Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Candlelight - The Maccabeats - Hanukkah
A little Hanukkah education brought to you by your friend, Abigail, the Catholic with the Jewish last name. Isn't this song great? I'm so waiting for the Catholic Mens Acappella Group with a similar style!
ht: Father Dan G.
Monday, December 6, 2010
That Ruddy Bee!
So thanks to my three year old Mimi, who I'm quickly discovering is a tiara wearing--rope touting- outdoor survivorist, we've been watching a lot of BBC's "Man vs Wild" at our house.
Bear Grylls is a former British Special Ops Force guy who runs around the world showing us couch potatoes how to survive in dangerous environments around the globe.
There is this great scene where Bear faces death from "a ruddy bee." In past episodes Bear has killed alligators and diamond backed rattlesnakes. His greatest risk to his life comes from a single bee sting to his forehead in the middle of the Sierra Nevada desert.
The single bee sting causes his face to swell, leaving him almost completely blind. The wretched looking guy is forced to continue to fight down rattlesnakes, dehydration and possible anaphylactic shock.
Bear makes this great comment "It's ironic that after all the dangerous animals I've faced, I'm in the most danger of death from a ruddy bee!"
It's a rough Advent in the Benjamin household. We're facing some minor trials that aren't a PICC line in the heart, but seem to keep coming in waves and are wearing us down.
Today I kept thinking about all the "Ruddy Bees" in my life. This Fall my family got through the big tests of Faith with Baby Tessy's life threatening illness. Yet, here I am losing it over the more minor trials my life.
My trust in Jesus is a moth eaten cloth with so many holes in it. I find it easier to trust Jesus with the big stuff (what else are you going to do but pray and trust in the NICU?) but I continue to fight trusting him with the smaller stuff.
This Advent there is a lot more deadwood that needs to be hauled out from the inside of my heart.
St. Nicholas, pray for me!
Bear Grylls is a former British Special Ops Force guy who runs around the world showing us couch potatoes how to survive in dangerous environments around the globe.
There is this great scene where Bear faces death from "a ruddy bee." In past episodes Bear has killed alligators and diamond backed rattlesnakes. His greatest risk to his life comes from a single bee sting to his forehead in the middle of the Sierra Nevada desert.
The single bee sting causes his face to swell, leaving him almost completely blind. The wretched looking guy is forced to continue to fight down rattlesnakes, dehydration and possible anaphylactic shock.
Bear makes this great comment "It's ironic that after all the dangerous animals I've faced, I'm in the most danger of death from a ruddy bee!"
It's a rough Advent in the Benjamin household. We're facing some minor trials that aren't a PICC line in the heart, but seem to keep coming in waves and are wearing us down.
Today I kept thinking about all the "Ruddy Bees" in my life. This Fall my family got through the big tests of Faith with Baby Tessy's life threatening illness. Yet, here I am losing it over the more minor trials my life.
My trust in Jesus is a moth eaten cloth with so many holes in it. I find it easier to trust Jesus with the big stuff (what else are you going to do but pray and trust in the NICU?) but I continue to fight trusting him with the smaller stuff.
This Advent there is a lot more deadwood that needs to be hauled out from the inside of my heart.
St. Nicholas, pray for me!
St. Nicholas- I love you! (Skylar's Big Adventure)
Thanks for bringing this little sweetheart home to her Mama! Please watch over all of the dear babies at Children's National Hospital this Christmas.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Math & Thiebaud
I love this painter! His work makes me feel so happy!
Maria checked out a new counting book based on Thiebaud paintings from the library that is delicious! Learning how to count to ten was never more fun.
Here's a link to fraction homework for an older kid.
Can you believe the National Gallery of Art has math homework available online?
==
Maria checked out a new counting book based on Thiebaud paintings from the library that is delicious! Learning how to count to ten was never more fun.
Here's a link to fraction homework for an older kid.
Can you believe the National Gallery of Art has math homework available online?
==
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Teamwork
Our lunch hour today was super rough. My bunny rabbit refused to sleep last night. I woke up so far behind the rushing train that is my family life that by 12:30 PM I still hadn't found the 50 seconds that I needed to put contacts in my eyes.
My husband came home for lunch. He parked a bicycle with a flat tire in the middle of our kitchen hallway.
If you've ever attempted to keep 3 curious children away from a wet, greasy piece of machinery then you can anticipate what type of chaos followed.
My kids managed to jam six pairs of hands into a dirty bicycle chain at once.
I lost my calm.
My husband lost his peace.
Three children started defending the concept of an "attractive nuisance" at the same time.
I hollered for six legs to get into six snow boots at once. My husband said "You guys don't really need to leave the house."
"Yes, we do!" I answered.
At that exact moment a wedding present, which we had nicknamed our "Carmel vase," shattered to pieces on our kitchen floor.
My husband came out and very firmly told me "We are not going to do this anymore! We are all going to stop fighting right now and start praying."
The wimpy Carmelite that I am, I sorted doubted that family prayer at that moment would work.
It did.
We prayed. We flung holy water around. My husband set the table while holding a sleeping baby and made sure that I ate actual food for the first time in 18 hours. Within 15 minutes, the storm clouds had cleared.
Now that everyone is asleep, I'm reflecting on how much of today's lunch hour demonstrates the amazing power of a 10 year marriage.
My husband and I are good teammates. The Lord has made us such. We still fuss and fret. We're normal people subject to the same stress as other people- we have lots of kids and little time and even less money. Yet we somehow had this amazing gift of faith just handed to us on our wedding day.
And because we are both Catholics, because we are two Carmelites, in the middle of a total family meltdown, my husband can just say "We're not doing this anymore! Lets all stop and pray!" and WE ALL LISTEN TO HIM!
This is so NOT how I imagined living out my life when I first got married at 26! But now that I'm an elderly 35, I find it pretty cool.
(Way to divorce-proof my marriage, Mommy Mary! I'm totally pathetic, so all the grace I've got in life is totally from you!)
My husband came home for lunch. He parked a bicycle with a flat tire in the middle of our kitchen hallway.
If you've ever attempted to keep 3 curious children away from a wet, greasy piece of machinery then you can anticipate what type of chaos followed.
My kids managed to jam six pairs of hands into a dirty bicycle chain at once.
I lost my calm.
My husband lost his peace.
Three children started defending the concept of an "attractive nuisance" at the same time.
I hollered for six legs to get into six snow boots at once. My husband said "You guys don't really need to leave the house."
"Yes, we do!" I answered.
At that exact moment a wedding present, which we had nicknamed our "Carmel vase," shattered to pieces on our kitchen floor.
My husband came out and very firmly told me "We are not going to do this anymore! We are all going to stop fighting right now and start praying."
The wimpy Carmelite that I am, I sorted doubted that family prayer at that moment would work.
It did.
We prayed. We flung holy water around. My husband set the table while holding a sleeping baby and made sure that I ate actual food for the first time in 18 hours. Within 15 minutes, the storm clouds had cleared.
Now that everyone is asleep, I'm reflecting on how much of today's lunch hour demonstrates the amazing power of a 10 year marriage.
My husband and I are good teammates. The Lord has made us such. We still fuss and fret. We're normal people subject to the same stress as other people- we have lots of kids and little time and even less money. Yet we somehow had this amazing gift of faith just handed to us on our wedding day.
And because we are both Catholics, because we are two Carmelites, in the middle of a total family meltdown, my husband can just say "We're not doing this anymore! Lets all stop and pray!" and WE ALL LISTEN TO HIM!
This is so NOT how I imagined living out my life when I first got married at 26! But now that I'm an elderly 35, I find it pretty cool.
(Way to divorce-proof my marriage, Mommy Mary! I'm totally pathetic, so all the grace I've got in life is totally from you!)
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Meet the Saints- St. Edmund Campion
Today is the feast day of one of my most favorite saints, St. Edmund Campion!
Imagine for a second that Catholicism is suddenly outlawed in Mexico. All the priests are arrested. All the nuns sent home and their convents turned into public parks and public schools. Overnight, it become illegal to attend Mass, to go to Confession or to baptize your child. What would you do?
Under King Henry VIII, that same situation happened to England. England use to be as Catholic as it's neighbor Ireland. (Remember St. Patrick was a Brit who actually converted the Irish Celts.) There were many, many famous English martyrs. Many devote Catholics in the land. Even King Henry himself got the title "defender of the Faith" from the Pope.
The serpent bit King Henry through the sin of adultery and world turned upside down for English Catholics. After years of bloody struggle, the Catholic faith was surpressed.
Enter St. Edmund Campion!
Edmund's family converted to Protestantism early, and he was raised as an Angelican Catholic. He had a brilliant career at Oxford. He was the darling student who was chosen to give a special welcome speech to King Henry's daughter, Queen Elizabeth I. She was amazed at his intelligence, charm and good looks. She told Edmund he could name his cabinet post in her church and her government.
But Edmund had a problem.
The more he studied the roots of English Protestantism, the more his soul became troubled. The more he studied the great Catholic doctors of the Church, the more he felt that the Roman Catholic Church of Rome was the true church of Christ.
What to do?
He consulted the best theological minds at Oxford. He asked one of his friends, "How can you be an expert in St. Ambrose and St. Augustine and still be an Anglican priest?" The friend answered "If I believed in these saints as well as I read them, I would indeed be in trouble. But since I don't, I'm fine!"
St. Edmund was not fine. He left Oxford. He left England. He handed his soul over to God and became a Jesuit priest. He was trained in special seminary overseas designed to train priests to help reconvert England to the Catholic faith.
After receiving Holy Orders, St. Edmund at once raced back to his homeland. His heart bleed for the Catholics who were suffering terrible pains of conscious under an oppressive ruler and who had no one to guide them. St. Edmund went from house to house in secrecy. He heard confession for hours. He soothed the fears of the few elderly priests who were still locked in jail. He celebrated Mass, baptized babies and regularized marriages.
He saved souls.
St. Edmund knew that he risked death. He demonstrated heroic courage. He wrote "a brag" to tell the Queen exactly why he was coming to England, not to have a political revolution, but a peaceful, moral revolution of the heart. He even said he hoped to convert his Queen's heart as well.
He truly loved his enemies. He says "If these my offers be refused, and my endeavours can take no place, and I, having run thousands of miles to do you good, shall be rewarded with rigour. I have no more to say but to recommend your case and mine to Almighty God, the Searcher of Hearts, who send us his grace, and see us at accord before the day of payment, to the end we may at last be friends in heaven, when all injuries shall be forgotten."
(Read his entire brag, it will make you cry!)
Queen Elizabeth was not pleased. After 2 years, St. Edmund was found. He was sentenced to death. As St. Edmund was being pulled to his execution spot, he saw one single statue of the Virgin Mary that the Protestants had not smashed to bits. He saluted Our Mother as he passed.
On December 1, 1581, St. Edmund was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn, London, England and parts of his body were displayed at the city gates as a warning to other Catholics.
St. Edmund Campion, pray for us!
(For more information on this wonderful saint I highly recommend reading Eveyln Waugh's biography entitled Edmund Campion).
Imagine for a second that Catholicism is suddenly outlawed in Mexico. All the priests are arrested. All the nuns sent home and their convents turned into public parks and public schools. Overnight, it become illegal to attend Mass, to go to Confession or to baptize your child. What would you do?
Under King Henry VIII, that same situation happened to England. England use to be as Catholic as it's neighbor Ireland. (Remember St. Patrick was a Brit who actually converted the Irish Celts.) There were many, many famous English martyrs. Many devote Catholics in the land. Even King Henry himself got the title "defender of the Faith" from the Pope.
The serpent bit King Henry through the sin of adultery and world turned upside down for English Catholics. After years of bloody struggle, the Catholic faith was surpressed.
Enter St. Edmund Campion!
Edmund's family converted to Protestantism early, and he was raised as an Angelican Catholic. He had a brilliant career at Oxford. He was the darling student who was chosen to give a special welcome speech to King Henry's daughter, Queen Elizabeth I. She was amazed at his intelligence, charm and good looks. She told Edmund he could name his cabinet post in her church and her government.
But Edmund had a problem.
The more he studied the roots of English Protestantism, the more his soul became troubled. The more he studied the great Catholic doctors of the Church, the more he felt that the Roman Catholic Church of Rome was the true church of Christ.
What to do?
He consulted the best theological minds at Oxford. He asked one of his friends, "How can you be an expert in St. Ambrose and St. Augustine and still be an Anglican priest?" The friend answered "If I believed in these saints as well as I read them, I would indeed be in trouble. But since I don't, I'm fine!"
St. Edmund was not fine. He left Oxford. He left England. He handed his soul over to God and became a Jesuit priest. He was trained in special seminary overseas designed to train priests to help reconvert England to the Catholic faith.
After receiving Holy Orders, St. Edmund at once raced back to his homeland. His heart bleed for the Catholics who were suffering terrible pains of conscious under an oppressive ruler and who had no one to guide them. St. Edmund went from house to house in secrecy. He heard confession for hours. He soothed the fears of the few elderly priests who were still locked in jail. He celebrated Mass, baptized babies and regularized marriages.
He saved souls.
St. Edmund knew that he risked death. He demonstrated heroic courage. He wrote "a brag" to tell the Queen exactly why he was coming to England, not to have a political revolution, but a peaceful, moral revolution of the heart. He even said he hoped to convert his Queen's heart as well.
He truly loved his enemies. He says "If these my offers be refused, and my endeavours can take no place, and I, having run thousands of miles to do you good, shall be rewarded with rigour. I have no more to say but to recommend your case and mine to Almighty God, the Searcher of Hearts, who send us his grace, and see us at accord before the day of payment, to the end we may at last be friends in heaven, when all injuries shall be forgotten."
(Read his entire brag, it will make you cry!)
Queen Elizabeth was not pleased. After 2 years, St. Edmund was found. He was sentenced to death. As St. Edmund was being pulled to his execution spot, he saw one single statue of the Virgin Mary that the Protestants had not smashed to bits. He saluted Our Mother as he passed.
On December 1, 1581, St. Edmund was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn, London, England and parts of his body were displayed at the city gates as a warning to other Catholics.
St. Edmund Campion, pray for us!
(For more information on this wonderful saint I highly recommend reading Eveyln Waugh's biography entitled Edmund Campion).
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