Every summer, I seem to find something to can. There is always an overabundance of some type of summer fruit that I like to hang onto longer by way of canning it in pretty jars to admire before eventually eating the contents. I always have hopes that the contents will be devoured in the dead of winter. In California, however, we never get a winter that drastic and I can be sure to find that at least two of the newly canned fruit will be opened within a day. Kind of makes you want to yell, "Why didn't you eat the fruit right from the tree?"
In spite of all the stupid and scary stuff happening in our government and world today, it is calming to go through the process of canning the surplus from our garden. It makes me feel that life WILL go on in one way or the other. The world that exists while I bottle fruit today may change and even improve by the time the summer harvest is enjoyed in the later months. I kind of bottle fruit AND hope.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
How come . . . ?
I can understand going out of one's way to make someone feel welcome and not intimidated but if you are visiting another country, you are required to show passports/documentation when going over one border into another country. I'm having trouble processing why this is a problem in Arizona. Everyone carries identification of one sort or another. If non-citizens aren't required to show documentation, does that mean we have a choice about showing our driver's license when stopped? Isn't that just as much an invasion of OUR privacy as asking someone for their proof if identification, whether as a citizen or not? Shouldn't the citizens of a country be of first priority when it comes to protection and services? Very confusing, conflicted world we live in right now.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Not sure . . .
Something new at our parish. It seemed spontaneous but WHY? The choir/parish finished the recessional hymn and then people broke out in applause. Uh, the hymn was not sung that well and were they applauding the hymn, the choir, God . . .?
I hope it is not another made-up, grass roots agenda that spreads throughout the Church like hand holding at the Our Father. I am faithful to the laws and rubrics of the Church and am constantly fighting off fellow parishioners who want to grab my hand at this time. Even when a pastor explained from the pulpit that holding hands at the Our Father is NOT in the rubrics of the Mass, people pretty much, by out loud word and action, said, "So what? We WANT to do it!" If a Catholic knows their Faith, they know the Rubrics and if you go in opposition to the Rubrics, your gesture is illicit.
Given that 'history', I'm hoping we don't turn the end of the Mass into a curtain call with applause. It is kind of nice and spiritual to head out of church to the last strains of the music with thoughts of the Mass still in mind.
I hope it is not another made-up, grass roots agenda that spreads throughout the Church like hand holding at the Our Father. I am faithful to the laws and rubrics of the Church and am constantly fighting off fellow parishioners who want to grab my hand at this time. Even when a pastor explained from the pulpit that holding hands at the Our Father is NOT in the rubrics of the Mass, people pretty much, by out loud word and action, said, "So what? We WANT to do it!" If a Catholic knows their Faith, they know the Rubrics and if you go in opposition to the Rubrics, your gesture is illicit.
Given that 'history', I'm hoping we don't turn the end of the Mass into a curtain call with applause. It is kind of nice and spiritual to head out of church to the last strains of the music with thoughts of the Mass still in mind.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Where Charity and Love Prevail . . .
A situation is brewing at our local parish. It is of minor importance except to the two parties involved. It seems a simple thing, on the surface, but the ladies have turned it into a subterfuge of behind the scenes confrontation.
Two parishioners have donated tabernacle veils. They watch the altar like hawks, each day, to make sure it is THEIR veil that is front and center on the altar. Naturally, it varies according to the mood or time of the sacristan. At this point, the sacristan would gladly dispose of both veils and suggest new but separate parishes for the two ladies.
When one lady feels the other one's tabernacle veil has been up way too many days, she heads into the sacristy to chastise the sacristan. If she does not get satisfaction, you can be sure she will change it herself when no one is looking. Meanwhile, the other lady is watching from the pew and has been known to change the veil back once the first lady is out of sight.
The sacristan just shakes his head.
Today, the battle has taken on greater proportions - one of the tabernacle veils is missing! Instead of asking the other woman if she knows about it and, if this is the case, shaming her into producing the property, the deprived woman is putting her tongue to use in informing everyone, whether it is true or not, that HER tabernacle veil has been stolen and by whom.
The sacristan just shakes his head.
Amusement aside, it is kind of sad that neither woman can really enjoy the blessings of the Mass as they fret over tabernacle veils. Wonder if I should up the ante and donate my own tabernacle veil?
Two parishioners have donated tabernacle veils. They watch the altar like hawks, each day, to make sure it is THEIR veil that is front and center on the altar. Naturally, it varies according to the mood or time of the sacristan. At this point, the sacristan would gladly dispose of both veils and suggest new but separate parishes for the two ladies.
When one lady feels the other one's tabernacle veil has been up way too many days, she heads into the sacristy to chastise the sacristan. If she does not get satisfaction, you can be sure she will change it herself when no one is looking. Meanwhile, the other lady is watching from the pew and has been known to change the veil back once the first lady is out of sight.
The sacristan just shakes his head.
Today, the battle has taken on greater proportions - one of the tabernacle veils is missing! Instead of asking the other woman if she knows about it and, if this is the case, shaming her into producing the property, the deprived woman is putting her tongue to use in informing everyone, whether it is true or not, that HER tabernacle veil has been stolen and by whom.
The sacristan just shakes his head.
Amusement aside, it is kind of sad that neither woman can really enjoy the blessings of the Mass as they fret over tabernacle veils. Wonder if I should up the ante and donate my own tabernacle veil?
Friday, July 23, 2010
Helpful thought for the day!
“This is the trouble with secular humanism and materialism: There’s no person to love. So then the new way of the Little Flower is… fall in love. Love the Good Lord, and then you will strive to please Him. And because you see that there are imperfections in you, you will love Him more so that they may be washed away.” –Archbishop Fulton J Sheen
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Points to ponder . . .
"I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them."
-- E. V. Lucas
"Realism...has no more to do with reality than anything else."
-- Hob Broun
"Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve."
-- George Bernard Shaw
"Only sick music makes money today."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
-- E. V. Lucas
"Realism...has no more to do with reality than anything else."
-- Hob Broun
"Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve."
-- George Bernard Shaw
"Only sick music makes money today."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The World, Quilts, and Me . . .
I love to quilt. I enjoy the challenge of taking bits and pieces of different fabric and turning them into a whole cloth again. When you sew a dress or suit, you have to keep in mind how the various colors and patterns work together. You would never sport a striped blouse with a flowered skirt. In quilting all these rules are left behind and you find the oddest combinations seem to work amazingly well.
I am beginning to see that our world is a lot like a quilt. We all come in different colors, patterns and sizes. Alone we are something but together we can make a formidable whole. We all have a place in our world-wide quilt of humanity. Each person is in his or her place as a part of a pattern that wasn’t designed by mortal hands. Our free will, however, is starting to make a difference in the fabric of our lives.
When you make a quilt, each piece, square, triangle is stitched carefully to the next one. Each segment is dependent on the pieces connecting it to the whole. Because one piece is in place, the rest can be built accordingly. The pieces of a quilt provide a meaning and basis for the entire quilt. The world’s quilt is starting to miss spaces. The solid fabric of its connecting pieces are fraying and disappearing. God sends children into the world to step into the places left by the souls called to Heaven. He keeps older people in the world until He calls them to their eternity.
Mankind has been arranging its quilt without consulting God. Abortion leaves empty spaces and euthanasia leaves gapping holes that bring down our solidarity. You look around at your friends and relatives and wonder what life would be like without them. How many other people should be in our lives that were not given the chance to take their place in our quilt? I have heard that abortion and euthanasia weed the unproductive and unneeded. Will your child miss out on the perfect partner because they were weeded out? Will the wisdom of an older person be missing when you need it the most because someone decided they were unproductive?
The reasons for destroying our unborn and eliminating our elderly and sick are not valid, at least not to the minds that see God’s Hand in our lives. Although we will all pay for this holocaust, we, as pro-life Catholics, know where the future of our world is going. We understand why scientific cures are not being discovered. We realize why there is a lack of vocations, either in religion or marriage.
In this day the best blessing we can give anyone is to pray that they are surrounded by all the quilt pieces of life that should be there and that their children will always be surrounded by the people God planned on being there. This is a hopeful blessing although the sins of those who justify their wrongs can be seen in our lives.
I love to quilt, yet as I sew, these thoughts go through my mind. I can only pray the bits and pieces of our lives will be eventually sewn together with as much love as I put into my quilts.
“The one peculiar and characteristic sin of the world is this, that whereas God would have us live for the life to come, the world would make us live for this life. (Cardinal Newman)
I am beginning to see that our world is a lot like a quilt. We all come in different colors, patterns and sizes. Alone we are something but together we can make a formidable whole. We all have a place in our world-wide quilt of humanity. Each person is in his or her place as a part of a pattern that wasn’t designed by mortal hands. Our free will, however, is starting to make a difference in the fabric of our lives.
When you make a quilt, each piece, square, triangle is stitched carefully to the next one. Each segment is dependent on the pieces connecting it to the whole. Because one piece is in place, the rest can be built accordingly. The pieces of a quilt provide a meaning and basis for the entire quilt. The world’s quilt is starting to miss spaces. The solid fabric of its connecting pieces are fraying and disappearing. God sends children into the world to step into the places left by the souls called to Heaven. He keeps older people in the world until He calls them to their eternity.
Mankind has been arranging its quilt without consulting God. Abortion leaves empty spaces and euthanasia leaves gapping holes that bring down our solidarity. You look around at your friends and relatives and wonder what life would be like without them. How many other people should be in our lives that were not given the chance to take their place in our quilt? I have heard that abortion and euthanasia weed the unproductive and unneeded. Will your child miss out on the perfect partner because they were weeded out? Will the wisdom of an older person be missing when you need it the most because someone decided they were unproductive?
The reasons for destroying our unborn and eliminating our elderly and sick are not valid, at least not to the minds that see God’s Hand in our lives. Although we will all pay for this holocaust, we, as pro-life Catholics, know where the future of our world is going. We understand why scientific cures are not being discovered. We realize why there is a lack of vocations, either in religion or marriage.
In this day the best blessing we can give anyone is to pray that they are surrounded by all the quilt pieces of life that should be there and that their children will always be surrounded by the people God planned on being there. This is a hopeful blessing although the sins of those who justify their wrongs can be seen in our lives.
I love to quilt, yet as I sew, these thoughts go through my mind. I can only pray the bits and pieces of our lives will be eventually sewn together with as much love as I put into my quilts.
“The one peculiar and characteristic sin of the world is this, that whereas God would have us live for the life to come, the world would make us live for this life. (Cardinal Newman)
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