“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” – Edith Wharton
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A very cold Sunday morning, around 15°. But, the sun was out, which made it less oppressive, but not much. My son and I went to 9:30 Mass at St. Norbett’s, it was a good day.
Todays Gospel was the story of the Angel appearing to Joseph to tell him that Mary was carrying left through the Holy Spirit.
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.
My take on it… sometimes we are asked to make difficult decisions and perform difficult tasks along our journey in life. “It ‘ain’t’ always easy.”
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After Mass, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a hot chocolate and tea. It was very nice mother/son bonding time. A good time to talk and share. We haven’t done this in a long time.
When we got home, the girls were all set and ready for action. A lot of playing, crafting, singing, dancing, and eating.
The girls were excited to light the Hanukkah candles at dusk, repeat the special prayers, and of course..open presents.
. “Believing that you can achieve your dreams is a part of preparation.” ~ATGW
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It’s been bleak and dreary here in Northbrook these past few days. I can’t remember when I saw the sun last. It looked like it was raining, but it was just the heavy moisture in the air. My son and I went to 9:30 Mass at St. Norbert this morning. It’s a pretty church with fine music. We lit a candle after Mass. (of course… prayed for us simmer.)
Today’s Gospel was about John the Baptist inquiring if Jesus was the one that he had been preparing others for…
When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you. Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
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After Mass, we stopped at the hardware store, “The place with the helpful hardware man.” 🎼 I guess one of the fuses on the giant inflatable snowman out front had burned out.
The rest of the day is a blur. It’s not even 6pm, but feels like midnight. It gets dark before 4pm, so the night time starts a lot earlier.
There was a lot of playing, dress-up, snacking, eating, drinking, crying, laughing, and typical kiddie stuff going on.
“Grateful souls focus on the happiness and abundance present in their lives and this in turn attracts more abundance and joy towards them.”~Stephen Richards.
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A VERY cold and blustery morning here in Northbrook, Illinois. He temp was only in the 20’s. 😳 My son and I got up very early so we could get over to St. Norbert’s Catholic Church for 7:30 am Mass. There was a lot planned for the last rest of the day.
St. Norbert Parish was established in 1953, and it’s a beautiful old traditional style church. Of course, I had to get a photo op with Father Ismael Garcia Sainz. I even tried out some of my rusty Spanish on him. He pretended to understand, 🤦♀️
Today’s Gospel was pretty long, so I just shortened it, getting to the main jist of it….
John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths……..
I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
~My take on it… John the Baptist was preaching and preparing the people for the coming of the Savior. He felt unworthy, but he foretold the coming of the Lord, and that we should be prepared for the final judgement.
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After Mass we stopped at the the store and picked up a few things. Later, the girls and I worked on art and craft projects. In the afternoon, we went to Target so the girls could pick out their own birthday presents from Grandma. We came back and had to immediately open and play with presents, followed by a sock fight. The little socks barely weighed an ounce and made soft landings on all victims. It was hilarious.
It’s been a busy day, and Grandma is exhausted, jet lagged, sleep deprived and just plain old OLD. Wouldn’t change a thing. ❤️❤️
“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
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After days of gray and gloom and rain, we finally have a lovely sunny Sunday. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. No sock monkey hat for church this morning. I left for St. Gabriel a little early today so I could greet my friends on the Château bus. I guess I was really early because when I got to the parking lot, there was only one other car there. 😳 I actually had to think twice. “Is today Sunday?” A few minutes later, the “usual crowd shuffled in.” I took a quick picture, enjoying the fact that it was warm and sunny. Not a cloud in the sky.
The first Sunday in Advent.
Todays Gospel was the story of Jesus letting us know that we need to be vigilant and always prepared for the Second Coming…
Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
My take on it… plain and simple, if you lead a good life, are honest, kind, and love the Lord and your neighbor, you are always prepared. No worries. Are you prepared?
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After Mass, we stopped at McD. Then Helene and I went to Tom Thumb for a few sales. Bananas 29c a pound, limit 4 pounds each. Woa! We are going to add that 8 pounds to our stash of goodies to take to Holy Family School.
It was a beautiful afternoon and evening, so I was able to get out for a nice evening walk. It had been raining for days. A long walk was just what the doctor ordered.
A beautiful sunset.
Then, a bunch of phone calls with friends and family to finish up my day.
Another really chilly day here. When I woke up, it was 29°. Time to break out the sock monkey hat again to bundle up for greeting before Mass. I even got to St. Gabriel early enough to greet the folks from the Chateau bus.
No pictures from Mass today. I think they had problems with their AV equipment.
Today’s Gospel was the story of Jesus hanging on the cross, and those that taunted him. But, one of the criminals defended a Jesus and asked to be remembered. Jesus said that the man would soon be in paradise with Him…..
Gospel
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
My take on it… people are human and make mistakes. God will forgive all who realize their errors, repent and make atonement for their sins. Forgiveness doesn’t come with a quick “I’m sorry,” and continuing your same old ways. The key is realize, acknowledge, repent, and atone.
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Now, for the cool part. This afternoon, the 60+ group from St. Gabriel was meeting for a potluck social gathering at Michael Millen’s house out in Prosper. Mike has the coolest house, most awesome acreage and the most amazing animals I’ve ever seen. He was kind enough to invite our group to his home again.
Mike is upper left photo, on the right. Thanks Mike.Helene and I got a chance to pet the camels and horses. Lower left is a Zedonk. See his striped legs? So cute.All kinds of beautiful creatures came to say hello. The cows remained in the pasture off camera. They didn’t need the attention. We had a nice potluck dinner with enough food and desserts to feed an entire army. Father Cristian came and gave the blessing. He’s not anywhere near 60, but he joked and said,” I was so happy that I didn’t get carded at the door!” Someone commented, “Do you even shave yet, Father?” He’s very young looking.
A very special Sunday counting my blessings and sharing friendship, fine food, and fun animals.
Another really chilly day here. When I woke up, it was 29°. Time to break out the sock monkey hat again to bundle up for greeting before Mass. I even got to St. Gabriel early enough to greet the folks from the Chateau bus.
No pictures from Mass today. I think they had problems with their AV equipment.
Today’s Gospel was the story of Jesus hanging on the cross, and those that taunted him. But, one of the criminals defended a Jesus and asked to be remembered. Jesus said that the man would soon be in paradise with Him…..
Gospel
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
My take on it… people are human and make mistakes. God will forgive all who realize their errors, repent and make atonement for their sins. Forgiveness doesn’t come with a quick “I’m sorry,” and continuing your same old ways. The key is realize, acknowledge, repent, and atone.
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Now, for the cool part. This afternoon, the 60+ group from St. Gabriel was meeting for a potluck social gathering at Michael Millen’s house out in Prosper. Mike has the coolest house, most awesome acreage and the most amazing animals I’ve ever seen. He was kind enough to invite our group to his home again.
Mike is upper left photo, on the right. Thanks Mike.Helene and I got a chance to pet the camels and horses. Lower left is a Zedonk. See his striped legs? So cute.All kinds of beautiful creatures came to say hello. The cows remained in the pasture off camera. They didn’t need the attention. We had a nice potluck dinner with enough food and desserts to feed an entire army. Father Cristian came and gave the blessing. He’s not anywhere near 60, but he joked and said,” I was so happy that I didn’t get carded at the door!” Someone commented, “Do you even shave yet, Father?” He’s very young looking.
A very special Sunday counting my blessings and sharing friendship, fine food, and fun animals.
“Your life is a beautiful blank canvas. You have the choice of splashing it with the most gorgeous and spectacular colors, by doing what you love.”
~ Hiram Nagda
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Woa! It was freezing out there this morning, literally. It was only 30° when I got up for church. That’s the bad news. The good news is, it was a perfect morning to wear my sock monkey hat while greeting before Mass.
I caught Helene on her way inside. I received a lot of compliments on my hat this morning. 🤦♀️
Today’s Gospel was the story of Jesus telling the people not to be deceived and not to follow false prophets.
From the Gospel according to Luke Lk 21:5-19
While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here– the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”……
My take on it… there was a lot more to this lengthy Gospel, but the gist of it… we won’t know when the last day will come, and there may be false prophets, persecution, wars, and mayhem, so all you can do is be ready.
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After Mass, we stopped at McD and Tom Thumb. Then I scurried home so Sid and I could get over to the Square to check out some more MAST artists.
Our first stop was Jump Into Art Studios to visit my dear friend and awesome artist, Sherri Murphy. (I even wore my black beret to feel more artsy.)A few more cool artists displaying and painting in the cool art building. A few fantastic potters and a pet portrait artist. Wayne and Valerie have fantastic individual studios behind their home. A “She shed” and a “He shed.”Then, The Last Art Gallery for our last stop of the day. McKinney certainly has so many awesome artists.
I feel so blessed to be a part of this amazing art community and to be friends with so many wonderful artists.
“You know what’s funnier than an amusing priest? An amusing Monsignor.”
~Me
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Today at Mass we had a visiting Monsignor. I’m not sure what parish or even town he was from. Because I greet and hold the door open before Mass every Sunday, I ever get inside beforehand to hear the introductions and announcements. He was an older gentleman with a cane to get around, but he was pretty funny.
He started his homily with a joke about a priest and a rabbi. 🤦♀️ When the children were called up to be dismissed to go to their children’s activities, he had them come up the steps to the altar area because he said he was too old to be going up and down the steps. After asking how the children enjoyed their Halloween and candy, he gave them a blessing and the little ones were slapping his hand with high fives on the way down the steps. Pretty funny.
Here’s Father’s joke…
A priest and a rabbi are standing by the side of the road holding up a sign that reads, “The End is Near! Turn yourself around now before it’s too late!” They planned to hold up the sign to each passing car. “Leave us alone you religious nuts!” yelled the first driver as he sped by. From around the curve they heard screeching tires and a big splash. “Do you think,” said one clergy to the other, “we should just put up a sign that says ‘Bridge Out’ instead?” 🤦♀️
Today’s Gospel was the was the story of the tradition of a widow marrying a brother of her husband if he dies, so she could be taken care of.
From the Gospel according to Luke Lk 20:27-38
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called out ‘Lord, ‘ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
My take on it… OMG… If you married seven brothers and they all died on you, the least of your problems is which one will you be married to in heaven. 😳
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So, I have his cold/flu thing going on for the past few days. Today in church, I kept coughing with that constant nagging tickle. Thank goodness I had some cough drops. It helped a little, but I didn’t even want to sing or say the prayers out loud in fear that it would come back. I almost left after communion, but I stuck it out.
I did take a COVID test and it was negative. I had something similar a few weeks ago. It may be allergies or some weird stuff in the air. I did have a flu shot last week. Can a flu shot give you the flu?
All in all, it was a pretty quiet lazy Sunday. I spent quite a while trying to figure out how to delete a lot of images on WordPress to free up some room for new photos. The last few days, the photos wouldn’t upload, as I was out of space. I was able to delete all the images for 2013, and Sid has been systematically putting my blog posts on a pdf to save for my diary of the past almost ten years.
The time sure has flown by, but it is kind of fun to see all the photos and read the memories from all these years. Quite the detailed diary, I must say.
“Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful.”
~Harvey Mackay
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A beautiful Sunday. Gosh! Every Sunday is pretty beautiful. It has been very windy for the last couple of days. When I was greeting before Mass this morning, the gusty wind blew in a bunch of colorful leaves and a few people got an extra push in the door, too. 🤦♀️
Today’s Gospel was the parable of the self-centered Phararisee and the humble tax collector.
Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
My take on it… humility is admitting you are not perfect, and seeking forgiveness for your sins, and striving to do better. Always strive for perfection, knowing that you’ll never succeed.
After Mass, we stopped for coffee at McD with Helene, Jerry, Patricia and Barbara. we joked and laughed and shared stories. After that, Helene and went over to Tom Thumb to get our special coupon digital deal sales. Alas, they were out of the sale Yoplait yogurt, but they had the butter and cheese. Such is life.
When I got home, I went over to Miss Kathy’s across the street to update her on what was happening while she was on vacation. I was cat sitting for her and the boys were very good, but her nextdoor neighbor’s dogs broke through the fence and wouldn’t leave her yard. 😳🤦♀️ That was crazy.
We had our St. Gabriel 60+ potluck dinner this evening, but that’s another story for another day.
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
Well, my constant prayer for the last few weeks has been answered. We got a nice rain during the night and this morning. It wasn’t a bad storm, just a nice cleansing soothing rain for the parched earth.
The rain was mild enough that umbrellas and hooded jackets were sufficient and did not deter any regular church goers at St. Gabriel this morning. As I greeted at the door, not one single soul complained about the rain. Everyone was pleased, especially the children sporting their colorful character umbrellas, splashing in puddles on their way.
Today’s Gospel was the parable of the very persistent widow who kept nagging the inconsiderate judge for a just ruling.
Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
My take on it… yep… keep nagging God with prayers and petitions. He’s bound to give in and answer. We got our long needed rain. But, then again, be careful what you wish for. I don’t want to have to start building the Ark. I guess I’ll ask for a cease and desist order if it continues too long.
After Mass, Helene and I stopped at McD, then Tom Thumb for our weekly bargain shopping.
The sky has been grey and gloomy all day. That makes me so happy. Happy Sunday, my friends.
Toni Andrukaitis 