My Patron Saint

My patron saint for the year is St. Michael the Archangel.

Go see what's up with my patron saint at the new website LOLSaints.

There's an awesome one of St. Barbara up there are well.

This site is fun--and has some good information about each saint pictured.

Against Retail Therapy

Franciscan Friar Charles writes against our tendency to take the easy way out, trying to heal our spiritual wounds at Target.

He's right, tempting though Retail Therapy is. But the "lift" you experience after that exercise in self-indulgence is fleeting and usually followed by regret.

More Musings on All Things Green

From Canadian author Sheila Wray Gregoire.

It's Not Easy Being Green.

A highlight:

Green is now the “in” thing, and the rich are embracing it. But those who are really green aren’t rich. They’re just everyday folks sorting their recyclables, turning their heat down at night to save on energy bills, and camping in the summer rather than flying to Fiji.

Now go on over to her site and leave her a "love note" since she is sure this column will generate hate mail. And while you're at it, read her other posts as well. Her blog, and her books, make a lot of sense.

Thanks for having the courage to write this column, Sheila!

Advent Begins

Little Brother was excited to come downstairs this morning and find our Advent Chain all ready and waiting!

We will get the Advent wreath and the empty Nativity scene set up during the day today.

Once again, a big thank you to the Curt Jester who provides the lovely Advent wreath for any blog. Every week another candle will light up, and the picture will change once Christmas arrives! At no cost to you!

While you're visiting the Curt Jester, check out what he has to say about the meaning of Advent.

And on a more serious note, read Friar Charles' homily for today. Sometimes distractions in church mean that I miss part of the homily. It's nice that we have generous priests on the Internet who share their homilies with all of us. Here's another: Father Tom at A Friar's Life.

Sad but True

Jesus Gets Expelled

It's a great parody, but the truth behind it is just too sad. And it's one of the reasons why our children do not attend public school.

Yesterday my neighbor The Utz Guy told me that there's a program on local-access cable chastising our local library for removing Christmas references. Haven't seen that for myself, since we don't have cable...but I do know that the library is open until 5 on Christmas Eve. (My family is knee-deep in pierogi by that point in the day).

H/T to The Lady in the Pew for the link.

Great Read for Today

Denise's post "I am not the Enemy" reminds us that we parents are the ones responsible for our children--not their teachers, not their coaches, not their catechists, not their doctors, not the local in-school birth-control clinic.

It is time for parents to understand that being in the driver’s seat as a parent means more than just sitting behind the wheel of the minivan. It is time for institutions to abandon their adversarial stance towards parents. They are to cooperate with my agenda for my child, not fight it. No one loves my child more than I do. I am not the enemy. I am the parent.

Read the whole thing. And don't be afraid to take back your kids. They're your kids.

A Must-Read for Parents of Girls

Donna Marie Cooper-O'Boyle has an excellent post about our culture's pressures on young girls.

There are so many more things I worry about with my daughter than I do with my sons, so many more fears I have, and so many ways in which I feel inadequate to the task. I know that other parents feel the pressure too; my sister and I were just talking on the phone this morning about one of her daughters' experiences with the Not-Nice Girls at her school.

I know I can't shield my daughter from everything--but at 11, she's just about to have to face so many challenges. I hope I'll be able to help her weather the storms ahead.

On Respect Life Sunday

I want to bring you an announcement straight from last week's parish bulletin.
A FULL-PAGE announcement, placed right next to the Mass intentions for the week, so no one will miss it.
All caps, underlining, etc. are as printed in the bulletin.

ATTENTION:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE NJ BOND REFERENDUM
TO PROVIDE PUBLIC FUNDING FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH

In light of Church teaching on the sanctity of human life, the Catholic Bishops have expressed opposition to any funding for human embryonic stem cell research and human cloning. Embryonic stem cell research always involves the destruction of the human embryo, which is innocent human life.

Catholics have an obligation to protect human life and promote responsible scientific research.
Therefore, Catholics can never support embryonic stem cell research.

Words of Life

"The Church says life is beautiful, it is not something to doubt, but it is a gift even when it is lived in difficult circumstances. It is always a gift."
Pope Benedict XVI, May 9, 2007


A big THANK YOU to our pastor for his courage to speak the truth on this subject.

And here's another pastor who's not afraid to speak up: Father Martin Fox has today's homily on the subject of contraception.

Jane has a helpful post highlighting the USCCB's statement on Respect Life Sunday and a link to the full statement. (And the beautiful stained-glass image Jane has illustrating this post is not to be overlooked either!)

How cool is that?

Do you like my cool new header? It's a gift from fellow blogger (and fellow NJ native) Esther, the Hawaii Catholic Mom, who does some fabulous artwork! I think it's just gorgeous, and it sure does spruce up the looks of my blog. Thank you so much, Esther!