We Have Seen

Today, January 6, is the Feast of the Epiphany.  This year the actual feast day fell on a Sunday, which was very convenient for us Americans.

We celebrate the revealing of the Christ to the world when wisemen from the east came in search of the new king whose star they saw rise.

More amazing than their trek is their acceptance that the king was a suckling child of humble birth.

We rarely accept things as they appear to us.  We look for the "angle," for the falsehoods, for the traps.  We expect more and are disappointed when that's all there is.

My kids-- God bless them, because He blessed me with them-- find delight in the here and now.  They have learned to be dazzled by the wonders of everyday:  a spider, a book, lunch.

I brought them Three King's Day gifts.

Nothing big.  Just stuff I found post-holiday clearance.  My son was excited to see his tin held holiday magnets; he barely saw the chocolate coins (a kid fave) below those.  My daughter didn't even open her tin; she was all about her emoji-poo squishy.  And both of them were amazed at the size of the gumballs.  My 14yo & (almost) 10yo were excited about $5 of stuff.  They accepted and rejoiced.

I pray that the Lord keeps them full of gratitude and wonder.  I pray the Lord reminds me always to be thankful and joyful.

A Novena for Guidance and Discernment

Christmas this past year has been more sorrowful than it usually is. We, the parish of Good Shepherd Catholic Church, unexpectedly lost our pastor, Fr. Louis Giardino. He collapsed from a heart attack the afternoon of December 18, and then passed away the morning of December 23. The Diocese of Birmingham generously assigned Bishop Emeritus Foley to offer the Christmas Eve Masses for us, and Fr. Bazzel (who came from assignment in Rome for Fr. Louis' funeral,) to offer the Christmas morning Mass.  Both are wonderful homilists and of a heart that I would gladly point to them as examples of men of God. Much like our Fr. Louis.

For January & February, we will have local Salvatorian and Benedictine priests offer Sunday & one weekday Mass; Deacon Paul will be available for our parishioners, as always; many members, as well, have spiritual relationships with other Diocesan priests in the deanery. We carry on.

We begin a novena today for Bishop Baker and his assistants, that the Holy Spirit guides them to discernment for our Administrator Priest who will shepherd us until the summer assignments; and for future guidance and discernment for selecting our new pastor.


"Jesus, our Good Shepherd, we call upon You for the continued well-being of our Parish. Help us in this our time of need. Make our parish a family of one heart and mind towards you. Grant that our common life and work may be an example to all about us. Guide our Bishop and his assistants in their discernment. Hear us now, in this our time of special need; send Your continued graces upon us and bring to a happy solution the situation that confronts us.  Dearest Mother Mary, we ask you to assist us and to be our advocate for the continued spiritual and physical growth and well-being of our Parish. We make our prayer in the name of Jesus, Our Lord and Savior.   Amen."

(Follow this prayer with 3 Hail Marys; 1 Our Father)

"Hail! Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  Amen."

"Hail! Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  Amen."

"Hail! Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  Amen."

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  Amen."

"In the Bleak Midwinter"

Clear and bitter cold was today. 'Tho no wind, and with bright sun, the temperature was frozen.

Still, the Magi traveled, as we, and adored Him upon the Feast of the Epiphany, of God revealed.

They came, summoned by signs, to worship the new King of the Jews-- He we know as God-made-flesh.

They gave gifts of great price to a baby so lowly.

We have not He Himself walking among us; we have no gifts to ever equal in cost His to us.

We, instead, are asked to see Him in each other, and to give everyday.

I gave gifts to my family and saw their joy, as they found themselves known and loved, as God knows and loves each of us.

I gave time and talent and voice to my community to help bring parts of the Mass to life, as Jesus lived to bring life to each of us.

I offered friendship, encouragement, smiles to others, as the Holy Spirit lifts and inspires each of us.

I was just being myself, being (I hope) my better self. I pray that is, for today, enough.


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"In the bleak midwinter"
        by Christina Rossetti

In the bleak midwinter, the frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshiped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

Gifts for All

Today, the Catholic Church in America celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany.  We, here, have moved many major feasts to the Sunday of the week it falls in.  We're a very busy country, quite out of the habit of daily Mass.  Mea culpa.

The kids did not have Sunday School, I did not have Children's Liturgy of the Word, I was not scheduled to read.  Still, we got there early.  The kids were about to dash off to the choir room to get their Maginifikids missalette, when I suddenly knew I had to go with them.

Micki would be on a King-hunt.

For Epiphany, our church gets three kids to wear capes and crowns, and to join the procession with the gifts to present at the manger.  The adults seem to think it's cute.  The kids seem to avoid it.  My two did it last year. They declined Micki's offer to be kings again.  (DLG is not keen on being a "king" since she's a girl.)  Micki asked if I would look for the kings.

Carl asked when I knew I knew I was going to be helping with today's liturgy.  "Five minutes ago."

I recruited three kings, and got them decked out.  I explained to them what they would do.  I refreshed the head usher on what the kids would do.  I set up the book and stand at the ambo and altar.  I noted that no one was there for CLoW, so I had to alert folks on for that.  I counted readers... oh, there's one... but Janie said that her reading partner was sick, so I offered to do the second reading.  And the deacon's broken foot was aching him and it hurt to go up and down stairs, could the first reader bring up the book?  Well, Janie had already sat down, but since I was shepherding the kings, I'd carry the book.  My family sat in the pew behind the kings, so I could lead them to their spots for the offertory, and then cue when they were to join the recessional.

Father Louis' homily was about us bringing our gifts to the King of Kings. We have something more precious to offer than gold, frankincense and myrrh.  We can offer ourselves and our talents.

Glad to.

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Christmas is almost here.  Soon the season of waiting will be over, and the Gift of Gifts will be God with us.

Where will the Christ be born?  The Prophet Micah says Bethlehem.

The Psalmist proclaims that the shepherd of Israel will rouse from his heavenly throne, will be the right hand of God.

St. Paul writes to remind the Hebrews that Jesus came bodily to do the will of the Father, as told in the scrolls.

St. Luke shares with us Mary's visit with her kinswoman Elizabeth.

Magnificat.

3rd Sunday of Advent

Gaudete Sunday!  Light the rose candle!

The Prophet Zephaniah says: "Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!  Sing joyfully, O Israel!  Be joyful and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!  The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love!"

The Psalmist sings: "Cry out with joy and gladness; for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel!"

St. Paul reminds his brothers and sister in Philippa: "Rejoice in the Lord always.  I shall say it again, rejoice!"

St. Luke tells us of the preaching of John the Baptist; the multitudes came to receive a baptism of forgiveness, and repentant, they asked how to change their ways.  He preached the good news to all who would hear.

Always, let us choose the way of joy and light.

The Second Sunday of Advent

It is now Wednesday of the second week of advent.  The holiday preparations are ramping up.

The first reading for the Sunday was from the Prophet Baruch, another one who told Jerusalem that the days of mourning were over and to put on the splendor of the glory of God.

I had the joy to proclaim the second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians.  He comforted and encouraged those of Christ by saying, "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus."

The gospel continued from St. Luke.  In the third chapter, he historically sets this account of wonder by recounting who was in power at the time. Amidst all of this jurisdiction, a voice cries out in the wilderness to prepare a way for the Lord.

A Time for Prayer

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
Jesus, Emmanuel, save us.
Holy Spirit, Comforter, guide us.
God, in all, grant us peace.

Open to Revelation

" Said the night wind to the little lamb, 'Do you see what I see
  Way up in the sky, little lamb? Do you see what I see?
  A star-- a star dancing in the night!-- with a tail as big as a kite.'

  Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, 'Do you hear what I hear
  Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy? Do you hear what I hear?
  A song-- a song high above the trees!-- with a voice a big as the sea.'

  Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king, 'Do you know what I know,
  In your palace warm, might king? Do you know what I know?
  A Child-- a Child shivers in the cold. Let us bring him silver and gold.'

  Said the king to his people everywhere, 'Listen to what I say!
  Pray for peace, people everywhere.
  Listen to what I say:
  The Child-- the Child sleeping in the night--
  He will bring us goodness and light.' "

                                                 (Noël Regney with Gloria Shayne Baker)


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Tomorrow, the Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate "The Feast of the Epiphany."  The calendar date for "Three Kings Day" is traditionally January 6th (also the 12th day of Christmas.) But here in the US, for a variety of reasons regarding accessibility, we celebrate this day on the Sunday before the 6th.

At Good Shepherd, our choir director will hunt up "3 Wise Men (or Women)" from among the elementary children at Mass. Ideally, some kids should have volunteered or have been volunteered by Mass time, but not often is the case. They will wear the same capes and crowns our Magi have worn for years, and they will carry up their gilded gifts in the procession in order to lay them before the Christ Child in the Nativity scene. They will sit in the front pew and, during the homily, be acknowledged by Fr. Louis. Fr. Louis might even trot out a lame joke. (He also likes to tilt everyone in the procession off-kilter by singing the "other" second line to "We Three Kings of Orient Are... Smoking on a rubber cigar." Come offertory time, the "Kings (Queens)" will bring up the gifts. They will also process out, with hopes of dashing to the choir room before they're asked by family to take a dozen pictures.

We do this year after year after year. And everyone, as tradition will have it, will still be confused by the who/what/where/when/how.

The "Why" we also have to relearn.

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This Epiphany, I have "Children's Liturgy of the Word."

???
Children's Church, if you will.

For my lesson, (technically, it's not a "homily" since I am not ordained,) I will teach about being open to revelation.

Our word "epiphany" comes from a Greek verb meaning "to appear" with a connotation of "manifestation."

During Advent, I taught the children about preparing themselves for the coming of the Lord as foretold by Isaiah and proclaimed by John Baptist. The mountains they could lower are the mountains of pride and anger. The valleys they could fill are the valleys of prejudice and social injustice. The rough paths of sadness and doubt need God's strength to smooth. The crooked paths of selfishness and sin need God's forgiveness to straighten. If their actions and words were feeling like a stark desert, God's love-- if they allowed Him-- could flow like a stream and give them life.

But we need to further prepare by being open to the experience. It is often said that miracles are what God does in our lives when we aren't paying attention.

The song above is so simple, but says so much. The wind asks the lamb, and lamb is willing to look. The lamb looks, and then HEARS! The lamb asks the shepherd, who listens, and then GOES! The shepherd asks the king, who learns and then SHARES! We should look, and listen, and go, and learn, and share. We should be open to discovery-- to FIND!

The Magi were open to discovery. They had studied many, many things. They observed many, many things. They discussed many, many things. But at the end of their knowledge, they went forth to discover. They were open to learning more things, to seeing new places, to talking to people different from themselves.

They were open to revelation and found that what they were seeking was more wondrous than they expected!

The Holy Family openly received the strange travelers and their odd gifts. And Mary pondered all these things in her heart.

Holy Joseph and the Magi were so open to revelation, that when they received dire warnings in dreams, they heeded the angelic words and took actions, actions that were inconvenient but necessary.

God has given us a wonderful gift of ourselves. To the best of our abilities, everyday, we should use our senses-- our minds-- our lives-- to be open to the wonderful revelations of God.

In Favor of a Semi-Sheltered Life

Can you believe this hydrangea was blooming up until the freeze?

Look at it!

This determined plant has enjoyed a certain amount of sheltering.  It is tucked into an interior corner of the house where a small bird sanctuary has been created.

One brick wall to the west shelters it from the storms that track this way. But there is no overhang, so rain comes down upon it.

One brick wall to the south shelters it from the Southern summer heat.  But the kitchen roof slopes down to bask it sunlight.

A large barberry shrub to the north shelters it from the chilling winds.  But the breezes come through to dry the water-loving leaves.

All that stands to the east are bird feeders and the sun.  The morning rises to give it first glow and to gently warm the the walls as the sun ascends. The birds bring company and an eager appetite for the seeds we provide and the bugs that just are.  We hear the birds scamper through the undergrowth; their tiny feet and beaks keep the litter lightly turned.

We all need a semi-sheltered life.  Experience is good and all.  Adversity brings profound and lasting changes.  But a life graced with the semi-shelter of the care of others-- that life can find such growth, such blossoming.  Shelter by fortune or plan, for short or forever.  Thank you, Lord, for Your shelter.  May my heart, my life, be shelter to others.

Because is Not a Reason

Had to steal this from Jim Zeilinski's Facebook page.
To give credit where it's due, he stole it off of Dave Hart's page.

No matter how outlandish, you've got to believe in something, or else all is naught and existence dissolves.

At least believe in second helpings.

The First Day of Advent

Advent begins today, the joyful anticipation of the incarnation of the Christ. The children will begin their countdown calendars on December 1-- some will be secular, some will be religious.

But for us adults, the four Sundays before the Feast of Christ's Nativity are the countdown.

Some years, I've let the first day of Advent slip past me, even though I store my wreath our walk-in closet. Not this year. I asked MLB what was special in the church today. He was so excited, all he could do was hold up a single finger. One- we were lighting one candle today.

My Advent wreath isn't fancy, but it is special. My parents did not have an advent wreath for us when I was growing up. They still don't. When I moved out on my own, I wanted one, but money was tight.

I made mine.

The candles are store-bought-- I think the last three matching purples discount store had that year. All five are secured in plaster of Paris bases poured into cupcake papers. (I did white candles in plaster for my Sunday School kids last Lent; at their age, I'd had my own "Easter" candle from Sunday School, so I did the same craft with them.)

The plaster is wrapped in green satin and tied with gold cording. Both were bought from the discount bins, and have been used in many other projects. I do not want to light them (they never burn down at the same rate, anyways,)  so I use another twist of the gold cording to indicate which week it is.

The green garland I bought as a personal prop for the first play I was ever in. Bank Street Players in Decatur did "It's a Wonderful Life" in 1995. I got to play "Aunt Tilly" (ditzy & married to Uncle Billy.) I was supposed to be decorating the bank in one vignette, so I got something to deck the halls. I've had it ever since.

The blue ribbon is an after-holiday sale find. I adore that shade of blue, and it is fitting with the season. Instead of using the true purple of solemn repentance that's normally associated with Lent, many churches are using a deep royal indigo which evokes the silent anticipation and joyful song of the clear midnight.

My wreath. We are all excited. O Come! O Come, Emmanuel!

The Unseen Hand

Thursday's post was about God's help in even cleaning my house.

God did it again, but this time for my husband.

A poor maple tree in our back yard never recovered from trenching work done before we bought the house. We've been putting off removing it, and last year it finally died. It's been disintegrating ever since. After every wind-storm, we find pieces of it littering the ground. We did not want to one day find pieces of it leaning against our roof or fence. Or worse, our neighbor's fence.

Both neighbors and a few friends and relations have offered to help us take it out, we just have to holler. My husband couldn't find a perfect weekend to host help properly.

Last Sunday, he was touching up some pruning on the oak and thought he'd give a try at pruning a branch off of one the trunks of the dead tree. That whole trunk just fell down. Pumped up by his success, he decided to take out the rest of the tree. The chainsaw wouldn't crank. I offered to go borrow one & a neighbor to go with it, but he said no. He tried using a maul, a carpenter's saw and a hacksaw before he finally used our "Binford Destroyer" (the reciprocating saw) to take off a thicker but shorter trunk. I said that in the time it took to do all that, we could have borrowed a saw and have done with the whole thing. The remaining trunk would be the most work; it was the least rotted and leaned back over the fence. He said he'd try later to see what was wrong with the chainsaw. He called it a day.

The next day, he went to help my brother & father unload my brother's truck. Men talk about men things, so the story of the tree was told. My father insisted Scott borrow his chainsaw. Scott had used it quite capably back in April when he went to Ft. Payne to remove a tree that had fallen in his mother's yard.

Today, with two saws and a wife available, he set out to remove the tree once & for all. But just to see, he gave our chainsaw a crank. It powered up, but burning the year-old oil/gas mix, it smoked & stunk like my uncle's old pontoon boat. Hey, my dad's chainsaw cranked like a charm... after Scott put fuel in it.

We tied a rope around the tree and strategized. If he was sawing, I'd be the one pulling. Our rope was too short to anchor for triangulation. Our southern neighbor, Al, was pruning; he also does forestry management on some land he owns. He asked if we needed a come-along (which we did, but...) Scott stopped to talk with him about where to best drop the tree. We thought we try Al's advice of putting a ladder against the tree so Scott could top it out & have it drop on the lot on the other side of the fence.

We then reconsidered. It could be that the remaining trunk was more rotten than we though, and would fall away, bringing Scott, ladder & running chainsaw down on a chain-link fence and another barbed-wire fence. Not good.

Next idea was to see it we could pull any part of the top down to the lot. Turns out the tree was pretty sturdy. It would bow & vibrate, but it wouldn't budge. Before we'd given up on pulling it over, a young man approached us and asked us if we needed help. He was from across the river, but his mom lived up the street. She & his son had not returned yet, so he's been killing time racing his motorbike on the undeveloped street. He took out trees for a living with two different firms. He'd be glad to help. For free.

I didn't say anything. Scott graciously accepted his offer and told him about the tree. Eddie (the young man) tried to crank my dad's saw, but it wouldn't even cough. Scott offered him our out-of-shape saw; while that one was refusing to cooperate, Al just went over to his garage, cranked up HIS saw, and walked it over to Eddie. Eddie didn't even bother with the ladder; he just stood on the stumps of the other trunks, braced against the remaining trunk and topped the tree out. He next put cuts most-way in on either side of the lower trunk, then used his own arms to snap it off. Scott heartily thanked him, and got a business card for a company he works for. (One day, soon, that sweetgum in the front is going DOWN.) Eddie went back to waiting for his son, and Scott & Al took out the stump.

Could we have planned for Al to have been pruning the same day as our tree work? Could we have planned to have a kind stranger riding in full view of our futile efforts, and who would offer the skill and time he just so happened to have available? Could we have planned to have two different chainsaws fail to crank so that Al would bring out his own, which had the longest bar of all? Could we have planned it?

Well, we could have organized a work party, and with the combined efforts, gotten it done. But we didn't organize one, so God did it for us. Ain't He great?

(I also got a bunch of work done in the garage while Scott got some things fixed on the Protege. It amazingly also refused to crank, so after we gave it a jump, Scott figured he might as well get the oil changed, the fuel freshened, the tires fully inflated and the battery replaced. The guy at one of the auto shops gave Scott a business card of a man who does good tune-up work across the river.

Yep, ain't God great?)

Sometimes in a Different Direction

I finally couldn't stand the clutter that had returned to my room. With both kids at school, it also would be a good morning to work on Rummage Sale donation piles in the garage. The dining room, likewise, needed to be emptied in anticipation of getting out the Christmas tree.

With so much, it seemed, to do, I had no clue where to start.

I prayed for guidance.

I was told to NOT raid the kids' candy stash for stress food; the sugar just saps me of energy. Then I was told that I should make the bed, so I'd have somewhere to stage piles. The clutter on my once-organized bedside table was too obvious to ignore, and in the midst of clearing away those things, I got the word to "lift my lamp."

Huh? Oh, my grandmother's small glass lamp. Yeah, not being much higher than my pillows, the lamp didn't illuminate much. Lift it how? A box... somewhere I ought to have a not-too-big box..... the "game" box. In a hall closet, there is a wooden box about the size of a loaf of bread. It holds card games, which we don't play that much.

OK, box it is. And I can put these cards in there too, and clear these thing out to store elsewhere, and why don't I take all of the art & photos we've taken down during painting & rearranging and stack them on this shelf, guest towels on that shelf, get the Toys-4-Tots donations to the car, and since the game box is gone there's now room for MLB's rock collection & coin collection (get them out of my room!) not to mention, storing the kids' bandages in here is no longer convenient, so let's move them back into their bathroom, so I guess I ought to tidy up under their sink... where did all these wood chips come from?????--- whew, not termites-- just old particle board so I'll get out the vacuum, you know, they don't use tub-toys as much any more, so I'll pull these out to donate, and I have other piles of stuff to donate, so I'll get those off of my dining room table & out of my room and put them in the garage, but where? might as well park them on the freezer and try to clear out the garage on Saturday when Scott can help me move the wood to the back yard.

Wow! I didn't touch the garage, but I did tidy the bedroom (so I can think again) and cleared away the obvious piles in the dining room. As a bonus, I think I finally have put up stuff in that hall closet such that I'm not afraid anything will break or crash on my head. (It's taken me 10 years to get the closet like that, y'all.) My husband even noticed & complimented my new bed-side table arrangement.

I got there because I prayed for guidance. Does it seem odd to pray for the mundane? It seems I mostly hear about prayers for healing or aid in distress, for thanksgiving or prayers answered-- the "big" petitions. I pray those, too, and I try to ask others to join me in my prayers, as I join my prayers to theirs.

I hardly ever hear about prayers for the "small" petitions, but you'll find me praying for those. I'm driving and not sure of my navigation, so I pray for guidance on where to turn, and I find I'm there. I'm low on clean clothes, so I pray for guidance and discover a new way to put together some of my separates. Seems silly, but I have learned that when I rely entirely on myself, especially if I have any portion of doubt, that I make a mess of things. I am blessed with a great store of learned knowledge; I have found in many life aspects that I have a great depth of innate knowledge. I have these, but I have these from God. He is the Teacher. My understanding & practices are imperfect, yet I know I need to lean on Him, to trust Him, to bring to Him my everyday life. Through Him, I feel "together" and get things done.

Little Things Count

MLB is about to lose another tooth. This is significant. It'll be his fourth tooth gone.

It'll be the first tooth we parents can anticipate.

That tooth is so loose, it's almost lying sideways across his emerging primary incisors.

MLB is preparing for his first sacraments of Reconciliation and Communion this year, so I'm trying even harder to get him to pay attention to & participate in Mass. We use the "Magnifikids" weekly missalettes, but he is more interested in working the puzzles than following the Mass. Today he refused to stand for the entrance hymn and came close to pitching a fit if I didn't give him a pen right then & there for the puzzle. I had to whisper to him that the right thing to do was to participate in Mass, not do the puzzle; I told him that he was mad because I was telling him to do the right thing and not letting him do what he wanted to do. I told him that it's the same way God is with us; He tells us the right things to do but we want to do our own things, even if those aren't right, and we get mad. That got MLB's attention and he stood up. MLB loves God and wants to please Him. When MLB returned from Children's Liturgy of the Word, he asked what time would Communion be? (During my contemplation after receiving Eucharist is when I allow him to do the puzzle.) I told him there is no "time" by the clock, but a proper order, and he needs to follow along, again, in the Magnifikid.

Preparing a child with autism for anything outside his immediate focus of interest and outside of his comfort zone is not easy. The sacraments are important, so there is always this onus weighing subconsciously in the back of MLB's mind. He is a bit more aggitated in his behavior this year because if it.

I pray, often, for God to help him prepare this year. God reminds me that even I didn't really comprehend the importance of my first sacraments at that age; I just knew the basic facts, the prayers I was required to memorize. Funny, but I remember another third-grader & I once referring to the consecrated host as our "Good Pill," since as we got further away from Sunday, our behavior seemed to get worse. How childlike.

God tries His best to reassure me that everything, especially my son, is in His hands. He assures me that He is with my son in ways I won't perceive. I must continue to instruct my son, be a good example for my son and pray for my son. He'll do the rest, to bring the Wisdom into MLB's heart that growing in God will bring, just like in today's first reading, Wisdom 6:16, "For (Wisdom) herself searches everywhere for those who are worthy of her, benevolently appearing to them on their ways, anticipating their every thought."

So after the Agnus Dei and while the extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist are preparing to distribute Communion, MLB whispers to me. "What?" I ask, "Your shy poof?" Whisper. "Your shoe is goop?" It's not easy to hear him, as we sit right by the choir & the piano.

"My tooth is loose."

Well. God is with him.