Easter and Reconciliation

In our church, we are taught that the sacrament of penance is ‘a sacrament instituted by Christ in which forgiveness of sins committed after baptism is granted”.

Three things are required of a penitent in order to receive the sacrament worthily:

1. He must be contrite—or, in other words, sorry for his sins.
2. He must confess those sins fully, in kind and in number.
3. He must be willing to do penance and make amends for his sins.

Lent is a particular time for reflecting on our sins, and to be willing to come to the Lord to confess them, and to make amends.  It is also the time we look deep within ourselves, question ourselves, and a time we are called to make peace with our fellow man.  And just as the above three things are required to make peace with God, we are also called to follow the same formula for achieving peace with each other – including being ready to listen and make reparation for our errors.  For what applies with our Heavenly Father also applies to each other:  ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others who trespass against us’.  It is, therefore, only through us forgiving others that our Father will forgive us.  If we hold grudges and refuse to forgive others, we will be held accountable;  ‘For as you judge, so shall you be judged’. 

This Lent, our family completed a Lenten Study by Ann Voskamp, ‘Trail to the Tree’.  As always, Ann writes with simplicity, and in a style that is so gentle, yet so powerful.  So much of what she has written has resonated with all of us, and as we followed the trail to the tree, we realised that while it is true that out of death comes life, that forgiveness and reconciliation is always possible, no matter what. 

It is at these times that I am so thankful for the sacrament of reconciliation.  We have the opportunity, right now, to go to our priest and ask God for forgiveness.  This Lent, I have spent some wonderful moments with our local priest, both in discussion and in confession.  I know with confidence that God sees all, and offers us all forgiveness, if we are truly contrite and ready to turn our lives around to live as He asks us to.  To have such a wonderful sacrament available is truly a blessing.

This Easter, let us all work on reconciliation; with God of course, but firstly, with each other.  For if we cannot live side by side in this world, what makes us think we can do so in the next?  This Easter, let us try to live as Christ commanded, ‘To love one another’.  The world is so fractured, and there is so, so much suffering and pain.  Let us try, at least, to bring the body of Christ – His family - together, and to walk with each other for the Glory of God.

Have a wonderful, blessed Easter, and may peace be with you.  

Linda.

Our Lady of Lourdes

So I thought I’d write a post on our homeschooling day – because y’know – that’s what we supposedly ‘do’.

Yesterday was February 11.  As my Catholic friends would know, that means it is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes.  We really do love the story of St Bernadette, and several times now, we’ve completed an activity from Seton’s ‘Art For Young Catholics’, Grade 1. 

I love this book!  Sure, it’s grade 1, and my girls are a bit beyond that now, however, it offers such lovely art projects that we do them anyway.  And I figure if I can get away with a Grade 1 project rather than a complicated Grade 6 or 7 project with lots of materials and complicated instructions, it’s all good!

We set ourselves up outside on the patio.  It’s such a lovely spot for art projects, and of course, tackling art projects outside certainly saves the carpets and other floor coverings.  I photocopied the necessary pages, and we were ready to go.  It was a lovely afternoon sitting there with my girls as they coloured, cut, and glued.  The project was to make an ‘Our Lady of Lourdes’ picture, complete with tissue roses and vines.  The idea is so simple – the roses look wonderful, and yet, to make them, all you do is cut a small square of red tissue paper, crumple it up, and ta-da!  One rose, ready to be glued onto your picture.

I was so excited that this was all going so well, that I just had to take some pics:

 

I even called Bill away from his work to witness it!  He just smiled and gave me ‘that look’ as if to say, ‘Wow!  You guys are actually doing schoolwork today – how about that?’  And then wandered happily back to the office.

One thing about working outside is the animals.  During the day, one of our cats turned up with a lizard in her mouth.  We’ve been told that the cats should not eat these particular kind of lizards, as it can do something strange to their eyes, so I stamped my foot, startling her and making her drop it   The lizard took off as fast as it could go – right in the direction of the doghouse.  At this, the dog, spying a free snack, flew into action, and sprinted after it.  The lizard reached the doghouse and scurried straight underneath, but as for the dog….

Well, let’s just say that if it were possible for a dog to have a massive headache, she’s got one!

Anyways, back to the school work…

After a little while, the projects were completed, and the girls proudly displayed their masterpieces:

 

 

They then headed inside to watch the CCC video, ‘Bernadette’, to finish off the afternoon.  This is another series I highly recommend for young children:  we’ve had the videos for years, and I think they are the most commonly played videos in our home.  Other titles include St Francis Xavier, The Day the Sun Danced, and even The Odyssey.

Our check list for the day:

Art and Craft – tick!

Religion – tick!

History – tick!

Hands-on activity – tick!

Quick, simple and effective – just the way I like it!

Linda.

Pope Benedict XVI

Please join us in prayer for Pope Benedict the XVI, who has just announced his retirement due to ill health. 

The news tonight has come as a shock to Catholics across the world;  and closer to home, it is certainly a shock to our family.  You just never know what’s around the corner, do you?

Pope Benedict is an amazing man, and has led the church since 2005.  He is the first Pope to retire in nearly 600 years.

We pray that God’s will be done, and we pray for those now responsible for electing a new Pope.  May the Holy Spirit guide and protect them.

God bless,

Linda.