A Profound Christmas Message

SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Saint Peter's Basilica
Monday, 24 December 2012

[Video]
 

Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Again and again the beauty of this Gospel touches our hearts: a beauty that is the splendour of truth. Again and again it astonishes us that God makes himself a child so that we may love him, so that we may dare to love him, and as a child trustingly lets himself be taken into our arms. It is as if God were saying: I know that my glory frightens you, and that you are trying to assert yourself in the face of my grandeur. So now I am coming to you as a child, so that you can accept me and love me.

I am also repeatedly struck by the Gospel writer’s almost casual remark that there was no room for them at the inn. Inevitably the question arises, what would happen if Mary and Joseph were to knock at my door. Would there be room for them? And then it occurs to us that Saint John takes up this seemingly chance comment about the lack of room at the inn, which drove the Holy Family into the stable; he explores it more deeply and arrives at the heart of the matter when he writes: “he came to his own home, and his own people received him not” (Jn 1:11). The great moral question of our attitude towards the homeless, towards refugees and migrants, takes on a deeper dimension: do we really have room for God when he seeks to enter under our roof? Do we have time and space for him? Do we not actually turn away God himself? We begin to do so when we have no time for God. The faster we can move, the more efficient our time-saving appliances become, the less time we have. And God? The question of God never seems urgent. Our time is already completely full. But matters go deeper still. Does God actually have a place in our thinking? Our process of thinking is structured in such a way that he simply ought not to exist. Even if he seems to knock at the door of our thinking, he has to be explained away. If thinking is to be taken seriously, it must be structured in such a way that the “God hypothesis” becomes superfluous. There is no room for him. Not even in our feelings and desires is there any room for him. We want ourselves. We want what we can seize hold of, we want happiness that is within our reach, we want our plans and purposes to succeed. We are so “full” of ourselves that there is no room left for God. And that means there is no room for others either, for children, for the poor, for the stranger. By reflecting on that one simple saying about the lack of room at the inn, we have come to see how much we need to listen to Saint Paul’s exhortation: “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom 12:2). Paul speaks of renewal, the opening up of our intellect (nous), of the whole way we view the world and ourselves. The conversion that we need must truly reach into the depths of our relationship with reality. Let us ask the Lord that we may become vigilant for his presence, that we may hear how softly yet insistently he knocks at the door of our being and willing. Let us ask that we may make room for him within ourselves, that we may recognize him also in those through whom he speaks to us: children, the suffering, the abandoned, those who are excluded and the poor of this world.

[...]

 The shepherds made haste. Holy curiosity and holy joy impelled them. In our case, it is probably not very often that we make haste for the things of God. God does not feature among the things that require haste. The things of God can wait, we think and we say. And yet he is the most important thing, ultimately the one truly important thing. Why should we not also be moved by curiosity to see more closely and to know what God has said to us? At this hour, let us ask him to touch our hearts with the holy curiosity and the holy joy of the shepherds, and thus let us go over joyfully to Bethlehem, to the Lord who today once more comes to meet us. Amen.

Read the entire homily here.  Ad multos annos, Benedicte.

Dici is ONE!

Our Christmas Baby is ONE YEAR OLD! He is our sweet, determined, smiley boy who loves his brother and sister. These days he is known as "Benedicimus Tibi" because his parents are Latin nerds. And we have shorted it to 'Dici' (pronounced 'Deeche'). Yes, he is one of kind! He is so very lucky to have a Christmas Eve Birthday as he will always get to have polish sausage, perogies, and other yummy food for breakfast as he and his siblings decorate the tree together. We love you Benedict!

Little babe at 21 weeks

One of my favorite parts of the nine months of pregnancy is the 20 week ultrasound. This morning we were able to see our little munchkin moving all over the place on the ultrasound screen. Faustina enjoyed seeing the images and was pretty good during the appointment. Jude didn't really care, but had more fun playing with the curtain by the door. This baby is an active one and I can feel him (although we don't know the gender) swimming all over the place. Right now the baby is in a breach position, so hopefully that changes by the time May comes around. Each one of the ultrasounds are quite vivid in my mind for me: Faustina was the first, my Mom went to Jude's with me, for Benedict's we had an especially fun technician, and for this one all the kids were with us and the pictures seemed especially clear. I don't remember seeing the other babies eyes so obviously! Perhaps this baby will have big eyes, because he or she seemed to be looking right at us!

Here is a picture of looking at our babe straight on. You can see his left eye especially, nose and mouth. His left arm is by is big round tummy.

Here is a profile view. You can see the baby's head profile and his little hands & fingers by his face. His little legs are curled up by his chest. He was busy sucking his fingers for part of the ultrasound.

A frontal view of his face, my what big eyes you have!

Lay it in the manger

Your heart, your life, your very self,
your humble offering...
Lay it in the manger
which holds the infant King.

Your prayer for peace on earth
that war and hate might cease...
Lay it in the manger
where sleeps the Prince of Peace.

Any ache or anguish,
your spirit's darkest night...
Lay it in the manger
where lies the Lord of light.

Now heaven and earth, God and man
are once more reconciled...
For lying in the manger
is God's Son, the Savior Child.

In the heart of Highland

At the Ford & Cleveland intersection in Highland Park is a billboard advertising St. Agnes! Here is where I lived growing up, walked to school most every day for 7 years, delivered the paperroute for so SO many years, and still live in the area driving on the street at least once every day. How rewarding to see the success of my dear husband and his colleagues raise the bar of education at St. Agnes to the next level and doing so well! This is a great location since it hits an area where there are several Catholic churches and schools - it is good to have St. Agnes' name in the mix of quality school choices. The billboard has been here about a week and I guess will stay for about a month. I believe there are 3 or 4 other ones around the Twin Cities.

Our littlest God daughter

 We are so excited about our newly adopted little God-daughter.
She is, truly, the cutest infant I have ever seen. She is absolutely beautiful!

















Our dear friends had been praying for the opportunity to adopt for the last year. In the spring, they found out they had a little boy waiting for them in Haiti who is already 2 years old! Everything happens so slowly over there that they will not be able to have their little guy home  for another year; all the same, it is very exciting! Here is a picture of their handsome little man.

In July, they received a phone call saying a baby girl was just born the day before and the very young birth mother was interested in their profile. Everything ended up panning out and Genevieve was home them a couple weeks later and then totally finalized in November!

I made this blue little pixie hat for her with a crocheted rose on the side. It was my first time crocheting and it was fun to make this little flower for her.

Genevieve's birth mother was asking Mary for her intercession during her labor and the baby's birth. At the same time, the parents who adopted her were praying the Rosary also asking for Mary's intercession to the Lord that his will be done with regard to any possibilities of adopting.  It is appropriate to introduce our little God daughter on Our Lady of Guadalupe's Feast day today!


Here is a picture of Belle, the big sister in the family, with her new little sister.

We are so excited to watch this sweet girl grow up in her new family and to be part of her life. Faustina calls Genevieve her 'God-sister' and is quite protective of her. She is such blessing!

First snow!

The first snow of the year truly is beautiful! And it is still coming.  Yesterday we played outside and then came in for hot cocoa. Nothing like MN winter outdoor activity. Faustina was so excited she dressed in her winter apparel herself, and then actually bundled Jude up without me having to help! We'll have to head out to a skating rink one of these weekends.

Yes, she wears skirts even while she is outdoors shoveling!

The Immaculate Conception

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which simply means Mary was conceived without sin. I was born and raised catholic, and I didn't even know this until I was in my early 20's! I always heard 'immaculate' and assumed the reference to Jesus being conceived in Mary's womb.

All Saints Day and today's Feast Day of Mary are my favorite 2 feast days in the year. I love All Saints Day because I love learning about the saints and all their various very human stories of how they because holy men and women of God. And I love today honoring Mary since I've had an extra special devotion to Mary over the past 5 years.

This statue stands over our dining room table. Anyone who comes to our home, will readily see that we have plenty of religious art. And we have a few statues around too. Mike brought this beautiful hand painted statue home from Peru 3 years ago.

Statues are an interesting topic. I was talking to a friend the other day and he was telling me how some people believe catholics worship Mary or worship statues. My first thought is, "What?! We worship them? That is what the Israelites did to their made up god Baal in the Old Testament! But, we just honor Mary  as the Mother of our God. And we honor the saints as holy men and women. Pictures just help us remember them!"

 I realize there are many misconceptions about Catholicism and even many catholics themselves who are not very well educated in their own faith. In fact, I was most certainly one of those individuals less than 10 years ago while in college. Although I always continued to go to mass, I picked and choose which 'beliefs' I wanted to believe. A lot has changed since then and I have fully embraced orthodox catholic teaching since I have learned what it is and it makes sense. We appreciate having statues and pictures of the saints in the house because they remind us of the communion of saints. These people lived before us, and they are with God now, and they can pray for us! Just like I would ask my spouse, family or friends to pray for me, I can ask those holy men and women of God who have already died to pray for us. It is a simple idea, although it may sound crazy to some people who are not familiar with such a concept.

The art work at St. Agnes Church is another reason why I simply love being part of the parish. It reminds me of the churches in Rome. Not to mention, it is such a wonderful teaching tool for the kids. They soak in the art work and pictures and learn the stories at a young age.

In the words of Tom Petty, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."

Advent Traditions

We are well into Advent 2012, and over the past several years we have solidified a couple main Advent traditions. Each year is more fun as the kids are so excited, they understand more, and they absorb the meaning of Advent and the anticipation of Christmas in a new way.

One thing we are doing is hanging one Jesse Tree Ornament each night on our bare tree. There is a Scripture verse and story to go along with each ornament that takes us through Salvation History.

Here is our Advent Calendar. It counts down the days of Christmas left. There is a door for each day, and in each door is a piece of chocolate (of course!) and a short scripture filled with anticipation of the coming Christ Child.

Today is St. Nicholas day! The kids have been waiting for St. Nicholas to come all day long. Of course, he doesn't come until Dad comes home. :)  Faustina was exploding with enthusiasm. She kept opening the door to see if St. Nick had put goodies in her shoes. Today in the car, she was begging to go see him at the Catholic book store. She knew he lived there, but she was quite puzzled because she could not figure out where his bed was in the store!

Here Dad is holding our statue of St. Nick that stays near the Christmas tree and the kids are excited about the small bag of m&m's, book, movie, and cd they received from St. Nick.

And this picture? Just to show Jude. He is our happy-go-lucky goof ball child. And he is in the business of entertaining us. He looks...kind of 'special' here! But this is just par for the course since he has 100 different faces he is showing us these days.

 We also have an Advent wreath that we light during dinner time. Currently, we are having problems with the thin candles falling over...so I am in search of candles that are a bit more hearty!

Despite the busy time of the year, I am thankful that we can find peace as we wait for the coming of our Lord. I am looking forward to a women's retreat at the Cathedral this weekend in order to have even more time to have quiet time during this season.

Another hello!

Yes, I have a little babe on the way! And in late April or early May, we will be welcoming our new little person into the world. We are very excited!

This is not exactly 'news' since I pretty much halfway through with the pregnancy and most family and friends know - but I haven't put it on the blog since I haven't been doing much with it lately.

During August, I started craving super hot spicy food. My teeth hurt and felt like they were going to fall out (really, they did). I was going to Lifetime to work out and my sit-ups were not working to reduce any last bits of the enormous belly I had with Benedict. I started wondering..."Could I be....??? Noooooo....there is no way. I'm not mentally ready for that, I'm still nursing, etc. there is no way."

The second week in September I was out with a friend one night and we stopped by the dollar store to pick up a dollar test. I came home, took the test, and sure enough....I got a strong positive sign back! I showed Mike (who was taken by surprise to say the least).

Within 10 minutes, I got in the car and headed out to the cemetery to visit my Mom and have a prayer time. I did not know how I was going to do this with 3 other young children, feeling a bit overwhelmed with several things in life, Benedict was still small and we were watching his health and using the nebulizer twice a day, our house was not going to sell after having been on the market and all the work we put into getting it ready, Benedict was so small and I didn't feel like I had much help - in other words I missed my Mom, and the list seemed to go on! At the cemetery, I gained a sense of peace, purpose, and comfort knowing that this was the Lord's will. Thank goodness, and thanks to my dear Mother for her intercession.

I must admit, the month of September was challenging since Benedict was waking up many times a night still. Quickly, I started to feel very pregnant, and very sick, and very tired. We put Benedict on the bottle and that helped his sleeping problem. But, I did continue to have a lot of morning sickness throughout the next couple months. Mike basically was taking care of the house, providing meals for us, taking care of the kids when he was around, and going to work! Although it was hard, I knew that period in time would pass, and, thankfully, it has.

We are thrilled to have a spring baby on the way and can't wait to meet our new little dynamic! Although, the spring seems like forever away, somehow, the months do fly by.

Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving has quickly come and gone already. We had a wonderful day Thursday with about a dozen people over for good food and company. Mike took over the job of the turkey and it turned out excellent. It is very fun to see the cousins together and enjoy playing with each other. Faustina and Leo especially hit it off this time while they made a fort in their bedroom with putting blankets over the bunkbeds and having a hideaway space. No pictures in this post. We were so busy that we didn't remember to get the camera out.

There is so, so very much to be thankful for, my goodness! Really, we truly do live like Kings and Queens every single day. No matter where emotions or the day in day out daily grind are, it is  my duty to be thankful in all I do!! We have so much to be thankful for, it is almost ridiculous - the Lord is so good to us.

A few main things that come to mind this year around that I am thankful for:

* This is not a first priority and sounds a bit silly, but lately, I am so thankful for my bed. Yes, my bed and comfortable covers. I find myself exhausted at the end of each day and it is now a habit for me as I crawl into bed and say "Thank you, Lord, for this bed to sleep in! And then ensues a series of other things to be thankful for throughout the day and week." My bed, in a weird way, has served as a reminder for thankfulness in general each night.

* My dear husband and how wonderful he is. He is such a good man and daily striving to be holy. I am so lucky to have him as an example to me not to mention my best friend!

* Saint Agnes. I am so grateful for the job Mike has working at the school. He loves his work and is able to spend his time making a difference in catholic education. I am excited for Faustina to enjoy kindergarten next year, she is already talking about it.

* Our children are at such a fun age. They are good kids and it is a privilege to love them, raise them, teach them, and show them their faith. We are excited to meet our new little person in the springtime.

* I am thankful for the different challenges that the Lord allows in our lives. It is a hopeful and exciting time as our family grows and we continue to try our best to live our faith and be obedient. It is pretty amazing to see how God has worked in the 6 short years of our marriage, and the adventure continues on.

* Finally I am so thankful for the examples of family and friends I have had in my own life in the past and present. Last night I was reading my journal from junior year in college - it was during a January term that I was home and spending a lot of time with my parents. I was thoroughly enjoying their company and was writing about how good they were to me. I wrote, "Mom and Dad are way too good to me. Dad filled up the car for me this morning. Mom made a delicious breakfast. I often feel guilty for how good they are to me - I don't deserve it. It makes me want to give to others though, although I know I don't do this enough." I know their profound goodness had a lasting impression on me. A person's heart of goodness is everlasting and its effect on others must not be underestimated! I am thankful for all such people in my life.

A skeleton, a pumpkin, and a butterfly

                                                                               

Fall leaves

I really do love the fall here. Today the temperature is perfect, I don't have any idea what it is, I don't really care. All I know is that it is perfect. It is so beautiful and the leaves are at a peak in terms of color and they are gently falling from the trees. I love it.

Saint Agnes success

Today is an exciting day at Saint Agnes as they announce that they were voted one of the nation's top 50 Catholic High Schools! This honor recognizes excellence in academics, civics education, and catholic identity. There is a story in the Pioneer Press this morning along with the Catholic Spirit. Here is a story that aired last night on WCCO. Saint Agnes has done so much in the past couple years, it is exciting to see the school continue to grow and succeed. The Lord is good!

Mr. Lashes

Benedict is approaching 9 months and he is very very active. He is getting into everything, crawling like a madman all over the place. He is pulling himself up on things and wanting to climb stairs. Yes, this is the age when I start fishing things out of his mouth because everything goes in it! Of course, I am the prejudice parent, but he just about the cutest little guy. The number one thing that people comment about him is, "Look at those long lashes!". We like him.

Lately, He likes clapping a lot. In this picture you can kind of see his eyes are tending to a darker hazel/green! The other 2 kids have blue. Benedict's eye color must have come from the Serge side? Wherever they came from, I love them.

Yes, his hair does seem to have a reddish tint to it, as well!

Yesterday

This is a random picture of Mom, but this is how I think of her.

Yesterday marked the 3 anniversary of losing Mom. Overall, it was good day. I took Benedict out to the cemetery. Lizzia had left 10 gorgeous yellow roses for Mom. We had a picnic at Wabun with Tonka Toasts and then watched a movie afterwards.

Of course, there are so many thoughts and memories that flood my mind on such a day. As I tried earlier to write some of them out, they all sound really cliche.

I guess the main thought that I constantly hang on to is: I am so thankful for Mom. I am so grateful for her genuine, selfless love she constantly gave our family. I am so thankful for the sincere, honest person she was. For the example she was as a mother and wife. I am so thankful for all her prayers she offered up for her husband, kids, friends and extended family - because they all mattered.

I distinctly remember when I was about 7 years old being in the basement with Mom while she was washing clothes. She told me she always wanted to have a bigger family. She told me if I wanted to have 12 kids, she would be there to help me every step of the way! Now - we have no intention of having that big of a family; but I can honestly say she is holding true to her promise of helping me raise a family. I think of her hourly as I take care of the three young kids, try to be a good mother, cook food, clean up house, knit, quilt, work outside, spend time with friends. She is my constant example of what a good mother is - and for that reason, I really do think of her all the time! It is not a sad recollection, she is an inspiration and in that way she lifts me up all the time.

I miss you Mom!

Last leg of trip

The last few days of the trip we camped out at our favorite Mill Creek campsite near Mackinaw City. It is close to the beach, but it still has its own pool, golf course, a few different play grounds, a nice camp store. It works well for our kids at this age.(I'm waiting for the day we can go back country camping with the kids and wake up in a tent on top of a mountain - But, we have to start somewhere! Faustina and Jude loved the fire we had. It was a bit on the wimpy side, but that doesn't seem to matter much!

Here is Frat boy Jude loving the campfire, his sunglasses during the nighttime, the headlamp, and relaxing in his chair.

The highlight of this part of our trip was Mackinaw Island. It was so. much. fun!! The last half dozen times we'd been to Mackinaw we kept saying, "Oh, next time we'll check it out". We spent the day there this trip and loved it. We biked the 8 miles around the island with the kids. Oh how I miss biking! I haven't for the last 2 summers. We walked around and looked at the stores. It seemed like a paradise there. There were quaint buggies drawn by horses (no cars on the island!), cute stores, beautiful old houses, good food, surrounded by sparkling blue water and you can see the Mackinaw bridge in the distance which is pretty spectacular. Mike and I were ready to go back - without the kids!

Here Jude was getting tired, so we had to carry him the last part of the day. Finally he had run out energy. When we first arrived on the island there were crowds and crowds of people. Jude's new game is 'lets lose Mom and Dad'. So he did. There were 2 times we lost track of him as he darted away from us (being a stinker). The first time he had found a stairwell leading to a room above stores - it was an arcade. He hit the jackpot. I found him sitting in one of the big adult chairs playing duck hunter. I was not amused at the time, but the picture in my mind of finding him is pretty funny. Also in this picture, I'm holding Murdick's Fudge which is famous around the Mackinaw area.

The Church there was beautiful. My favorite was the altar that had a picture of The Last Supper on the front of it.

Here is St. Joseph holding Jesus. We asked him to intercede for us since he is the Patron Saint of homes and selling houses.

Thanks goodness this kids are so good in the car! It is a 'quiet' time for us all. Or we can talk, listen to books on tape or music. Somehow, it all works out quite well.