>Assumptions on the Assumption

Posted on August 15, 2010 by coffeemom

Mary’s house in Ephesus, where she is believed to have lived out her days.

It’s the feast of the Assumption of Mary!

I know, another uber Catholic post and event. Still, fascinating and cool for us and if you want to know more, go read here. I love this one!

It’s also a big Ethiopian Feast: Ethiopian Orthodox celebrate this feast in a big way and it is called “Filsata Mariam” – and Marta grinned with excitement when told what today is. So it’s a big deal even in the the other ancient Christian faith traditions.

That said, however, this is one of those Marian Catholic things that makes some folks a bit nuts. But really, it all makes sense. It is traced back to the apostles themselves:

At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when bishops from throughout the Mediterranean world gathered in Constantinople, Emperor Marcian asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople to be enshrined in the capitol. The patriarch explained to the emperor that there were no relics of Mary in Jerusalem, that “Mary had died in the presence of the apostles; but her tomb, when opened later . . . was found empty and so the apostles concluded that the body was taken up into heaven.”

In the eighth century, St. John Damascene was known for giving sermons at the holy places in Jerusalem. At the Tomb of Mary, he expressed the belief of the Church on the meaning of the feast: “Although the body was duly buried, it did not remain in the state of death, neither was it dissolved by decay. . . . You were transferred to your heavenly home, O Lady, Queen and Mother of God in truth.” from Catholic Culture.org

Again, it makes sense to me and to me, it’s beautiful.

“The Assumption completes God’s work in her since it was not fitting that the flesh that had given life to God himself should ever undergo corruption. The Assumption is God’s crowning of His work as Mary ends her earthly life and enters eternity. The feast turns our eyes in that direction, where we will follow when our earthly life is over.” From Catholic Culture.org

When I think of and meditate on this mystery, this feast, I always can’t help but think of Mary and her close relationship to her Son. A love from two pure souls, not smudged up by selfish hurts or striving, pure true love.

And, because it’s always about me, I think of me and my sons. I am about to take my second son up to school, to move him out of the house. My eldest has already moved back up, he left last Sunday. And I am already starting to leak tears here and there. And it will make me cry when we have to begin our drive home again, without him. I will try not to sob (not in front of him on campus, ok? Not cool.). But I will grieve him going. I will be very happy for him to be there, but it makes me cry to let him go. The house will echo without them here.

And then, I remember, when they come back on break or I go to visit them, the electric JOY that makes the world light up and a grin break across my face and dance to my feet. And that, that feeling, that reunion is what I think about, finally, every time, on this day.

My Jon

My Chris

Because no matter how old the mom is or how old the son(s)…..that feeling surely cannot change, it hasn’t yet.

The sheer undiluted JOY that must be had at THIS reunion – when Mary is lifted to heaven, after being physically separated for so long from her only dearest Son, and His for her. Think of that glee, those grins…I don’t imagine a static statue of elegant repose and small appropriate smile on their faces. I hear and see whoops of laughter and hugs and glee and tears and grins and kisses. The best reunion of all. Glorious.

So, does the Assumption make sense? Oh yeah, to a mom, I think it makes Perfect sense. And it is a happy glorious feast!

painting by Botticini
{official busy disclaimer; much borrowed from years past, but not all…mom to eight, ’nuff said}

>Dia de Fiesta: Santo Inigo!

Posted on July 31, 2010 by coffeemom

>Today is the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola!

He is a Spanish saint and one that intrigues me, but kinds unnerves me.
Because not only is the the founder of the Jesuits, but his “Spiritual Exercises” are something that I know I should undertake, but of course, haven’t and may not ever due to my utter wimpiness.
They are rigorous to say the least, a four week program of spiritual surgery, so to speak. I know many who have done them and say they are as difficult as reported but oh so worthwhile. Hence, my intrigue with them but my cold feet. Truthfully, as well, trying to gather that focused time means I have to realign the cosmos too….

But anyhow, back to our saint, he’s a biggie and he has brought many others into the church and a life of service, not the last of which would be St. Francis Xavier and Father Pio ( a local friend), some of my favs.

St. Ignatius was a mystic and a man of deep prayer, and his influence is still felt to this day. He is one of the saints who did what we are all called to do: he changed the world. He calls us all to give everything back to God himself: AMDG – “to the greater glory of God.”

Ignatius recommended this prayer:

“Receive, Lord, all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will. You have given me all that I have, all that I am, and I surrender all to your divine will, that you dispose of me. Give me only your love and your grace. With this I am rich enough, and I have no more to ask.”

Yeah, you see why he is compelling yet daunting.
Right; I’ve got a loooong loong way to go.
St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.

>Feast of St Martha

Posted on July 29, 2010 by coffeemom

>Today is the Feast of St. Martha!

Which means that it is also my Marta’s feast day as well.
What a big day for her! She is also going to her freshman retreat, along w/ Hannah, today and tomorrow…I’ll post about it tomorrow.
But today is her patron’s feast day: St. Martha.

We all know the stories of St. Martha: she’s the busy, maybe pushy one. She’s the one who loved her brother so much, she kind of hollered at Jesus, scolding him for taking so long to come to her brother’s side when he was sick and dying. Jesus knew this family well, stayed with them frequently, and he took Martha in stride, he knew her as only Christ can, he knew her heart. So he reassured her and then raised Lazarus from the dead. Well, I can only imagine that quieted her down and had her scurry to help. But I digress…

I love St Martha for many reasons: she is much like me, very busy, sometimes losing herself in the busyness, maybe a little bossy and controlling. (See, I told you…just like me!) She’s task oriented, but underneath it all lies a heart of love and faith. She knew if Jesus was there, it would be ok. She loved. She loved her brother, she loved Jesus…and she loved by doing.

I know too, she loves my Marta, Martha. We asked her for prayers for our discernment about bringing Marta home; we still ask for her prayers for our girl. She did, and she does. Our Marta is much like her, she is a doer – happiest when she is involved in DOING something and good at the domestic side of life. She is well named. Marta is happiest being a caretaker of sorts, as was her patron.

So today, we ask St. Martha to help us learn to serve Christ better in our service to each other, and I ask her to pray for us, and as ever, for my Marta.

A Prayer to St. Martha
Feastday July 29th

O blessed St. Martha, your faith led Jesus to proclaim, “I am the resurrection and the life”;

and faith let you see beyond his humanity when you cried out,

“Lord I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

With firm hope you said, “I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him”,

and Jesus called your brother Lazarus back from the dead.

With pure love for Jesus you welcomed him into your home.

Friend and servant of our Saviour, I too am “troubled about many things”.

(Pause for silent prayer.)

Pray for me that I may grow in faith, hope and love,

and that Jesus, who sat at your table,

will hear me and grant me a place at the banquet of eternal life.

Amen. (Luke 10:38-42 / John 11:1-54)

>Trinity Sunday

Posted on May 30, 2010 by coffeemom

It’s Trinity Sunday, the feast of the Holy Trinity.

This concept of the Trinity, it’s one of the mysteries in our universe, our faith, and my mind. In fact, if you ponder it long enough, and get close to thinking, “Aha! I’ve got it! I understand it now!”…then back up, you’ve just slid into heresy, presumption, and you’re wrong.

There is no fully complete understanding of this. It’s a mystery with a capital “M.” One our puny human minds can’t ever really fathom: three persons in one God. The simplest way I’ve been able to grasp it is the catechism answer: God the Father, Christ the son, and the love between them SO powerful that it begets it’s own person, the Holy Spirit. {Yeah, sounds familiar, no?? In marriage we love each other so much that our love begets another whole person, or more…. Kinda the same thing, but with the Trinity it’s compounded to a factor of unspeakable billions, beyond our ken.}

This is a short terrific book about the sign of the cross, which is, in it’s purest form, a visual, physical recognition of the Trinity. A very good quick read, but will make you think again about this common gesture. As you make the sign of the cross, touching forehead, chest, shoulder, shoulder, and say these words: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”….well, you’ve pretty much just summed up the most important bits of, um, everything.

Anyway, I’m no theologian. If I start to think too hard about the Trinity, this mystery, my brain starts to scramble and ache. I prefer to gaze at this icon, above. It’s one of the oldest, most classic and best. It does the best job of what icons are meant to do: to be windows into heaven. They help represent the unknowable, the divine. They help our minds and hearts and prayers step through that window into the divine. Gaze. Rest. Look. Ahhh.

Happy feast of the Holy Trinity!

God, we praise you:
Father all-powerful,
Christ Lord and Savior,
Spirit of Love.
You reveal yourself in the depths of our being,
drawing us to share in your life and your love.
One God, three Persons,
be near to the people formed in your image,
close to the world your love brings to life.
We ask you this, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
one God, true and living, forever and ever.

From the, collect: prayers of the day.

>Going up…

Posted on May 13, 2010 by coffeemom

Ascension. Today is the feast of the Ascension of the Lord.

Painting by Salvadore Dali.

Now, I have written before about this, and how it kind of always boggles my mind. Because I am a visual kind of gal, I always get stuck in the imagining of this event, in the unimaginable visuals. My mind wants to do a whole movie panorama on it, more old Cecil B DeMille flicks, less Spielberg…but I digress. My point is that I can get all hung up in trying to SEE this, and understand it….which of course totally misses the point. As usual.

But there are two cool parts to this that I could spend the rest of my life meditating upon, and in fact it would surely do me much good. I won’t, but maybe I should.

The first part I wrote about last year, again, here. It’s the whole concept that Jesus went to prepare a place for us. He went to get things ready for us, at HOME. Home. Not our current abodes, apartments, houses, condos…but our true home. And that is with Him, eternally, in heaven (I hope and pray). I mean, how cool is that?? I don’t know about you, but I’m not the greatest hostess on the planet. I failed Martha Stewart 101. I have to write post-its to remember to put nice folded towels in the guest bath. But here, the God of the Universe, of everything, is heading off to prepare a place for us! Now I don’t know what that entails in heaven and all, but even still, He’s already on the details.

I know I know, this is really talking about bigger picture stuff, but even so, God is in the details too and you know it. Ever looked at the marbling in granite?? Or the marbling in marble? Huh? Stared into a tiger lily? Don’t tell me that God doesn’t pay attention to the tiny details…so I can marvel that Christ left the apostles, ascended even (another spectacular detail), to go and prepare a place for us, the best place: Home. Ahhhhh……joy.

The second part of this very cool event, this mind tripping visual, is that this ascension also signified a new and different status for the apostles…which of course trickles right down to us, me. He said to them that he would go, but he would send the Holy Spirit and then they were going to be sent too. Out. To witness. To tell the world about this wild amazing truth, this mind blowing love. That it was real. He let those apostles SEE him ascend, not just fade away like the Cheshire Cat with his grin the last to go…

nope, he ascended as they watched (and surely, gaped and pointed, and held out their hands and maybe both laughed a bit and cried a bit too). But certainly they had to be electrified; how could you not? Surely, this very change from followers of the earthly bodily Jesus to witnesses was facilitated by this ascension. I mean, literally, they witnessed it. They witnessed it all: yeah, the ascension, but also Christ himself on earth, his miracles, his passion, his resurrection, his heart, his voice, his smell, his smile.

They knew him, like the world could not.

And thus they were the first, sent out with a bang, to bring that excitement to everyone. Big job, but then again, big cool. Much to think about with this day….

O King of Glory,

Lord of Hosts,

Who didst this day ascend in triumph

above all the heavens!

Leave us not orphans,

but send upon us the Spirit of Truth,

promised by the Father. Alleluia!

The Liturgical Year: Book 9

>Silence, Holy Saturday

Posted on April 3, 2010 by coffeemom

>Holy Saturday is a day of silence.

painting Michael O’Brian

It is the tomb.
It is the day of grieving and being still, quiet for it…or mindful of it and trying to find that still silent spot inside; ever difficult in our modern days and our/my busy loud lives.
This is the day when the tabernacles, across the world, are barren.
And the emptiness is visceral.
I feel it.
I think the world feels it.
I do.

Tonight is the vigil and the promise of the return of the light, Light itself.
But for today.
It is the deposition, the tomb.

It is silent….

So. We wait.

>High Holy Day. Psalm 22

Posted on April 2, 2010 by coffeemom

So. Today it is.

Today is Good Friday.

One of the hardest days of the year.

Today He died.

Battered. Given. Crucified.

Today is a day of fasting, abstinence, silence, prayer.

It’s supposed to be hard.

It is.

“They have pierced My hands and My feet; they have numbered all My bones.”

Psalm 22

>Palms in our Palms

Posted on March 28, 2010 by coffeemom

>It’s Palm Sunday

And yes, as seen in the post directly below, it IS our anniversary. This year our anniversary falls on Palm Sunday. Which isn’t quite as humbling and embarrassing as when it falls on Holy Thursday or any such thing, but gee golly, it’s close.

You see, as Catholics, we don’t really do sacraments like Marriage during a penitential season such as Lent. It’s not done. Because it’s a season of penance. Right, quick now, stop. No jokes about marriage and penance…cmon, tooo easy. Get your head out of the gutter! Besides, we are talking about MY marriage which is a gift, no penance, all right? Right. But I’m digressing through my digression…ahem. I am going on the record that we got married in Lent first of all, because we were simply stupid and ignorant. Second of all because it was spring break, Tom was in med school and we just couldn’t wait. Because we were madly in love and couldn’t wait another minute, another day or month or season. That’s my story and I”m sticking to it. But, really, secondly, because we are pushy and obnoxious and pushed the our favorite priest to go ahead and perform the ceremony because this was the only time we had to get married (ya know, spring break). So he surely figured it was better to marry us than to NOT and so, he did. {I wonder if I should confess being a near occasion of sin for him, oh so long ago? Hadn’t thought about that, hmmmm…not entirely kidding….} Third and last, but most obviously, we got married during Lent because we were obviously NOT living Catholic lives. Not paying attention to the good stuff or details at all. Doh. And thus now….we are living our penance annually by having our anniversary during Lent. Sigh. It serves us right. Talk about perfect justice. Sheesh.

Anyhow. So. Back to post.

It is Palm Sunday today.

Which means of course, that this is the beginning of HOLY WEEK! Finally. Already. Oh my.

And this means that it is one of the hardest Masses of the year. And the longest. This is the Mass where they pass out Palms for us to hold, to re-enact in a tiny way Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. This is the Mass where small boys in the pews have mock sword fights with the palms as their mother tries to ignore and/or redirect them. This is another nice connection to the liturgy my Marta knows, as they too pass out palms in her church (Orthodox) in Ethiopia. This is familiar and known to her, reinforcing her connections in faith, both backward and forward.

This is the Mass where the gospel passion of Christ is read, with different readers for each part: the Pastor reads Christ, the deacon or seminarian or another parishoner might read as narrator, another will read the part of Pilate/Herod, and then the congregation reads the part of the crowd. So, yes, exactly, that means that we have to stand there in Mass and say, choke it out, “Crucify Him!” It is harder than it sounds. It is the hardest thing to do. And yet, we must. Because of course, we did. And do still. I can’t do this justice. But Deacon Greg did in his homily for today, so I’m gonna lift a chunk of it, below. Go read the whole thing tho, if you’d like a good read to step into a mindful Holy Week.

Because this is it. It’s almost done, this tough season. It might be a tough week. Instead of cringing, a dear priest, Father Luckas, has advised to face it head on, as a challenge to keep stepping mindfully forward. To Christ himself. And so that is what I thought about in Mass today, as I held my palms in my hands, in my palms, and I also had to say “Crucify Him.” And, “Jesus, Remember me, when you come into your kingdom..” And blink back the tears.

Just as it should be.

From Deacon Greg: read, begin Holy Week:

This week is the only time that the gospel is proclaimed by someone besides a priest or deacon – every individual in this church takes part.
It’s a great privilege. And it – literally — gives us a role in Christ’s passion.
But what do we say? What lines are we given?
“Not this one! Barabbas!”
“Hail, King of the Jews!”
“Crucify him!”
“Take him away, crucify him!”
We cry out for vengeance, and we accuse his disciples, and we gamble to see which of us will get his cloak. We mock him.
We are the mob. And we cruelly assist in condemning Christ to death.
And the great irony, of course, is that we do it while clutching these palms.
They are a reminder – and an indictment. While we were standing here, crying out “Crucify him!,” we were clutching the branches that we used to sing out “Hosanna.” The palms reveal our very human duplicity. How easily we turn. How quickly we pivot from faithful, to faithless … from belief to doubt … from being disciples, to being betrayers.
We start out acting like angels, singing “Hosanna.” And we end up just being the mob.
It can sometimes be that way throughout the church. The headlines this week have told the story. Men called to holiness can be guilty of appalling sins. Sins of abuse. Sins of neglect. Sins of dishonesty. Sins of betrayal.
And yet, to be a part of the body of Christ is to be with him on the cross. The Catholic writer Ronald Rolheiser has put it powerfully. “To be a member of the church,” he wrote, “is to carry the mantle of both the worst sin and the finest heroism of soul….because the church always looks exactly as it looked at the original crucifixion, God hung among thieves.”
And all we can do sometimes is echo the words of the one thief, words we heard just a few moments ago: “Jesus, remember me.” That moment is the only one in any of the gospels where someone calls Jesus by his given name. Maybe it is because it is at this moment – the hour of his death — that he is most like us. He hangs there, stripped, beaten, betrayed. He hangs among thieves. This is what we have done to our God. And this is what we continue to do, even today.

Have a blessed Holy Week!

>Cool Convergence

Posted on March 22, 2010 by coffeemom

> So how cool is this? This is one for you Chris, and you Tom, and you Marta….and all you Ethiopian adoption folks. This is a nun, now living in Jerusalem, who is Ethiopian and also a pianist. So in this one woman we have so many of the interests and passions and parts of our family: music, piano, Ethiopia, faith, prayer, Holy Land, religious life:

Read below from BoingBoing (or go and see for yourself):

“Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou is a nun currently living in Jerusalem. She grew up as the daughter of a prominent Ethiopian intellectual, but spent much of her young life in exile, first for schooling, and then again during Mussolini’s occupation of Ethiopia’s capitol city, Addis Ababa, in 1936. Her musical career was often tragically thwarted by class and gender politics, and when the Emperor himself actually went so far as to personally veto an opportunity for Guèbrou to study abroad in England, she sank into a deep depression before fleeing to a monastery in 1948. “

“Today, she spends up to seven hours a day playing the piano in seclusion. A compilation of her compositions was re-issued on the consistently great Ethiopiques label. You can read more about her life at the Emahoy Music Foundation .”

And more on her religious/music life from the Emahoy Music Foundation:

“Young Yewubdar secretly fled Addis Abeba at the age of 19 to enter the Guishen Mariam monastery in the Wello region where she had once before visited with her mother. She served two years in the monastery and was ordained a nun at the age of 21. She took on the title Emahoy and her name was changed to Tsege Mariam. Despite the difficult life in religious order and the limited appreciation for her music in traditional Ethiopian culture, Emahoy worked fervently day and night. Often she played up to nine hours a day and went on to write many compositions for violin, piano and organ concerto.”

nee, Yewubdar Gebru c. 1940

Celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem

I love a convergence like this. It just reminds me how very small the world is in some ways. The piano solo is beautiful (I LOVE the piano). I don’t know her of course, but still….there’s that connection of touchpoints. And it’s cool.

{h/t to Anchoress, and boingboing}

>The Road to Connections

Posted on March 5, 2010 by coffeemom

>I’m hitting the road today, with a car full of teen girls from our little parochial school. I’m taking the eighth graders and Marta (I hope) up to Youth 2000, a Catholic youth retreat. I’m the chaperone (for the girls anyhow)! No, it’s not in New York, they hold these around the country (possibly in spots around the world, not sure). But the video below is a good glimpse of what we’ll be doing this weekend…

I’ve been to a few of these and also helped put one on at our local high school a few years ago and I will say, they are awesome. They get the kids fired up. Even better, the kids get to drop their guard and connect.
CONNECT.
They connect to their friends, but also to their faith, their prayer, their deepest truest heart.

These Youth 2000 Retreats always have a great band, great music, great talks, great kids and best of all, the great wonderful compelling Fransiscan Friars of the Renewal. I love these guys! They are so full of joy and fun and life and are young and happening and folks (ok, me) tend to want to follow them around like puppies. Compelling.

It should be a wonderful, intense, exhausting, fun weekend. I am looking forward to it! So, please keep the girls and I in your prayers that we have a wonderful weekend, rich in prayer and connections…to each other and to our faith.

>Fish Eaters – What’s up with that?

Posted on February 22, 2010 by coffeemom

>Ok, so here we are in Lent, officially in the first week of Lent (because even though half of last week was Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, those days aren’t counted in the “weeks” but they are counted in the days. Yeah, it messes me up too.) Anyhow….. so we’ve already had two official days of abstinence and one of fasting.

So, what’s the diff? Abstinence, fasting, no meat….but fish, isn’t fish meat?
Confused?
Join the club, you aren’t the only one.
In fact, I am a what they call a “Cradle Catholic;” by which I mean, raised Catholic from birth. And even I still have to scratch my head and think hard on the specifics of the days sometimes. {Although, admittedly, lately that’s been more because of the softening of my mind and loss of brain cells due to this blasted middle age.}

But folks always ask about the fish. Specifically, “What’s up with the Friday Fish?”

Ya got your fish fries, your fish sandwiches, tuna fish in every way you can dream it up.
Personally, I prefer the veggie route…but that’s just me maybe. Anthony, my little man, he will vote for the cheese pizza, every time. But I digress.

Anyhow, so what IS up with the whole “fish” thing?
Well lots.
The rudimentary part is we abstain, we Catholics, from meat on Fridays.
It’s a small mortification.
Some have speculated on why we do it.
But as with most things in the Church, there is always real history and tradition behind what we do today. For a good article on the history and reasoning behind this, go here, it’s an article written by my real world in person I just hugged her at Mass yesterday morning gal pal, Sonja. She’s brilliant and writes lovely intellectual pieces that explain so much about the church (as opposed to my stream of consciousness blather). So read, you’ll learn. You’ll be glad you did.

So, we fast and abstain in order to experience the spirit of this penitential season of Lent. We make small (measly, really) sacrifices in order to train our bodily selves to look beyond our lives here, moment to moment. We offer that small suffering to Christ, in thanksgiving for all he went through for us. It is a small teeny tiny parallel to Christ’s forty days of prayer in the desert. We are in the desert, during Lent. We try to train our minds, bodies and hearts to turn to what is actually real and important. And it’s not the hamburgers…or the fish sandwiches.

So, yeah, we don’t eat meat on Fridays. Mostly during Lent, though some try to observe this throughout the year. And it may sound like no big deal. But I’ll tell ya, maybe it’s because I have the self discipline of a four year old….but when I KNOW I can’t have meat, all of a sudden I am craving a big ol’ steak, or bacon, or a chicken sandwich. It’s as if I was thrown back to the caveman era, before the world knew the wonders of spinach salad with goat cheese, or hummus, or a good caprese salad. And I sulk a bit. I mope around and suddenly can’t find anything to eat. Because I am an infant. And so, Fridays are tough. But I guess that it how they are supposed to be.

>Sunday in Haiti, Coffeedoc posts

Posted on January 31, 2010 by coffeemom

>A report from Tom, perfect for today, this Sunday:

So I wondered where we might find a Mass this morning. Our hosts told us that they thought there was a Catholic Church just up the street. Ernest and I walked down there to see really early this morning so as not to miss an early morning mass. It was a church named after Santa Theresa of the child Jesus. Unfortunately, their priest wasn’t going to be able to say Mass there today, covering other churches which have been destroyed by the earthquake I believe.

Church of St. Therese of the child Jesus, Jacmel, Haiti

A man who was there, perhaps the sacristan, offered to take us up to where there was going to be a mass in Cayes Jacmel. We went out to the street and flagged down a “tap tap” which is Haiti’s version of a taxi, kind of like the blue and white vans in Ethiopia.

We drove for several miles and then got out. We walked up a dirt mountain road for another half mile to reach a clearing which was being used as the church since the church building had fallen.

It was a beautiful service some of which I have video of. Here are some pictures.

Ernest at Mass.

I love you all and miss you.
Dad

>Marching today

Posted on January 22, 2010 by coffeemom

It’s the Annual March for Life today.

Coffeedoc, Buddybug, Bananas, her best friend, and Marta are all in DC, today, for this.

{So, because things are hectic (as usual) and I really can’t say this differently, I am reposting part of this from last year.}

This is from a year or so ago…I don’t have ones fro this year yet, of course.

I try not to get too political on this blog.
But it is surely no surprise to anyone that our family, I, we, are pro-life.
We are Catholic.
The Catholic Church has made it’s position on the spectrum of life issues very clear, very simple: All life is sacred. Period. Beginning to end. No matter what, where, who.
Simple.

And before you get started….I am quite clear on all the facets of this issue, and have worked through different things and thoughts about it all over the years.
But finally and fully, as a Catholic who has discovered the deep beauty and richness in the faith, I realized it IS simple. And for me, though I spent years having long and important discussions on all the angles of this and these issues, finally it hit home in the most visceral way possible.

Here:
This is why I am pro-life.
Look, really look, at these faces.
How can I not be?

And while the actual March for Life happens today, the more, the most, important event (some might argue this point, but I would disagree) happened last night: the annual Vigil and Mass for Life.

{Last night, waiting for Mass}

Last night at the Cathedral

In the packed Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, with Bishops and religious and just regular folks from all over (thousands upon thousands), all jam packed in to pray.

[Last night, waiting for Mass to start]

They wait for hours (often 4-6) before the Mass even begins, just to make sure they have a spot. They pray, they talk and then, they pray in community: the Mass. Even with that long wait, the enthusiasm is not dimmed. (And, frankly, I believe this is the most powerful method of change. Marching is good, graphic gruesome pics are off-putting and are not, but prayer is best. It works. Coming together in force to pray….priceless.)

{Last night, waiting for Mass to begin}

There is also a Youth Rally and Mass for Life the next morning (today) the day of the March. Here’s a snip from last year. Our Lady of Guadalupe, protector of the unborn, pray for us.

And, if you can’t make it in person, your voice can still be heard...this site has a way to “be there” virtually, with an avatar even (how hip), and march in solidarity. (thanks Shannon!)

>Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Posted on December 8, 2009 by coffeemom

Saint Anne conceiving the Virgin Mary
Douai, Musée de la Chartreuse

Oh, it’s a big feast today! It’s one of those feasts: an uber Catholic one.
It’s the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a holy day of obligation.

One of the big Marian feasts, and one that often gives many folks some consternation (from a scratch on the head to fits). For a good explanation of it all, go here (and scroll down for all those, “What’s up with that” “How can that be?” kind of responses). I can’t give you a great theological treatise on it. It took brilliant theologians from the east and west to determine this one over the centuries, but they did because we are human. And our inquiring minds want to know, and puzzle and ponder. So those who have gone before us prayed and debated and concluded. I can say that it only makes sense to my puny brain.

For a long time, I thought that the “immaculate conception” referred to Mary’s conception of Jesus, you know, with the descent of the Holy Spirit and Gabriel and all…clean, tidy, right? But no, it’s actually about Mary and her being preserved from the stain of original sin. Confusing, a little, huh? Well, this is how it parses out in my old mom brain: God himself is all love and of course, without sin. God came to us in his son, Christ, who was also without sin (being God and all). Since all purity and all love cannot coexist with the stain of sin, how could Christ come to us as a man, without first having a pure ‘vessel’, if you will? Well, he couldn’t, that would not correspond with the natural/divine order. Growing in utero is, utterly, coexisting. So, if God cannot coexist with sin, then a human mom to be would have to be found, sinless. And thus, since God is beyond time, he prepared Mary, {from her conception of course}, to be without sin. Because God knew, outside of time, that Mary would be the perfect (literally and figuratively) mom for Jesus.

Now, I think that’s cool! It makes perfect sense to me and really is one of those ‘clap your hands, I get it” kind of moments. Yeah, it’s uber Catholic. But hey, I love being Catholic because (well, so many reasons) its cool and rich and takes my breath away. And of course, I love feasts….so it’s a good day!

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

>Martrydom of St. John the Baptist

Posted on August 29, 2009 by coffeemom

Carvaggio, 1608

Ok, that title is a more polite way of describing this event. In my house full of rough and tumble boys, they tend to use the other, more graphic title: The Beheading of John the Baptist.

Sigh.
I guess in our modern era of shock tv and horror movies, even this grisly story seems tame.
What a shame. Maybe it should shock and make our stomach’s flop and faces wince.
It does mine.
I used to (still do, really…sometimes) wonder why we had to have these gruesome stories in the bible, and even commemorate them. I mean, really? As they say, “Why can’t we all just get along?” Why can’t it be “nice?” Let’s just look at the pretty stuff…..yes, Pollyanna….

But as we all know all too well, REAL life isn’t always pretty. Real life has real hurt, real gore, real unexplainable happenings, that can’t be explained away….except perhaps by the real existence of evil and our all too human nature to be seduced by it.
And this true story, that we remember especially today, is about evil, to be sure.
I mean, Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter…because her mother told her to ask as she danced. Her mother was so torqued at John for calling out Herod on his adultery (with her), that she pressed her daughter to ask for his death, and decapitation at that.
Talk about a vengeful woman…

Anyhow, this story is not only about that evil impulse and gory act. It’s about John the Baptist being both a harbinger of Christ and His sacrifice to come, but also a man who stood up for Truth – no matter what.

Massimo Stanzione c. 1634.

Now, even in our modern days, holding onto truth can sure get hard. Especially when so much of the idea of truth has become a dull gray slide rule……there is not much black and white anymore; absolute truths or rights or wrongs. Or, so it seems in our popular modern culture. And yet, of course, there still is real truth, but it’s not always popular or ‘pc’ or whatever. And while I haven’t heard to too many folks getting beheaded for being ‘non-pc’ lately, there is still a pressure out there to just…not. Not get involved. Not care. Not worry about anyone else. Not call it like it is. Not get into anybody’s business.

But really, it IS a fine line. I myself have more opinions than most, but I find the words “Judge not” ring in my ears. So, how to jive that all up? I don’t know. I tend to do the best I can on the fly. Which is probably pretty poorly, most of the time. I’ll either get too timid to speak up, or too tired, or I will speak up and stick my foot in it. Typically I just throw my opinions out there anyhow.

So, I can let my boys play with swords and be good guys and bad guys; acting out the scary hard ideas of good and evil, right and wrong. And this story can have a place in that sort of teaching, eventually. St. John the Baptist teaches us that we should not be afraid. That speaking the Truth is hard, possibly even dangerous. There is real danger in life, and sometimes it cannot be escaped. But, it is worth it.

And the caveat is: the Truth is Love. Love is Truth. And so….if you (ok, me) can try speak of Truth/Love, with courage….then you or I will live it as well.

Icon written by Constantine Youssis

>The Assumption

Posted on August 15, 2009 by coffeemom

>Icon of the Assumption

Today is the Solemnity of the Assumption.

And solemnity doesn’t mean, necessarily, somber and morose…rather it can mean big time, important. Meaning, it’s a holy day of obligation, go to Mass. And while this is one of the “biggie” (Yes, I spent my summers in the seventies on the beach, we used that term, so what?) solemnities in the Catholic calendar, I don’t have the energy to give you all the scholarly apologetics behind it all (go see the link above for a start).

As an aside, however, Coffeedoc pointed out that today was the feast of the Assumption to Marta – Ethiopian Orthodox celebrate this feast in a big way and it is called “Filsata Mariam” – and she jumped up and down with excitement. So it’s a big deal even in the the other ancient Christian faith traditions.

Ethiopian Orthodox Marian icon.

Suffice it to say that this Solemnity is totally cool and has so many threads connecting it all that it blows my mind with a grin. And that, as so much of life is, it’s one of the Mysteries. That’s mystery with a capital “M;” theologically speaking. By which I mean, if I really could understand it through and through, well, I would be be both presumptuous AND wrong. Because some of the mysteries that make life and faith so rich, are not for my puny mind to dissect.

So, that all disclaimed, ahem, I give you my personal gloss on this feast day (My blog, massively opinionated, you knew it was coming.):
Mary was a mother who loved with perfect love (unlike myself). Her son was a perfect son, who also loved with a perfect love. Now, if I, with my very imperfect love can love my sons SO much that it can make me cry and mope when they leave for their very fun new exciting lives in college (Next week, I”m just saying.) once again……then how much more so did Mary ache to see her son leave this earth and his time with her in such a grisly unbearable event? And how much did she miss him, achingly miss him, all those years? And therefore, at the end of her life, when she was able to be reunited with her boy, her Son….just think of the joy, the unbridled radiating shimmery JOY, of that reunion! And in this feast, we believe that they were reunited in Heaven.

Frankly, I simply love everything about this. I mean, just having my boy come back home after a few months at college makes me want to whoop, jump for joy, run down the stairs and hug him tight, not let go, feed him pie and just look at him. It makes me ridiculously happy. So, this feast is a promise of that to me, that reunion, that that kind of love between mom and son (or, ok, kids, but hey, let me run this out), doesn’t just die out…it is eternal. And that is the best promise of all and that is nothing but cool.

So, there, moms….that’s something to smile about.
Happy Solemnity of the Assumption!

Detail of painting of Assumption, by Titian

Magnificat (Luke 1:36-55)

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;

he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed;

the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.

He has mercy on those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm

and has scattered the proud in their conceit,

Casting down the mighty from their thrones

and lifting up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things

and sent the rich away empty.

He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,

to remember his promise of mercy,

The promise made to our ancestors,; to Abraham and his children for ever.
Amen.

Lodovico Caracci, The Assumption of the Virgin, about 1586-7

>Wonder and light

Posted on May 31, 2009 by coffeemom

It’s the Feast of Pentecost!

Mexican Icon of Pentecost.

I think this is some cool feast. This is the day the apostles experienced the fire of the Holy Spirit in a great rush of wind and light. With a mind blowing arrival of Grace Himself, they could stop grieving in the upper room, hiding in uncertainty and worry and fear. It had been a wild ride for seven weeks, Christ was crucified, rose, appeared, cooked them fish, noshed with them, instructed them, chided them, comforted them, hung out..and then left. He promised to go prepare a better place for them and to send a Comforter and Counselor.

How confusing! So they huddled together, to wait, to pray. Were they confused about just what that meant…a comforter? Waiting is extra hard when you don’t know exactly what you’re waiting for…think any of those in that room maybe had control issues? Ok, well, I like to think so…(no, I’m not projecting, whatever do you mean?? Ahem.) I love imagining the scene of it, the rush of wind, the light, the understanding, the terror, the amazement, the joy. Were they knocked down, covering their heads and eyes in shock and maybe some primal fear? Ecstatic with, finally, full understanding, crying and laughing with joy? Wide eyed, holding on to each other?
I don’t know, but you gotta admit, it’s a great visual, very Cecil B. DeMille, don’t ya think?
I love Pentecost.
To think that the Holy Spirit, that ineffable Grace, is there for the asking, or begging and pleading (ok, me again). And what amazes me, every time, is that it really IS!
That just blows me away.

Sometimes things are hard. Sometimes things are utterly confusing or just deep down scary. Thankfully, enough, not too often. But. When I get to the point of being unable to even construct proper sentences and word phrasings, when my prayers of deep fear and worry are the most primal and I’ve lost proper adult speech patterns but still have the deep need urge push compulsion to pray – somehow ….I know that I am still heard. I know, that God knows my deepest longing and fear and can move past my babbling blathering gabble and the Holy Spirit can intercede on my behalf in prayer.

And He does.
That’s pure gift.
That’s Grace: the Holy Spirit, Comfort, Counsel.
And, why, yes, in the past six weeks I’ve been relying on that Grace a fair lot.
And for that I am grateful.
And that is joy, the deepest most wondrous kind.
To borrow a word from a dear blog friend, it’s wonderment.

That sums it up for me: Pentecost is Wonderment.

So today I like to think of that wonderment of the apostles at Pentecost. I love a feast day. I imagine the apostles were filled with sheer wonderment, and in that amazing ecstatic electric event, they were then sent out to face the world….but not alone.
In my self absorbed microcosm of life here, I’m not thinking anyone is gonna be able to see any flames above my head {unless it’s my temper having gotten the best of me, again}. But for me the Holy Spirit is such a gift and I am so grateful for being able to call on that Grace when I need it {And to rely on it in my typically thoughtless way for the rest of the the time}. I don’t know what I’d do without it. And really, who wants to face life alone anyhow???
So, here is the prayer of the day, for me:

Come Holy Spirit

Come Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your Divine Love.
Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created,
and You shall renew the face of the earth.
Oh God,
Who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructed the hearts of the faithful,
Grant, that by the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord.
Amen.

>Ascension

Posted on May 24, 2009 by coffeemom

>It’s Ascension Sunday.
Well, officially the Feast of the Ascension was last Thursday….but here in the U.S., in most dioceses, the celebration of it is moved to Sunday.
Perhaps a touch confusing, yes….but really, the Ascension can be too.
How did He go? Floating serenely, in a flash of light, a crack of thunder, or just, gone? (I know, goofy, but I’m a visual gal, I think about it!)
I always wonder, how come the apostles weren’t crying, Mary weeping again?
I would be! I cry every time I have to say goodbye to most anyone, especially my son. But, apparently, they did not. Not ugly crying anyhow. I’m sure it was bittersweet though, it always is, isn’t it?

But here is the cool thing of Ascension, for me.
Ascension is all about preparation and promise.
Ascension is about home.
Yes, Christ had to go, we are left to walk this on our own in many ways.
But not really.
Because He promised to go to prepare for us to join him, to prepare us a place, a home, with Him, left us helpers and each other along the way.

And as a mom, as a mom who is awaiting her daughter to come home….soon soon please….this really resonates with me.
My Marta can’t really KNOW we are coming back to her, except we’ve told her so.
She has to be there on her own, but with our far-away-support and love and prayers and helpers…for now.
And we are prepared, have prepared, a place for her: a new room to share, fresh paint, new furniture, new clothes. We’ve carved out a spot in our home and hearts for our Marta, our new daughter.
We are all anticipating bringing her into her new place.
She is. We are.
And we wait for it.
She does. We do.

And even in this, this hard time…..if we look, once again, the family can model the most real thing in life: faith and love.
We can’t do it as well, or as graciously, or widely, as the Church.
But we can stumble along trying.
And today, I think about the idea of preparation; what it really is.

Today we are reminded that Christ prepares a place for each of us.
We prepare a place for each of our children and each other.
Doing so, even the small tiny mundane things of sippy cups and diapers, groceries and clean sheets…it’s all love in action.
Happily, we have feast days like today so we, (ok, I mean me) can see it more clearly through all the hubub of our busy days.
To remind us.
To say, “Remember.”
We each have a place.
It’s home.

>Waking up today….Updated

Posted on April 5, 2009 by coffeemom

>this was rolling through my head.

Not exactly the Basilica where Buddybug is this morning…But still, apropos of the day I suppose.
Today is one of the longest Masses of the year, and it’s one of the hard ones. Sure it seems like it’s all the rejoicing like in the video above…but no we also have to read the long reading of when it all turns and Christ is taken to Pilate, and in the liturgy we respond, “Crucify him!” again and again.
I HATE that.
It makes me cringe.
It hurts and makes me wince.
I often want to stand silent, thinking, “No. I won’t. I can’t say that.”
But of course, I do, darn near every day in my selfish thoughtless words and snapping temper.
So, sure I could stand there and be silent today…..but oh, what a hypocrite.
And since I’m already that already too…..I will quietly, achingly whisper, “Crucify him” and try not to cry.

For more, ever so much better stuff on Palm Sunday, go here and here and, always, go here. anytime!

** Note: Palm Sunday Mass with toddlers means you don’t actually hear all the readings because you are juggling small boys who are playing swords with the palms that are given out. Long Mass, somber readings (Mark 14:1-15: 47), (Psalm 22), crowded pews, and toys, erk, palms…equals chaotic Mass!**

>Novena to St. Jude, day nine

Posted on March 30, 2009 by coffeemom

Day 9
Novena To
St. Jude

Most holy Apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of difficult cases, of things almost despaired of, Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone.
Intercede with God for me that He bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly –
That our daughter passes court and visa and comes home in April.
– and that I may praise God with you and all the saints forever. I promise, O Blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor granted me by God and to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you.
Amen

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

Blessed be the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Blessed be the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Blessed be St. Jude Thaddeus, in all the world and for all Eternity.
(say this prayer, followed by the Our Father and the Hail Mary)

>Novena to St. Jude, day eight

Posted on March 29, 2009 by coffeemom

>
Day 8
Novena To
St. Jude

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

>Novena to St. Jude, day seven

Posted on March 28, 2009 by coffeemom

>
Day 7
Novena To
St. Jude

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

>Novena to St. Jude, day six

Posted on March 27, 2009 by coffeemom

Etching by Jacques Callot, 1632

Day 6
Novena To
St. Jude

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

>Novena to St. Jude, day five

Posted on March 26, 2009 by coffeemom

Fresco by Bicci di Lorenzo, 1440

Day 5
Novena To
St. Jude

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

>Annunciation

Posted on March 25, 2009 by coffeemom

Painting by Antonella da Messina

It’s the Feast of the Annunciation!

This is an important solemnity, of course. It is when Christ actually was made man, in Mary’s womb, but present, truly, here on earth. This feast always falls in Lent, another way to remind us of the reason for the season, so to speak. We have that circularity to meditate upon as we close in to Easter and the Vio Dolorosa of Holy Week.

Painting by Orazio Gentileschi

For me, this year, once again, this feast is especially meaningful.

Last year, we were awaiting our court date of our little Gabriel. His referral and arrival was another personal annunciation for us. And to have his name, we knew, to be Gabriel, was especially meaningful.

This year, we are in the waiting again.
We don’t have the name connection this time.
But we do have another.
We await a young girl, possibly not too different in age from Mary at that time.

Painting by John Collier

And this time, it’s all about that oh so important word, the word that this entire feast hangs on: “fiat.”
Fiat.
I will.
“Thy will be done.”

And once again, we try to ponder Mary’s answer..made when she was scared, didn’t know how things would play out, work out, seeming impossible, probably so hard, but already beautiful and amazing.

Painting by Henry Tanner

And all I can say is that if we look, our, my, little lives all too often reflect what’s bigger, what’s more important.
And so I look to Mary and her answer…for the strength to wait, even when I am scared, don’t know how things will play out, work out, seeming impossible, probably so hard, but already beautiful and amazing.

I wait for court.
I wait for visa.
I wait to bring her home, my daughter.

And I will celebrate the feast of the Annunciation.

“Fiat.”

Painting by Caravaggio

Hail Mary, full of grace
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed
is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God
Pray for us sinners
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen

>Novena to St. Jude, day four

Posted on March 25, 2009 by coffeemom

Painting by El Greco

Day 4
Novena To
St. Jude

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

>Novena to St. Jude, day three

Posted on March 24, 2009 by coffeemom

>
Day 3
Novena To
St. Jude

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

>Novena to St. Jude, day two

Posted on March 23, 2009 by coffeemom

>Day 2
Novena To
St. Jude

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

>Novena begins today: St. Jude

Posted on March 22, 2009 by coffeemom

I’m starting my novena to St. Jude today.

That’s this guy, here, in this painting.

Painting by Anthony Van Dyke

I am starting this novena, which is nine days of focused prayer, today so that this set of prayers and petitions ends on March 30. Which is just as my waiting daughter goes to the courtroom…specifically, when it is the night of March 30 overnight into March 31, my M will be talking with a judge in Addis Ababa and this judge will decide whether we all are officially family, in the eyes of the Ethiopian government and law. And then on Tuesday, March 31, we will get that phone call of good news or bad news. But I am hoping and praying for good news, hence, this novena.

Now, many folks are somewhat confounded by novenas. They are rather a Catholic thing, I’ll admit. But then again, not so much. Here’s the deal. (I know, I’ve spoken of this before, but well, who ever goes back to archives? No one.) You see, you all know, some of you more painfully than others, that I’m a beggar. I’m begging for any and all prayers this time to get our girl through court and visa and home. This is the same deal. It’s intercessory prayer. But instead of my phoning my friends, emailing my other friends, begging on blogs, stopping strangers in the streets….this time I am also hitting up a saint. St. Jude Thaddeus, to be precise.

And I ask him for his prayers on this, because he, unlike those of us here on earth, is in heaven already. He has left his smudgy selfish self behind and all traces of that are gone. His heart is pure. Thus, he is a MUCH more effective pray-er than most anyone else I can ask, short of Christ himself (and yeah, I’m praying hard and having much discussion with him too, no worries on that point!).

And this intercession of the saints is one of the coolest things I can think of. It’s just what I do for my brother with my folks, and what my kids do for each other with me. We go to the person who can help, on the others behalf. We petition. And stand in for each other and add our backing to that person’s petition. And it helps. If only in the moral support, it helps. And that is exactly what a novena in our Catholic ways do too. Only we hit up a saint, for their support and prayers on our behalf. And it helps.

Prayer transforms, no matter if they are answered the way we hope or a different way that we can’t understand yet. And that in itself makes the effort worthwhile.

So, I’m praying to St. Jude. He was a cousin of Jesus. He was a chosen apostle. He is a good egg. He is patron of impossible causes. I”m not saying our cause is impossible, but I”m saying, I’ve been fretting and there are hurdles and so I’m calling on St. Jude. He’s helped me before, he is faithful.

And I’m gonna make you all nuts maybe because I’m putting the novena prayer up every day. I’ll post other posts too, don’t disappear entirely! But, if any of you want to follow along, you can read and pray it here. If not, I totally understand. Either way, if you have a mind to, any prayers at all on our M’s behalf would mean the world.

March 31. We pray to pass court and visa and get her home in April.
Thanks to each of you and any passing thoughts or prayers!

St. Jude, pray for us.

Day 1
Novena To
St. Jude

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

>Oasis in the Desert

Posted on March 22, 2009 by coffeemom

Rejoice!

It’s Laetare Sunday!

“Laetare Jerusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam”

“Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her.”

This, “laetare,” means, literally, “rejoice,” taken from the words that open the Mass today, the entrance. It is a special day in this liturgical season, much akin to Gaudete Sunday in Advent.

It is an oasis in the walk through the desert of Lent. This is a day to encourage all of us in our Lenten efforts, a little breather to help us gather for the second half of a rigorous season and also remind us to look toward the joy of Easter itself. Hoorah, I’ll take it and just in the nick o’ time, if you ask me!
Indeed, “The strictness of the the Lenten Liturgy is interrupted on this Sunday with words that speak to us of joy. … As Holy Week and Easter draw near, so do forgiveness, mercy, divine compassion, and a superabundance of grace.” Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God; Lent and Eastertide.”
{You might wonder why I post about these Catholic observances and the theology behind them….or you might not…but just in case you do: I post about them because I think about them and, almost always, find that they are mirroring, on a grand and awesome scale, what is churning about in my own tiny little life. }

We are given flowers on the altar, the vestments change from the penitential color of purple to a lighter shade, a rose. The music is less somber. We are reminded that we can have joy, even in suffering and trials…but it is a joy that is not of the world. It is a joy that is more real and truer, deeper and one of seeming contradiction. It the joy of being united to Christ, even in the cross. As Pope Paul VI points out “Technological society has succeeded in multiplying the occasions of pleasure, but finds great difficulty in giving birth to happiness.” True happiness, joy, can be found in this contradiction of our modern world. Its not the surfeit of stuff that makes us happy, its the surrendering of our very selves, letting them go.

Laetare Sunday is also known as Mothering Sunday, from Gallations which points out our right to be called sons of God as the source of our joy. Which also of course, has, for me, a mom-adoptive connection (I know, a one-note kind of gal. Don’t judge me, I can’t help it. Because, yes, once again, it’s all about me).

So, all the facets of this day kind of converge for me.
As usual, the liturgical rhythm is ever so germane to my own little mundane gerbil mill life……{And, why yes, I have been stewing about how all this jives up. You may look to my last post on roller coasters, just below, to see why}.

And so I think today is a little gift, I take it as one.
Because this was a tough week, and might be a few tough weeks ahead, as my overactive imagination can dream up all the ways this court date and visa issue can go wrong…as I fret and stew even as I determine not to.
This day, today, encourages me to carry this cross, such a meager one as it may be.
To keep stepping forward in faith, no matter what may come…to keep working on trusting instead of doubting and kvetching. Instead it encourages me.
There are too many connections for it not to deeply resonate for me.

So, in order that I will remember them in the coming weeks until Easter, and even more, until our court date (just over one week!), I am going to make a list.
A laetare list, if you will.

Bear with me…Here goes:

Lent, a time of penance, sacrifice and mindfulness of being called to be more than we settle for, for remembering we are called to step out of our comfort zones in faith and hope.
The difficulty of actually following through on these efforts, or any effort really, to step out of our perfectly tufted comfort zones {ok, me}.
The great gift of a little oasis, a break, and encouragement for our body, mind, heart and spirit.
Today as Mothering Sunday…with all that implies, to me: caring feeding nurturing supporting directing healing holding tight.
This is what our faith does.
This is what the eucharist does.
This is what the Church does.
This is what a mom does.
This is what I am being called to do, today, and more, adding to it, hopefully soon.
Lent itself helps prepare us to do this, on all levels.

And more, on the tangible level:
Girls like pink.
Me too.
My new daughter seems to love pink.
She looks beautiful in pink.
I love food of all sorts.
I love to feed people.
I love flowers.
I love breaks, because I am a wuss.

So, we’ve got a liturgical oasis, flowers, pink, snacks, Mothering, rigor, breaks and joy.
What’s not to like?

So, as I sit and wait in prayer and hope for our court date, I will also join this effort to simply wait more closely to Lent the season and this walk. This is perhaps one of my more “lived out” Lents. No wonder it hurts…… but, ah today, is Laetare Sunday. Not today.

Rejoice!

Another Espresso, Please

Why, yes, I did just have one, thanks…

Category Archives: catholic life

>Assumptions on the Assumption

>Dia de Fiesta: Santo Inigo!

>Feast of St Martha

>Trinity Sunday

>Going up…

>Silence, Holy Saturday

>High Holy Day. Psalm 22

>Palms in our Palms

>Cool Convergence

>The Road to Connections

>Fish Eaters – What’s up with that?

>Sunday in Haiti, Coffeedoc posts

>Marching today

>Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

>Martrydom of St. John the Baptist

>The Assumption

>Wonder and light

>Ascension

>Waking up today….Updated

>Novena to St. Jude, day nine

>Novena to St. Jude, day eight

>Novena to St. Jude, day seven

>Novena to St. Jude, day six

>Novena to St. Jude, day five

>Annunciation

>Novena to St. Jude, day four

>Novena to St. Jude, day three

>Novena to St. Jude, day two

>Novena begins today: St. Jude

>Oasis in the Desert

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