Astonomy Day, 2008

In the beginning...God created the heavens and the earth...
Genesis 1:1

This year's Astronomy Day wasn't quite as exciting as last year's
Adventures in Astronomy. But it was family time together none-the-less. Neil is an astronomer in training and must be what his Grandpa Keller was like when he was 8 years old. Neil has his telescope and time spent with his dad at Grandpa Ackerman's farm firing his rockets is what he really enjoys. Kids!!! Don't you love it?!

Neil really enjoyed the games while sister, Kellie and Mom looked on.

But while Mom and Neil made HIS constellation, Kellie and Grandma went to see the Rodin exhibition. The truth is Mom was quick to see the exhibition, too, as she is one of the art teaches at Memorial High School.

I was pretty pleased with my camera play as the picture actually looks like I'm looking at the earth and the Big Dipper from outer space...Right?

The last picture of the moon, though, was taken Monday night by Ron through his telescope and though it is not perfect it is really a wonderful picture of God's creation!!! That night the moon was not only clear but Saturn was displayed in all his glory!!!

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Thanks be to Go!

Feast of Our Lady of Fatima

I must give credit where credit is due. I was lead to this by someone who visited this blog and offered this as a comment. I am embarrassed to say that my two years of Spanish did me no good as I visited this sight, La opinion de ciudadano. But the gift that was offered was tremendous and a wonderful witness to the youth of the world and their love of Our Lady. To this person I say, "Thank you."

I would also like to offer a word of encouragement by St. Bernard of Clairvaux :

If the hurricanes of temptation rise against you, or you are running upon the rocks of trouble, look to the star--call on Mary!

~~~~+~~~~
And Thanks be to God!

Discernment

Church of the Immaculate Conception
St Mary-of-the-Woods College

It seems like just yesterday when I had spent a wonderful week witnessing the work of God in my midst and felt that there must be something I was being called to do because of this experience. I wrote about it in the post This Week Ends. Last Sunday after Mass, I was approached by the head of the Adult Formation Commission, to which Ron and I belong, and asked me if I would consider becoming a Providence Associate.

To quote the information about the Sisters of Providence:

The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods are women of faith committed to effecting positive change in the world.

Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, foundress of the Sisters of Providence, was canonized on October 15, 2005 and Ron and I were privileged to attend the Mass of Canonization at the Woods the same day Pope John Paul II conferred her sainthood in Rome.

I have been blessed by the friendship of the Sisters over the years and am proud to call Sister Dorothy Rasche a dear friend. I have had the privilege of being educated at The Woods and received my degree from there in 1994.

Now, I have been called again. I want to be sure this is not my "Irish zeal" that is urging me on but a serious discernement of the will of God. Right now I am praying that this is the answer to those urgings I was feeling those few weeks ago. The preparation for becoming an Associate takes a year and I will journey with a companion through this period of discernment. I will not travel alone.

Please, I would ask that you would pray that this is the place God wants me to be right now and if it is indeed, I will be worthy of the call. I pray the Holy Spirit will endow me with the wisdom to know this is the call and the courage to follow His lead.

~~~^j^~~~
Thanks be to God!

Doggie Wisdom

Duchess and Taco Bell

Duchess is so funny sometimes. She begs and begs and begs for something until we relent and she gets what she wants. The other night she wanted the empty can of refried beans. She barked. She whined...She whined, barked and jumped on our lap. Finally, just so we could have some peace and quiet, Ron gave her the can. Instead of devouring the dregs of the can, she painstakingly licked and savored its contents. Savored the contents!

This became a lesson in perseverance in prayer to me. If we pray diligently without wavering, in time the answer will come. Before joyfully proclaiming the answer to a prayer to one and all, take time to savor the goodness and love of the Lord. Thank him first. Cherish the moment with him, be enveloped by that moment. Boasting in our success at prayer will only leave us empty, if we have not first spent time in gratitude with the one who makes all things possible.

The soul of the sluggard craves in vain,
but the diligent soul is amply satisfied.
Proverbs 13:4

And so it is. Lazy prayer yields nothing but complaints from those who say their prayers are not answered. Because I have times of "lazy prayer" I have heard myself make that same complaint. But when I pray in diligence the rewards become so much more apparent and clearly visible. But prayer is HARD work, and when results don't seem to be forthcoming we get lazy. So, today commit to diligence. It won't be easy but then nothing worthwhile ever comes "easy." My dad always said, "Nothing is free. There's a price to pay somewhere or to someone."

So to Duchess, "Thank you for your lesson on prayer where even your empty can of refried beans did not come free to you. It came in your diligence."

~~~^j^~~~

God bless you all
And
Thanks be to God!

"The Light That Lifts Us Up"

Washington Monument at Night
September, 2006

There are some books that are good to read from cover to cover and then there is the book that once read, you pick up to read in bits and pieces. And so it was that I returned to one of my favorite books today and read this from Living the Mysteries, A Guide for Unfinished Christians by Scott Hahn and Mike Aquilina. So I would like to share this with you.

Eustathia, Ambrosia, and Basilissa were three women who had consecrated their lives to God. St Gregory wrote to give them advise and encouragement in the ways of prayer. In one brief passage, he sums up the difference God made by becoming human. He enlightened our lives. He made us divine. This is what it means to be saved.

"When the sun plunges his beam into the gloom, he doesn't dim the beam's brightness. Instead, the beam changes the darkness into light. So also the true Light, shining in our gloom, was not overshadowed, but rather enlightened the gloom by means of itself.

Our humanity was in darkness. As Scripture says: 'They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness' (Ps 82:5). Then the Illuminator of this darkened world darted the beam of His divinity through our whole composite nature, through both soul and body, and so He took all humanity by means of His own light, and He lifted it up and made it just what He is Himself. This divinity was not made perishable, though it inhabited a perishable body, so neither was it changed, though it healed all that was changeful in our soul.

St. Gregory of Nyssa

I was wondering as I read this, isn't it funny that just the other day I was thinking about my soul and how it needs to be tended. And here are the words of encouragement to which I was guided. Because of the saving power of God through the life, death and resurrection of His Son and through Baptism my soul is divine. It will not perish. And on any given day, the light divine is what people see in me when I "practice what I preach." Pray for me, as I pray for you, that the light might shine bright in his glory. Amen!

~~~~^j^~~~~

Thanks be to God!

Hope in My Garden

Hope In My Garden

"And the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down in rushing, rising rivlets..." and I had such "Highee hopes...highee hopes, high apple piie in the skyeee hopes..." but it looks like we won't be working in the muddy garden today!!! It is in such need of "repair." It needs some serious grooming and a definite face lift. But unless we wear hip waders it's just possible that it won't get done this weekend. DRAT!

So as we all do, I thought if it clears up enough (sour grapes), then Ron can take the telescope out and look at God's "garden in the sky" tonight. Saturn last weekend was really beautiful...He still waiting for Jupiter to make "his" appearance.

Well, it occurred to me this morning when at Mass that the garden I should be worrying about is not the one with the weeds in the soil outside, but the weeds to be pulled and the seeds to be planted in the garden of my soul, The Real Garden. Goodness! What a revelation. For how my soul looks with its weeds and flowers is also how I appear to others who witness my works. So it is that I will try to work harder on the soul within, as well, as the soil without. The one may need hip waders, the the other certainly does not!

"'Blessed be God who has raised you up!
may he be blessed for all ages!'
For in you they shall praise his holy
name forever!"
Tobit 13:18

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

National Day of Prayer, 2008

Simply put, this is a day in which we can all come together in communion with all faiths to pray for the "health" of our nation. We need to come together to pray for the "health" of the world. Praying for world peace, the end to world hunger, and an end to sickness and disease everywhere is essential and God will bless us in our efforts.

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church will observe the day with an evening meal and prayer service starting at 6:00 p.m. Sister Jane Nesmith, Pastoral Administrator at St John the Evangelist Parish, will be our guest speaker.

Check to see where your community is observing this year's National Day of Prayer and plan to personally participate. We are called to be one. What better way to begin!

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Thanks be to God for the freedom
to participate in this endeavor!

Prayerful Talants

St. Meinrad Archabbey
Picture by cindy47452

There are times that the book Latin Sayings for Spiritual Growth really has a lot to say to me. This is one of those times. I have been struggling with my grasp of prayer and how it should be done for years and years. Sometimes I feel I succeed in my prayer life and at others I feel the failure. But you know when I hear others talk about their praying, I wonder if I really know how to pray.

Archabbot Labert Reilly, O.S. B. says this.

Non omni cundem calceum induas pedi

("Every shoe fits not every foot")
Publilius Syrus

Many times during our journey, we turn to Christ just as the Apostles did and implore, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1).

It was simple when we were young: Utter the memorized words ask for blessing for all we loved, and drift off to sleep, trusting God's presence the same way we trusted that our mother would be there in the morning, gently shaking us awake.

But as we grow older, life reveals its complexities. Our friendships with other human beings change, just as our relationship with God changes. We turn to a shelf filled with spiritual reading for guidance, and the options stump us. We can meditate, pray the Rosary, go to daily Mass, pray by ourselves or with a group. We can be guided by Thomas a Kempis, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, Francis de Sales, or Therese of Lisieux. One deeply spiritual friend is rooted in Adoration, another in Scripture study still another in both.

What fits us?

We are each of course, unique, and God is infinite. He approaches each of us in ways that make sense to us and that will bring us close to Him. If God gives one person the gift of experiencing His presence through a certain style of prayer, that doesn't mean it's the only way that leads to Him.

It's another facet of the virtue of prudence: sifting, testing, and listening, to fine the prayer that brings us closest to God.

~~~^j^~~~

So perhaps, I should stop worrying today about how I don't pray the way others pray, but pray the way I am most comfortable where I am right now. That of course may change tomorrow, or in years and years...Only God knows. I'm still just a work in progress. YEAH!

~~~
Thanks be to God!

The Feast of St Catherine of Siena

St Catherine of Siena
Originally uploaded by Lawrence OP

Today is the feast of St. Catherine. I have always had a humble pride in the fact that Mom and Dad chose this strong, brave, determined woman to be my model. And so today I celebrate not only her life but the wisdom of my parents.

"With God as your companion you will live in the light of faith, with hope and fortitude, with true patience and perseverance, all the days of your life. You will never be alone, never fear anyone or anything, for you will find your security in God." --Catherine of Siena

A wise and courageous woman, when there are women who still long to be "liberated," she is the model of that liberation. And her liberation did not come through things of this world, but by doing the will of God.
~~~+~~~
For her example I say,
"Thanks be to God!"

Busy, Busy Weekend

Sweet Breakfast in Sicily
Originally uploaded by lorenzo cuppini

Yeah!!!! It's the weekend. And a lovely busy one to be sure!

First it's by Saturday breakfast with the "girls". Two dear former workers. We meet one Saturday a month to catch!!! A real blessing.

Ron and I volunteer at Mother Theresa's Treasures, a thrift store run by our church, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church here in Newburgh. It is wonderful to work there. It is a really worthwhile cause.

Wes, Annie and the Girls will be here this afternoon from INDY. Tomorrow is Neil's First Communion and we are going to CELEBRATE!!!! We will help Neil celebrate the joy of his special day with family and friends!!!!! The best of all worlds!

See why I am soooooo excited?!!!?

~*~*~*~*~
To you all God Bless and Thanks be to God!!!