Mosaic Masterpiece

I am blessed to be part of a parish with some astonishingly talented artists who give generously of their time. Claudia Burns was the mastermind artist behind this incredible mosaic for behind the tabernacle at our parish, Christ the King in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The project represents 1800 hours of construction, completed by 54 volunteers, over 15 months.

My daughters and I contributed just a couple hours. We loved it, but life got too busy.

The mosaic consists of thousands of tiny shards of glass, all brilliantly chosen and color coordinated by our master artist Claudia.

Look at the detail. It's exquisite.

Here is the installation behind the tabernacle. It's perfect.

It's gorgeous from a distance and even more beautiful up close.

Is it not a fittingly magnificent mosaic for behind our beautiful tabernacle. Brought me to tears!

Thank you, Claudia, for designing and executing this extraordinary work. How you give glory to God with your talent and willingness to use it for HIM!

You can find more photos of the construction of this beautiful work HERE

Another Celebration

The end of Thanksgiving dinner marked the beginning of another family celebration: a slightly early birthday celebration for my second oldest grandson.

My daughter-in-law had the ingenious idea to make a cake like a baseball, to match the sport themed balloons we had bought. She thought she would use a pie pan as the mold. I have to confess I had my doubts. She used a glass pie pan which I think she greased and floured. It came out of the pan nicely!

She then put berry jam in a baggy and piped the lines of a baseball on it. After that, she used little slices of fruit snacks to form the stitching on the ball. It was quite impressive. I have a very resourceful daughter-in-law.

Happy Second birthday, Little Guy! I don't use his name because his parents avoid an online presence and I want to respect that.

Such a cutie, and looking so much like his father as a baby I am always taken aback...

It was a great opportunity, when the whole family was present, to celebrate another milestone event! It's rare these days to have everyone together, and what a precious time it is.

God bless you, Little One, on your birthday and throughout your entire life!!

Honoring President George Herbert Walker Bush.

President Bush, 41, was a gentlemanly president. He had class. I remember his always speaking respectfully of his political opponents, never assigning motives to their views, never name-calling, never belittling others.

He was a good man. He clearly adored his wife of over 7 decades. He was devoted to his family.

He was a true patriot, having served his country valiantly as a naval pilot in World War II, the youngest pilot in the navy at that time. Bush flew 58 combat missions and was shot down. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism under fire.

President Bush had an illustrious career. He was a member of Congress, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, director of the CIA and vice-president under Ronald Reagan. Before politics he worked in the oil industry and became a millionaire by the time he was 40.

President Bush and his wife Barbara had six children. The oldest would also become president, George W. Bush. The Bushes lost their second child, Robin, to leukemia when she was only three years old. That President George H.W. Bush, living with the pain of having lost a child, still went on to accomplish so much with grace, dignity, patience and charm is all the more impressive.

May the good president rest in peace. The country is better off for having had his example of restraint, humility and dignity.

To learn more about the life of President George Herbert Walker Bush, try this link.

Mary's Masterpiece Dinner

My daughter Mary has started to enjoy cooking. And she's getting quite good at it. Last year as we were awaiting the imminent birth of Baby Jude, Mary offered to make the entire Thanksgiving dinner. It was a great blessing to me since I needed to be on call to help my daughter by babysitting her two year old when she went into labor which could have happened at any minute.

 This year Mary offered to do it again. I accepted gladly again but with the limitation that I wanted to be involved in the planning and reserved veto power over the menu. I also told her I would be helping with the entire meal. It was a good plan.

Mary started with making a brine for the turkey. I had never done a brine before and she is absolutely right that it very much improves the flavor and tenderness of the turkey. (Brine pictured above. Below-- Mary photographing her awesome work.)

We were quite organized because, for me, it is not going to happen if I don't have it planned out.. We always have a shopping list like the one below...

But Mary took it to a whole new level with color coded spread sheets..

The menu...after much negotiation and consultation with the family about their favorite traditional foods...

 Menu and timing sheets are taped to the cupboards...because that's much easier to just look up then to search for the the sheets of paper amid the messy table...

Mary at work and seemingly loving every minute...She's good!!

And here she is with her completed masterpiece of a dinner. It was delicious, and with no catastrophes! So proud of her, not only because she is a good cook but, more importantly, because she is willing to give many hours to serving her family.

And for the first time, we were able to expand our Amish table into the living room, instead of into the kitchen where the table would take up so much room that it was impossible to open the fridge without asking the person sitting there to get up for a minute.

 When we added the new room to our house we also expanded the opening between the dining area and the living room.

 Much, much better.

Mary and I with the mission accomplished...

#Feelingblessed, #Feelingthankful

God is good. All the time...

What a joy it is to have another generation of people in our family. It's not just that my three grandsons are adorable, exceptional, brilliant and funny. (Of course they are, right?)

It's that they enrich our lives so much. At each birthday party Blaise is very helpful in blowing out the candles on the happy-cake, as he calls it. Their perspective, their joy, their humor are sources of great delight for all of us.

Here is Blaise, almost three, learning from Grandpa how to make french toast. Everything is new to the very young, their minds soaking up information like magnificent sponges. They're interested in everything!

The love we have for our children is somehow distinct from the love we have for our grandchildren.. The delight is differently magnified, the devotion intensified, the forbearance increased many fold. The love becomes even more unconditional because, let's face it, raising them is not our responsibility, not our problem.

My job is to love them with all my heart, leaving the hard stuff to their parents.

Only love, no responsibility. It doesn't get much better.

Memorial of Saint Gertrude the Great

Today is the feast of Saint Gertrude of Helfta. Also known as Saint Gertrude the Great, she was a 13th century German Benedictine.

In this month of All Souls it is particularly appropriate that we remember Saint Gertrude. She was a mystic and experienced many visions. In one such vision she saw souls freed from purgatory ascending to heaven like sparks of light.

In another, Jesus told her, "I accept with highest pleasure what is offered to me for the poor souls, for I long inexpressibly to have near me those for whom I paid so great a price. By the prayers of thy loving soul, I am induced to free a prisoner from purgatory as often as thou dost move thy tongue to utter a word of prayer." From: Mission to Empty Purgatory

Saint Gertrude was also given the prayer recited below that Our Lord said would release 1,000 souls every time it is said with love and devotion.

From Our Catholic Prayers:

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

Saint Gertrude the Great, pray for us and for all our departed family members and loved ones!

Halloween Fun

 Ok, I know many people object to the "celebration" of Halloween and I respect that. For me, the day has always been about family fun, embracing our neighborhood community, indulging children with something they love (CANDY!) and having fun.

I  had the privilege of attending the Halloween festivities at the Ann Arbor Public Library with my daughter and two of my grandsons. Blaise (above) was a train engineer...

And Jude was a cowboy! Are they not adorable? Sorry, can't help myself. It's a grandma thing.

I'm sure I had this silly grin on my face the whole time. Grandchildren are just such a joy!

My daughter-in-law is a youth librarian at Ann Arbor District Library and is she ever good at what she does. The youth librarians put on several skits based on children's books--- SO well done. Then the kids could wander around collecting candy from the library employees. Wonderful family event. The AADL Does a great job on community events like this.

I realized the morning of Halloween that we hadn't even purchased a pumpkin. So I bought one of the few remaining pumpkins at Busch's, which happened to be a pretty large one, and prayed I wouldn't hurt my newly fixed back getting it into and out of the car. (Shoutout to my chiropractic son-in-law Zach Simkins and Foundation Chiropractic) Got it into the house successfully, googled pumpkin stencils and managed to carve this with an hour or two to spare before trick-or-treating. Go blue! Felt pretty proud of myself-- and I DID NOT re-injure my back, thanks be to God!

Happy All Saint Day! All you holy men and women, pray for us!

Saint Jude-- A powerful Intercessor!!

On October 28, we celebrate the feast of Saints Simon and Jude, although this year the feast falls on a Sunday. Saint Jude is the patron of Hope, of things almost despaired of, difficult situations.

Saint Jude Thaddeus was one of the twelve Apostles, the brother of James the Less, and a cousin of Jesus. He preached in Mesopotamia, Libya and Persia with St. Simon where they made many converts. Both were martyred.

Saint Jude is often pictured holding an image of Jesus, the Holy Mandylion of Jesus, the Image of Edessa. King Abagar of Edessa had leprosy and asked Jesus to cure him. He sent an artist to bring him a drawing of the great healer. Jesus was so impressed with the king’s faith that he pressed his face on the cloth and left his image on it. St. Jude then took the cloth to the king and he was cured.

More information on St. Jude can be found HERE.

There have been periods in the history of the church when devotion to St. Jude has waned. Some think this may be because of the similarity of his name to that of the Lord’s betrayer. Even John in his Gospel identifies Jude as “not the Iscariot.” But it seems that God specifically wanted his cousin Jude to be called upon as an intercessor. In visions, both St. Bernard and St. Bridget of Sweden were asked by God to accept St. Jude as the Patron Saint of the Impossible. To Saint Bridget he said, “In accordance with his surname, Thaddeus, the amiable or loving, he will show himself willing to help.” The Lord himself has recommended St. Jude as an intercessor!!!

Has he ever shown himself willing to help.

 Those who ask for his intercession often see miracles.

From my own personal experience I believe he is also a saint with a sense of humor. My husband and I once owned a sailboat that we kept at a marina about an hour from our home. At one point we decided we really needed to sell it. After listing it for some time with no success at all, we decided to ask Saint Jude for help. About a week later a stranger came to our door and asked if we were interested in selling our boat. I looked at him puzzled because the sailboat was not listed locally. How could this man know we had a sailboat for sale? I said, “Our boat?” He said, “Yes, the canoe on the side of your house.” I said, “Oh! Well, I’ll ask my husband. He might want to sell it.”

After closing the door I laughed and looked heavenward. “Saint Jude, I meant the sailboat!” Then I realized Saint Jude knew we meant the sailboat. I felt he was telling me to hold on, that he was working on it. Shortly after selling the canoe, we also sold the sailboat. Thank you, Saint Jude.

How often Saint Jude has helped me. Imagine my delight upon learning that two of my children wanted to name children after Saint Jude. One already has and there may be another!

Baby Jude!

My aunt was extremely devoted to Saint Jude and regularly asked for his intercession. On one occasion her son had been unable to study properly for an important test in high school. My aunt prayed that something would happen to postpone the test. When her son returned home she asked him how the test went. He said that the teacher had fallen ill and the test was postponed. My aunt started laughing and confessed to having appealed to Saint Jude. My cousin was somewhat aghast. “Mom! You have to be careful when you ask Saint Jude for something. I didn’t want the teacher to get sick!”

We had a neighbor who also loved Saint Jude. She told my mom that there was a very real possibility that her husband was going to be transferred to a Muslim country where there were no churches, no Eucharistic Presence. She was a very devout Catholic and horrified at the thought of living without the Presence of the Eucharistic Lord. She appealed to Saint Jude. Not only did her husband not get the position that would have required such a move, he actually lost his job completely.

If you appeal to Saint Jude, know that he may do whatever it takes to answer your prayer!

A novena to Saint Jude could be started on October 19 and conclude on October 27, the day before his feast day. EWTN provides a novena prayer HERE.

Or you could use this simple prayer:

https://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/novena/jude.htm

Do you have a Saint Jude story?

Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer

I saw the movie Gosnell on Friday.

I remember the Gosnell case very well. It was not being covered on regular news, but pro-life news sources were covering it extensively. So when I saw on Twitter a call for a Twitter storm holding the media accountable for ignoring the story, I made a mental note of the time suggested. Pro-lifers were to storm Twitter at a given hour asking why the media was ignoring the trial. Why the media blackout, why were they turning a blind eye to such an important story.

The Twitter storm worked. For that hour, the hashtag "Gosnell" started trending and even climbed pretty high on the list. That night, to his credit, Anderson Cooper spent 15 minutes on the Gosnell story.. He gave it decent coverage. You can view it below.

The following day what had previously been empty reserved media seats in the courtroom were all filled. The story continued to be covered until the verdict. It was an example of how ordinary citizens can use social media to hold journalists accountable for biased decisions regarding coverage. It was widely thought that the story was ignored because it reflected badly on the abortion industry.

The film is very powerful. It doesn't lecture. It doesn't preach. It's the story of the legal case against Kermit Gosnell for murder-- he killed numerous babies after they were born in his clinic. He was also convicted of  numerous health violations.

I was grateful that the filmmakers did not make us see too much blood. There were not a lot of gory photos of aborted fetuses. The words describing what Gosnell did were enough. It was chilling, disturbing. They spared the viewer too many horrific details. The descriptions were more than adequate.

At the end, the audience was very quiet, some people not even wanting to move. Yes, this was about an abortionist who broke the law. In fact he broke many laws. But in many ways what was truly exposed was the reality of what happens in an abortion.

You cannot leave this movie without wincing at the reality of abortion.

You can read a thorough review on nationalreview.com HERE.

A Reunion, Thanks to Facebook

On my recent trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula I had the pleasure of getting together with an old college friend of mine who lives up North and whose home was right along the route we were taking.

It was so much fun. Katy came with her husband whom I had met many years ago and they met Mike and me at a coffeeshop.

I don't know how many years it had been since we had seen each other. She didn't know either. Probably at least 30 years, I imagine.

Katy was the person in my dorm who always had the ready smile, the easy laugh. If you saw Katy in the cafeteria you'd think, Cool. I can sit with Katy. (That was when every dorm at MSU had its own cafeteria and we would eat with our friends. It was great for forming a sense of community. We ate together!)

We caught up on the news of old friends and laughed about old times. Sad to say, a few of our old friends had passed away. Sobering news.

Without Facebook I would not have known where Katy was. We also would not have known anything about our old college friends. Katy had found many of them simply by searching Facebook. For all its flaws, for all the criticism we give it, Facebook does help people to stay in touch. I have many friends with whom I might have lost contact completely were it not for Facebook.

So Katy is my new long lost friend. :-) It was great to see her smiling face again!

The Ann Arbor Hands On Museum

 I had the pleasure recently of going with my daughter and two of my grandsons to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. I have been there before, of course, when my own children were young, and it was fun then. But NOW, now it has advanced to a whole new level!

There is climbing equipment for little ones, appropriately sized and challenging.

There is a little fire truck to sit in, complete with costumes and hats...

 For kids of all ages there are giant foam blocks for building...

There is an actual ambulance with its lights flashing for kids to climb inside. In the back non-bloody videos are playing of people being rescued from accidents and put in ambulances...

Kids can sit in the front and drive!

And there are lots of activities with balls. Climbing apparatuses where children can go up steps that follow along tracks where plastic balls are pushed by air pressure. The balls can be grabbed and placed where they will ascend through a vacuum and lots of other fun activities to do with balls. Above my grandson is delighting in the air keeping the balloon afloat.

Water play activities, experiments with sound, investigating GPS technology...And when I went into the ladies room there was a sign that explained the origins of toilet paper. Adults will even learn things here!

Please go to their website HERE. We didn't see anywhere near the whole thing. Check it out! A family membership could make a great Christmas gift for children! And a family membership includes grandparents! Woohoo. Great place to take the grandchildren!