January 2009 Archives

I received these as gifts for my pregnancy and I love both of them!

Book: Prayerfully Expecting by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

This book is a beautiful compilation of prayers! Each month begins with a summary of how your baby is growing and then various prayers and novenas that can be said for you, your baby and your family. At the end of each chapter there is a space for you write your own reflections. I have really been enjoying this book! (And I think it would be a great idea to save the book and give it to your child as a gift when they are older. It would be cool to read what your mom was thinking and praying when she was pregnant with you.)

Pregnancy Calendar by Russ

When I pregnant with Bella, a friend gave me the Pregnancy Calendar by Russ. I loved using it and had bought another one when I was pregnant with Andrew. For Baby 3, there is an updated version that replaces the "80's look" of the older version. (As pictured above.)

You fill in the calendar with your own dates and each week tells you something about your baby's development and each month has helpful hints for your pregnancy. There are also plenty of stickers to record things such as when you told your family or when you felt the first kick or when you had your baby shower. I hung the calendar in the kitchen and Bella loves to see what day we are on and what is happening that week. We've had a lot of fun using it.

Here's an article Brian wrote for RoL.

Recently, I have felt the Holy Spirit gently call me to write about the "Spirit of Antichrist." It is a subject that has been on the forefront of my thoughts as we swore into office a new President. Call it a gut feeling, but since the elections I have felt a strong inkling that this malignant spirit is washing over our country and the world in an unprecedented way.

Now I know that a topic such as this, can cause people to theorize and speculate about the end times. This is not the purpose of the article, for as Jesus said, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."(Mt. 24:36) My purpose in writing is to encourage every Catholic to lead a sacramental life, to pray daily, to avoid sin, to remain in a state of grace and to be vigilant and watchful.

Although there is not much written on the spirit of antichrist, I was able to discover that this spirit is a "spirit of deception" whose sole purpose is to prepare the way for the "man of iniquity." As I reflected upon this I envisioned a cooking mallet hammering away at a piece of steak. I believe the spirit of antichrist works in same way. He hammers away at the minds and hearts of Catholics, softening them to a point where they accept lies over the truth and believe in themselves rather than in God.

According to St. John the Apostle, the spirit of antichrist was already at work in the first century (1 Jn.4:3.) History has proven, especially looking back at the 20th century, how this "malignant spirit" has not slowed down, but continues to wage an all out campaign against the followers of Christ. Of course this war is nothing new, but what is new, is the casualties that are daily increasing amongst the Catholic population. This is most evident with the decreasing number of Catholics who attend Mass, the increasing number of Catholics who pick and choose which teachings of the Church they accept and those they reject and the growing percentage of Catholics who have abandoned the faith.

I believe the signs of the times point directly to the workings of the spirit of antichrist. In his second epistle to Timothy 3:1, St. Paul offers us a glimpse of what the end times will be like, "...people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..." When I first read this I felt as if St. Paul did not write this centuries ago, but only weeks ago!

It is quite obvious that the current cultural climate, which is becoming darker and darker, proves that the spirit of antichrist is very much alive and active within our society. The question that remains is what are you, and me, going to do about it? A very popular preacher once said, "The times we live in are not for the faint hearted or lily livered." He was right! What is needed today are heroic Catholics who are not looking to just get by with their faith, but who are willing to live it, love it and hold on to it as their greatest possession. If we love our faith, our Church and our neighbor we must fight the spirit of antichrist with all our spiritual might. In other words, we must pray daily, live a sacramental life, learn our faith, make sacrifices and choose good over evil.

God bless.

Here is an article Brian wrote for RoL.

January 24th marks the feast day of a great saint and doctor of the Church, Francis de Sales, (1567-1622).

I always viewed St. Francis de Sales as a humble and gentle man, a man who practiced kindness to a heroic degree. I am sure many would agree with this. However, after learning more about his life, I discovered that he was also a man of great courage. This courage is beautifully illustrated during his stint as a missionary from 1594-1598.

Born in the later half of the sixteenth century amidst the Protestant Reformation, Francis was not expected to become a religious. Being the eldest son of the de Boisy family, Francis was expected to marry, take over and manage the family estate and hold a seat in the local government. Of course none of this came to pass. Instead, Francis heard and responded to His Master's call and was ordained a priest in 1593.

After serving the people of his diocese for roughly a year, Francis volunteered to be a missionary. His mission territory was the region of the Chablias, located near Lake Geneva. This region was considered mission territory for two reasons. First, it was densely populated with Calvinists who were vehemently anti Catholic. Second, those Catholics who lived in the region were few in number and were unable to practice their faith openly for fear of persecution.

Before accepting the assignment, Francis knew the trials and dangers that awaited him. Nevertheless, with the Bible and Rosary in one hand and the Catechism in the other, he entered the Chablias on foot. His resolve and courage to bring the Catholic faith to the people of the region, even when his life was threatened, reminds me of the passage from St. John's Gospel, "...zeal for my Father's house will consume me." (Jn 2:17).

At first, Francis met a great deal of resistance and had little success in converting the Calvinists, but that soon changed. Guided by the light of the Holy Spirit, Francis decided that the best way to reach the Calvinists was by writing and distributing tracts. These tracts explained and defended the Catholic faith and quickly became his chief tool of evangelization.

Overtime, Francis converted the population of the Chablias from Calvinism to Catholicism. In fact, when Francis first started his missionary apostolate there were towns with fewer than ten Catholics. When his missionary apostolate was near its completion, there were towns with fewer than ten Calvinists.

The four years of missionary activity shows how even a gentle and kind man, can be a saint of enormous courage. Let us ask St. Francis de Sales to intercede for us and help us practice the virtue of courage in our daily journey with God.

God bless.

It'd been ages and I could use a bit of diversion so here is today's Friday Fill-In: Baby Edition. (Feel free to add your own fill ins in the comment box.)

1. Oh, I am so pregnant! (Well not really, just ten weeks.)

2. Life changes, big and little.

3. During my first nine weeks, I still didn't believe it. (I don't know why I am still in a bit of shock. It wasn't a complete surprise.)

4. I will have a rambunctious two year old and a newborn in the house; are you kidding me??? (I thought those moms were admirable but crazy. Haha!)

5. Right now I'd like to be taking a nap. (I forgot how stinkin' tired you get!)

6. My phone is my favorite gadget. ("Sweetie, can you bring home dinner?")

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to having some mother/daughter time with Bella at her Little Flowers Club, tomorrow my plans include getting some bloodwork done and Sunday, I want to just thank God for the blessing of new life!

************

Yes, it is true. We are expecting baby #3. We had been praying about it and decided that after Andrew turned 18 months we'd be ready for another if God should choose to send one. Since we had such a hard time conceiving Bella and Andrew, we assumed that it would be awhile before conceiving again but God had other plans. It happened the first month we tried.

As soon as I realized I was pregnant I called the long-distance Catholic doctor who had been helping me with my infertility/miscarriages. She tested my progesterone and it was low so she put me on it immediately. When I was 6 ½ weeks along (and the baby just over 4 weeks old) I went to my local doc and had my first prenatal appointment. Brian and I saw the ultrasound of the baby and heard the heart beating loud and strong. Can you believe that?? At so little and so young?? (How can someone not be touched by the miracle of life?)

I am now starting my tenth week and so far everything seems to be going okay. The baby is due August 28 and I hope by then it has all sunk in. It still seems a bit dream-like. Please keep me and the baby in prayer that we have a safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery. I'll keep you posted as the weeks go by! :-)

Have a blessed weekend. Love, b.

On a lighter note, Andrew's favorite part of going to Mass or visiting the church is dipping his hand in the water font and blessing himself. Well now whenever he has a cup of water at home he dips his hand in first and blesses himself before drinking. Yesterday he must have thought I needed some blessings too because he dipped his hand in his cup and then blessed my forehead. (He is used to seeing his daddy bless us before we leave the house.) Gotta love those Catholic kid moments!

Here's a post from the National Catholic Register Blog. With Brian getting ready for the Super Bowl next weekend (and having asked him during that last Steeler's game - who's that intimidating looking guy with all the moves?) I was excited to read this article about him and thought it was a great story to include here.

Polamalu: Real-Deal Christian

It's rare to find a sports star who is both at the absolute top of his sport and who is deeply committed to his Christian faith.

Here's one: Troy Polamalu, the all-pro strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Yesterday, Polamalu's spectacular 40-yard interception return for a touchdown served as the exclamation point in the Steelers' 23-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game in Pittsburgh. The win vaulted the Steelers into the Feb. 1 Super Bowl against the NFC champion Arizona Cardinals.

That kind of game-breaking play is something that Steelers fans have come to expect from Polamalu. A profound commitment to his faith is something that Polamalu's family, friends and teammates have also come to expect from him.

Earlier reports about Polamalu indicated he is Catholic, but according to this recent interview with Yahoo Sports he is actually Greek Orthodox. Every Tuesday, on his day off from practice, he and his wife Theodora travel to an Orthodox monastery near Pittsburgh to attend services there.

Here's what Polamalu told Yahoo interviewer Jason Cole about how he orders his priorities in life:

How hard is it to get time at home during the season? I know guys like (Miami Dolphins linebacker) Zach Thomas stay at the facility until very late studying film and (Indianapolis Colts quarterback) Peyton Manning is watching film at home.
Troy Polamalu: First of all, I'm a Christian so my prayer life really comes first. Second of all, I'm a husband so my wife comes before anything else. If I have time to do anything else after that, I do it, but I don't sacrifice any time with her.

A lot of guys do it the other way around. Football comes first. They say family and faith come first, but they really do the football first. How do you reconcile it?
It's really easy for me. I love my faith and I know that's first ... I really think I know what's important in my life and that's my faith and my wife.

-- Tom McFeely

Our Holy Father sent President Obama a telegram on the occasion of his inauguration. It reads:

The Honorable Barack Obama President of the United States of America The White House Washington, D.C.

On the occasion of your inauguration as the Forty-fourth president of the United States of America I offer cordial good wishes, together with the assurance of my prayers that the Almighty God will grant you unfailing wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high responsibilities.

Under your leadership may the American people continue to find in their impressive religious and political heritage the spiritual values and ethical principles needed to cooperate in the building of a truly just and free society, marked by respect for the dignity, equality and rights of each of its members, especially the poor, the outcast and those who have no voice.

At a time when so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world yearn for liberation from the scourge of poverty, hunger and violence, I pray that you will be confirmed in your resolve to promote understanding, cooperation and peace among the nations, so that all may share in the banquet of life which God wills to set for the whole human family (cf. Isaiah 25:6-7). Upon you and your family, and upon all the American people, I willingly invoke the Lord's blessings of joy and peace.

Let us continue to pray for the President, particularly when he talks about the "God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." May he realizes that there are countless unborn denied that very chance.

Our local Catholic moms book club is starting up again and we'll be reading The Domestic Church: Room by Room A Mother's Study Guide by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle. I've heard a lot of good things about the book so I look forward to reading it for myself!