No Fasting, Just Feasting. We Love you St. Joseph.

If you've been stopping by here lately, you'll know that we've been fasting on Tuesdays during Lent. But not today, because today is a Solemnity. A solemnity (solet and annus = annual celebration) is the highest level of feast in the liturgical calendar. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary.

Which means, no fasting with friends today! 

I'm all over the chocolate, how about you?

I just love St. Joseph. His prayers were instrumental in my husband's conversion. Back in 2004 when I experienced a reversion to my faith, I really wanted to share that faith with my husband. While Tom wasn't Catholic at the time, he also wasn't really anything at all. He had been baptized in the United Church, but was not raised to know Jesus. Nor was he remotely interested. However, he had no problem with supporting me in raising our children Catholic - he had promised that in our wedding vows and he was a man of his word. If I ever went to Mass with the kids, he came along.  Which was something.

I began to pray for St. Joseph's intercession in bringing Tom to faith. Just like I asked my friends to pray for him, I also asked St.Joseph in Heaven to pray for him. Faithfully. 

Not long after starting my secret prayer vigil to this dear Saint, I was kneeling in church by myself one day in May, 2004, just praying quietly about the whole thing. I then experienced a strong feeling, a "knowing," a supernatural confirmation if you will, from St.Joseph telling me that yes, Tom was going to become Catholic. I can't explain it better than that. It just popped into my heart that my prayer was answered. And I thought, alright, giddy-up, let's get the conversion show on the road! Little did I know that God's timing was, as usual, slightly delayed. I honestly thought Tom would miraculously convert by summer! Ha!

That summer, we moved to Calgary and the very weekend we moved we attended Mass at what is now our parish. It was a baptism Sunday, and we were both very moved by the Mass. For me, I was yearning secretly for another baby so I was all teary at the baptism. For Tom, he told me afterwards that it was the very first time he ever "felt something" from going to church. There was "something" in the homily that touched his heart. 

A few months later, this particular parish was calling for RCIA sponsors and I told Tom I thought I'd like to do that. It was a weekly commitment for almost 2 years. His response? "You can't, because I think I might like to take it!" And one of us would have to stay home with the kids. Well boy did my heart jump because its not like we ever talked about his faith journey, I never wanted to put pressure on him so it wasn't a popular topic. But there it was - he was interested in RCIA. Wow, God. 

Of course, he let it slide. He never signed up. So come November, when they were still asking for volunteer sponsors, I went ahead signed up. I'd come home with all sorts of conversation tidbits and we'd talk and talk. By January, he had signed up in a new group of RCIA victims. And we needed childcare every Wednesday night, but oh it was so much fun and it was so worth it. The journey was really underway! A journey that would see Tom become Catholic another year later, in 2006, just before the birth of our 3rd child. How crazy awesome is that?

So yeah, I have a soft spot in my heart for St. Joseph. Thank you St. Joseph, for praying for us. 

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We leave on Wednesday for AZ. I've got my packing lists ready, my grocery list ready for when we get there, and my homeschooling goals for while we are away. The bigs will continue their online classes, while I'm just going to read read read and discuss discuss discuss with the littles AND the bigs, mostly using selections from the handy dandy kindle.  And, depending how the van fills up as we pack, I may try to sneak my sewing machine in.  

Either way, I promise to keep you posted here and there, and you can also follow our adventures via Instagram. I'm livefaithgirl if you're looking.

Have a lovely Solemnity!

Tuesday Fasting with Friends - Isaiah 58

This post, right up to the *****,  is a paraphrase of Kevin Perrotta's reflection on Isaiah 58, taken from his wonderful book/bible study, Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. 

"Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?" (The people are asking God why He isn't answering their prayers.  He replies, through the prophet Isaiah, basically calling them hypocrites):

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers.

Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.

Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.

In other words, you can't fast from food without fasting from treating others sinfully, if you want God to hear your prayer. 

But God suggests a better way in verses 6-8:

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; 
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

And a promise of answered prayers to those who fast in this manner:

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, 
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say,
Here I am.

So why bother fasting then? Can't we just work on being better people, practice the works of mercy, work on relationships? Sure, you can. And you should. 

But fasting changes us. By fasting, we willfully resist our desires as a way to express commitment to do what God wants instead.  By fasting, we willfully turn away from what would give us pleasure and satisfaction in order to focus on the needs of others. Make sense?
Want to give it a try?

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So, what are your prayer intentions today?  Give them wings of fasting and almsgiving (St. Augustine)!  Join me, friends, fasting in solidarity for all our petitions and with thanksgiving! Let's lift each other up in spiritual unity. And while you're at it, why not put together of a bag of clothes you haven't worn for a long long time and drop them off at your nearest donation center. Make a special effort, while you fast, to be merciful and kind to those around you today. Don't fast to serve your own interest (you know, like doing it to shed a few extra pounds), instead put everyone else ahead instead.

Let's go!

The Catholics Next Door ...

When we purchased our vehicle, we received a subscription to Sirius/XM satellite radio, and I discovered "The Catholic Channel."  We love it!  And one of my favorite shows on this channel is The Catholics Next Door with Greg and Jennifer Willits.  I think I like them because I see so many parallels between their life and ours (though Tom and I are not as holy as the Willits, but I digress!).  We like them because we can relate to them: they are our age, also have five kids, have had miscarriages, early in their marriage weren't faithful to the Church's teaching on family planning but now are fully devoted, have homeschooled, and are not afraid to let us in on the adventures of their family life.  They have a great sense of humor and most importantly, their passion for Christ and His Church permeates the airwaves :).

I recall listening to them on a road trip once, about a year ago.  An older lady called in and had some obvious bitterness towards the Church, including her own personal upbringing having to pray a family Rosary regularly.  She felt it was a dead prayer, and a dead church; we should pray freely from our hearts (the typical criticism). She was no longer going to a Catholic church but had been attending somewhere else.  As I listened, I wondered how Greg was going to handle this one - cause it was going to be tough!  This lady would not be an easy nut to crack.  Yet the fact she called in tells me she needed something ...

Well let me tell you, Greg was amazing.  He treated her with such love and respect, but yet was uncompromising, challenging her to go back to the Church, giving explanation to her criticisms, telling her that all those Rosaries she prayed as a child were likely even now benefiting her. She called in with bitterness, but hung up a little softened.  Such was the grace with which Greg handled this caller.  And I was won over to their show.

Greg and Jennifer have written a book!  It has just been released and I downloaded it to my handy dandy Kindle:   The Catholics Next Door: Adventures in Imperfect Living.

Its a pleasure to read! Throughout the book Greg and Jennifer take turns writing from their perspective and experience on various topics, from being a witness to your neighbour, family spirituality, keeping your marriage healthy, how children lead us to heaven, all the way to how Catholic life is Eucharistic.  They discuss how they overcame certain doubts on aspects of the faith.  They talk about their Rosary ministry, the sacraments, their journey to natural family planning and their experience in and out of homeschooling.  Finally, they call us to embrace technology and social media as a way of evangelization, and to that end they have founded a ministry to do just that - New Evangelization.  All in all, an inspiring read.

Love these guys. I wish they really did live next door :)!

Nice to be back, friends!  God bless your week.