I have to admit that I've added a little dulce de leche to my espresso this morning and maybe some whipped cream. With the only excuse that its monday. So sue me.
I've got a very cranky little girl this morning who has already cried/thrown a tantrum over her favourite dress having to be washed and the atrocity of a couple crayons being found on the floor. It could very well be a long day.
I'm off to tackle my mountain of laundry-have a decent Monday! ;)
Here I go again! Make sure to go to Jen's for the real thing!
{one}
Its been smoking hot this week. (Well, at least for Alberta.) So the the kids and I have been out in the sprinkler trying to absorb every last minute of warm sunlight. I feel like I'm storing it up for winter or something! And I may be letting my kids run around butt-nakey as Dom says. Seriously, its ok, I don't have neighbours for MILES!
{two}
Its official; the beloved husband and I have watched every episode of Burn Notice this summer. Thats 4 and a half seasons worth. But it is a pretty entertaining show that manages to maintain a fairly high level of writing, although you probably have to like the whole spy-genre to really get into it. Its definitely worth checking out though, maybe not every episode in a month or so, but worth it!
{three}
This may just be my hormones talking but this commercial gets me every time! I know its just hawking diapers, but it is a really beautiful and simple ad that always gets me to the verge of tears. I've been meaning to post it for a while, and then a couple friends had it on Facebook this week so I thought I better get on the bandwagon! Enjoy it!
{four}
This week I've tried to attack the unenviable chore of investigating the new music settings for the new Roman Missal. I'm the only music minister at our parish so I figured I should actually take a look at the changes. Thats right, I said only. Our parish is so little I'm basically the only one who can read music. But in reality I end up playing every weekend, while usually only preparing while we're driving into Mass. Needless to say, learning new Mass parts doesn't appeal to me much as I've been playing all known Mass parts since I was ten. I better start practicing.
{five}
While we're talking about the new Missal, which I'm personally pumped about, do I live in the only backwater diocese that has yet to even talk about the introduction of a new Missal at Mass?! Why haven't the priests been talking about it EVERY week? How are the regular joe-schmo-go-to-Mass-every-two-monthsish catholics ever going to get a clue as to whats going on?! I think they should have been talking about it for at least the past year, but now it should be talked about at every Mass so people at least know its going to happen. It kinda drives me nuts. However, I also don't like the idea of the new Missal being an excuse to bring in jumbotrons into the sanctuary. This has happened at my in-laws mega city church as "it'll help people so much with the Missal changes". You know what will help people with the Missal changes? Going to Mass every week and paying attention!!
Ok, rant concluded. I'll try working on these issues later.
{six}
A painting of St. Anne by Jean Bellegambe
It was the Feast of the Nativity of Mary yesterday, and I always like to think about how St. Anne felt that day. St. Anne is a smidge more relatable in the labor and birth department than the Blessed Mother. While Mary avoided the nasty effect of original sin that we like to refer to as the pain of natural childbirth, St. Anne had to do it the old-testament, I mean the old-fashioned way. I'm sure it was a normal experience labor wise, and then upon seeing beautiful Immaculate baby Mary I wonder if St. Anne looked down and thought "Whoa-this baby looks completely free of the effects of original sin!" But then I think, isn't that what every mother feels when she looks down at the tiny beautiful face of her baby for the first time? Its so beautiful that in St. Anne's case it was reality! I wonder what the big theologians think about that!
How was that for a random saint meditation?!
{seven}
And in other news-I'm pregnant! And not just a little preggo, about 5 months pregnant. I thought I had to break down and say something because fairly soon I'll upload a picture in which I'm the size of a small house and no one will know whats going on! So baby number 4 is due in the middle of January. Its a little scary writing that down! I may write more on this later ;)
Alberta just enacted a distracted driving law that basically makes doing anything like texting, talking on your cell phone, eating, trying to hit your kids in the back seat, etc. illegal! And they should probably add reading the new J.Crew catalog to that list. I picked it up the other day with my sister and as she was flipping through it beside me I was dying with each new page and cashmere sweater! We made it home safely and then I mentally spent thousands of dollars-the fall line is perfection and I just love all the great colours in the classics like the pencil skirts and jackets!
This weekend I finally tackled the awful tasks of washing my outside windows. It involved a lot of swearing. And the kids were so shocked at what I was doing they wanted to play "cleaning". You know you don't clean enough when your kids think its a novelty.
Given a couple rags, a bucket of water, and a squeegee they had a pretty good time.
Then after in the house I just asked Gemma what she was doing when I noticed her scrubbing the windows with a wet wipe: "I'm cleaning the house for daddy."
"But what about cleaning the house for me?" I said.
"Maybe I'll clean the house for you tomorrio mama, today I'm cleaning just for daddy."
From Elle Decor this month I couldn't help but laugh a little at Gwyneth Paltrow's Favourite Things Shortlist. Not getting into my relationship with Gwyneth, I can appreciate not being able to live without Penguin Classics and I can attempt to understand not being able to live without hand painted De Gournay wallpaper, but what made me chuckle is this designer customized "religion shelf" that holds the Bible, Quran, and Tao Te Ching all at the same level. Paltrow says "its how I like to think about religion."
I think it should be renamed the Juxtaposed Relativism Shelf.
Last Sunday's Gospel reading and the theme of "take up your cross and follow me" has been on my mind all week. I think it amounts to going through a time where picking up my cross seems like a heavy load but also the fact that the taking up of the cross is much less of a daily choice but a daily must. Last week I faced a couple bad days, well, badly. I was short in the joyful cross taking department, and not a lot of grace seemed to be flowing my way. Thus last Sunday's Gospel hit me in a way that made me think about it again and again.
The great passage from St. Matthew's Gospel is first of all pretty serious when you think about it. Christ's intense words to his disciples are spoken complete with reference to Satan, and gaining the whole world, and angels coming to judge our actions, it already makes you take notice and hopefully gives you some serious pause. The kind of pause where you think, "Of course I've heard this before but each time I hear it doesn't make it any easier." Because this passage is HUGE. It stops you in your spiritual tracks because its about YOUR life, and more importantly, losing your life.
The priest's homily which followed was centred around the anecdote of a person who lost their life savings to Bernie Madoff, and how upon losing all their money suddenly woke up happy to have all the things they took for granted before. As anecdotes go this one wasn't horrible, but does it apply to that Gospel?
The homily left me disappointed because this Gospel is the crux of our Christian life. When I think about how seriously the saints have written about their struggles and trials, and their joys, in taking up Christ's cross I think of the passion and intensity they must have experienced. And I know from each serious Catholic in my life, that their crosses are tough and serious business. I don't think I've ever encountered someone going through serious difficulties accepting and dealing with their own crosses wake up and with the help of a simple platitude be able to set off on their jolly way.
But I do not want to dwell on the idea that everyones grumbling about either. A true mark of holiness is a person's ability to carry joy to the world while being under the intense pressure of a personal cross. I just believe that these facts of the spiritual life are too serious to dismiss as something that can simply be overcome with a slight attitude adjustment.
I find this Gospel in a way comforting. Christ is saying this to everyone. Not just me, even though sometimes when I'm feeling down and that its only I who could be going through something so awful (complete with violin in background). And Jesus knew exactly what he was talking about and still knows exactly what he's talking about. Which is something that gives comfort when we feel like we have no idea whats going on! I'm also encouraged by these words of Father Andre Louf: " When our hour has arrived, God's grace will also be there, and very small things may suffice to help in our simple acceptance of and co-operation with grace."
