Lenten doings

Outdoor Stations of the Cross at the St. Benedict Abbey yesterday. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing hard! But it was good to get out there and pray with the monks and friends.

I think I will have to skip planting and just go ahead and harvest these greens! Things are getting out of control here…

And the most flattering photo of my DIY “greenhouse.” I give it a C- for aesthetics, an upgrade from last year, because I figured out how to use the 10 x 25′ plastic sheet as optimally as I am able, and so my OCD is somewhat pacified, or was — this photo was from yesterday and today I woke up to find that the intense wind we had last night blew it over, sigh…

I will put the process of making it in my Instagram highlights at some point. (It will not be hard to set up again, I’m pretty sure! And then I will get around to putting the bins of water on the lower shelves, which will help anchor it.)

What you have to understand (and maybe you do understand if you live in the country in New England) is that to me this is a scene of unbelievable hope, greenery or some sort of whiff of it, and promise, not as you might think by looking at it, one of dismal sad barren sogginess, over the permafrost.

And so, having a big pillar of plastic in my yard is not repugnant to me! Soon it will be filled with my cold-tolerant plants (after the beginning of the coming week when temps in the teens and snow are predicted due to Third Winter being upon us!).

The changing of the seasons is a miracle, but spring is a miracle above and beyond. I don’t know that people really stop to think of how dependable the seasons are. Even when an expected change is delayed and we become anxious (“it snowed in May!”), that is proof that we depend completely on the world turning in the way it does and always has.

There is order and pattern in life that is completely given. There is nothing we can do to disrupt it. The leaves will fall from the trees; the wind will blow in March. Or whatever it does where you live, as the world turns.

As we try to live in harmony with this pattern, we become aware of a pattern above it, or underlying it (its cause, you might say). If the material world conforms to an unshakeable order, it’s the mind that perceives it to be so and discerns that order. The mind is not material — it is immaterial — spiritual.

The spiritual world is real and has a pattern of its own, one that is not aloof from the natural, material one. I think that the more we are aware of the one, the more open we are to the other, and the richer our life becomes, for ourselves and for others.

Lent is certainly one part of the rhythm. Even though we are deep in the middle of it, and that can be wearying, it’s good to know that we are part of this ineluctable cycle, and that we can depend on the promise it offers.

bits & piecesA really fun drone video (90 seconds) that is attracting a lot of attention.In many places, it’s getting hard to pray and worship. I was just reminded of a great little interview that Bishop Schneider gave a bit more than a year ago, on how to raise children in hard times. I wanted to post it here again: this article in LifeSite News explains how my book The Little Oratory (affiliate link) helps families and friends pray in the home, exactly as he describes, and his interview is linked within. This 230-year-old oak gave its life for the new Notre Dame spire.This “Statement of Conscience to Awaken Conscience” is written by a friend of mine, Catherine Pakaluk. I think it expresses very well the moral dangers, past, present, and future, of medical products that in some way use aborted fetal tissue, and the dangers to conscience. I urge you to read, sign, and share. My husband wrote about it here.Fr. Pokorsky: Don’t put Jesus on ValiumThe complement to last week’s post on when a man proposes, from John Cuddeback: When a woman says yes.Fr. Emil Kapaun’s story transcends the expectations we have for normal human behavior. The saints are miracles; they challenge us to live differently. What shines through the details is Fr. Kapaun’s… cheerfulness. Even though I hate reading about war and its horrors, I love reading about Fr. Kapaun; the article is about the good news that his remains have been identified.

from the archivesHow to get the kids doing dishes — and opening up The bossiness cure

liturgical living

Tomorrow is Laetare Sunday! Plan now for extra merriment to keep spirits up!

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