My father passed away the morning of Monday, May 11. He had been struggling with cancer for several years and had some heart issues but the timing was unexpected and we are all still stunned. I had called home on Mother's Day and gotten to speak to him briefly the evening before. I can't express how much he meant to me.

I and my two brothers and mother would be very comforted by your prayers in this time. Liam's graduation is this Saturday and after that I will be flying up to Alaska for my father's service.

Article on his life at the Anchorage Daily News.

Night Reflections

I took this from Leonie's blog :

And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed: just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God’s hands and leave it with Him. Then you will be able to rest in Him -- really rest -- and start the next day as a new life. --Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

I always liked this prayer from John Cardinal Newman, too:

"May God support us all the day long,
'till the shadows lengthen and the evening comes,
and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over,
and our work is done! Then, in His mercy,
may He give us a safe lodging
and a holy rest, and peace at the last."

Little Children

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10

I just thought it was interesting that Pope Pius XI, in Divini Illius Magistri (On Christian Education) opens with this same passage that Charlotte Mason referred to so many times in her life.

that divine Master who while embracing in the immensity of His love all mankind, even unworthy sinners, showed nevertheless a special tenderness and affection for children, and expressed Himself in those singularly touching words: "Suffer the little children to come unto Me,"

Near the beginning of Home Education, Charlotte Mason writes:

"Suffer the little children to come unto Me," says the Saviour, as if that were the natural thing for the children to do, the thing they do when they are not hindered by their elders. And perhaps it is not too beautiful a thing to believe in this redeemed world, that, as the babe turns to his mother though he has no power to say her name, as the flowers turn to the sun, so the hearts of the children turn to their Saviour and God with unconscious delight and trust.

That's really all I wanted to write, but Paddy was so vehement this morning about wanting to continue reading through his First Communion catechism book with me "please, just one more lesson, one more!!!!" that I have to think that there is some truth to that idea of delight and trust.

I remember when I was a small child, God seemed everywhere. I didn't actually realize that the Presence was God until later. I just was aware of this quiet vastness. It wasn't anything like a Sunday School lesson (which were too often twaddly), but it was around when I listened to my mother read Bible stories, and when I was playing or thinking.

Perhaps that sense is one of the things that education can help bring out and develop, or else whittle away at, scandalize or destroy. Certainly one big responsibility. I couldn't help laughing when I was reading a Calvin comic to Paddy and Calvin's dad said to his mom, "When I was a child I thought my parents knew what they were doing.... I probably wouldn't have been in such a hurry to grow up if I had known it would be mostly ad-libbing." Paddy didn't know what that meant, but I knew exactly.

Maybe a good time to link to this "Impossible" novena (posted on Studeo) that started on March 25, the feast day of the Annunciation, and goes on till Christmas. I always thought I'd have a hard time raising kids successfully, and any success on my part has to be attributed to wild grace and not to anything about me. But that suffices... God alone suffices.

Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat ei.
Requiescat in pace.
Amen.

Please pray for Catholic blogger and author Michael Dubruiel , who passed away unexpectedly yesterday, and for his family.

Danielle Bean has asked us to help spread the word -- she writes:

I have heard from so many of you expressing a deep desire to help the family in some tangible way during their time of loss. I’ve set up a Paypal button to collect donations that will be sent to Amy, to help cover the costs of Michael’s funeral and any other expenses she might be encountering at this time.

There is more information at her site at Faith and Family, and at her mirror site.

There's a list of Mr Dubruiel's books here.

Clouds of Witnesses

“since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every earthly care and… run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” Hebrews 12: 1-2.

On the techy front:

I have been trying to transfer some old posts from other blogs to this one. If you use Blogger, you will notice on your posting template that there is a link called "post options" (on the bottom). If you open the link, you will find that you can edit the date. So I've been adding the posts AND matching them to their original dates (for ex, May 10 2006).

Google Reader seems to be able to deal with this and doesn't make these old posts show up as new ones on the reader. So far, at least.... but I don't know about Bloglines and other readers. So if a bunch of "new" posts show up on this blog, they aren't really new. Sigh... anyway, I hope the transition isn't very annoying.

Closer to my heart:

Also, please say some prayers for young Michael who is on the top of my sidebar. Michael's mama and auntie are two of the sweetest people I know. I have known them online for years and years; they have been a blessing to so many people, many more than they probably know. They prayed our Aidan Michael through some of his worst hospital episodes. Aidan was according to one PICU attending physician "way out in the stratosphere of medical miracles"; I believe it was because of the prayers of the cyber-community, which can truly be a "cloud of witnesses"; and I am praying for a miracle for Sabine's Michael now. The news has already been encouraging. He wasn't showing any hopeful signs at all, and has progressed to moving and responding to his mother's voice. (edited to add -- and taking half his breaths on his own without the ventilator, from what I've recently heard -- another good sign!)

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

Prayer Request

Annika got her liver transplant. Things are still rough for her, though. She and her team could use prayers.

Also, a California Catholic homeschooling family's little girl is in critical condition.

Storm on our Side of the Sierras

There is a huge storm just hitting our area of California. Our giant incense cedars and sugar pines, some of them well over 100 feet tall, are tossing in the wind outside our windows, bringing to mind angry or distressed ents on a very large scale, or perhaps Birnam Wood. It gives you a feeling of being very small. We could get up to 10 feet of snow.

We were supposed to have our homeschool cookie-decorating Christmas party this afternoon but it is going to be postponed because of the storm. So we are staying home in front of a blazing fire eating the sugar and gingerbread cookies we made for the party, and also turning the thermostat up to 68 degrees so that if the power goes out we at least have a warm house for a little while.

A 64 year old man who is a chaplain for the police department, and his twin 15 year old children drove out to see the snow yesterday, they think near Oakhurst, and they have not been found as of Friday afternoon. It is storming too heavily for a helicopter search. I am praying for them and thought I would mention it on here since I am sure they and their family could use some extra prayers right now.

ETA The Clovis man and his twin children were found safe yesterday evening. Deo gratias!

We got five inches of rain here but it did not turn into snow until later at night so we didn't quite get buried as we thought we might.

It looks like this:

Prayer of St Benedict

Prayer for the Gifts to Seek God and Live in Him


Father,

In your goodness grant me the intellect to comprehend you, the perception to discern you, and the reason to appreciate you.

In your kindness endow me with the diligence to look for you, the wisdom to discover you, and the spirit to apprehend you.

In your graciousness bestow on me a heart to contemplate you, ears to hear you, eyes to see you, and a tongue to speak of you.

In your mercy confer on me a conversation pleasing to you, the patience to wait for you, and the perseverance to long for you.

Grant me a perfect end - your holy presence. Amen.

Saving Oliver Hill

Read this from Cay at Cajun Cottage:

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"You cannot have the family farm without the family." quotes G. K. Chesterton. Molly uses this quote in her signature line when she writes, so the thought of this dear homeschooling family facing the threat of losing their farm saddens me immeasurably. ...

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Regina Doman has the details at her blog

Please pray for dear Molly and her family , and for others who are faced with this situation.

Scholar and hero
(HT: Studeo and my husband)

"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu said in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv. "Students started opening windows and jumping out."