Every Knee Must Bend

Though he was in the form of God,
Jesus did not deem equality with God
something to be grasped at.

Rather, he emptied himself
and took the form of a slave,
being born in the likeness of men.

He was known to be of human estate,
and it was thus that he humbled himself,
obediently accepting even death,
death on a cross!

Because of this
God highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
above every other name,

So that at Jesus' name
every knee must bend
in the heavens, on the earth,
and under the earth,
and every tongue proclaim
to the glory of God the Father:
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Philippians 2:6-11

Thy Will Be Done

"He was spurned and avoided by men,
a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,
One of those from whom men hide their faces,
spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,
our sufferings that he endured,
While we thought of him as stricken,
as one smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our offenses,
crushed for our sins.
Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep,
each following his own way;
But the Lord laid upon him
the guilt of us all.
Though he was harshly treated, he submitted
and opened not his mouth;
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers,
he was silent and opened not his mouth...

Because of his affliction
he shall see the light in fullness of days;
Through his suffering, my servant
shall justify many.
and their guilt he shall bear.
Therefore I will give him his portion among the great,
and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
Because he surrendered himself to death
and was counted among the wicked;
And he shall take away the sins of many,
and win pardon for their offenses."

Isaiah 53:3-7, 11-12

Another Profound Meditation

The Wedding at Cana has always been my favorite bible story. I love that Jesus worked his first public miracle at a wedding, underscoring the dignity of marriage. I love that this miracle was wrought through the intercession of Our Lady--Jesus refuses his mother nothing. He called her "woman", which at first seems curious or even disrespectful, but when looked at on a deeper level is so profound. He is affirming her role as the "new Eve", the "woman" foretold in Genesis whose seed would crush the head of the serpent. I am especially moved by the fact that Our Lady was so completely united to God's will that she was willing to set her Son on the path to the cross before his "hour" had come. She knew. And she still asked.
Our Blessed Mother's last recorded words in the Bible were spoken at the Wedding at Cana, and they echo down through the centuries to us even today: "Do whatever He tells you."

Happy Catholic has posted a series of meditations on The Wedding at Cana and Our Lord's Passion by Fulton Sheen. They are not to be missed: (I have them on my Shared Items list, but they really deserve more attention)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Jesus Meets His Mother

Charlotte has a beautiful meditation on this station. It moved me to tears this morning. Go read it. You will be blessed.

H is for Humility or For the Love of Cheesecake

Well, in order to make the Bailey's Irish Cream Cheesecake I was hoping to prepare for St. Patrick's Day, I needed that very special ingredient....Bailey's Irish Cream. The problem was that I was going to have to bring my three youngest children with me to the liquor store. Unfortunately, I had no alternative, so off we went.
I pulled into the parking lot, took a deep breath, and unloaded the kids from the van.
Feeling very "bad mother-ish", I led my 3 year old by the hand into the store, with my 7 & 10 year old boys tagging along behind. Now, there's a Kodak moment for ya!
I was delighted to spot a display of Bailey's just inside the door. This would be a quick trip into the land of Humility.
My three year old, who is not feeling well and is a bit on the grumpy side, said, in a loud voice upon entering the store, "LET'S GET A CART!"
Oh. my. gosh.
Inside my head: now these people think i always get a CART at the liquor store, oh my gosh..what should I do? What should I say?
"No honey, we don't need a cart. We're only getting one thing" (loud enough for the cashier to hear me) should I add, "for a recipe?".....
This was when the little grumpasaurus began crying...you know....loudly. She wanted to ride in a cart.
By this time, I was dragging her to the checkout where the cashier tried to talk to her, only to be met with more howls. I quickly paid for my booze and the four of us exited the premises, about 2 minutes after we entered it. Oh, what a long 2 minutes!
I should mention that I am not a teetotaler...I enjoy a drink once in a while...I just usually try not to involve my children in my alcohol consumption. I'm funny that way.
I guess this was just another "gift" of mortification from Our Lord this Lent. He has been so generous with me.

A wise priest once told me, "If you pray for humility, expect to be humiliated." Yes, I can say it is quite an effective remedy for pride. And it seems to be a prayer that always gets answered;)

This cheesecake had better be good!

My thoughts on Lent

You know, Lent is a funny thing. I began this Lent with great, concrete plans, which I prayerfully considered before finalizing. And then God laughed....I had made plans. Yes, I had consulted Him and asked for His direction. I still feel those plans are good, well thought out plans, which will produce much fruit, but Our Lord in His Mercy has shown me some other areas that I really need to work on...things I would never have thought of on my own. Almost miraculously, I could suddenly hear the tone with which I speak to my family...and it wasn't tender, gentle or kind. It was tired, impatient and sarcastic. My heart broke. I was horrified. As the mom, I set the tone for the family, after all, the mother is the heart of the family. I have to change this. I have to do better. Self-knowledge can be so painful, but it is always a gift to help us grow.
I did not give up chocolate this year. I was on to "bigger and better" things, I thought. But....I have not been able to eat chocolate this Lent....it seems so frivolous and unnecessary. Now, if you know me, you will know that I NEVER put the words 'chocolate' and 'unnecessary' together! This is truly the Lord's work. ;)
So many times I have opened a book to a certain passage or glanced at an article that spoke directly to my heart. These little nudges are Lenten gifts to me from a loving Father. He wants me with Him, and He is showing me the path.

Plans for observing Lent

What should we give up for Lent?
This is our younger children's view of how to observe the sacrificial season of Lent. I have a tendency to "over-plan and overwhelm", which normally ends in dismal failure. So, this year I am aiming for the elusive balance that will challenge us, force us from our comfort zone and hopefully, into spiritual growth, but not overwhelm us.
This article was a tremendous help and inspiration for me. I realized that I really do need a plan. We all do.
So, hubby and I sat down with the kids yesterday and began planning for Lent. I made a worksheet for each of us listing the three foci (sp?) for Lent: Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving with 2 subheadings under each category. One was 'individual' and the other was 'family'. We brainstormed about the things we wanted to do as a family:

*Jesus Tree readings (making the actual Jesus tree kit will perhaps become a summer project)
* Evening Rosary
* Eucharistic Adoration- one hour per week (which will hopefully become permanent, not just a Lenten practice)
* 12:10pm Mass at our Parish on Tuesdays and Fridays
* Stations of the Cross on Fridays
One of our traditional Lenten practices is doing the Stations of the Cross at home. Our version includes lighting 12 candles, with one to be blown out after each of the first 12 stations. At Station 12, when Jesus dies on the cross, the candle is blown out and we are in darkness, because the Light has gone from the world. Dad, aided by a flashlight, leads us in the last 2 stations in darkness. It keeps the kids focused and involved--they love blowing out candles. We use a child's station of the cross booklet (I've ordered new ones for this year). We will try to go to Stations at our Church at least once during Lent.
We will be fasting from sweets (not 'Sweets'--our family:) and electronics as a family. We also decided that we eat out waaaaay too much, so we will curtail that practice and donate the money we save to our local St. Vincent de Paul society.
We discussed some ideas for our personal Lenten sacrifices and let everyone think and pray about what each of us will do individually for Lent. Tonight we will meet with the children and help them firm up their plans.
This sounds kind of like "overkill", but experience has shown me that we tend to make excuses for not keeping our Lenten sacrifices when our plans are not concrete. I for one am excited to have it all written out for me...like a contract...I just need that.
I even made plans for our Lenten Altar!
Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday:
* purple cloth
* the crucifix my mil brought back from the Holy Land
* Salt dough Crown of Thorns.
* purple candle
The candles we use for the Stations of the Cross will adorn our dining room table. I will try to get pix and post them once we get it all set up.
Holy Week:
* purple cloth
* grotto
* crucifix
* statue of Christ in Gethsemane
* vase of palms
The crown of thorns will move to the dining room table.
Easter Altar
* white and gold altar cloth
* empty grotto with the stone rolled aside
* Risen Christ statue
* homemade Paschal Candle
* and flowers!!!!
The crown of thorns, devoid of toothpicks/thorns, will be beautifully transformed and will adorn the table.
I am pretty sure I am going to steal Jessica's Lenten Calendar idea, too. We will be using this great book with the kids during co-op. The DVDs "Jesus of Nazareth" and "The Passion of the Christ" will also have a place in our Lenten program. (The Passion will NOT be seen by the littles)
I have firmed up my own personal resolutions, but I am still up in the air about my spiritual reading. I am considering several different books--The Love Dare, The Domestic Church, Room by Room, Full of Grace, the Dolorous Passion of Our Lord by Anne Catherine Emmerich and The Privilege of Being a Woman. But I haven't decided yet. I am open to suggestions, also!
It's a really good feeling to be so prepared. I really hope this will be a very fruitful Lent. As our visiting priest said on Sunday, "Your Easter will only be as good as your Lent."
Let the penance begin!!