2016 Weeks 16 & 17 In Review

Week 16 and 17 in Pictures: 

 

This week Miriam made her First Communion on her 8th birthday! In preparation for her First Communion, she had a retreat through the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.  The day before the children receive their First Communion, they receive their First Confession.  In Miriam's case it wasn't her first but it was still a wonderful way to prepare her heart to receive Our Lord for the first time!

 After their confession, the children renewed their baptismal vows and were robed in a white garment and lit a candle they had made while on retreat.

Miriam had Thursday evening and all day Friday to do many special activities in preparation for her confession on Saturday and Communion on Tuesday, her birthday.

 Getting ready!

 Miriam received her First Communion on Tuesday, April 19th at Christ the King Parish from Msgr. John McDermott.  This is the same parish we had the blessing of attending daily Mass at while living in the parish rectory for our first 3 months.  It was a  joyful day and a blessing to share it with the parishioners there as well as many of our homeschooling friends.

 Miriam received a new bike for her 8th Birthday :-)

 Amidst the joyful preparations for Miriam's First Communion, we were blessed to spend time with some old friends from LaCrosse diocese -  Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George.  Phil asked them to come and visit while they were travelling around the East coast and while they were here in Vermont they spoke to around 500 people - not bad for a 48 hour visit.

The boys and I were blessed to join them for lunch (Miriam was on her retreat)... 

and Miriam spent time with the sisters Friday evening.  

 

Around the house we have been working on many projects!  We planted 4 apple trees.  

We also were able to get a free play set.  Phil and William brought it to our house in 2 trips with the trailer.  It still needs some work but the kids are already enjoying it!

 Phil built a new sandbox and was able to find some free sand to fill it!

 The kids love their sand hill.  

 Phil built himself a work bench and a side table for me to use in the school room for painting my peg dolls.

 And my favorite amazing project was the bookshelves Phil built me so that we could get our books out of boxes and organize the basement.

The basement play space is coming together and we are almost completely unpacked.  There are a few boxes to unpack in the garage, basement and a couple closets but our home is now almost box-free and it's great to be able to find things again!  

 Today we walked in the St. Albans Maple Fest parade with the Vermont Right to life group.

The kids got to ride in this cool car - do you see Miriam in the back seat?

A neat fact about St. Albans  (which is about 20 minutes from Fairfax) is that it is named for the first English martyr.  

Highlights from the last two weeks:

 These past two weeks were filled with many blessings!  We rejoice that our second child can now receive Our Lord in Holy Communion!  How beautiful it is to see our little ones growing in faith. Each day presents it new challenges, joys, struggles and graces that help us hopefully to grow closer to Christ and become more like Him.  Recently, Facebook reminded me that 4 years ago we celebrated our oldest children's 6th and 4th birthdays in Stevens Point with the amazing families there who had become part of our family at St. Peter's Parish.   Little did we know know then that we would soon be called on a pilgrimage of faith that would lead us to Gaylord, MI and then to Green Bay, WI and now to the diocese of Vermont in Burlington.  Each step on this journey has been challenging and joy-filled and has prepared us for the next step.   Praise God for His many blessings and may we be faithful to His call!  Our prayers are with you please continue to pray for us!      

O Come, O Come Emmanuel!

Praise God from whom all Blessings flow!

This past weekend I was given an amazing gift - an early Christmas gift from our soon-to-be born Saviour to help me prepare my heart for His coming.

I was blessed to be able to attend an Advent retreat with 169 other mothers/ women who are living their vocation either in marriage or single life with the AMAZING and beautiful Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.

The theme running through the retreat was the Love of the Father for each of us as His Chosen and beloved daughter.  The structure was simple - a good mix of delicious food (prepared by the Sisters), fellowship with the Sisters and other mothers, reflective presentations (given by the Sisters, by a mother and a by beautiful and holy priest) and of course and most importantly - Prayer.

Fr. Aaron Kuhn (who preached the retreat) holding Thomas...he offered to hold him for me when he was a bit noisy during one of the talks given by the Sisters.

The retreat takes place in one of the Sister's schools in Ann Arbor, MI.  (The schools are filled with reminders of our beautiful Catholic faith and it is a joy to spend time there!) Those on retreat sleep on the floor of the classrooms and there are no showers and limited bathroom facilities.

Our sleeping space in front of the teacher's desk - Thomas loved the various Coat of Arms

 
The retreat is only 24 hours long but is amazingly powerful in its simplicity.  The heart of this retreat is the all night Eucharistic adoration.

The door of the 5th grade classroom where we slept had this beautiful stained glass window.

I personally spoke with women from Ohio, Virginia and Minnesota and the retreat itself was filled three weeks prior to the date because there was not enough floor space for more than 170 (and there was a waiting list). 

Among those 170 women were 12 nursing babies (ranging from 10 weeks to 10 months) and at least 9 infants in the womb and it was an Amazing retreat!  As Sister Joseph Andrew said, "Women desire to pray.".. and it is true - why else would so many women sleep on the floor, crowded into classrooms and take turns waking throughout the night to pray a holy hour with our Lord?  Because we desire that time with our Lord and Savior.  We long for that intimate time when we can open our hearts to the One for whom we are meant. 

At the beginning of the retreat each woman chose a title of Mary from an envelope stuffed with her different titles.  Throughout the retreat each woman kept this title to herself and pondered what this could mean in her life - what is it Mary was saying to each of us...in closing the women were invited to come up and share their title and the fruits of their reflections and their stories were profound and moving.  We were each in awe of the Lord's work in the lives of each woman and His great love for each of us in our struggles, joys and sorrows!

 I had been blessed to attend a retreat with the Sisters 10 years ago and the format was very similar.  I had not recently reflected upon my "Title of Mary" from that retreat and in fact could not at first remember it...but now 10 years later, it came back to me.  And I could write a story on how this title of Mary was a true answer to my then discernment of my vocation!  The Title I had chosen was "Mary, Mother of the Eucharist" and though Jesus did not call me to be His spouse in religious life - it was in and through the Eucharist that I came to know my husband and vocation.  So now 10 years later as I drew my next title of Mary "Queen of Martyrs," it is with trepidation as I wonder what more she is calling me to!  And yet again this title speaks to the joys and sufferings, the call to witness and die to self these past months and year have been for Phil and me and I am grateful for the graces of this retreat!


"For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.  For it is God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death is at work in us, but life in you." (2 Cor. 4:5-12)

There is much more I could write about this amazing retreat and the many gifts I was given as well as the beautiful witness of the Sisters but alas, time is not on my side so I will post this little taste of heaven I was given and share it with all of you.

Sr. Maria Guadalupe who held Thomas for me while I went to confession and spent some time in adoration (he slept peacefully in her arms:-)

Know you are in my prayers this Advent season that Christ may truly transform your hearts as He comes to dwell in them this Christmas!

Celebrating LIFE

“Children truly are the family's greatest treasure and most precious good. Consequently, everyone must be helped to become aware of the intrinsic evil of the crime of abortion. In attacking human life in its very first stages, it is also an aggression against society itself. Politicians and legislators, therefore, as servants of the common good, are duty bound to defend the fundamental right to life, the fruit of God’s love.” 

Pope Benedict XVI, Address at a Meeting on Family and Life Issues in Latin America, December 3, 2005

Today, Sunday January 22nd is an important anniversary.  Thirty-nine years ago abortion was legalized in the United States and every mother was given the "choice" to embrace their unborn children or kill them in their early stages of development.  Thirty-five years ago my parents were married on this day and chose life.  I could very well have been one of the victims of choice, but instead my parents embraced marriage at the tender ages of 18 and 20 on this very anniversary that has brought so much death and pain and suffering to families.  In fact my mother embraced the 10 children who were given her and mourned the 1 who was miscarried before he or she could enter into our family.  I am so grateful to my parents for their commitment to life despite the many sacrifices it meant and for the gift of my life and the life of each of my siblings!

Their grandchildren and son and daughters-in law are grateful for their dedication as well!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Special Days in December

December is a month that is packed with great Saints' feast days! We've taken a break from our regular school day schedule to prepare for Christmas and celebrating some of these great feast days has helped us prepare our home and hearts for Christ's coming.


December 2nd was the First Friday of December, and we gathered with the other homeschoolers in our Holy Family Catholic Homeschool Association for Mass, Breakfast, a holy half-hour, some fun projects and practice for our Christmas pageant.

Miriam tries on her cow costume for the Christmas Pageant

On September 3rd, St. Francis Xavier's feast day, we were able to attend a parade and children's concert in Iola. We also hung our stockings to get ready for St. Nicholas day on December 6th.

St. Nicholas left some beautiful coins in our stockings and each of the children received a puppet. Our fun project that day was to make out small puppet theater so we could put on a puppet show.

St. Ambrose's feast is on December 7th and we were able to go to Mass on his feast day and pray for the intentions of our Homeschool group.
December 8th is the feast of Mary's Immaculate Conception and in honor of this great feast we journeyed to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Hope. Here in Wisconsin we are blessed to have in our back yard a place where Mary appeared to Adele Brise in 1859, asked her to go out to the farming community and teach the children their faith and performed a miracle during the great Peshtigo fire. December 8th is also the one year anniversary of when the Shrine was approved by Green Bay's Bishop's and declared a Marian apparition site.
"This is the first and only Marian shrine in the United States that is on the site of an approved apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary."

The Shrine and apparition site in the basement

The Church at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Hope

 On December 9th it is St. Juan Diego's feast day and we listened to his story on the Glory Stories CD from Holy Heroes.

December 12th is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This beautiful image of our Lady, a true gift from Heaven, is only more amazing the more one learns about it!

December 13th is the feast of St. Lucy and I look forward to celebrating this feast with Miriam next year, she was a bit young this year.

December 15th is the feast of St. John of the Cross and on his feast day we actually sponsored a special day for the Seniors of our Parish. The seniors gathered for Mass, a special breakfast, bingo our Christmas Pageant and some Christmas music. It was a great day!

May our dear Lord bless your preparations for the celebration of His Incarnation!

Women of Christ Conference

I had the privilege of attending the third annual Women of Christ Conference in late January.The speakers included Immaculeé Ilibagiza who survived the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, Fr. Larry Richards and Helen Alvaré with Vicki Thorn as our Emcee. Immaculeé's presentation was amazing! Her devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is palpable and very inspiring, and her story is one of amazing conversion that challenges anyone who desires to know God to go deeper.  I hope to read one of her books and learn more about her story.  Her second presentation on the approved only apparation of Mary in Africa - Kiboho, was an important message for today. The part that stuck in my memory was Mary's message to the people of Africa who were praying for the death of their corrupt and unjust president: "Do you know what can happen if he dies- pray rather for his conversion."(my paraphrase)The President's assasination was used to ignite the the hatred that spurred on the genocide causing the death of hundreds of thousands of people. How important prayer is and how important that we are known by our love.

Father Larry Richard's Presentation was great -  he's a blunt, "take me as I am" sort of Priest that isn't afraid to say it like it is.  His examination of conscience was great!  The beauty of our Catholic faith is that it liberates a person to truly be themselves and Father Larry is a great example of a man of faith who knows himself and has a great understanding of human nature.  His stories and examples were excellent.

Since I attended the conference with Luke, I definately didn't catch every part of the presentations.  The final presenter before Holy Mass, Helen Alvaré, was excellent in her no-nonsense, factual approach to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.  She spoke using concrete statistics bearing proof that when you break the natural law, you can't escape the natural consequences and that the Church's moral teachings are based in a true understanding of what is best for every human person.  I unfortunately missed most of her presentation due to a necessary diaper change but would love to hear her speak again.

It is an amazing experience to see over 2000 Chrisitan women coming together in one place to learn more about the beauty of the Catholic faith.  It's also a great blessing to have Eucharistic adoration available during the whole conference and the sacrament of Confession available as well.  I am always inspiried by how long the line gets for this beautiful sacrament!  The vendors and display tables with many great Catholic resources were great as well, it is helpful to see the many ministries and Catholic resources that are out there.

What a great blessing it was to attend this conference and though my state in life makes it difficult to attend every year - I look forward to the years I am able to be there.

Cafe Cana

The U.S. Bishops have been encouraging Married couples with their program "For Your Marriage" and as a response to this initiative the Green Bay Diocese piloted a program they developed called Cafe Cana.  This program is modelled on the very popular Theology on Tap which is geared to young adults. 

Our Parish, St. Peter's in Stevens Point picked up on this idea and we had over 60 people attend our first "Cafe Cana" night - the topic was "Men are like Waffles, Women like Spaghetti" and it was presented by Jeff and Alice Heinzen from the La Crosse Diocese (our Diocese) office of Marriage and family life. 

 It was a helpful presentation and here's a segment:

St. Peter's is planning to host future sessions and I'm looking forward to the next one.

How we can help a culture of life to grow

Q: Besides getting out on the streets with the pictures of abortions, do you have any other ideas of how, from the grassroots level, we can engage the culture in a similar way?
A: We can get our op-eds in the paper and we can tell about what we do and hope it gets on somewhere. We can make videos - we have a bunch of videos that we send around and groups get together and watch Face the Truth and No Greater Joy, How to Sidewalk Counsel and things like that. We can make news here and there. We now have the abortionists coming out and protesting us. ...I would say show up when Obama appears to give a talk - protest, have signs, and let people know that this isn't a great Messiah that everyone thinks he is, this is a guy who supports abortion, and be present. A little tough love goes a long way. Sure, we want to convert everybody. We try to do it, but we also have to let people know what is going on in this country. … We have lots and lots of pro-life groups and there are lots of blogs and things, but we are not going to have much chance, at least in the federal government, in the Congress or the Senate. Fight - always fight - against anything that they introduce that is pro-abortion and don't give that up, but don't make that your whole end, that is to get laws passed.
Abortion laws have never been that strong. It was when they started setting up homes for these girls and helping them to keep from having abortions or to help them when they are pregnant, carry them through the pregnancy. Those things are very, very important, that you show an interest in the people involved and help them. But also, the women who have had abortions, have compassion for them, so that they can tell others, not to get involved in that.
There is a lot of work to do in that. We plan to do just about double of everything that we are doing. Our publications, our videos, our street-work, side-walk counseling, we give seminars on how to counsel at the clinic and we usually get 30 or 40 people who come and they become pretty good sidewalk counselors. There is a crisis pregnancy center and they have had 37,000 saves since they opened up. Women who actually came in and got help and decided to have their babies. You go all over the country and you have 3000 crisis pregnancy centers. They are doing a lot of work - a lot of good work.
I think God writes straight with crooked lines. I think maybe we almost need to have a crisis like this with Democratic, pro-abortion people in power. We are going to have to fight a lot harder and realize that this is a battle of conversion of the conscience of the country, and you can't just do it through law.
see full interview with Joe Scheidler here: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09021202.html

Life

As science and technology show ever more clearly that life begins at conception, politicians become less clear in their understanding or even desire to know when life begins. Following are some resources that demonstrate why it is wrong to kill a living person born or unborn.

An up to date resource for those in the medical field and those who would like to have resources that show scientific data: http://www.physiciansforlife.org/.

A great way to question and respond to someone who is pro-abortion http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/380/26/.

Commercials that help to reduce abortions by 70% where they are aired http://www.virtuemedia.org/.

Resources for the spiritual battle and good concrete information in general on how to get the truth out about abortion http://www.priestsforlife.org/ .

Fighting abortion legislation throughout the world(Human Life International) http://www.hli.org/.

Help for those who are in a difficult situation or just want to know the facts: http://abort73.com/ (geared toward the younger generation)

for those in crisis pregnancies http://www.pregnancyline.com/.

pro-life curricula http://cpforlife.org/pro_life_education.htm.

for news and updates http://www.lifesitenews.com/.