Hi all. I am sorry I've been scarce lately. My husband's son and wife and two little girls have been here with us for the last two weeks. It has been a crazy busy time, and whenever we were home and relaxing, someone else wanted to use my computer. So I decided to take an unexpected break from it. I have gotten a couple of messages from people here (and my facebook friends think I have dropped off the face of the earth too...LOL.) It is kindof nice to be missed though. I am sorry if I worried anyone with my absence...its really nice to belong a group who cares. For a couple days, ALL of our kids and grandkids were here! (except for Dave's oldest son who is in Korea right now)They came to attend the baptism of the two baby girls from California! One is 16 months and the other is 4 months old. My husband and I are now their Godparents. So two more Catholics were brought in to Jesus during my absence from the internet. Two grandchildren done, three to go! Our companion saint for 2012, John the Baptist, is starting to get busy in our family. I think I mentioned it in another thread somewhere, but my husband and I BOTH drew St. John the Baptist as our 2012 companion saint back in January!!! I couldn't believe it, as we had been trying to convince our children to baptize their babies recently, but not pushing as hard as we could be. Well St. John is helping us with that and look what has happened! Not everything was peachy with all the folks at the baptism, but the fact that they were all THERE was a huge thing in itself. My daughter's boyfriend was more anti-Catholic than ever - he shocked my daughter with some of the athiestic things he said at home afterward. His 10 year old daughter, who wants desperately to be baptized, got very upset with him. So did my daughter. Some may see his reaction as a bad thing, but I see it as a good thing, because he finally brought his thoughts out in the open and now they can be properly addressed. My son's wife who is Jewish was also somewhat negative and uncomfortable, but as I have heard a priest say, their job is not to make people comfortable, it is really more to make them uncomfortable. Also the girls' mother is a non-practicing Baptist. Our priest was excellent. He knew he had an anti-Catholic, and a Jewish person, and a Baptist there, as well as some non-practicing Catholics, and other babies/children still in need of the sacrament. He explained every aspect of the baptism ceremony thoroughly, he passed around the chrism for everyone to see and smell its aroma, he quoted the old testament on several occasions and pointed out that he was quoting it, he talked about how sometimes we walk away from what is bad, but that we also have to walk toward what is good, that simply walking away wasn't enough, it was only half of what we needed to do. All in all it was a great day, and to top it off, it was done on St. Patrick's day!!! So now the girls have another saint to guide them on their life journey. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
'.......but as I have heard a priest say, their job is not to make people comfortable,' Wise preist. Loved the uniform. Reminds me of Buckingham Palace!!
Cory is in the Marines, that is his full-dress uniform. Handsome, isn't he? They are a lovely family. The girls are just lovely. Vivi (Genevieve), the oldest one, is like a ray of sunshine wherever she goes. Cory went to confession and had a long discussion with our priest. He instructed him on how to get their marriage validated in the church. (He had the kind of experience I wish my daughter would have had when she tried to talk to a priest a while ago.) He went to chruch with us several times while he was here. His wife is inquisitive, but she is not sure about it all yet. She did attend an Episcapol church for a while when she was younger so some aspects of the Mass are familiar to her. Time will tell with her, but for now, things are pretty good in general.
Blessings! Keep up the prayers! They are working- how exciting. My own husband attended confession for the first time this week as well. No date set for the final entry into the church but I'd guess sometime next month. Pray, pray, pray Connie- I'm very amazed to see the results of our prayers. My faith has never been so deep- I wonder if that was what God wanted. If things come easy- then we don't appreciate them so much. The power of prayer is mind boggling. Do we really have this direct line to God? Seems so I'll keep you kids in my prayers. Your daughter especially. Do you think your son's experience may help her with her own return? It's always a stumbling block for people to realize that the church is just run by a bunch of people and we are all weak at some point. If she can forgive the priest and realize he isn't perfect and that God loves her-- I'll say prayers for her struggle and her family. Pray, pray, pray Kath
Thank you Kathleen. Yes, she realizes this, but it still was a step back. It also didn't help her boyfriend's attitude either. That is great that your husband is now so close! Praying Praying Praying!!! I like something I have heard recently, rather than think of all the muck "in the Church", all the bad stuff that has happened over time with the Church as proof of its weakness, to think instead that in spite of all the bad things, all the human errors, all the evil influences, that the Church has endured and indeed survived our human weaknesses. That says something quite different. I am feeling the need for another retreat, but I have too much going on...to much to do around home and to keep looking for a teaching position and so on. I am praying for myself lately too, as I only have 2 months left to find a position so I can complete the summer courses at EIU. I can do nothing but put it in God's hands, like I am putting the baptism of these babies in his hands. I need to keep working and trying and digging and applying and so on, but the opening up of positions within an hour of me is completely in his hands. That I cannot influence in any way. It is amazing to look back on where we were three or so years ago, and where we are now in our conversion and our vocations and how they have influenced each other, sometimes in completely opposite ways than we thought they would! God's plan is so mind boggling, yet if we let Him lead once in a while, we will get us where we are supposed to go. Usually that is nowhere near where we thought we would be going though! :wink:
Kathleen and Connie, Such good news! I will pray for ongoing conversions, especially tomorrow night and Friday! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
That's wonderful. Thanks Mario! Connie- I'll pray for you to get the job that fulfills your need. I'm so glad you chose teaching. I'm a big fan of teachers (Frank is a teacher). I'll pray for the boyfriend too. My sister-in-law was the impediment to my brother's return to the church- they ended up compromising and going to an Episcopal church instead of Catholic. She was/is also very angry about "The Church" as she is from Candada and they have their own history of the Catholic Church demise. I feel that this is one big step closer- they weren't attending at all- so this is really good. We prayed for them all year. I got my mom to pray the Prayers of Saint Bridget over this last year. I know we aren't supposed to advertise the promises because they aren't "approved" but, my goodness, they do seem to work. So I'm now starting on my mother-in-law, who never really went to church. I figure if I focus on her, then her children and grandchildren who aren't religious might follow. She is a bit of a "Grand Dame" and her influence would be great. She is also not doing well physically, so we are running out of time. I'm really glad God has given us a way to evangelize without talking too much- I really don't have the right personality for evangelization. But I can pray Pray, pray, pray Kath
