The first school of peace

From the most beloved spiritual leader of our time..Pope John Paul The Great

"Children very soon learn about life. They watch and imitate the behavior of adults. They rapidly learn love and respect for others, but they also quickly absorb the poisons of violence and hatred. Family experienced strongly condition the attitudes that children will assume as adults. Consequently, if the family is the place where children first encounter the world, the family must be for children the first school of peace."

Pope John Paul The Great

Today's responsorial psalm....

"The Lord is close to the broken hearted."

All you broken hearted....rejoice in knowing that Our Lord is with you. When I heard this this morning at Mass...I almost laughed out loud....it was kind of a "duh" moment. Sorry for the lack of sophistication there....just simple truth. Although, I have never doubted that Our Lord was not with me when I was in a state of broken heartedness.

I've nothing else to say.... Rejoice my friends....even during Lent....even on a Friday.

Saint Dominic Savio

I love to think about how this young boy lived his life.

Some would call it simple, I'm not so sure.

I find it hard to live every moment for God in this world full of distraction, noise and constant motion. I try, although I'm sure I could try harder. Every moment is new. So perhaps if I try minute my minute.

So many holy persons seem to die young. Among them was Dominic Savio, the patron of choirboys.

All his desires were to be the saint God called him to be. I wish I could have this constant vision in my daily life.

Dominic was one of ten children. He was born in Turin, Italy. When he was 12 years old Dominic joined St. John Bosco as a student at the Oratory. Boso was impressed by John and his desire to be a priest and to help him in his work with neglected boys. A peacemaker and an organizer, young Dominic founded a group he called the Company of the Immaculate Conception which, besides being devotional, aided John Bosco with the boys and with manual work. Dominic died shortly before the Salesian Order was form.

Dominic spent hours rapt in prayer, which he called distractions. Even in play, he said that at times "It seems heaven is opening just above me. I am afraid I may say or do something that will make the other boys laugh." Dominic would say, "I can't do big things. But I want all I do, even the smallest thing, to be for the greater glory of God."

Dominic's health, always frail, led to lung problems. The doctors at that time would bleed patients, hoping the bad blood would be removed and good blood would be replace it. This practice actually made it harder for Dominic to recover. He died on March 9, 1857, after receiving the Last Sacraments.

His young life of service to the neglected boys at the Oratory would open the door to his greatest desire. To be a saint. St. Pius X opened the cause for sainthood and Dominic was canonized in 1954.

Saint Dominic Savio pray for our children to imitate your way.

Can we have a little HAM with that cheese????

CERTAINLY! No,he is not being tickled or coerced.... He is just hamming it up for the camera.Glory to God for happy children. What joy and lessons in each day. Who said we had to grow up. Old, maybe, but do we ever quit growing, learning? I learn something new everyday.
and little Holden Lee is not so sure about all the flashes. I think it won't be long and he will be running after Patrick.
This is a picture of the dried salt dough art. This is Mary's Sacred Heart.
And Chloe's

I think we are finally getting back on track. It has been a long road back to Fl. You would think we would settle right back into a routine. It has been harder than I expected. I have struggled to get back on a routine since we have been back here. We were doing pretty good at first but then I fell apart and started letting little ones sleep in. It is so hard to wake up peaceful children when you are craving peace and a few extra minutes with a hot cup of coffee. Sounds wonderful....until I add....we miss Mass because I can't pull myself away from a few minutes of peace with a cup of hot coffee. Then we went through sickness after sickness and now LENT. Oh Yes! Thank heaven, the season is here to get me back on track. To help me realize how lazy I have been in my responsibility and how self absorbed I have been. No! I am not complaining. I honesty love this season. It is my favorite. Yes, I am serious. There is so much Love in this season and so much healing that takes place. It is better than hot coffee in a peaceful house. We have made it to Mass every day this week! Wahoo!

Today was so beautiful! It was so evident that spring is on the way. The breeze was blowing, birds singing and leaves still falling. The earth was calling out to me..."plant flowers". So we took a little ride to the nursery and we each picked out a flat of flowers to plant. We all picked different flowers. I went with the geraniums and the girls were more exotic. Take a look into ou gardens.

Ash Wednesday

Today's readings are always powerful and full of reminders. I found myself rethinking about the first reading from the book of Joel. I need to go back and re-read the entire book of Joel. Below is the reading. I have highlighted the areas I ponder in my heart. My thoughts will follow the reading.

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, "Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
'Where is their God?'"

Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.

My thoughts are my own. I am not a scholar or theologist. I am simply a woman pondering His words. I often ask for the grace to be merciful in the disciple of my children....so this was more than an adequate reminder to exercise patience and be kind in reproach. Our children are so precious and deserving of dignity and respect.

Secondly, I love that He says to "gather the children". Yes, bring the children to church, the wee little ones at the breast are welcome and are being called into the presence of their creator.

And lastly, I have to believe that The Lord, Our Lord, will have pity on the faithful for remaining faithful during all the turmoil in our nation.

I have more thoughts but I will leave you for now and update this post later.

Peaceful Journey.

Our Lenten Journey Begins

Typically at our house Shrove Tuesday begins with salt dough. Let's go with that tradition. It is a messy teaching moment but one that we all enjoy. Patrick was totally into it. Mess, build, destroy, repeat until the floor is completely covered and we get a little on the walls. The girls were done long before Patrick. I had no idea he would stay entertained this long. He was eventually sitting in the middle of the table but my hands were too coated to get the camera at that point. He was squeezing dough for nearly 45 minutes.

Mary had the idea of making The Sacred Heart with the crown of thorns this year. Love this idea. Hers turned out really great.

I think Patrick made the All Knowing Brain of God!!!!! He was very proud of his work....Now let's crush it....we can rebuild it, make it better....hey I bet if I threw this hard enough it would stick to the ceiling. LOVE THIS FACE!

Chloe made a crown of thorns with a cross in the middle. I'll get dried pictures tomorrow.

Begin Again!

I have been away from blogging for a lengthy time. I wasn't sure this was a productive way to spend my time. I have many times come here typed and deleted. After spending a little while...seriously 20-30 minutes tops, everyone in the house sleeping except me, I read some blogs I had followed in the past. I found families literally chronically their lives, giving me inspiration and provoking me to think about issues that I never pondered before. So I revisited my old postings and I felt compelled to revisit my creative side and spend some time sharing my thoughts and family.

I actually find blogging helps me organize my thoughts and events. I have always enjoyed writing and reading, not necessarily in that order.

I hope you find something here that inspires you to seek Jesus in everyone you encounter.

CONSECRATION REMINDER

Today I was visiting blogs that I don't get a chance to read very often and came across a lovely post on TotusTuusFamily.blogspot.com. A beautiful Catholic, homeschooling family living their faith out loud on this blog.

Today Allison posted about saving Christ's Church through consecration to Mary. I have been trying for years to consecrate myself and my family daily. I fail most days getting distracted and off track.

I hope to do better tomorrow. Thanks Allison for this lovely reminder. I hope it reaches many and is a conduit of grace for your family and all those who read it.

Make sure to read the facts.

The insert picture is of the sisters from Home of The Mother pictures here at our local March for Life in St. Augustine.

here is the link

http://totustuusfamily.blogspot.com/2012/02/solution-for-catholic-church-from.html

A sneak peek into our summer fun.

GLORY TO GOD!!!!!

The gift of Summer has had special meaning this year.

A few days have been spent on the waterways. Lots of fun in the sun.

Thanks to our Guardian Angels for keeping us safe on the water.

The three girls spent one afternoon sewing skirts. A dear friend crocheted

the matching flower head bands.
Patrick is still rubbing his head wondering what all the fuss is about.

I'll have to take some pictures of the

hand bags they made. They are a talented bunch.

Not much of a post...as time is so very precious right now. I will get back to posting when school starts back and the kiddos are in bed at an earlier time.....soon....yes very soon.

In the meantime may Our Lord bless your summer as He has blessed ours.

All Praise and Glory to God.

Hug your loved ones.

Holy Father Prayer Intention

He asks us to pray for holy priest with hearts that beat in unison with Jesus. Wow! I picture Padre Pio and John Vianney to name a few.

Jesus, Eternal High Priest, let your

love flow into the hearts of your

priests and transform them into living

images of you. By your grace, make

them true apostles of your Sacred

Heart. Fulfill the promise you made to St.

Margaret Mary: “I will give to priests

the gift of touching the most hardened

hearts.” May your Kingdom come to

the hearts of all through the ministry of

holy priests!

Amen.

—from Apostleship of Prayer, #180