Weekend Ponderings: Paul’s Thorn … and Mine

This is a little late getting to the blog — I should be posting “Miracle Monday” about now.  Please bear with me.

Today I was listening to our parochial vicar, Father Gordon (who will be leaving us in a week or two), talk about St. Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” and I was reminded what a breath-taking confession that must have been for St. Paul to make. While no one actually knows what the “thorn” was, my bet would be either migraines or depression. I blog about it  today at “Mommy Monsters.” 

Okay, you back?  Now for the “main course” …

One of the things I took away from the Catholic New Media Celebration — from Father Roderick, actually — was the idea that each post should be like a good meal — with a tantalizing appetizer, hearty main course, and “something sweet” to finish. Also, he talked about the five I’s of a good podcast (which I’m also extending to blog posts), which should …

• Interest:  “Hook” them with something intriguing. (Like a good title.)
• Inform:  Tell your audience what the post/podcast is going to cover, so they know whether they want to stay. (This involves keeping important content “above the fold” for bloggers, I think.)
• Instruct: “Give people the tools they need to resolve their problems.”
• Involve:  “Invite a response.”
• Inspire:  “Pray over your show/blog.”  Here goes …

Lord, today I’d like to remember those who struggle with their own “thorns,” whatever those might be. Use those moments of suffering and weakness to mold us into the beautiful creations you want us to be. St. Teresa of Avila, patron saint of migraine sufferers, pray for us! In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen!

Last but not least … dessert!  Bit of pav, anyone? (Yes, I know his point was metaphorical. But this looks much better.)

Miracle Monday: “My Sister Alicia May” Reviewed by Leticia Velasquez

My Sister Alicia May
Written by Nancy Tupper Ling
Illustrated by Shennen Bersani
Pleasant St. Press 2009

My friend Leticia sent me this review, which was published on “Catholic Media Review.” This children’s book is about the big sister of a Down syndrome child, Alicia May. It reads in part:

Sister relationships are complex and beautiful things. When one of the sisters has special needs, the relationship may seem one sided; often the focus is on the special sister, and this is a mixed blessing. The typical sister learns to give more of herself and put up with more than most sisters do, growing emotionally beyond her peers, yet there are days when she runs short of patience for her demanding sister. “My Sister Alicia May” describes this unique relationship with a unique blend of candor and tenderness.

Siblings of children with special needs so often have to cope with “big feelings” — and overwhelmed parents, intent on tending to the needs of their “special blessing,” don’t always think about how to address these feelings. This book is a good start to starting that dialogue!

#CNMC09: Answering the Call

Today in the keynote address, Father Dwyer talked about responding to God’s call to bring the Gospel to others, using whatever gifts we may have at our disposal. “You may only have 10 subscribers, but you are meeting the needs of those ten people in ways no bishop or priest ever can.”

It’s not about entertainment, not about drawing the high ratings, not “singing to the choir.” It’s about reaching people with real needs, who may never dark the door of a church but who know in their brokenness that they need … something. Something more. Something that draws us together, supporting one another and needing each other.

“When one part suffers, we all suffer; when one part is honored, we are all honored. There is too much polemic in the body of Christ; we must bring together and not divide. Sometimes that means making a choice not to slam someone who has a different view. St. Paul calls us to unity.”

This also has real implications in the world of adoption and foster parenting. There is so much pain and suffering out there, which we have been called to address. Even if it means we take a bit of that suffering on ourselves. I sometimes encounter people who say, “Oh, I could never foster — it would hurt too much if the kids went away.”

“The soul in which grief has cut the deepest, has the greatest capacity for joy.”  If we shy away from all experiences that have potential to inflict pain upon us, we will miss out on some of the most joy-filled and life-giving opportunities for grace. To follow Christ is to take up that cross, and to carry it willingly.

How will you do that today?

Weekend Ponderings: San Antonio Bound

In case you hadn’t heard, Craig and I are headed for the “Catholic New Media Celebration” in San Antonio … and so I’m actually writing this a bit ahead of time. Ironic, huh?

So … If you happen to be in the area, why not stop on by (maybe at the Friday night reception!) and say hey? I’d love to meet you!

(Not to be confused with the Catholic Marketing Network’s “Catholic Writer’s Conference Live,” August 5-7 in New Jersey, which we will ALSO be attending this year. Come and see us for that too, y’hear?

Wee Cook Wednesday: What’s for Dinner?

One of my least favorite aspects of housekeeping is coming up with creative new menus. But today I stumbled on this website that is truly inspiring!

Here’s the link… now go make some scones, and let’s have tea!

Coping with Breast Cancer: Interview with Judy Reyes at “Women’s Health”

Because women who have never been pregnant (and never breast fed) stand a higher incidence of breast cancer than those who have. Consequently, breast cancer is a special concern for some Extraordinary Moms.

I wanted to share this link at Women’s Health, which has lots of information about the diagnosis and treatment of this terrible disease. It also has Cynthia Ramnarace’s interview with “Scrubs” actress Judy Reyes, who helped her mother recover from a double mastectomy.

Miracle Monday: Do you love “deep” or “wide”?

As a kid, there was a song we used to sing in Sunday school that went like this:

“Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.” (Repeat.)

What made the song was the hand motions. As the song went faster and faster, dropping another word each time, the frantic hand gestures kept everything on track.

Last week, I ran our church’s VBS — and during that time I got to play four different women saints: Blessed Mother Teresa, St. Rose of Lima, St. Faustina Kowalska, and Blessed Katharine Drexel (whom I told I resemble slightly). Standing at the front of the room, leading the music and thumping the old keyboard, I was in my element. The only catch: a certain seven-year-old, dearly beloved child, who did not want to share me with 100 other kids.

Every five minutes she was at my elbow, begging to be cuddled. “Go sit down, Sarah,” I’d hiss in less-than-motherly tones. “When I’m done here I’ll go with you to your next group, and we’ll have a cuddle.

But no, it had to be NOW. Honestly! With 100 pairs of eyes upon me, I steered my daughter back to her tribe’s blanket and resorted to outright bribery: She could hold Senor Froggie if she sat still. (My thirty-year-old frog puppet had traveled the world with me. I was pretty sure he could stand a little more loving.)

Sarah looked terribly unhappy … but she went, clutching the positive-proof evidence that Mommy loved her best of all the kids in the room. And I went back to my keyboard.

All that week, I thought about how just a couple of weeks before meeting Craig I had sent away for information from a certain religious order. At thirty-three, I had decided that marriage was just not in the cards for me.

But as I said, then I met Craig. And we found Chris and Sarah … and my life’s course changed unalterably. And I think mostly for the better.

Still, after a week of “church ministry” — leaving me short on temper, and long on nagging — I had to wonder. I find it so easy to walk into a room of children — preschoolers are my favorite — and love them. Really enjoy being with them. I feel happy, alive, enthused. Cast those love nets wide, and draw those little hearts close to Jesus.

But at the end of the day, when it’s just them and me — the two little hearts who see me at my best and worst, day in and day out — those love nets get pretty ragged. The “going deep” part is infinitely more challenging. When they whine, and cajol, and bicker, and argue, and sass … Oh, how I long just to lock them outside the toss away the key some days!

But the thing is — and if you’ve ever had days or even whole weeks like this, I think you’ll know what I mean — it’s the “going deep” that cleans out the gutters, and does the actual purificating work. The “loving deep” is what fits us for heaven.

So sing with with me now … “Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide!”