct it to His Will.

This is countercultural. The modern (post modern) media often desires idolatry, particularly the idolatry of self. Toward what are we progressing? Is God's Love our ultimate goal? Do we desire, with all of our heart, to bring others into Christ's Kingdom? He wants us to live in His Kingdom now, as a foretaste of the eternal beatitude we will experience with Him in Heaven. Dear children of mine, you are heirs to life and love now. Do not miss even the smallest opportunity to grow in union with our Savior. Peace.

Soul cleaning, house cleaning

JB and I went to Confession this morning; and then, we came home and all of us did some needed house cleaning/yard work. The weather was fair and lovely here, and we enjoyed ourselves out on the deck for a while. My husband and I have a babysitter coming soon, so that we can go out on a date. May our Guardian Angels guide us as parents. With just about 12 weeks left in the academic year, I hope we can inspire our young scholars to learning that is wholehearted and oriented toward growing in holiness. Our scholars are rising 2nd, rising 5th, and rising 8/9th. This is a general indication of their progress, as each scholar works on different grade levels in different areas. Our J, for example, would be given an A in art by a 4th grade teacher. JB reads and writes at least one grade level above her age. M worked ahead in science and math. This is one of the biggest gifts of home education -- that the young can follow their God-given talents when they are most alert. This happens in good schools too. It is not an "either...or".
Learning notes: When I plan things without everyone on board, we are weaker in our resolve. Family meetings work great for us. We need to have more of them. I'd also like to propose we create a fairly large-sized prayer journal to use during our evening family prayer times. Nemo liber est qui corpori servit (No one is free who is a slave to his body.)was the maxim for our 2nd Latin lesson.

Ad astra per aspera!

Ad astra per aspera means: To the stars through difficulties! I joyfully report that JB, Little Man and I started Our Roman Roots today. I think it is going to be just what the doctor (read: the Divine Physician) ordered to give some extra balance and organization to our week. We loved it, and we worked so well together. We sang, laughed, talked, wrote and drew and drew. Little Man copied "ugly sailor" and nauta foedus into his notebook. So often, real learning is happening, for us, when lots of fun art supplies are combined with some wonderfully meaty topic like the roots of our faith and culture (or should-be culture). What I thought would begin as a our "little Latin lesson" took 4 hours! I am happily tired -- still fighting a fluish headache, congestion and hot throat. JB and J loved Latin and asked for more and more. The format is so engaging. Details to follow...
note: J and I finished The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds (1941) -- so "politically incorrect", a real classic, no twaddle here! I had ordered all of this wonderful material from Adoremus Books right after Christmas. Also, the chores we have been practicing since the fall are really bearing fruit. M was very helpful. All kids and Mom prayed and heard the saint of the day. JB went to her guitar lesson. A friend came over. Mom prayed a Rosary. We ate all meals at home. Mom "Tues. tackled" the upstairs bathroom tub and the fridge. Dad built a new guinea pig abode. Our sick dog is well. Today was very close to what an ideal day can look like, in this family. Sure, I could list several missing factors, but I won't. I know the Blessed Mother is helping us. She is truly "...our light, our sweetness and our hope..."

Mom's Latin Update

I think I really impressed everyone this afternoon, on the way from Target to Learning Express, when I sang "Twinkle, twinkle, little star," in Latin, with Our Roman Roots (click here for link). Just so no one thinks home education is a blissful "walk in the park," every moment of every day, complaints bounced all over our minivan. Here in a minute, my hubby is taking everyone to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant for St. Valentine's Day. A steaming bowl of rice noodle soup should fortify me; and, boy do I need to keep up my strength for my often unruly bunch of scholars.

Mom begins Latin studies

At our 4pm Family Mass, we sang the Lamb of God/Agnus Dei in Latin, and it was lovely. My parents encouraged me to study Spanish as a youth. After having travelled to Mexico, Guatemala, Spain and Argentina and had some solid courses in college, I am fluent but have, over time, become rusty in my speaking skills. As I embark upon my Latin studies, I understand the concept of inflection from having conjugated all those verbs en espanol; I am curious to see how inflection works with nouns. I hope to stir up some interest at my parish for a family-style Latin study group.

Some quick notes: Dad and son are revisiting our Godzilla movie collection. These have long been a family favorite. Jay loves to draw battles. His two favorite subjects are medieval battle scenes; and, he likes the quirky, slow moving monsters in these sci-fi flicks. M wants to quit the clarinet for a while, after three years of lessons. M read all the Spiderwick Chronicles, and JB, J and I want to read them before the movie comes out. All of us, except Dad, learned so much Friday afternoon at TORCH coop classes. Today, Mom got to have a morning out and met Rach for early Mass, Confession and a yummy, leisurely brunch at this restaurant in our historic district. Then, I came back and took 5 kids shopping and for hair cuts, picked up Jerry, went to Mass and a very fun banquet for our parish Boy Scout troop of which our little man is the smallest member. I had forgotten that I signed the girls up for a game night with our youth group (at nearly the same time) and it was funny how it all worked out.

I am signing off to read my World Book Encyclopedia (I got a whole set at a library sale for $10 just as I decided to bring the girls home for study and saw this as one affirmation among many I received at the time) article on "Latin Language" and "Latin Literature".

"Domine, quo vadis?"

St. Francis of Assisi prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where
there is injury, pardon;where there is doubt,
faith;where there is despair, hope;where there is darkness, light;where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be
consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to
love.
For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are
pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

I joked with my friend Sara (and no, I was not talking to myself...) that I had "blogged and burned". We have been really busy preparing for our TORCH dramas. Joy-Beth was in Pinocchio this last Saturday, and Maggie will act in The Hobbit this weekend. I will creep out of my blog slacking with the above prayer. It is one of my favorite prayers.

The prayer of the month of March was "Domine, quo vadis?" "Lord, where are you going?" The children and I prayed this from our hearts. We are really trying to follow Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ asks alot of us, but His companionship is so sweet. We are so blessed with the families in our homeschooling co-op; the cooperation we have experienced in this group brings our religion to life. Our Catholic faith is beautiful. It is lived. I pray after taking the Eucharist, "Lord, I am in You and You are in me." As a convert, I experience Holy Mother Church and her children as my family. All persons are God's children, and, I believe that when the Lord met Peter leaving Rome that day, He was yet again revealing to a besieged and suffering humanity (through this encounter with the very human St. Peter) that God became man to suffer with him. He encouraged Peter to turn around, walk back in to Rome and be brutally killed on a cross in close imitation of his Savior. Peter did not have to follow Him back. He could have kept walking and returned at a safer time. Our Catholic faith is not about safety. It is sometimes about comfort. It is often risky. It is always about Love.