Or Candlemas or Pancake Day or or Groundhog Day or just Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016.

Today in the gospel we read of Mary and Joseph presenting Jesus at the temple. They meet Simeon and Anna, both of whom had long awaited the arrival of the Messiah. I have wondered if their words only brought confusion to the new parents or a sense of affirmation.

Surely Mary and Joseph had put something together what with the greeting of Gabriel, the messages in dreams, Elizabeth’s welcome, shepherds and kings. Children lost when their child was born. Did hearing the warning of Simeon, “and you yourself a sword will pierce” and greeting of Anna who “gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem” give them assurance that what they were embarking on was indeed from God?

And then there’s the word itself – present, as a word, can be so many things – a noun, a verb and an adjective. Simeon spoke of verbs – piercing of a sword, the rise and fall of many. Anna gloried in the noun of it all – the child! And they were both ‘present’ at that wonderful ‘present’ moment; an adjective.

We, also, have a part to play in all of this. Today is our day to see how we can use the word. How about this –

Shall we ‘present’ ourselves before God, offering ourselves as ‘present’ to Him for His use, and His glory so that at any ‘present’ moment people can see Him acting in us?

Sounds pretty good!

As for the pancakes – it goes like this – one of the priests at my parish has been all over the world, currently the rectory’s head cook and is pretty old as well. Today he talked about the weird reality that the first pancake we make is usually a clunker. Is that as true in your house as well as my own? He happens to him as well.

It takes awhile to get the heat right on the pan/griddle. It takes one or sometimes two to know exactly when to flip them for the perfect pancake.

Well, Fr. Frank said that on this day as Candlemas was when Christmas was finally put away, was also a day for pancakes – perhaps the easiest meal on day when you are cleaning up piles of dead pine needles?

Anyways, they would make pancakes and put the first one aside in the cupboard to remember they were once hungry and God fed them – with pancakes and with the Messiah, “the glory of your people Israel”.

And the groundhog? Phil didn’t see his shadow so if you follow rodents for your weather, it should be an early spring! And, Groundhog Day, the movie with Bill Murray is on the Vatican’s list of 50 Greatest Movies, so there’s that!

St. Augustine of Hippo is credited with giving us these words of wisdom. I am a firm believer in the power of music to ‘soothe the savage beast’ – who would be ME!

We all know the reality of an ‘ear worm’ – the song we just can’t get out of our heads. Knowing this truth – I work at getting certain songs stuck in my head – on purpose.

Giving myself a soundtrack for my day helps me have a better day. My go-to playlist reminds me of God’s power, His love, my need to depend on Him and Him alone. On a very human note, these songs make me happy, resurrect good memories and encourage me to dance a bit through my day – an easy way to sneak in some exercise.

My songs give away my age, reveal my growing up years being a part of the Charismatic Movement of the 80’s and that fact that I like rock n’ roll (is it even called that anymore?). I’ve already mentioned my love for Matt Maher’s music but here’s my Top Eleven – in no particular order:

Rich Mullins – Awesome God

John Michael Talbot – Magnificat

DC Talk – Jesus Freak

John Michael Talbot w/ Terry Talbot – Create For Me A Clean Heart

Chris Rice – Becky and Me

Mercy Me – I Can Only Imagine

Fernado Ortega – Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent

Jars of Clay – Flood

Kirk Franklin – Stomp

Audio Adrenaline – Big House (tied with Get Down)

Amy Grant/Michael Card – El Shaddai

Do you have a song that feeds your soul?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Angelic Doctor, the Dumb Ox has given us so much – the Summa which clarified Aristotle’s philosophy into the truth of the Church and the Pange Lingua and Tatum Ergo which we sing every time we visit Christ in Adoration and much more.

Both of the hymns I mention speak the similar words of comfort:

 And if sense is deficient
to strengthen a sincere heart
Faith alone suffices.

The truth of our faith is that we can’t see Jesus – not in the words of Scripture, not in the host or wine and not in each other, though we are called “the Body of Christ”, yet, Jesus in all of these.

He is ‘the Word made flesh to dwell among us’, Jn. 1:14. Luke 22 and Matthew 26 tell us of the Last Supper where Jesus lifted up the bread and wine declaring them to be His own Body and Blood.

Romans 12:5, Ephesians 4:12 and 5:30 along with 1 Corinthians 12:27 tells us quite simply and clearly: “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”

But, we rarely actually see it and more often than not forget it. St. Thomas knows this and reassures us – if our senses can’t recognize it, and our heart needs strengthening – our faith in these truths suffices.

He wisely said – “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

Amen, to that!

 

 

Welcome to the new site! We hope you find it friendly, accessible and easy to use. Finding it whimsical, fun and down right cute wouldn’t hurt either but our real goal is make is as easy as possible for you to find everything you need to run a successful club. If you see that we missed something, please let us know and we’ll do out best.

Our focus has always been – and remains – to help you raise the next generation of saints. Sure, it’s a lofty goal but we know we can do it with the grace of God, through Christ and His Church under the watchful and always generous Holy Spirit. We are not alone and together we can help our kids (and ourselves) grow holier – one virtue at a time!