Merciful Father,
hear our prayer and console us.
As we renew our faith in Your Son,
whom You raised from the dead,
strengthen our hope that all our departed brothers and sisters
will share in His resurrection,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Heavenly Father, You sent Christ Jesus your Son to wash away the sins of all mankind through His perfect sacrifice, and you cleansed our departed brothers and sisters in the waters of baptism.
May His perfect sacrifice free them from the power of death and give them eternal life.
In your mercy, O Lord, grant them eternal rest,
and may perpetual light shine on them forever. + Amen.
***
Eternal Rest
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.
Requiem Æternam
Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine, et lux perpétua lúceat eis.
Requiéscant in pace. Amen.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Point to ponder
"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred." ~Fr. Peter West
Friday, August 6, 2010
two very good quotes...
When bad men combine, the good must associate: else they will fall, one by one... ~Edmund Burke, 1766
Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Friday, March 5, 2010
Have a Happy 3rd Friday of Lent
No burgers or steak for you today.
sigh
But there is always some delicious fish or vegetarian dish to anticipate here at our house.
sigh
But there is always some delicious fish or vegetarian dish to anticipate here at our house.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
My current favorite blog (from someone I do not know)
CHEEKY PINK GIRL
She is Catholic,
she is human,
she is honest,
and
she can be a HOOT!
I truly appreciate her honest observations and her life struggles.
Hats off to you, Char!
She is Catholic,
she is human,
she is honest,
and
she can be a HOOT!
I truly appreciate her honest observations and her life struggles.
Hats off to you, Char!
How one family celebrates Lent
We have been slowly discovering the beautiful traditions of our Faith. Sometimes, after learning about certain Traditions of the Catholic Church, we make our own home traditions in order to reflect a particular liturgical season.
Not many years ago, we thought of Lent as this “obligatatory time” to give up chocolate and go to the occasional fish fry. We had fallen into a pattern of taking home a parish bulletin laden with Lenten advice and simply laying it on a shelf never to be picked up again. Of course, we made sure to “get our confessions in” before Holy Week, but it was out of habit. When I was lucky enough to have Good Friday off from work, I used that day to shop to fill Easter baskets full of delicious treats and to perpetuate the “Bunny thing.” Lent was just this long period of meatless Fridays - not a hardship when you really like all things seafood - in February and March.
Something behind this pattern was “off” to us when we began to realize that Lent was meant to be something spiritual. We started to understand that “mortification of the body” (I.e. fasting and abstinance) was not a torture to be endured, but an opportunity to focus those energies on repentance and prayer. It also helps to put us in touch with those suffering on earth as we prepare to walk Christ’s Passion during Holy Week. As we realized the significance of Lent, we wondered why we were so willing to brush it off as unimportant. I was at a loss as to how to achieve that “atmosphere” of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer.
After some thought, our family discovered a way to decorate our home, our Domestic Church, in order to assist us in remaining presently in Lent. Finally, we unpack the same linens we used during Advent and drape our family altar, dining room table, and fireplace mantle in purple. We then place some candle holders that I had decorated with simple pictures of the Stations of the Cross on our mantle. We can now easily do our own Stations of the Cross as a family whenever we feel the urge. I also picked up some small unfinished wooden letters that spell out “Repent”, or “Pray” so that we are reminded of the reason for this particular season every time our eyes are drawn to the purple cloth.
This tradition of ours is supplemented with appropriate field trips, more EWTN programs for children/adults, Lighthouse Catholic Media-style CD’s by good, solid Catholic speakers, and quiet, seasonal music that does not become celebratory until Easter. We have found that Lent is a great time to have a retreat or to give even more of our time and talents to a community charity or to give a little more of ourselves at our parish. Of course, we still prepare for the family’s Easter traditions and we still bake a lot, but it has now been placed in its proper place in this Domestic Church and we praise God for that.
Not many years ago, we thought of Lent as this “obligatatory time” to give up chocolate and go to the occasional fish fry. We had fallen into a pattern of taking home a parish bulletin laden with Lenten advice and simply laying it on a shelf never to be picked up again. Of course, we made sure to “get our confessions in” before Holy Week, but it was out of habit. When I was lucky enough to have Good Friday off from work, I used that day to shop to fill Easter baskets full of delicious treats and to perpetuate the “Bunny thing.” Lent was just this long period of meatless Fridays - not a hardship when you really like all things seafood - in February and March.
Something behind this pattern was “off” to us when we began to realize that Lent was meant to be something spiritual. We started to understand that “mortification of the body” (I.e. fasting and abstinance) was not a torture to be endured, but an opportunity to focus those energies on repentance and prayer. It also helps to put us in touch with those suffering on earth as we prepare to walk Christ’s Passion during Holy Week. As we realized the significance of Lent, we wondered why we were so willing to brush it off as unimportant. I was at a loss as to how to achieve that “atmosphere” of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer.
After some thought, our family discovered a way to decorate our home, our Domestic Church, in order to assist us in remaining presently in Lent. Finally, we unpack the same linens we used during Advent and drape our family altar, dining room table, and fireplace mantle in purple. We then place some candle holders that I had decorated with simple pictures of the Stations of the Cross on our mantle. We can now easily do our own Stations of the Cross as a family whenever we feel the urge. I also picked up some small unfinished wooden letters that spell out “Repent”, or “Pray” so that we are reminded of the reason for this particular season every time our eyes are drawn to the purple cloth.
This tradition of ours is supplemented with appropriate field trips, more EWTN programs for children/adults, Lighthouse Catholic Media-style CD’s by good, solid Catholic speakers, and quiet, seasonal music that does not become celebratory until Easter. We have found that Lent is a great time to have a retreat or to give even more of our time and talents to a community charity or to give a little more of ourselves at our parish. Of course, we still prepare for the family’s Easter traditions and we still bake a lot, but it has now been placed in its proper place in this Domestic Church and we praise God for that.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Busy day tomorrow
I am getting tired just thinking about tomorrow. Apparently, we have a "Post March For Life 2010" meeting of the moms, then our first apologetics class, a break for lunch, and then I teach Latin class. We will be busy from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow at one families house (May God bless her abundantly for that alone! We are already asking for early sainthood for her...)
I was going to take the kids back to karate after quite a hiatus, but I think it can wait another week - a week I won't have three other major time-consuming things happening...
I was going to take the kids back to karate after quite a hiatus, but I think it can wait another week - a week I won't have three other major time-consuming things happening...
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