On the Sidelines

I confess, when I watch televised sporting events with Erik, I'm usually watching the fringe action. In football, when a player runs out of bounds into the sidelines, I am looking at the gaggle of people on the sidelines to see if I recognize a familiar face. Hey, that's where the photographers are! :)

SO, for those of you who are interested, the Diocese of Salina is having a new bishop installed and ordained tomorrow (YAY!!!!). The good Lord willing, I'll be photographing it (ya know, as long as this baby doesn't initiate labor between now and 2 p.m. tomorrow).

The event is a by invitation only one, but if you're interested in checking it out, there are several ways to take advantage of technology to do so (if you've never seen a bishop being ordained, I suggest you watch; it's pretty neat).

Option 1: EWTN Audio feed (click HERE) - 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Option 2: Watch LIVE on the Diocese of Sailna's Website (click HERE ... I believe the red link on the right column is the correct one; you may also try THIS link, but it appears to be 'broken' for this exact moment; I suspect it will be live tomorrow) - 2 p.m Tuesday
Option 3: LIVE at 2 p.m. on EWTN cable channel; Replay of the ordination at 11 p.m. Tuesday.

You may also check out the special section on our Bishop-Elect at the Online Catholic Register HERE.

Divine Mercy Novena! :)

Welcome to Good Friday!

Today starts one of my favorite devotions - The Divine Mercy Novena (Info HERE. It consists of prayers said for 9 days and concludes on Divine Mercy Sunday, one of my favorite Holy Days of the year.

This is from St. Faustina's Diary - which is an insanely LONG book, but really amazing if you can take the time to read it (I honestly think it took me 9 months - it's LONG!).

Awesome Adoration!

Since moving away from Hays, I haven't had a "regular" adoration hour here in town. I really miss it, but with my schedule all over the place, it seems difficult to find a good time.

WELL, the Catholic high school in town started Adoration (prayer hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament/Eucharist/Jesus' Body for the non-Catholic readers in the bunch) on Fridays at the school. I signed right up!

The real perk to doing it at a school is the timing. You get summers, holidays and spring break OFF! Now, don't tisk me for being lazy .... summers tend to get insane, as do holidays, so it's nice to not have to contend with an extra item. Especially not feeling guilty about skipping or trying to find someone else to take it for me.

I know, I know .... when schedules get busy, God will provide and all of that. Evidently I don't have enough trust in my ability to trust fully that my head won't explode, so for the time being, this is a really good solution for me.

The one thing that is vastly different than my collegiate or Hays adoration hours is the time of day. Previously, I had middle of the night hours. 2 a.m. Sunday, 3 a.m. Thursday and maybe a Wednesday hour in college. I can't quite remember. The hours worked well for me because I KNEW I wouldn't be doing anything else at those times. Taking an hour in the daytime was a bit of a shock to my system. The stunning thing is that the hour seems to go by so much more quickly when I'm not thinking "Please God, let C come early so I can go home and go back to sleep." I've been fairly surprised.

The only "difficulty" if you could call it that is the students. Some of the teachers bring kids in for prayer time. It's school. It's expected. It's GOOD that their teachers bring them in.

On Friday, though, there were some girls making faces at each other behind their teacher's back. In the pew in front of me. I wanted to throttle them. Seriously. This is prayer time. Amazingly, I refrained. I decided since I was in the school to pray for the students, I should do just that, not be irritated at their extremely poor manners in front of the exposed Blessed Sacrament.

The amusing thing is I was telling Padre about it on Sunday before Mass, and he quipped, "No, don't smack them in Adoration, wait until you get in the hall before doing that."

I'm still giggling about his response.

Advent

Some of my blog-friends are really getting into the spirit of Advent, and I have to admit, it makes me want to, too!

In years past, the advent wreath has come out, but that's about it. But this year, I wanted to do more. So I picked up the little blue prayer/reflection book our parish has and we've done pretty good about lighting the wreath and reading the reflection. It doesn't get any fancier, I'm afraid, but even though it's a small start, I'll take a start!


Monica rocks the socks off of creativity/planning for Advent.

My friend, Mary, also has been doing some great Advent-related events with her kiddos.

One last Advent tidbit.

I was in Hobby Lobby yesterday and was passing the candle section. A woman had a few purple candles in her hand, and I quipped "replenishing the Advent wreath?" She looked up and smiled. "Yes," she said. "I've been to Target and all over the mall, but nobody has advent wreath candles." She was able to find them at Hobby Lobby, though. For any of you looking to re-stock for the trusty Advent wreath, there you have it (our Hobby Lobby is open far more than our local Catholic bookstore).

Maryland 2010 — pt. 5

There was this magnificent path with the stations of the cross ... I seriously loved it!


It was actually a mosaic, which I simply love!


Seriously, well done!


I could have taken photos of these all day!


This isn't one of the stations, but I still liked it. :)

Maryland 2010 — pt. 3

Fun times! :)



My friend, Isaac, left, with Jeremy, right.




It's been so long since I've been there, so don't remember what this is exactly, but like it.


Another little prayer area.


Really serene.


How many Mary statues do you see in this photo? :)


I believe this is the children of Fatima state?

Christians during Lent

Growing up, I always did things "because you're Catholic." I didn't mind or think much of it. I just got the impression other faith denominations didn't really observe the liturgical seasons as we Catholics did. Especially Lent.

In high school, I had non-Catholic friends, but they didn't observe Lent in any way.

When I was in college, I had a college roomie who observed the practice of giving something up for Lent. She wasn't Catholic and I have to admit I was confused. But I liked it. Along life's path, I've met other friends who are not Catholic, but also give things up for Lent. Just today, I was talking with someone who is not particularly religious, but gives something up for Lent.

SO interesting.

Somehow, I thought only Catholics did this. Not in a "we're better than them" way. But perhaps because Catholics are "more strict" in some regards.

Boy howdy was I wrong!

I guess I wish somewhere along the way someone would have TOLD me that other Christians observe Lent. Not all of them, but other denominations give up things they enjoy for Lent, too. Seriously, how could is it possible that I've lived for more than a quarter of a century and NOT known this???

The Infinite Frog

Erik and I were talking last night, and I mentioned that perhaps we should pray to the Infant of Prague.


Erik's response was "Is that a cousin of Kermit?"


HUUUUH!?!???!? I thought.

"You know, the infinite frog .... is he Kermit the Frog's cousin?" Erik persisted.

Groan.

So, as you see, while Erik is becoming more versed in the Catholic faith, there are certainly gaps, such as "The Infinite Frog."

Preparing for Advent ....

Some days, my prayer life is rockin' and at other times it needs much improvement. Last night, I thought I might get back into my rosary-saying habits as Advent nears.


So, last night, I was praying the Joyful Mysteries in preparation for Advent. Anyone else love Fr. Peyton's Rosary Book? Mine's hidden away somewhere, but I like applying the principles to my rosary time.


My chain of thought started with Mary doing something she probably didn't want to do. I'm pretty sure she didn't plan to be a mother. Didn't plan to marry Joseph ... just go down the list. But she DID those things. And she probably did them joyfully. With cheer. Hmmmmm....I don't always react that way when I'm doing something I don't want to do.

THEN I got to thinking, 'How did she know she was supposed to do all these things?' ... and it came to me: "She was steeped in prayer."

We are preparing for Advent, and it's a good time to be steeped in prayer. I have to admit, that's one area of my life that's been slacking/lacking lately, and a new liturgical season is always a good excuse to start over.

So, friends, I'm asking YOU .... how do you "steep yourself in prayer" for Advent .... I'm looking for some good and practical suggestions here .... leave a comment!!!!!!

Wanna join?

Today starts the Divine Mercy Novena. The feast of Divine Mercy is one week after Easter.

You can read up on it HERE, as well as get the novena info (you pray once/day for 9 days, and it ends on Divine Mercy Sunday). If you'd like to pray it w/ me, that would rock.


St. Faustina's my most favorite saint EVER! It took me about 9 months to plow through her diary.

Happy Good Friday (or what's left of it).

After Communion?

A few weeks ago, Erik asked me why some people hang around a few minutes after Mass and pray, while others scamper out of church. Good question! We talked about the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and hence his presence in US after we receive him.


"So .... what do you pray at that time?" he asked.

GOOD QUESTION.

I think it's different for all of us. And admittedly, it's VERY personal. But he was wondering, so I shared ... but I know we have some Catholic blog readers, and if you're willing to share, I'd be interested to know. Maybe I can even improve my own prayers! (it's Lent, after all!) :-)

In fairness, I'll share what I do. I have to admit, it feels juvenille. So I'm a little shy, but here goes.

I learned this in 5th grade, and it just kind of stuck. I've been doing it ever since.

ALTAR.

A-adore. Tell God you adore/honor him.
L-love. Tell Him how much you love/appreciate him.
T-thank. Thank Him for the blessings in your life.
A-ask. If you need help or guidance, ask for help.
R-resolve. Make a commitment to better yourself in some way.

I also throw in some other favorite prayers, but that's my drill.

If you're willing to share, I'd LOVE to hear what you have to say! I think it's important to point out that prayer is extremely personal and different for everyone. If you're comfortable sharing, please do so with a comment!

Thanks.

Baptismal day

Random fact: both Erik and Karen were baptized on Sept. 6. The years were far, far apart, but we were both baptized today.

Happy baptism to us!

(we found out this random fact when we had to gather our baptismal certificates for marriage preparation).

A thousand words

This picture is worth more than 1,000 words in my book. I LOVE IT!

Cutline: The Dalai Lama, left, looks on as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, of South Africa, does an impromptu dance move after remarking that his wireless microphone made him feel like pop star Michael Jackson, during an event Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at the University of Washington in Seattle. The event took place on the final day of a five-day visit by the Dalai Lama to Seattle centered around the theme of "Seeds of Compassion." (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

I simply ADORE Archbishop Desmond Tutu! And all this week, I have heard interviews with The Dali Lama on NPR, so I enjoyed this photo very much and wanted to share it with you guys.

First Holy Communion

In 12 hours, our 2nd grade CCD class will begin Mass for First Holy Communion.

Miss Allison and I have taught CCD in Ellis for 3 years now. The first year, we taught 1st grade. The last two years, we've taught 2nd grade.

I LOVE it! These kids are bright, have loads of perspective and grasp so much more theology than some give them credit for.

Anyhow, here's our group photo from last week:


And of course, something silly (c'mon! We're talking about SECOND GRADERS here!)