Sarah A. Reinhard's Blog
June 1, 2012
— 1 —
I’ve been thinking of cutting back on blogging for the summer.
Whether I will or not remains to be seen. Much of what I do here is therapeutic and habitual and…well, if you see less of me here, you’ll know why.
It’s because I’m working on my tan. If any sun can get through the sticky unidentified substance on my skin.
— 2 —
Have you heard of Patria?
I whipped through the first book over Memorial Day weekend and WOW! I’m going to whip through the second book and rave about it in every place I can.
My seven-year-old’s reading it, too, when I can convince her that reading on my iPad is better than the Easy Bake app.
It all started (me sharing e-reading, that is) with a desperate moment at a nearby park in the sweltering heat. I shared my Kindle, which happened to have this book on it.
She LOVES IT so far. (But she is distracted and school only just got out and the library’s reading program hasn’t started yet.) I know she’ll LOVE IT right through the end.
Me, I can’t wait to read the second book. And introduce myself (and, um, yes, my seven-year-old, to the cool features on the website).
Don’t wait to hear more from me, though.
Go. Check it out for yourself!
— 3 —
Speaking of cool things, check out this awesome initiative:
Brandon explains it here:
Within nine hours of launching it, the goal was met, but that’s no reason not to dive in and join, wouldn’t you agree?
Learn more and participate in the New Evangelization at AfriaEbooks.com!
— 4 —
On Monday, I shared pictures of our May altar as it’s progressed throughout the month.
On Tuesday, my four-year-old and I refreshed the flowers. The carnations are now blooming, and so is the Lady’s Mantle.
After I snapped a picture for myself, I handed her the camera.
— 5 —
When she gave me the camera back, I couldn’t resist taking a picture of my boy doing what my boy is so often doing:
My girls just never did this laying-on-stomach, playing-with-rolling-things thing the way he does all. the. time.
— 6 —
Remember how I was boycotting Pepsi and Kraft?
Well, good news: take Pepsi products off the list!
The good news isn’t that we can embrace our cola and chips again, but that they quit using aborted fetal cells.
Now, if only Kraft will do the same…
— 7 —
This take is sponsored by our local hospital. I spent yesterday morning at the ER. Believe it or not, it doesn’t involve the mancub: this drama stars a seven-year-old with crutches.
She was running and the combination of plastic and water was more than her ankle could take.
Summer has changed for us, that’s for sure. Much of what we would have done is very dependent on that seven-year-old (who is my Big Helper, my Prime Mover, my School-Kid-Home-for-Break) being able to be mobile.
We won’t know for sure if it’s an ankle break or a sprain until we see the pediatric orthopedic doctor next week.
Don’t worry, ye of the grandma bend, we are plotting how to best put your sympathies to use…
Visit Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!
May 31, 2012
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
A reflection on the word “GOD”
By Arwen Mosher
The funny thing about the word “God” in the Hail Mary prayer is that Mary herself would not have been allowed to say it.
Well, more than not being allowed, she wouldn’t have wanted to. The Blessed Mother was a reverent woman, and it’s forbidden for Jews to speak the tetragrammaton (transliterated “YHWH”) which refers to God in Hebrew. I find it ironic, and highly symbolic, that every time we ask for her intercession in the Hail Mary we speak [our form of] a word that she would have avoided out of love and respect for God.
It’s ironic because we say the Hail Mary out of love and respect for God. He wants us to ask for his grace through the prayers of his mother. In that act, we do something that she would have never done – with exactly the same motivation.
The word “God” is it.
And it’s symbolic because the Hail Mary prayer itself, just like Mary’s whole life, from her immaculate conception through her fiat and her great sorrow to her eventual assumption into heaven, points to God. She lived for him, and because she did, her son was able to die to save us. No solely human person has ever served God better.
Because she said “yes” and helped God bring Jesus into the world, we can now say the name of God aloud every time we pray. In our creed, we name the entire Trinity – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – with love and reverence. The new covenant, brought about in part because of Mary’s love and obedience, makes us free to name the One who holds us in being.
“God” belongs in the Hail Mary because Mary’s life is about God. Praise him for creating her so that we can have a chance to do as the servants of God before Christ could not: say his name.
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Arwen Mosher, a wife and mother of four, blogs from her home in Michigan. You can find her at Faith & Family Live and her own blog, ABC Family.
image credit
May 30, 2012
I plan to do it again this August at the CNMC and Catholic Writers Conference Live.
But you know what? It could be YOU.
My husband, who is Mr. Math Help Extraordinaire, was working late.
My kids, who were being entertained by a very thoughtful grandma, were bouncing off the walls.
My niece, who was stumped, was laughing uproarously at the creative and colorful language coming from me.
Among them were some phrases inspired by the 1950s Batman & Robin, reruns of which I used to watch in the afternoons before dinner or right after dinner. Remember that? Reuns? Because there was nothing else on, and certainly no cable out in the boonies at the camp where I grew up.
I remembered my promise to look it up on YouTube for her, and when I found this video, I couldn’t resist sharing it here.
Because maybe you have something pushing you right to your limit and you need some help filling in the blank after “Holy.”
May 29, 2012
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
A reflection on the word “OF”
By Val Bianco
When I was asked by Sarah to become the third of four people to discuss the word “of”, I figured I’d start with the etymology of “of.” After a few mouse clicks, I was spared the effort, considering that enough research has been done and explained by my erudite predecessors, Carol Ann and Lisa. So, “standing on the shoulders of giants,” I will proceed.
“Of” is a preposition, meaning “from.” It can indicate ownership or position, neither of which has any meaning unless the word forms a bridge between two other words. In my assignment, the 28th word of the Hail Mary, those words are “Mother” and “God”. So, with apologies to the owners of these, my neighbor words, I will proceed while trying to blow as few of my leaves onto their lawns as possible.
I have long felt that there is no human relationship that so closely mirrors the love of God for man as that of a mother for her child. Sadly, the inversion of this most perfect of human loves, abortion, would seem to be the magnum opus of Satan. In the Mother of God, however, this relationship is elevated to the pinnacle of human love. No two human beings ever have, or will, approach this level of being “of” each other. And so my “of” forms the bridge between the perfection of humanity and Perfection Itself.
Mary is “of” God in that she is from Him and, in her Fiat, she completely belongs to Him. Jesus, in turn, is “of” her in that His humanity springs forth from her. His genetic code, His eyes, hair color, blood type, and His smile are all “of” His mother, Mary. She nursed Him, changed Him, made his favorite foods, prayed with Him and sang Him to sleep. Our Lady heard His first breath and His last. He was hers, and hers alone, until she gave Him to Humanity, even as He gave her hers.
Mary’s divine Son, Jesus, was truly “of” her in a way that I will never understand, for only another mother can fully do so.
Can there be any clearer indication of this binding link than Cana? Mother “of” God, God “of” Mother. The first empirical evidence that this carpenter’s son was God seemed little more than a magic trick. No one was healed, no one was saved. Seems kind of insignificant for the Messiah’s first miracle. Why? The answer is Mary. She asks, “They have no wine.” He responds, “Woman what is that to Me…My hour is not yet come.” And she instructs the stewards as she has throughout history, speaking her heart’s only desire, “Whatsoever He shall say to thee, do it.”
Can it be coincidence that John records this dialogue? I think not. I believe that Cana, in it’s primacy, is a gift to us, a lesson in “of.” It is a clear reminder of the awesome power of a mother: the power to literally change God’s mind! This, to me, is the full weight of the 28th word of the Hail Mary. Humble “of,” the bridge between the words “Mother” and “God,” the bridge between divinity and humanity, without which Heaven would have been utterly unattainable.
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Val Bianco is a Catholic husband, father of ten, and writer, whose recently published novel, Sons of Cain, is one that I highly recommend. He keeps me chuckling on Twitter and rumor has it that he has a penchant for single malt whiskey.
image credit: MorgueFile
May 28, 2012
The best part to me is this:
It’s a pretty logo, designed out of the goodness of Thomas Sanjurjo‘s heart.
A Mary Moment Monday post
Not only did I get off my duff and finally organize a space for a May altar, but I’ve kept the flowers fresh.
And, being a not-always-slacking blogger, I even took pictures with the less-than-steller camera I have around here.
In the beginning, lovely lavendar stock and an apple blossom plucked from the tree while I mowed:
Then the daisies bloomed at the farm, along with iris and geraniums and a couple of early blooming bachelor buttons:
My grandma cut a whole vase of roses for me and I kept cutting fresh irises:
And now, my yellow coreopsis is blooming, contrasting nicely with the now-everywhere bachelor buttons:
We still have a few days left, and maybe I’ll keep cutting fresh flowers. My girls are enjoying it, and there’s something about fresh flowers in the house: it makes me happy in a way I never would have predicted.
Seeing the same statue surrounded by different hues and smells has been a hands-on lesson in how versatile Mary is. She doesn’t care if we’re stately like the rose or earthy like the bachelor buttons. She will take the tossed-over-your-shoulder greeting just as much to heart as she’ll grab the intention of someone who’s kneeling with tears in their eyes.
There’s a lot more I get from this little monthly visual, too, but it’s all sort of waggling around in my chaotic brain.
What do you love about May altars?
May 26, 2012
Then again, we have felt the support and encouragement during our roughest, darkest times, and that brings me back to you.
Could you pause, when you read this, and say a prayer? I can’t share details or specifics just yet (or maybe ever), but know that God will hear you and we will so appreciate it.
Many thanks, my friends, and know that you all remain in my prayers!
