I Know...It's Old News Already!

I'm just now getting around to posting my Triduum and Easter experience. Everyone else beat me to the punch! I'm gonna do it anyway!

Holy Thursday Mass was, as usual, AWESOME! I had mixed emotions about the decision to go from a mix of male and female (of various ages) parishioners for the foot washing to all males but I thought it ended up being a really beautiful foot washing all the same. I was speaking with someone who said it was supposed to be all males because it was representative of the apostles and the apostles were all males. Maybe but the argument breaks down when you consider that the apostles did not range in age from about 8 to 80 as our males did! There was another change that I did not think I would like one bit but ended up loving. In the past the oils were presented at the beginning of Mass - I think even before Mass began - by people who represented the oils in a certain way. For example, the oil of the catechumins would be usually be brought down by a couple with a newborn who was going to be baptized (like my husband, Big Bear and myself when she was 4 months old and being baptized that Easter Sunday!) and some of the folks who would be entering the church at the vigil. But, the way they did it this year ended up being really meaningful to me but I couldn't put my finger on why until I read Laura H's view on it.

I was pleased also to see this: women carrying the sacred oils to Fr L, who waited for them at the entrance to the sanctuary. As TPC mentioned, the anointing with oils was/is associated with women in the New Testament. I always enjoy seeing women take on traditionally "feminine" roles, especially ones like this. The women did not enter the sanctuary, they simply approached it. They handed over their gifts, were thanked, and returned to their seats.

What made it more beautiful was that the 3 women who quietly presented the oils were our parish's 3 deacon's wives who quietly serve our parish in an important and special way. The deacon's serve our community and, deservedly, are very well recognized and appreciated for this service. But the deacon's wives serve the parish just as much by giving up their husbands, however, their service is a very quiet, unrecognized sacrifice - just like the uncelebrated service of the women in Jesus' day - like the women who went to the tomb that Easter morning. I am of course, slightly biased, as my mom is one of these deacon's wives! LOL!

The Good Friday service was just as lovely. The chanting of the readings has been much discussed in our parishioners blogs (here, here and here that I know of!) as well as among people in real life - like at the Easter Egg hunt on Saturday morning when I got to chat with the guy who chanted the Jesus part in the Gospel! Yes, I'm a personal friend of Jesus - LOL! As they have all said, the guy who did the first reading and the Responsorial Psalm just blew everyone away. No one was even moving as he sang, "eli, eli, lama sabachthani!".

I would not have a clue how the Easter Vigil went, except for what my pop told me, because when I called my pop on my way to the mall to buy a dress for said occasion and asked him what time it started, I nearly had a wreck! It didn't even START until 9:10...or as my dad said, "It starts at your bedtime"! There was no way I was making it to that so we rearranged plans for Sunday. I was really bummed to miss it but it ended up working out better because if I had not gone, it would not have seemed like Easter because I wouldn't have heard them play and sing Resucito!!! My favorite Easter song EVER...here's another story about this song from last year!

And then...the highlight....Campo's baptism on Easter Sunday afternoon! It was beautiful. We were surrounded by family and friends. It was loving and special! I so appreciate my dad, who after all of the week's activities, took the time to do this for us on such a busy day - program and all! And I really, really appreciate my mom who had the party at her house afterwards - complete with meal, decorations and gifts for the girls! It was fabulous! Here are some pics of the special event!

Special Week Calls For Special Prayers

I should have posted this a week or two ago but just thought of it this morning. Pray extra hard for your parish priests and deacons and whoever else is instrumental in liturgy planning and execution this week. This week is filled with the most beautiful masses and services of the liturgical year. Translation - a LOT of work! Even though my dad is a deacon, I never had a clue as to how much planning and preparation and hard work goes into this one week of the year. It wasn't until I worked at my church for a few years that I realized that this week alone translates into weeks of meetings to plan the masses, time spent contacting people to ask them to be a part of the masses, and practices to get the people who are part of the masses to do the things that they need to do in the right order/speed/way that they need to do them! In other words, it is a lot of work and only a few people doing all of that work!

However, it is all worth it on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week when the Church's most beautiful liturgies take place. I am so pumped up right now just thinking of the week coming up. The feet washing and altar stripping (which I get to do again - 3rd year in a row!) on Thursday. Kissing the cross on Friday. And, well, I can't narrow the Easter Vigil down to just one thing...the dark, the candles, the beautiful readings that tell you how we have gotten where we are, the people entering the church, and on and on and on!!!

My sweet husband, who knows just how much this week means to me, has encouraged me to try to make all 3 of the masses/services (I'm not sure what the correct term for Friday's service is since it's not a mass) this week despite the fact that it means he will have to have all 3 kids alone night after night. It is even more amazing that he is so understanding when you take into account that he is not Catholic! I don't know that I'll make it to all 3 but I'm sure going to try.

And tomorrow, we get to wave our palms in celebration of Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Even though we know what is to follow, for this one day, he gets to be the celebrated King. I wonder if He even knew that what was about to happen was so close at this point. I hope not, I hope He got to enjoy it...at least for that one day.

Motivational Minute - Got Milk?

Motivational Minute Quote of the Week

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew.
Saint Francis de Sales (1567 - 1622)

This quote, one of the first 3 I read (it usually takes a LONG time!), is so perfect for this week! My weight loss efforts were temporarily put on hold as I played with a cow's milk free diet for a while and ultimately said...um, not gonna happen! My baby was diagnosed with a cow's milk allergy (read about it here) and I made the heart wrenching decision to cease nursing and switch to formula. The irony is that I am finding out through this process that I am actually somewhat of a cow. No...I'm not putting myself down for being overweight. I think I'm literally part cow...as in, I make SO much milk! The last time I pumped was this past Saturday and I've still Got Milk! Get it...the milk ads. Ha ha!

Anyway, TMI, I know! But, one of my regrets about going to formula is that I was really starting to roll with the losing weight while nursing thing...meaning, I was losing and still eating A LOT! Now I really have to watch it very closely - bummer.

Now, normally my instinct would be to give up at this point. I've already been derailed by all of the craziness of the past two weeks. I haven't lost anything recently. I'm no closer than I was before. But I don't want to give up. I want to have patience with myself and my situation. I do not want to lose courage in trying to look at what I'm doing wrong and I want to work to improve.

Lent is great time to do that spiritually as well. I actually went to confession last weekend for the first time in forever...longer than I care to admit! Since I went, I've tried to take a little time each evening to think over my day and what I've done to separate myself from God. I've noticed that when I don't go to confession often, I have a harder time with my examination of conscience. It sounds crazy! It seems like there should be more sins the longer I've gone without confessing! But I think when I don't go regularly, I tend to gloss over what I've done wrong. After taking that step to go, to say the sins out loud and then to hear those wonderful, soothing, healing words, "I absolve you of your sins", it tends to really stand out to me afterwards when I fail. I think that is one of the graces we receive when we confess our sins and why it is important to go often.

So...whatever it is you are struggling with, I hope that you will be patient with the situation and yourself. And don't lose courage!

Motivational Minute

Motivational Quote of the Week:

If you want to look young and thin, hang around old fat people.
Jim Eason

How's that for motivation? This is about how motivated I'm feeling this week! I'm pretty cranky from my sugar withdrawal as a result of giving up sweets for Lent - at least the shaking and moaning has ceased! Seriously, it hasn't been that bad but it has been tough. I have had lots of opportunities to offer up my cravings since Lent began on Wednesday. But, I'm doing it so I'm giving myself credit for that. I'm also keeping up with my water drinking pretty well. And...get ready to be shocked...I actually exercised the other day! Okay, it was one day and I haven't done it since...but I've thought about it! I got this Dancing with the Stars workout video. Dorky huh? I like that kind of dancing workout though. Jazzercise is my favorite type of exercise and the only kind I'll stick with but even if I had the discretionary income at this time to do such a thing, I couldn't find a time that I could get away to do a class. None of them fit into my schedule! So...I have to find alternatives. The Dancing with the Stars is actually fun to do - plus you get to stare at Maks! Now there's motivation! I would just rather be on the computer when I have free time...like now, I should be shaking my groove thang! But...I think I'll just go and find some old, fat people to hang out with for now! See you next week!

Oh yeah, feel free to share your favorite workout video with me! I'm always looking for something I'll really enjoy and stick with more than a few times!

Lenten Activity For Kids

I think we'll do this prayer pot activity at our house. It is so easy for parents to do and for little ones to understand! I'm a little late in starting it obviously but I think it could fit right in easily if I start this Sunday! And of course, I'm not going to make the pots - I'll just go buy one if I don't have one in my craft box (which I think I do!).

Motivational Minute

Motivational Quote of the Week:

It's never crowded along the extra mile.
Wayne Dyer

I LOVE the motivational quote I found for this week. It's perfect for what has been on my mind lately...remember how I teased you last week with what I'm giving up for Lent which should also help with my weight loss efforts? Well...I'll tell you about that after I fill you in on how I've done this past week!

My challenge was to drink more water - at least 24 oz a day or 8 oz every time I nursed the baby. I did pretty well! I didn't meet my goal every day but I on the days that I didn't do well, I at least drank more water than usual. I've gotten to that point where I crave water. I reach for it before I reach for my diet coke...but...not before my coffee in the morning - huh, yeah, water before coffee - HA! At one point I had lost a pound but with people bringing us delicious meals that usually include even more delicious desserts...well, that's what we're going to talk about next.

SUGAR!!! I've decided that I am a sugar-aholic. Hello, my name is Stevie, and I'm a sugar-aholic. You know what I really love right now? Valentine candy - yep - those little drops of greatness with wonderful surprises inside that come in a lovely heart box. Who can resist the heart box all wrapped with red cellophane? What? You can? Oh, well, that's because you are better than me. And probably skinny too. Oh well. So, this brings me to my topic for this week.

The extra mile. To me, that is what Lent is kind of like. Going that extra mile so that we can suffer along with our Lord. So that we can become closer to Him through that suffering. So that we can appreciate His rising from the dead in an even stronger way because we appreciate His suffering for us that much more. I'm sure you've guessed it by now...I'm giving up sugar. Now you're saying to yourself, big deal, that is what everyone gives up. Sweets or alcohol seem to be the two I always hear most often! But let me tell you, this was not a decision made lightly or out of habit. I've given up all kinds of things for Lent. One year it was television - that was HARD! One year it was smoking - yep, I used to smoke. Yikes! Last year I gave up wine and then right at the end of Lent when I was about to go on a 40 day wine binge to make up for the 40 days I didn't get to have it, I got pregnant and went on a 9 month fast from wine!!! Crazy! I've also gone the doing something good vs giving up something route. And I will do that this year - like a commitment to prayer time or something like that. But to me, suffering during Lent is the best way for me to feel that I've really drawn closer to the Lord and at this time in my life, giving up sweets is going to be about the hardest thing I can think of to do. Now, at the same time, it will benefit me greatly! I debated between giving up sweets and vowing to track my points each day which is somewhat of a sacrifice because it means you have to really watch what you eat. I decided that giving up sugar is a much harder and more real sacrifice but I also feel it will help a great deal in my weight loss efforts.

So...bring on the sweets! I'm going to raid the Valentine candy aisle and stuff myself full before Lent. It's my Mardi Gras...my Fat Tuesday. Bring in the sugar for next week it will be banned from this house all together. Okay, not all together, the kids are not required to give anything up for Lent yet! Wow - I guess I don't get to eat all of their Valentine's Day candy this year in an attempt to keep them from having too much sugar and rotting their teeth because I'm just htat good of a mom. Yeah right, that's why I do it!

Soap and Good Friday

After reading Sister Mary Martha's post about honoring the hours between 12-3 on Good Friday, which I had never thought to do, I decided that I would spend that time with no computer, no television, no radio - no stimulation. I thought I would just spend that time in silence as I did whatever I was going to do so that I could contemplate our Lord's suffering while he hung on the cross dying. Incidentally, I discovered that I am a "stimulation" junkie. Usually, I have the television or radio on while I'm doing stuff around the house. If I'm not doing stuff around the house I'm usually on the computer. So giving up all 3 was a big change for me. I was jittery and nervous and didn't know what to do with myself! I need a 12 step program!

Anyway, I started straightening up the house and then remembered that I had a couple of soap making kits that I had desperately wanted for Christmas but had never gotten out. I began making the soaps and was having the best time. The girls were down, it was quiet, and I realized that instead of just sitting in front of the computer the whole time the girls are napping, I should spend my free time a little more productively once in a while!

But then I started to feel guilty that I was having such a good time. I was supposed to be thinking of Christ and his suffering - not enjoying myself. As I got further into it, I realized that you can make some analogies between soap making and Lent! Yes, soap making and Lent. Let me explain:

The first thing you do is melt down cubes of raw soap that have no scent (well, not a nice one anyway) or color. Once it is liquid, you add the pretty scents, colors and even decorative things like flowers if you'd like. Then you pour the liquid into a mold and let it sit until it cool and hardens. When you're done, you have a beautiful soap that smells so good. But, if you're like me and don't have all of the right equipment to use, the soap can have some imperfections such as bubbles, or not being an equal amount and therefore a little lopsided. Or, better yet, a little piece of the flower can be sticking out of the soap - ha, ha - hey, it was my first attempt at this! This is sort of what we go through at Lent. For 40 days we sacrifice, fast, abstain from meat on Fridays, go to confession, perform works of charity, and genuflect and kneel a lot (stations and Good Friday service have my out of shape body sore - yikes!). We're like the raw soap that is melted and beaten down. But through the process, we are left open and ready for God to decorate our hearts and make us beautiful through His Son's glorious rising on Easter. But, just like the soap I made there will still be imperfections and flaws. The only difference is the soap maker! The flaws in the soap I made were due to my inexperience and humanity while the flaws in us are also due to our imperfections, not our soap maker who is perfect! At this point I'm thinking - great analogy - I'll have something for the blog. But I was still not thinking about Christ's suffering like I was supposed to.

As I started to really get into mixing the colors and the scents I started thinking about the many different types of soap I could come up with if I had time to keep working on it. This made me think about how much fun God must have making humans! He gets to choose from countless different colors, heights, and statures. What a blast He must have! No wonder He loves us so much! But I still wasn't suffering or thinking about suffering...I was really having too much fun. The creative juices were flowing!

I was taking some newly melted soap out of the microwave when my hand moved in a funny way and the very hot liquid soap spilled everywhere - all over the microwave, the cabinets, the floor and my clothes! A bunch of it spilled on my pants up on my thigh and it was hot! It was burning my thigh but I was still trying to right the bowl so as not to spill more so my options were to hold my pants off my leg and not get burned but drop the bowl or get burned and hold the bowl. I kind of did a combination of both while thinking, "Well at least now I'm suffering with Jesus". I looked at the clock on the microwave and it was 3:00!!! The time of our precious Lord's death. So I ran back to my room to change and I was really overcome with sadness and grief. I dropped to my knees and started praising Jesus and thanking Him for suffering for my sake. Then I remembered that I had a copy of the most wonderful stations of the cross. I got my crucifix and placed it in front of me and proceeded to pray the Stations of the Cross. It was a truly wonderful way to spend the hour of our Lord's death. Somehow the girls stayed asleep and quiet the whole time even though they were overdue to wake up. It was very special and really got me in the mood to venerate the Cross at the evening Good Friday service.

In a funny way, I think if I had not been doing the soap making at that time, I may have gotten busy doing something else and missed having such a holy experience. We can find God in such every day experiences if we're just looking and open to His presence.

I have so many more thoughts on my Holy Week, or really Triduum, experiences but it has taken me since Friday to get finished with this post due to the craziness that is my life! I am finishing this on Easter Sunday morning as we have already been up and to Mass and now are all having a great time just relaxing at home - not worrying about what a mess it is! I'm hoping to find some time to write more because I am on such a high after the beautiful and sacred Easter Vigil last night. I sat there last night thinking that this must be very similar to what Heaven is like...with a few notable exceptions that I'll also mention for humor's sake!

Happy & Blessed Easter!

For you guys...ok, gals too!

I love Fr. Jay Toborowsky (I have such a mental block about spelling his last name! I'm going to have to ask him if I can call him Fr. Jay since I LOVE his blog and will be linking to him a lot!) from Young Fogeys compared Lent to the regular season that a sports team plays instead of the playoffs which is how most of us treat it. It may be sports related...but it's not just a guy thing!