You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here. https://themomweekly.com/
Notes:
And again, I have not had time to edit my intended Lenten post(s), but fortunately there are a few things to write about, as always! Especially during Lent.
I happened to listen to a Rich Mullins song on Spotify the other day, looking for a lyric.
Now, normally when I’m out and about driving around, a podcast plays, from one of my “followed” podcasts. But since I had listened to that Rich Mullins song, Spotify played for me my “Rich Mullins Lent” playlist. And so, I listened to Rich Mullins songs as I drove to Mass this morning, and then to the post office and a couple of other stops. I listened to his music on the way to and from the gym.
And honestly? Listening to Rich Mullins music is balm for the soul. At least my soul! I have been feeling extra depleted these last few weeks with everything going on. Listening to Rich Mullins today was life-giving and restorative.
So can I propose that you find an artist or type of music that is balm to your soul, and listen to it, at least for a small portion of every day? That’s going to be my plan for the remainder of Lent, and beyond.
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
“Looking and Sounding Last-Season”
Bishop Erik Varden (I’m reading his book The Shattering of Loneliness for Lent) has been doing Lenten retreat talks at the Vatican for the first week or so of Lent.
I thought it was funny and also interesting that an exlusive group of people are allowed to attend: “The Cardinals resident in Rome and the Heads of the Dicasteries are invited to participate.”
That doubtless means that normal people (like us!) aren’t able to attend, but fortunately, Bishop Varden is posting the talks on his website. They are all very short and highly readable. Here is the one for February 24: The Splendor of Truth.
Here’s a quote that I really liked from it:
It is tempting to think we must keep up with the world’s fashions. It is, I’d say, a dubious procedure. The Church, a slow-moving body, will always run the risk of looking and sounding last-season. But if she speaks her own language well, that of the Scriptures and liturgy, of her past and present fathers, mothers, poets, and saints, she will be original and fresh, ready to express ancient truths in new ways, standing a chance, as she has done before, of orienting culture.
Interesting/Notable:
A woman at book group a couple of weeks ago mentioned a YouTube video on Former Senator Ben Sasse discussing his terminal diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. When I add YouTube videos to emails, sometimes they go to spam, so I won’t link the one I think it is. But if you look for the Hoover Institution. The title of the video is called “Basketball in the Last 60 Seconds.” I have gotten most of the way through it, and it’s a sobering but beautiful listen.
Lent starts next Wednesday, February 18, and as we know, it’s that fun time of year that we all love.
This is not the first time I have pondered how to make Lent more spiritually fruitful without it being a slog. As I looked back at previous posts, I have written about this a lot!
But it bears repeating these ideas, to help myself and maybe help some of you, dear readers.
I have a reminder to keep looking for the Holy Father’s Message for Lent, but as I write this in early February, it has still not been released. In years past I try to print it out and read it during Adoration times. Once it is released I will post a link to it.
Let’s start with some Scripture:
One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck ears of grain. And the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, when Abi′athar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
—Mark 2:23:28
The reason I shared this Scripture is that I recently had the thought: “Lent was made for man, not man for Lent.”
I hope this isn’t misinterpreting it (but the theologian in the family will correct me if I’ve gotten this wrong, I hope!).
But: the idea that “the Sabbath was made for man” means that we have been given the Sabbath because it’s good for our bodies and spirits to have regular times of worship, rest, and leisure.
God made us that way, and then He gave us the Sabbath as a weekly reminder to focus on worship of God, rest, and leisure. Not because God needs anything from us, but because we benefit from ordering our lives in this way.
And then God made it a rule (one of the 10 Commandments!) to ensure that we would do it. (Or at least try, in my case, because I’m often not great about this.)
In the same way, God made humans (and the world) to need rhythm and change. We benefit from seasons, time of rejoicing and contemplation, and feasting and fasting. It’s obvious to anyone who looks around, or experiences life, that any “one” of those things is good for us, but not all the time, 24/7, 365.
So Lent becomes one of those “rules” as a time to foster silence, contemplation, fasting, and prayer. In the same way that Easter time becomes one of those “rules” to foster praise, rejoicing, and feasting.
Looking at Lent that way—that it was made for us, to help us live in harmony with the way we have been made—could help us live a better and, dare I say, more joyful Lent.
There really are very few “rules” to Lent, but it bears repeating them:
*fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday
*refrain from meat on Ash Wednesdays and all the Fridays of Lent.
The three “pillars” of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Each of us should have a focus on those areas during Lent. What does that mean for each individual person? It’s really up to each of us.
Once we formulate a plan—and simpler is better here!—the difficult part might be not to compare ourselves to others.
Someone else is doing meatless all of Lent? A friend is giving up social media until Easter? Etc., etc. Good for them! We can appreciate what they are doing, but really stick to the small things that we have chosen.
Last year’s beginning of Lent post covers a lot of this same ground, and I encourage you to take a quick read through that for some ideas.
Here’s another video from the Gosplaining, the Dominican podcast. This time for a new item that is a great technology item: the Eternize cross. Fr. Bonaventure
“It’s like a hammer —it’s a great tool. When you need a hammer, it’s a great tool. A hammer does not demand things of you when you’re not hammering. You don’t get tempted to start hammering walls. It’s just a perfect tool for the job it does. … (eternize cross)… perfect for what it does. Spectacular application of technology at the service of prayer.”
If you haven’t guessed already: yes, I ordered the Eternize cross after listening to this video. Just in time for Lent! I’ll let you know how it goes.
An Action Item: Start (or Continue) Your Taxes
February is a great time to begin or continue working on your taxes. It gives you plenty of of time to gradually input your information, or, if you don’t do your own taxes, to gather documents in a file (digital or paper) for your accountant or tax preparer.
I’ve been trying to do for about 10-15 minutes on the days when I can get to it. Give it a try! You’ll be glad you did so.
You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here.
Notes:
This Friday is the feast of St. Francis de Sales. He’s the patron saint of writers & journalists (raising my hand) as well as the baptism anniversary of a certain family member. I still remember that baptism so well!
Anyway, I’ve had versions of this in my writing file for some time. I hope it conveys the humor that I find in St. Francis de Sales’ writing (intentional or unintentional).
No matter what, remember how much I love you,
Mom
Saint Francis de Sales Always Cracks Me Up
While we were dating, Dad pointed out to me a copy of St. Francis de Sales Introduction to the Devout Life in a Catholic bookstore, and I bought it, or maybe he bought it for me?
Saint Francis de Sales was a late 16th and early 17th century French/Swiss bishop, writer, and spiritual director. This context from the Wikipedia page really helps see where his idea for “the devout life” came from:
In 1586, Francis de Sales attended a theological discussion about predestination that convinced him of his damnation to hell. A personal crisis of despair resulted. …. Sometime in either late December or early January 1587, he visited the old parish of Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, Paris, where he prayed the “Memorare” before a famed statue of Our Lady of Good Deliverance, a Black Madonna.
De Sales ultimately concluded that God had good in store for him because “God is love”, as the First Epistle of John attests. This faithful devotion to God not only expelled his doubts but also influenced the rest of his life and his teachings. His way of teaching Catholic spirituality is often referred to as the Way of Divine Love, or the Devout Life, taken from a book he wrote of a similar name: Introduction to the Devout Life.
——
I did not know at the time that Saint Francis de Sales is the patron saint of writers and journalists (me!), or that our first-born daughter would be baptized on his feast day. I just know how influential that book has been to me over the decades.
Anyway, I read it and loved it right away. Something about his style, even with the flowery language and random odd analogies of fruits and animals, I found very spiritually fruitful. And so over the years, I’ve re-read it during many Lents.
One of the hallmarks of St. Francis’ teaching is that “devotion is compatible with every station of life.” Rather than holiness, or living close to God, being only for priests and religious, it’s really meant for every person, whether a laborer, or a king, or a mom, or a professor.
Whenever I’ve read Introduction to the Devout Life, the thing that always “convicts” me, or helps me focus on what really matters, are the ten meditations in the first part of the Introduction.
on our creation
On he end for which we were created
On the benefits of God
On sin
On death
On judgment
On hell
On heaven
On the choice of heaven
By way of Election and choice which the Soul makes of Devout Life
These meditations are kind of Ignatian in spirit, because there’s a lot of imagining yourself in different situations, such as near death, your judgment. It’s quite moving, despite the flowery language that is present throughout the book.
The last meditation, “Election and choice which the Soul makes of Devout Life” is the one that always makes me almost laugh out loud. In the meditation, St. Francis de Sales has the readers imagine themselves in a field, with people on one side who are in hell, and the other people who are in heaven. And among the people in heaven there is this line:
See the ranks of many married people, who live so lovingly together with mutual respect, which cannot be without great charity. Consider how these devout souls join the exterior care of their households with the interior care of their souls, the love the earthly with that of the celestial spouse.
Let’s double click on that:
Who live together with mutual respect, which cannot be (had) without great charity.
Ya think, St. Francis? I just always find that funny because of course being married demands charity. And while Dad & I love each other, living together “lovingly” like St. Francis de Sales writes, is quite the feat! Sometimes it doesn’t actually happen, so you do the best you can.
But that line is not only for married people. Just living among people with mutual respect demands enormous charity. In our world today, we have so, so many people who have nothing but contempt for certain other people, and don’t even try to hide that contempt or hatred.
When people don’t show a basic amount of respect for others, it can be easy to dehumanize them as well, but that’s not the way to go. We have to work really hard at showing respect for others, and even charity, even for people who appear to us to be odious or wrong in every way.
It reminded me of another quote by Mother Angelica. When she died back in 2016, I came across this quote:
“If it wasn’t for people, we could all be holy.”
Isn’t that the truth? It’s so easy in our minds to be always kind, always truthful, and always patient, always with the right thing to say. At least it is for me! It is so much harder in actual life, in actual interactions with people, to be patient, loving, and having the right thing to say.
(Digression: I remember years ago sometimes watching Mother Angelica have a Q&A with her audience about various topics, and honestly, she was very funny, with catchy quotes like, “If it wasn’t for people, we could all be holy.” I remember thinking watching her that she might be holier than thou, or harsh with people talking about their faults or unhappy families, but my memory is that she was quite realistic about life this century.
A good portion of us watched “Wake Up Dead Man” last week after hearing so many great things about it. It is extremely well-done and moving, despite some strong content at various times, and it’s a little too murder-y for me (I hope that’s not a spoiler).
But the Catholic content, while sometimes isn’t quite accurate (Does it bother anyone else that often non-Catholics will write lines like “take Communion” or “take my Confession” when a Catholic would not say it that way—It would be “receive Communion” or “hear my Confession.”), the Catholic content is also literally true and word for word when it needs to be. I won’t say any more if you haven’t watched it.
This “reaction” video from a Catholic Dominican priest gave me a lot more insight into some of the Scriptural references in the movie that had escaped me. This YouTube channel is by Dominicans, so of course it is going to be great! 🙂
You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here.
Notes:
I really thought I would have a lot more ideas about the topic of today’s weekly, so I hope that you will all give me some ideas to update this post in future months! There must be dozens of other ideas like the ones I share, and I look forward to hearing yours.
Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention that today is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen! I realized too late that I should have written all about her for today, but I will save that for another time, when I have time to give it my full attention. In the meantime, have some tea, scones, and maybe watch one of the movie adaptations in her honor today.
This is the oft-said expression around here whenever someone remarks on some new invention or something that has become common in life, unlike when someone “was a kid.”
Now, when I was a kid, Netflix didn’t exist, but we were just on the cusp of being able to videotape shows so that we could watch them. Things are always changing, and often for the better!
It’s important to remember that, especially at times when there is so much bad news and negativity. Of course, the many things in our world that are dreadful are bad. No one is denying that! At the same time, it is worth reflecting on little things that make our lives better or easier, and that didn’t exist before.
Just a few examples of how we all have it easier and/or better than we used to:
—Salad kits.
—salad kits have gotten really good in recent years. It’s remarkable to think about how easy it is to have a vegetable side or even a meal (when you add a protein). Some of my favorites: Sam’s Club Caesar salad kit—this is good for several meals for more than one person. The dressing is actually quite good. I think it’s less than $6, which is a steal. Also, Trader Joe’s and Aldi have interesting and tasty salad kits. When I checked at Costco recently, I was not impressed at how they looked or the prices (I think the Caesar salad kit went for $9), but otherwise, there are plenty of places to get them. What are some of your favorites?
—Playlists/Mixtape Technology.
I’m not sure what the kids call it, but it’s a selection of songs you make for someone and give to them. We used to call them mixtapes.
I vividly remember being in college and tape-recording a song from another tape, and being poised to press “pause” at the very moment the song ended, so I could cue up the next favorite song I wanted to include. Such a labor of love! These days Spotify just automatically makes playlists for you. I will say that those playlists are never as good as the ones that you can make yourself, but that’s another story.
—completing taxes (i.e. TurboTax).
Back in the day, we had to fill out our tax returns on paper and mail them to the IRS (and the state equivalent) because it was the only option. And we had to check and re-check the math to make sure that everything was correct. So much stress! Turbotax is such a great time-saver. The software gets better every year, and takes you through a questionnaire to help you include everything you need to. I know many people use CPAs or firms for completing their taxes, but I find it a useful exercise, and relatively easy these days.
—useful home and life information and tutorials.
Whether it’s how to operate a certain appliance or re-learn how to do something tech-related, to comparing recipes for a certain item, like meatloaf or ginger cookies, the Internet has a broad range of information. What actually surprises me is how it’s actually a skill to find truly helpful information, and not everyone is good at it. It takes some effort! That could be worth writing about soon.
Interesting/Notable:
Hannukah began on December 14, and runs through December 22. The latter date is when I will plan to make latkes, so get ready!
As many of you know, Hallmark produces two or three Hannukah themed movies each year, and they are usually pretty solid. They are often more family-oriented or at least involve family ties, and religious observance, than the regular Christmas movies.
“Round and Round”is a Hannukah-themed movie from 2023; we absolutely adored it. I would pay money to see it in the theater. I know I’ve mentioned it before, and will definitely watch it again this year. If you like “Groundhog Day,” you will LOVE this one.
You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here.
The Perfect Christmas Story Does Exist
Several weeks ago, we watched one of the new Hallmark Christmas movies which was surprisingly good (as they sometimes are!). It is calledChristmas Above the Clouds, and in it, a workaholic executive, Ella Neezer, is visited by the ghosts on an airplane.
While nothing holds a candle to The Muppet Christmas Carol, this one was really well done, with lots of cute Dickens references. It is definitely worth a watch, if you like Hallmark movies.
Watching Christmas Above The Clouds made me realize again why there are so many retellings of A Christmas Carol—it’s honestly one of the most perfect Christmas stories out there. Some of the retellings are awful, some are pretty good and watchable, like this one, and some are true classics (The Muppet Christmas Carol being one, and the 1951 Alistair Sim version is not only a favorite of Dad’s, but one of the best-regarded adaptations).
I am not even that big of a fan of Dickens, but there is something about this story that warms the heart and helps us get into the Christmas spirit (pun intended?)
Last year, over several weeks, I shared many, many quotes from A Christmas Carol. Instead of that, I will revisit a very few quotes from this classic, and encourage you not only to read the novella (see action item below), but also schedule your re-watch of A Muppet Christmas Carol.
There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,” returned the nephew. “Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round—apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”
“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!”
Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset.
He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!
This article is from 2022, and I can’t recall how I came across it recently. It’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes story of how The Muppet Christmas Carol came to be the classic that it is, instead of a “haha” funny Muppet movie. Well worth the read!
Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t add that for our family, another perfect Christmas story exists, and it is called “The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy”
An Action Item: Consider An Annual Reading of “A Christmas Carol”
I wrote about this previously, so let me say it again: reading “A Christmas Carol” should be a yearly event, to help get into the Christmas season.
A Christmas Carol has around 30,000 words, which is novella-sized more than novel-sized. It’s really manageable, and since you know the story and many of the best quotes, it should be an enjoyable time!
You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here.
Notes:
As you know, the last week or so has been taken up with a lot of activity for all of us! And you have all been amazing.
As a result, all of my writing “motors” went to other things. But that is okay, because my writing self from 15-20 years ago is the gift that keeps giving.
This is a very short but adorable “from the vault.” Enjoy, and remember how much I love you,
Mom
Why Has the Boxcar Children Never Been Turned into a Movie? (From the Vault, September 2009)
We really enjoy The Boxcar Children series at our house. They are not “great literature,” but they are fun good stories, and hilarious for adults in the implied dysfunction of the family members and assorted friends around the Boxcar Children themselves: Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny.
Grandfather Alden keeps quarreling with various family members, and his kind and loving grandchildren keep reuniting him with them, and solving a mystery to boot. But it’s all about the mysteries. They are such fun books.
I am just shocked to learn there has never been a movie version of this classic. Why not? There would be a built-in audience from so many generations of kids and their parents who have read them in the decades since they were first published.
Homegirl created, with help from siblings, this Lego version of The Boxcar Children.
I thought this was an interesting read, and an awful thing to happen. Several years ago, I explored renting a Sonder apartment for European travel, but most of them were long-term rentals only. It is surprising how quickly this fell apart, and also how people were basically thrown out onto the street.
