From The Front Pew: Ah, Shucks

by Kathleen Blease

The little guy looked just like he walked off the pages of Family Circus, with curly hair, chubby cheeks, and bright eyes. He didn't even stand as tall as his mother's waist. As his mom put out her hands to receive Holy Communion, the little boy held out his hands, too...nice and high, reaching as far as he could so Monsignor could place the Host into his palm as well. Alas, Father smiled, touched the little one's forehead and blessed him. But the cherub didn't give up. His hands stayed high in the air, even as he walked away. He turned to his mother in complete disappointment yet hope and said, "Ah, shucks. Well, maybe next time." He put his arms down as he passed the statue of Mary and walked briskly and obediently to his pew. Hope floats.

God bless!

Most Fascinating Catholics of 2010

Check out Faith & Family's list of most fascinating Catholics of 2010. There are so many wonderful and inspiring people living and helping us in every day life!

Faith & Family : Features : Most Fascinating Catholics of 2010

God bless and Happy Epiphany!

Herod and The Magi

My pastor described Herod as a man who wanted to hear the wailing and crying of his people at his own funeral; of course, he wanted to hear this before he died. Imagine someone so selfish to bring such misery to his own people for his own pleasure and security in power. We have seen them before: Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin....

In contrast, the Feast of the Epiphany brings us the Magi, the scholars who searched the Heavens for God. They were drawn the follow the star. Their arrival to Christ marked a significant dimension to God's love and the salvation Christ brings to us. That is, Christ was (and is) meant for the entire world, not just the Hebrew nation, which had been prepared to receive the Messiah yet woefully had fallen into despair, Herod's kingship a clear indication of this.

The story of the Magi is a beautiful and awe inspiring story. Yet there is one more issue that I heard addressed the other day by a Sacred Heart priest--The Magi's science and astrology did NOT get it right. These methods brought them to Herod, not to Christ Himself. And this mistake led to a grave sacrifice and suffering--the slaughter of The Holy Innocents, all the baby boys under the age of two. I can only imagine the grief of the mothers and fathers as they watched in horror as their children were murdered before their eyes. Herod certainly must have been filled with evil happiness over the wailing and crying.

When I heard this, my first thought was, Don't we do this, too? In our earnest efforts to seek Christ, don't we sometimes apply worldly ways to the answers we seek? Even in their human frailties (wrought with mistakes) the three men were able to cast their eyes upon the Divine Christ, and their desire to serve Him led to their willingness to follow the instructions they received from God's messanger, to take another route home in order to avoid Herod.

Well, Dear Reader, my real intention today is to share with you Father Barron's homily on The Feast of the Epiphany. He has many beautiful insights. Please share this with your children, particularly your teenagers. Please click here. You can also enjoy his website, Word On Fire.

God bless and Happy Epiphany!

From the Front Pew: The Shoes of Many, One in Christ

by Kathleen Blease

It only makes sense. Since I am a little claustrophobic, sitting in the front pew is my sure-fire way to enjoy (and get through) the entire Mass. It also gives me an opportunity to see things that most parishioners who sit farther back don't get to see, like the small crucifix that graces the altar so the priest can lay his eyes on Christ's suffering while consecrating the bread and wine.

During the Mass on the Feast of the Holy Family, it occurred to me that there are things I see each and every Sunday, things that only a family can gather into one place in such abundance and variety--Shoes!

After receiving Holy Communion, I returned to my pew as usual, knelt down, and stared at the floor while saying my prayers of petitions and thanksgiving. I couldn't help but notice all the shoes that walked in front of me. Sneakers, dress shoes, boots, geriatric shoes, and cool sports shoes, even Monsignor's black wing tips.

Each and every one of those soles reflected the souls who wore them. Some have a casual attitude, while others are more formal. Some are quite active, while others are perhaps nursing sore feet. Young. Old. Mother and Fathers. Little girls in mary janes and frilly socks. Boys in their soccer shoes hidden under their jean hems. Teenagers in skinny jeans poured into heavy suede uggs. The elderly using canes.

Only a family could bring so much diversity to one place, to one line, to receive One Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

I watched those shoes go by, two by two by two. They padded slowly in line, stopped to receive the Eucharist, then off they marched with purpose back to their pews. Indeed, only a family!

Karen Carpenter Sings Ave Maria

Who doesn't love the voice of Karen Carpenter? America lost her much too soon.

Have a blessed Advent and a Merry Christmas!

Skeet, Anyone? A Home School Field Trip

Some family fun, sporting clays.

Earlier this Fall, we visited Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays, which is a special course designed for skeet-style shooting.  But with this skeet, called "sporting clays," the clay birds fly in all directions. Some fly out from underneath you, others from far left or right, and still others fly directly at you. Sometimes two fly out: one from below right, next from high straight ahead. A real challenge, and our instructor was terrific in helping us enjoy our day. Sore shoulders notwithstanding, we had a great time!! And I actually took a few birds down. Yahoo! (Talk about an inventive home school field trip!)

Max was feeling the recoil, here! Our twelve-year-old was the sharp shooter of the day. Way to go, kid. (The man standing next to Max was our instructor. He watched, then said quietly under his breath, "Yeah, this kid's a shooter.")

Yours truly. I was trying to lean into that gun, so I wouldn't suffer the recoil like I did before. It was hard not to flinch, but I managed to forget about the forthcoming pain and take down a few birds. Oh, I was so sore after that day, but I had a lot of fun.

Big Ben takes aim!

The Blease gang. Tired but happy. Went out to dinner at Grumpy's for a big pile of ribs, lagers for the grown-ups and birch beers for the boys! (Yes, I am a country girl.)

God bless!

Do You Want to Read About Books I Don't Like, Too? A Note About My Book Reviews

by Kathleen Blease

It happened one day. I read a book that was just awful. If I would have been its editor, I would have rejected it. The author had a promising list of previous books he wrote, but he squarely missed the mark on this title. To explain quickly: His premise was this... If you want to communicate with someone, then you need to connect. Every chapter was the same, an argument as to why we need to connect in order to successfully communicate. By page fifty, I was getting antsy. I thought, Okay I'm with you. Now tell me HOW to connect. He broke the first and most important rule of all writers: Show, don't Tell. By page 110, I gave up and the book ended up on the donation pile. There was a whole lot of telling going on between those two covers.

Fortunately, all I really lost was some time. I participated in a program whereby a blogger received books for free from a certain Christian publisher if she would just give an honest book review. Once one book was finished and the review was posted, another book would be on the way.

This was my first title. And my last. My conundrum: I didn't want to publish a negative review. And since I wouldn't post the review, the publisher would not send me another title. My husband even approached me about this and made a good point. "Kath, if you don't give a tough review every once in a while, will people believe your positive reviews? Will they believe you if you post only positive stuff?"

Readers, do you believe me? The books I offer to you in my reviews are indeed as good as I believe them to be. I do not in any way contrive to gloss over glaring editorial weaknesses.

So why only positive reviews? I believe my blog is a "good news" blog meant to encourage others, so I offer reviews of only those books I believe to be of help to you, to lift you, to educate you, and to inspire you in Our One True Faith.  Albeit, it would also be helpful to you if I were to state which books to avoid, those that I believe to be unworthy of your investment in time and money. I have thought about that quite a bit. Believe me, I have read quite a few stinky titles, both children and adults, fiction and nonfiction, how-to and self-help, from Catholics and non-Catholics.

I think I would like to continue bringing you only positive reviews. (Click here to read some of my review posts.) However, I would like to know your opinion. Would you like to read about books I don't like, too? Please let me know!

God bless!