32 years ago...

32 years ago today a little red-haired girl was born. Her father wanted to name her Maria Theresa. Her mother wanted to name her Mary Elizabeth. Dad won. Thanks Dad! :)

The Best Day of Michael's Life

After kissing the boys, blessing them, saying goodnight, and turning off the light, Michael whispers to me in the darkness..."Mommy, this was the best day of my life." My heart smiled, my soul nodded. Spiritually speaking, I believe he may be right, for today he received the Bread of Life, the Body of Christ, for the very first time. Jesus himself said, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me." (John 6:54-57)

Michael is right...that is the best promise, the best gift in the world.

I'm not sure if my sweet Michael grasps the magnitude of this day, but he certainly was beaming with joy from sun-up to sun-down. He looked so handsome and grown-up in his shiny-white 1st Communion tie and his crisp blue dress shirt. Of course all the 1st Communicants looked radiant, but like every other mother, I thought my child outshone them all. :) At times during the Mass I thought my heart might simply burst with joy and pride. Michael had been waiting and preparing for this day both in his mind and in his heart for so long, and to watch him embrace each moment of the day with such maturity and joy simply delighted my heart.

After Mass we asked Michael where he wanted to celebrate this momentous occasion, and he chose The Bagel Company. He picked a blueberry bagel with blueberry cream cheese...I guess he loves blue, just like his mother! :) When we came home he opened his gifts and it was like watching a child on Christmas morn. From his godparents (Uncle Steve and Aunt Kristin) he received a beautiful wooden keepsake box, an activity book and a prayer book; from Paul's mom he received a cross necklace, a Mass book, a 1st Communion cross to hang on the wall, and a saint book; from my parents he received a blue leather-bound Catholic Bible and a St. Michael chaplet. He was delighted by every gift and kept looking at each one over and over again throughout the day.

Later that afternoon while Michael and I were playing a board game together he exclaimed, "Mom, I just feel like Jesus has been with me all day...He has filled me so much that there is no room for Satan!" I told him that's the wonderful gift of receiving the Eucharist...Jesus IS with us in a real and special way and helps us keep Satan away.

The Eucharist is such a gift and I don't think most Catholics even realize what a miracle it is. I recently heard a sad and staggering statistic that over 70 percent of Catholics don't even believe that the bread and wine at Mass are changed into Jesus' Body and Blood! How can this be? I truly wonder what caused so many (Reformers and Catholics alike) to go astray from this teaching on the Real Presence, a teaching that is so clear in Scripture and explicitly found in the earliest writings of the church fathers. And I wonder at my own complacency of this fundamental tenant of my faith, for if I truly embraced the wondrous mystery of the Eucharist, why am I not racing to Mass each and every day be fed with the Bread of Life, the precious Body and Blood of my Savior!?!? Lord, I believe...help my unbelief!

But I digress... What I am trying to express is simply how overjoyed I am that our Michael, our freckle-faced, chocolate-eyed son with the tenderest of hearts, is now being fed with the living bread, Jesus Christ, who comes down from Heaven to feed Michael's soul with the promise of eternal life. Truly this is one of the best days of this mommy's life too!














If you want more "Food for Thought," (forgive the pun!) read some of these amazing quotes from the saints and early Church Fathers on the amazing gift we have in the Eucharist:

"The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white Host."- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

"This is the wonderful truth, my dear friends: the Word, which became flesh two thousand years ago, is present today in the Eucharist," - Blessed Pope John Paul II

"What wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility! That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the Son of God, should humble Himself like this under the form of a little bread, for our salvation. In this world I cannot see the Most High Son of God with my own eyes, except for His Most Holy Body and Blood." - St. Francis of Assisi

"This food we call the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God's Word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus." - St. Justin Martyr, 2nd Century

"I hunger for the bread of God, the flesh of Jesus Christ; I long to drink of his blood, the gift of unending love." - St. Ignatius of Antioch

"God is as really present in the consecrated Host as He is in the glory of Heaven." - St. Paschal Baylon

"The faith of the Church is this: That one and identical is the Word of God and the Son of Mary, Who suffered on the Cross, Who is present in the Eucharist, and Who rules in Heaven."
- Pope Pius XII

"How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment." - St. John Chrysostom

"The Eucharist is connected with the Passion. If Jesus had not established the Eucharist we would have forgotten the crucifixion. It would have faded into the past and we would have forgotten that Jesus loved us... To make sure that we do not forget, Jesus gave us the Eucharist as a memorial of his love … When you look at the Crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then, when you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now." - Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Half a Year Already!!!

Is anyone else in shock and awe that our baby is half a year old already!? Seriously, I can hardly believe it. It has gone so fast and has been so very very sweet. Every month our Nathanael just keeps getting more adorable, more fun, more kissable. He has brought so much joy to our home...which I am starting to believe is precisely why God placed him in our lives. I am becoming convinced that more children multiply the love, divide the duties, and subtract the selfishness in a home. Perhaps I should have a few more! :) Wait a minute, what am I saying!? I must be deliriously tired...yes indeed, it's 10:25pm...way past my bedtime!

Anyway, before I collapse into bed, let me recount some of Natey's highlights this month lest I forget (which is quite likely). This month Nathanael got his 2 bottom teeth (actually he got them 2 weeks prior, but whose counting), he can easily roll over to reach a toy but still hasn't mastered rolling back onto his back once he's tired of his tummy, he is sitting up with only a little bit of support, he loves to eat any type of baby food when it's mixed with rice cereal and has also starting trying to eat any table food within his reach, he has miraculously started soothing himself to sleep when we place him in his crib for naps rather than me nursing or holding him to get him to sleep, he still is not sleeping through the night but usually only wakes up at midnight and at 3:00am which is manageable, and he still has reddish hair and an adorable chin dimple which I hope will never disappear :) How's that for a run-on sentence? No one would know that I majored in English in college.

Anyway, I am 1 blessed momma with 4 blessedly beautiful boys! God is good. Good night! :)

A Renewed Mother on Mother's Day

Last week I was spoiled with a trip back home to South Dakota which renew this tired mother's spirit. The mundane routine of motherhood, as well as the lack of solid sleep, had started wearing me down. So when my dear friend Jody asked me to be the godmother of their new little Gianna, I was both honored to be asked and overjoyed with an excuse to fly home, knowing that once I got there my saintly mother would provide just the retreat I needed. While I was home I caught up with old friends, watched Nathanael get showered with loving attention from his relatives, witnessed my god-daughter Gianna's baptism as well as my godson Daniel's 1st Holy Communion, and got spoiled by my parents who cooked every meal and entertained Nathanael so that I could get some much needed R and R. Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder, because the longer I was away from my husband and 3 older boys, the more I longed to see them and return to my vocations of wife and mother with renewed energy and joy. So this Mother's Day I am especially thankful to be a mother, and I'm praying for the grace to be a better mother---more like my own mother and like the Blessed Mother--more and more each day.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!

My friend Jody and I...we could be sisters with our matching red hair, green shirts, and Irish blood! :)

Gianna's beautiful baptism...

Daniel's 1st Holy Communion...

Nathanael loved his doting Uncle Steve...

Nathanael loved visiting his great grandma...

Nathanael loved being snuggled by Grandpa Pat...

Nathanael loved all the attention from his sweet cousin Ryan...

Nathanael loved his cousin Elizabeth's big smile...

Nathanael loved Aunt Shawna's loving arms...

And last, but certainly not least, Nathanael loved every minute of his "Grandma Theresa Time"!

Extraordinarily Ordinary Easter

This Easter was perhaps the simplest but most Spirit-filled Easter that we have celebrated as a family. I am slowly learning that the the deepest joys are sometimes found in the simple, ordinary moments of life when I choose to view each moment with eyes of faith, making them truly extra-ordinary.

We decorated eggs with some great friends,

We received the Real Presence of our Savior at a gorgeous Easter Mass,

We did an outdoor Easter egg hunt, surrounded by Big Sky fresh air and snow-capped mountains,

We ate the simplest of meals and made our traditional Lamb cake for dessert,

We enjoyed Resurrection Rolls that tasted heavenly and reminded us of the real meaning of Easter (click here or look at the end of this post for the easy recipe ),

We had no company, no stress; it was just "us",

We grew closer together as a family and hopefully closer to our resurrected Christ.

In other words...
We had an extraordinary, ordinary Easter!

Here are the highlights in color...
(P.S. Thanks, Jenny, for teaching me how to make my photos larger and sharper...you're a blogger-genius!)



























A Blessed Easter season to all of you, from our family to yours!

RESURRECTION ROLLS

1 package crescent rolls
melted butter
large marshmallows
cinnamon
sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls.
The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Give each child a marshmallow.
This represents Jesus and His purity.

Have child dip the marshmallow in melted butter.
This represents the oils of embalming.

Dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar.
This represents the spices used to anoint the body of Jesus.

Wrap the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll
(not like a typical crescent roll up, but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside)
This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
The oven represents the tomb (pretend like it was 3 days and nights!)

When the rolls have cooled slightly, the children can open their rolls (cloths) and discover that Jesus is no longer there,
HE IS RISEN!
The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up,
but like the tomb - IT IS EMPTY!

Easter Art

My boys made these pictures for their Great Grandma who hasn't been feeling well lately. I hope these pictures fill her heart with Easter joy and help to prepare her soul to meet her Savior someday soon.

A Blessed Good Friday to all of you! Indeed it is good, for by His wounds we are healed!

The Beauty of the Cross

Last weekend I was tired. Very tired. Lately, my sweet Nathanael wants my company about every hour during the night. I love his company, but I also dearly love sleep. Over time, the lack of sleep starts taking its toll. I guess you could say the toll was collected this weekend. Emotionally and spiritually I fell into a very dark place for a couple of days. I was not patient with my children. I was not loving toward my husband. Fatigue made my small cross seem overshadowing, weighing me down with sadness and, at times, almost consuming me with bitterness. Like the photo above, my cross looked dark. My eyes refused to see its beauty.

Our crosses should not have that affect.

Our crosses, when carried with Christ and for Christ should bring us JOY.

It is the evil one who distorts our perspectives, steals the joy, and tries to discourage us from carrying our cross; he tries to make us think our cross is too heavy, and to look elsewhere for joy. True joy can only come from doing God's will. The cross of self-less love is God's will. Whereas, self-love is the will of the evil one.

Last weekend I listened to the lies of the evil one. Satan likes to pounce when we are tired and weak, and I feel like I lost many spiritual battles this weekend. I chose self-love rather than self-less love. I picked open old wounds that Christ keeps trying to heal. I chose not to love because I wasn't feeling loved. In other words I was not being Christ-like at all. That's the bad news. But the good news, the reason I am sharing my weekend's weakness with you, is to show you that there is hope when we fall. The beauty of the cross is that it symbolizes a merciful God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to die so that we can be forgiven. A God who delights when we come out of the darkness and bask in His light. I am astounded at how quickly my mood and my perspective has changed this week after asking for God's forgiveness (and my husband's too!) :} This week, fittingly as Easter draws near, I am rejoicing in His forgiveness, clinging to His promises, refusing to be consumed by selfishness...trusting that (sleep or no sleep) He will give me the grace to choose joy and see the beauty in my cross because it makes me more Christ-like.

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. His mercies are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

P.S. Thanks, Jenny, for this beautiful cross in my kitchen--a constant reminder that the crosses I am asked to carry can be beautiful when looked at with eyes of faith.

Have a blessed Holy Week!!!