My youngest son got a BIG idea from a friend. He decided to create a page on Facebook for Cupid. I told him that it was okay as long as he was sure to watch his grammar! He says Valentine is jealous and needs her own page, too. Right. I'm using the creation of a page for Valentine as an incentive to finish his school work today.
It really is stupid how cute Cupid is. I posted a badge to the left (scroll down) and you'll see she isn't just an ordinary cat. It might be fun to imagine what life is like through her eyes. An experiment in English. Maybe this project will help my youngest gain command over the English language.... or, perhaps, I'll escape reality and help him out.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
Saint Companion for 2012
A friend of mine has been picking a saint companion for the last few years, and I decided to give it a try. What is a saint companion? A saint companion is a saint you pick at the beginning of the year and journey with throughout the year -- you grow in faith as you learn about your chosen saint. You also ask this saint to help you and to pray for you throughout the year. Here is a saint generator you might like to give a whirl: Saint's Name Generator
My friend picked a saint for me. Bl. Mother Teresa will be my companion for 2012. I really like this idea and can't wait to learn more about one of my favorite people. I'm betting Mother Teresa will be able to help me in many areas of my life!
My friend picked a saint for me. Bl. Mother Teresa will be my companion for 2012. I really like this idea and can't wait to learn more about one of my favorite people. I'm betting Mother Teresa will be able to help me in many areas of my life!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Blessed Oils
Until this afternoon after Mass, I had never really given much thought to blessed oil and all the rules surrounding its use. I knew blessed oil was different than Holy Oils and that lay Catholics cannot anoint people. Now I know the rest of the story!
We've used St. Joseph's oil in the past (oil that burns in the lamp under the statue of St. Joseph in St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal) and blessed oil that is in our wedding crucifix. Hubby's dad was healed through the intercession of Bl. Brother Andre and this has always given us a special affection for Bl. Brother Andre. His parents brought oil back for us on their last trip to Montreal many, many years ago.
St. Joseph's oil was special to us, too. We passed along what we had left about 3 years ago to a lady who was battling cancer. I remember using the St. Joseph's oil when we lost our fourth pregnancy. Of course, the night before, we did not know the baby was dead. We prayed the rosary when I started having "complications" and I remember Chris getting out the St. Joseph's Oil and blessing me with it as he prayed over me. We continued to pray and hope for the best. Followed doctor's orders and the next day, we found Thomas' heart was no longer beating. They induced labor and he was given a conditional baptism by the pathologist with the Holy Water I brought from home. She used the prayer from my Mother's manual and everything (Our priest at the time refused to come out to the hospital). I'll never forget her tears and her hugging us after she'd given him a conditional baptism. I really think the blessed oil, the Holy Water and all of our sacramentals gave us blessings we needed to get through those long days.
Last year, a friend gave me some scented blessing oil that had not been blessed. It smells like church because it is Frankincense and Myrrh scented. Absolutely lovely. Or yummy, both words describe it well. This oil sat by my door for at least a year, until today because I am so forgetful.
After Mass, I asked Father to bless the oil and he looked perplexed as he asked me, "What is it?" I said, "Scented oil for blessing." I forget exactly what he said, but he didn't want to bless it. He mentioned something about people being confused between a blessing and anointing of the sick. I asked him if it was wrong to bless someone with oil and told him my boys know the difference between the Anointing of the Sick and a blessing. I was confused by his response because we'd blessed our children and each other with oil before. Certainly not a common practice, but we'd done it at certain "special" times. I started to walk away and he had second thoughts, I guess, because he grabbed my hand and blessed the oil.
This exchange made me research things. This was a policy I came across that made me feel much better. (I couldn't find one specific to our diocese online):
POLICY ON THE USE OF BLESSED OILS
No permission is necessary for the private use of blessed oil by individuals to bless themselves or members of their families.
The faculty is granted to pastors and priest-chaplains to give permission for lay ministers to use blessed oil for ministry to the sick in their parish or institution.
When blessed oil is used in the ministry of healing care must be taken to avoid any confusion with the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, which may be celebrated only by a priest. The minister should always make it clear that the blessing is in no way regarded as the sacrament of the sick. A lay minister may not perform anointings either with the oil of the sick or with any unblessed oil.
Blessed oil, used as a sacramental, must be blessed by a priest or deacon using a distinct formula of blessing (Book of Blessings, chapter 59).
A prayer must always accompany the application of the blessed oil since sacramentals achieve their effects through the Church’s intercession (Book of Blessings, #10; Sacrosanctum Concilium, #60).
Blessed oil may be used by a designated lay minister at the conclusion of the Order for the Blessing of the Sick (Book of Blessings, chapter 2), or likewise, at the conclusion of the rite of a visit to the sick (Pastoral Care of the Sick, chapters 1 and 2), provided that the rites and prayers designated for a lay minister are followed.
We've used St. Joseph's oil in the past (oil that burns in the lamp under the statue of St. Joseph in St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal) and blessed oil that is in our wedding crucifix. Hubby's dad was healed through the intercession of Bl. Brother Andre and this has always given us a special affection for Bl. Brother Andre. His parents brought oil back for us on their last trip to Montreal many, many years ago.
St. Joseph's oil was special to us, too. We passed along what we had left about 3 years ago to a lady who was battling cancer. I remember using the St. Joseph's oil when we lost our fourth pregnancy. Of course, the night before, we did not know the baby was dead. We prayed the rosary when I started having "complications" and I remember Chris getting out the St. Joseph's Oil and blessing me with it as he prayed over me. We continued to pray and hope for the best. Followed doctor's orders and the next day, we found Thomas' heart was no longer beating. They induced labor and he was given a conditional baptism by the pathologist with the Holy Water I brought from home. She used the prayer from my Mother's manual and everything (Our priest at the time refused to come out to the hospital). I'll never forget her tears and her hugging us after she'd given him a conditional baptism. I really think the blessed oil, the Holy Water and all of our sacramentals gave us blessings we needed to get through those long days.
Last year, a friend gave me some scented blessing oil that had not been blessed. It smells like church because it is Frankincense and Myrrh scented. Absolutely lovely. Or yummy, both words describe it well. This oil sat by my door for at least a year, until today because I am so forgetful.
After Mass, I asked Father to bless the oil and he looked perplexed as he asked me, "What is it?" I said, "Scented oil for blessing." I forget exactly what he said, but he didn't want to bless it. He mentioned something about people being confused between a blessing and anointing of the sick. I asked him if it was wrong to bless someone with oil and told him my boys know the difference between the Anointing of the Sick and a blessing. I was confused by his response because we'd blessed our children and each other with oil before. Certainly not a common practice, but we'd done it at certain "special" times. I started to walk away and he had second thoughts, I guess, because he grabbed my hand and blessed the oil.
This exchange made me research things. This was a policy I came across that made me feel much better. (I couldn't find one specific to our diocese online):
POLICY ON THE USE OF BLESSED OILS
No permission is necessary for the private use of blessed oil by individuals to bless themselves or members of their families.
The faculty is granted to pastors and priest-chaplains to give permission for lay ministers to use blessed oil for ministry to the sick in their parish or institution.
When blessed oil is used in the ministry of healing care must be taken to avoid any confusion with the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, which may be celebrated only by a priest. The minister should always make it clear that the blessing is in no way regarded as the sacrament of the sick. A lay minister may not perform anointings either with the oil of the sick or with any unblessed oil.
Blessed oil, used as a sacramental, must be blessed by a priest or deacon using a distinct formula of blessing (Book of Blessings, chapter 59).
A prayer must always accompany the application of the blessed oil since sacramentals achieve their effects through the Church’s intercession (Book of Blessings, #10; Sacrosanctum Concilium, #60).
Blessed oil may be used by a designated lay minister at the conclusion of the Order for the Blessing of the Sick (Book of Blessings, chapter 2), or likewise, at the conclusion of the rite of a visit to the sick (Pastoral Care of the Sick, chapters 1 and 2), provided that the rites and prayers designated for a lay minister are followed.
Bless Yous
What a crazy week this has been. It started off with a member of our parish saying one of the rudest things that has ever been said to us and ended with a fabulous opportunity to learn more about my faith. We strive to be authentic Catholics. We fail. A lot. We battle the same sins daily and strive to do better. We have a lot of what we call "Bless Yous" each and every day.
On the illness front, Sean has had 6 headaches in 8 days and my oldest caught a nasty bug from a friend and spread it to his youngest brother. The first day of 2012 started off with illness. Here's hoping we can avoid any trips to the doctor or hospital before we have our neurology appointment! Sean helped to decorate the church for Christmas in spite of having a headache. He managed to have a good Christmas while battling a headache, too. If you saw him at church, you'd never know. He is naturally quiet, so it isn't always apparent that he is in pain.
I have to remind myself that some people do not understand and will never understand life with chronically ill kids. They may not put together the number of times any particular child is not present at Mass with our family or even realize they are there battling pain. I'm putting this comment into my "rudest things said by a church member at church" file. This tops Church Lady telling me it was a blessing and a curse to know our family and later sending me a letter in the mail saying satan has a hold on me. Lovely things people say, huh? This is the part of being Catholic folks might not write about often - the bless yous we encounter on a daily basis. Okay, so church lady was really quite a bless you, but this one......
Just before midnight Mass, a man put his hand on Chris and when Chris asked what he needed, what he could do, the man replied, "Oh, I don't need you, I need someone who will actually do something and not just push their children on us." He ignored my asking twice, "What do you mean push our children on you?' Bless you. That is what we say to people who say or do rude, strange things. Bless you. I spent most of Mass thinking bad thoughts about this man (mostly when I heard his voice). I've gone to confession.... still don't have my question answered. How do we not judge those who judge us? Especially when we let these things slide, never cause a problem and go about our merry way. This is the same man who called our house three times to tell our family the boys should not serve so much. THEN pulled my oldest aside after Mass one day to tell him he was too old to altar serve. Bless you.
If you haven't figured out what a "Bless You" is, it is anything that someone does that is odd, of, strange, rude or otherwise and you can't think of anything nice to say about the person or the action. We just say, "Bless You". It goes hand in hand with the old saying, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."
I've been praying and reflecting and I truly hope that I have never said anything so rude to anyone. I'm not perfect, so there but for the grace of God go I. I still have no idea what he meant by that statement and I still know we are not the most active members in our parish. We try to help where we are able. I could psychoanalyze this until the cows come home and never have my answer. Is he upset that my boys serve at funerals and we don't participate? It could be any of a million things!
More about the fabulous opportunity in a bit. Not quite a bless you, but something I found interesting along this journey of trying to live a truly Catholic life.
On the illness front, Sean has had 6 headaches in 8 days and my oldest caught a nasty bug from a friend and spread it to his youngest brother. The first day of 2012 started off with illness. Here's hoping we can avoid any trips to the doctor or hospital before we have our neurology appointment! Sean helped to decorate the church for Christmas in spite of having a headache. He managed to have a good Christmas while battling a headache, too. If you saw him at church, you'd never know. He is naturally quiet, so it isn't always apparent that he is in pain.
I have to remind myself that some people do not understand and will never understand life with chronically ill kids. They may not put together the number of times any particular child is not present at Mass with our family or even realize they are there battling pain. I'm putting this comment into my "rudest things said by a church member at church" file. This tops Church Lady telling me it was a blessing and a curse to know our family and later sending me a letter in the mail saying satan has a hold on me. Lovely things people say, huh? This is the part of being Catholic folks might not write about often - the bless yous we encounter on a daily basis. Okay, so church lady was really quite a bless you, but this one......
Just before midnight Mass, a man put his hand on Chris and when Chris asked what he needed, what he could do, the man replied, "Oh, I don't need you, I need someone who will actually do something and not just push their children on us." He ignored my asking twice, "What do you mean push our children on you?' Bless you. That is what we say to people who say or do rude, strange things. Bless you. I spent most of Mass thinking bad thoughts about this man (mostly when I heard his voice). I've gone to confession.... still don't have my question answered. How do we not judge those who judge us? Especially when we let these things slide, never cause a problem and go about our merry way. This is the same man who called our house three times to tell our family the boys should not serve so much. THEN pulled my oldest aside after Mass one day to tell him he was too old to altar serve. Bless you.
If you haven't figured out what a "Bless You" is, it is anything that someone does that is odd, of, strange, rude or otherwise and you can't think of anything nice to say about the person or the action. We just say, "Bless You". It goes hand in hand with the old saying, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."
I've been praying and reflecting and I truly hope that I have never said anything so rude to anyone. I'm not perfect, so there but for the grace of God go I. I still have no idea what he meant by that statement and I still know we are not the most active members in our parish. We try to help where we are able. I could psychoanalyze this until the cows come home and never have my answer. Is he upset that my boys serve at funerals and we don't participate? It could be any of a million things!
More about the fabulous opportunity in a bit. Not quite a bless you, but something I found interesting along this journey of trying to live a truly Catholic life.