The Same Sunset

My college roommate and I have a very special connection that has lasted through many years, many tears but mostly joy and lots of missing each other! The other night, I ran outside to grab a picture of a gorgeous sunset that was obviously just getting started here in Georgia as it headed West to glow over Colorado a short while later. She sent me this picture the very same night. I like to think its just one more way we share a brain cell and a love of God's creations across the miles. It's a gift to have her (and so many other blessings like her) in my life!

(Hers is the hipstamatic style on the bottom -- like my phone, my camera is not "smart.")

Advent, Latin for "coming"

Advent helps us to do a little house cleaning. For the second Sunday of Advent I plan to share a story in my homily about my mom. I remember when she would leave for work and
tell us kids that the house “better be clean” when she returns. If the house was clean upon her return we experienced her benevolence, but if we were lazy and didn’t clean we experienced her wrath.

Advent (from the Latin for “coming”) is a time for preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus as well as remember His first coming at Christmas. So we should make sure that our lives are in order, that our homes and our hearts are clean through repentance of sin so that we may welcome the benevolence of Christ when he comes again.

Fr. Timothy J. Gallagher
St. Pius X Catholic Church
Conyers, GA

I don't want to miss out on any more....

Hi Meg,
I'm so happy to read and share your blog this year again. It is a bright spot in my crazy crazy day! We are all doing fine here. I had some unfortunate news in that my grandpa passed away a few days before Thanksgiving. I'm glad that he finally went "home" but he was so full of life. He passed away at 90 and still had a daily job and lived on his own. He went "downhill" quickly, which is just the way he would have wanted it.

We packed up the family, drove 14 hours to PA, and celebrated his life and visited tons of family we never see anymore. During this trip two things really stood out. The first was a teaching lesson for me and the kids as we stood in my grandpa's house wondering what to do with all of his things. You see, all of the "stuff" that clutters our life is so unimportant. It doesn't matter what type of material things we possess as it doesn't go with us. The only important
things that he valued were the people standing in his kitchen.

My second lesson stood out as Sydney (now 12) stood in front of an old, enormous cathedral and beautifully read a scripture at the funeral. She looked so poised and read so eloquently that I felt like I didn't know who that young lady was. Was she really the little girl I spent hours trying to get to sleep at night? When did she grow up? And why have I felt like I missed out on that process?

I am now learning, and conscious of, living in the "present" and not saying, "just a minute". I don't want to miss out on any more!

Wishing you and your family a beautiful Advent,
Debbie Connelly

Each day we are given...

I will be on the lookout for something good to post but for now:

I have a childhood friend that her son is on last efforts of radical chemo for lymphoma that the doc says will shut his organs down. Started today. He's 29, married and the father of two very young children.

I have a childhood friend I just spoke with that is stage 4 colon cancer. Says 'they say I'm dying but I feel ok.'

I have Jack Mathis (aka family of RL Mathis Dairy) whose wife died last night from stroke following news of cancer.

I have a cousin needing chemo and platelets from side effects of chemo for leukemia 10 yrs ago.

I went Thursday a week ago and gave platelets for David Boyd and my cousin, Kelly Richards. I had enough for three people.

It's coming home to me as a reality just how blessed each day we are given is and I am thankful for my family and our well being. It's all such a gift. The light in my grandchildren's eyes and their laughter are gifts. The love between my kids and their spouses is a gift. My dad leaving his cigarette butts in my flower pots is... well, I'm working on that one. My husband Fred is a gift (?)... I'm delirious....

I look all around and am so blessed. I love my neighbors (all of them)!

I have faith that God is driving this train and He knows best and above all we want His will to be done. Amen

-- Terri Abbott (my neighbor by the way... Thanks friend!)

Why rush Christmas? Fall and Advent

Here is a shot of our breakfast table Monday morning. With Advent starting when my autumn decorations and Thanksgiving tapers are still out, it works :) We light our candle(s) everyday, usually at a meal, and I read aloud from the book, "Jotham's Journey," perfect for my kids' ages (short enough selection every day and a good amount of excitement and action for my boys). -- Amy Gottschang

The Christmas Novena

About 45 years ago, my pen pal's Mom taught me this Christmas novena. Through the years, it has been a comfort to me.

I have had my petitions answered so many times that I now pray this daily and extra times when I find I'm in need. I don't believe He uses a calendar to separate our prayers. I also feel strongly that you don't have to be a Catholic to pray it and gain strength from it. We as Christians are all united in this advent season by the birth of our savior.

Starting today and 15 times a day until Christmas day, say this prayer:

"Hail and blessed be the hour and the moment in which the son of God was born of the most pure virgin Mary at midnight in Bethlehem in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe O my God to hear my prayer and grant my desire thru the merits of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen."

Also please pray the rosary on the 30th for world peace.

Wishing you a blessed and beautiful Advent Season. Hugs & blessings, Mickie Ferrante

Just as my eyes were welling up because my family had deserted me in the midst of putting up "stuff" that I am only going to have to take down in 30 days or so... I had overcome my inner-Scrooge and taken the stroll down memory lane but was left alone there by my family, missing my Dad, feeling overwhelmed with the to-do list, etc. That's when God gave me a "Kiss" and made it all better....

Best cure for the Christmas decorating, too much nostalgia, too much to do, family fighting, bah humbug blues? A dark chocolate Hershey’s kiss from last year found in the bottom of a stocking.
A sweet reminder that I am loved and under all the traditions, decorations, differences, disagreements and crazy nonsense is a sweet simple gift; sometimes forgotten but always there when you need to find it.

-- Krista Carty

WARNING: Advent virus

This was worth re-posting from last year. (Thanks Anne Mistretta!)

Be on the alert for symptoms of inner Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to this virus and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.

Some signs and symptoms of The Advent Virus:
• A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears from past experiences.
• An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
• A loss of interest in judging other people.
• A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
• A loss of interest in conflict.
• A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)
• Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
• Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
• Frequent attacks of smiling.
• An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
• An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

Please send this warning out to all your friends. This virus can and has affected many systems. Some systems have been completely cleaned out because of it. You have been warned!

Here we are again.

Somehow there was already a purple candle aglow on the advent wreath at church today.

This doesn't bother me the way the Christmas music before Thanksgiving bothers me. The way the ceaseless Black Friday news and the quickly-filling December calendar make me edgy. But still.

But still.

But still...

BE still.

As I focused on that candle and tried to calm my mind, I had to wrestle with the noise and the nonsense that this time of year dishes out a'plenty. And knowing me, and knowing the world, I will be working on that daily from now until 2012.

Yet I know, that by doing the work, I'm going to find patches of sweetness and moments of quiet that would otherwise have passed me by.

That's one job I don't mind putting on my to-do list.

Welcome back to Advent all! Meg

Following the star

For older kids interested in getting deeper into the science behind the star... here's a documentary by the makers of "The Passion of the Christ":