The peace that passes all understanding

I feel very peaceful this morning. Which might be surprising given the night we had last night. It started out well. Wednesday is RCIA night and Fr. Leo was giving a talk on the Eucharist but instead of staying for the talk I decided to go up to the church and spend time with Jesus alone. The Church is of course generally locked so I was all alone with Our Lord. I spent an hour just praying and truly felt a...

Baby Watch – Week 39

Almost there! (Sorry, no picture – if I make it to 40 weeks I’ll take one last shot.) OB check today went well but they scheduled me for an ultrasound to try and determine how big this baby might be – since the last one was 10 lb. Not that it means anything really. The margin of error this late in the game is a pound or two up or down and I wouldn’t elect for a c-section anyway but...

The Solemnity of Christ the King

“Jesus of Nazareth. . . .is so intrinsically king that the title ‘King’ has actually become his name. By calling ourselves Christians, we label ourselves as followers of the king. . . God did not intend Israel to have a kingdom. The kingdom was a result of Israel’s rebellion against God. . . The law was to be Israel’s king, and, through the law, God himself. . . God yielded to...

On the needles…

I’m attempting to knit this baby bonnet (from the book Knitting for Two). I say I am “attempting” it because I keep making mistakes, losing my place and ripping it out and starting over. After doing that six times I’ve decided this is it. The laciness of it hides a lot but I would still like it to be better. My big problem with getting it right is that I get distracted and lose my place. ...

Coming home dress update

I decided to add just a bit of lace to the bodice and attached it with 2 strands of pink embriodery floss. It’s just enough – I like it. Here’s a close up: OK, so now I’m ready – c’mon...

Memorial of St. Cecilia, virgin and martyr

Among the many memorable places I visited on my trip to Rome in the year 2000 was the catacombs of St. Callixtus. They are among the greatest and most important of Rome. They originated about the middle of the second century and are part of a cemeterial complex which occupies an area of 90 acres, with a network of galleries about 12 miles long, in four levels, more than twenty meters deep. In it were buried...

What American accent do you have?

Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you’re not from Philadelphia, then you’re from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you’ve ever journeyed to some far off place where people don’t know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn’t have a clue what accent...

Married Love and the Gift of Life

“Marriage is more than a civil contract; it is a lifelong covenant of love between a man and a woman. It is an intimate partnership in which husbands and wives learn to give and receive love unselfishly, and then teach their children to do so as well. Christian marriage in particular is a ‘great mystery,’ a sign of the love between Christ and his Church (Eph 5:32).” This statement released...

Coming home dress

I made this simple little dress for the baby to wear home from the hospital. The pattern is Simplicity 4153 All total it took 2 hours to make which included tracing off the pattern (I knew I would want to keep the pattern for other sizes so I traced it off). I am quite sure I could do one now easily in an hour. For this dress I used the XXSmall but it has sizing all the way up to a Medium so I think I will get a...

International symbol for breastfeeding

Personally I think this is a very good idea. “The purpose of an international symbol for breastfeeding is to increase public awareness of breastfeeding, to provide an alternative to the use of a baby bottle image to designate baby friendly areas in public, and to mark breastfeeding friendly facilities. Of course, breastfeeding does not require a special place and is appropriate—as the Canadian...