Historic Election Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...

It's raining really hard---but the sun is up thanks to the time change last weekend.  I'm not excited about standing in the rain to vote today.  How about you?

I am thinking...

Maybe the lines won't be too bad since the early voting lines were ridiculous every day.  Seriously ridiculous.

I am thankful...

We have a new roof scheduled for Thursday!  I am beyond excited while I'm holding my breath and biting my nails during this rain.  I am so looking forward to not having to worry about what is happening over my head during rainstorms.  We're one of the last few people in the neighborhood to get a new roof---everyone needs one in this 20 year old neighborhood---and it seems most people got one after the Good Friday hailstorm a few years ago.  No hail hit the State Farm insured homes.  Isn't that amazing what our insurance "coverage" does for us?  It actually protects us from hail!

From the learning roomskitchen table...

Keeping up.  Barely.

I am knittingcreating...

Jesse tree ornaments for a swap.  I think I have 4 days left to stitch and applique 11 ornaments, and then put ribbons on all 24.  Each one takes 20-30 minutes, so I just need to find time to sit down and do them.  Without getting distracted by Words with Friends or Twitter.  

I am going...

To Vote today.  Have you voted yet?  Will you have to stand in inclement weather to do so?

I am praying...

For all those affected by Hurricane Sandy, especially those who have lost loved ones, and everything else.
For my son to have a safe hike in the rain today.
For Fr. Mike, and all our priests.

I am reading...

Bill Bryson's Thunderbolt Kid....still.  I finished reading The Hobbit to Meg and Pippo last week.  That was fun.  We have to choose a new read-aloud.  Any ideas?  I read "Macbeth" last week, finished it yesterday, because Pip had to read it for school and I know how challenging Shakespeare is, so I thought it would help if I read it.  I am no Shakespearean actor, but I did my best and I think he got more out of it than he might have reading it on his own.

I am hoping...

The dog doesn't keep getting into my projects.  He has no sense of personal space!  He is welcome to what is on the floor, if anyone is crazy enough to leave their stuff there, but things on tables and in boxes or baskets are NOT. for. him!

I am looking forward to...

The election being over.  Whichever way it goes, life can get back to normal.  I'm pretty sure it will be a different "normal" whichever way it goes, because Obama will have "more flexibility" if he wins, and Romney is his polar opposite.  So things won't remain the same no matter what.

Around the house...

I made a list of items for Fall Housecleaning, so we are starting to work on that list in our 15 minute sessions every day.  In the spring, we clean during Lent.  In the fall, I consider it part of Advent, but Advent is typically much busier than Lent, so we're starting early.

My dear husband spent all day Saturday removing the old caulk from our shower, and I re-caulked it yesterday.  I definitely got the easier part of the job!  Someone told me that's supposed to be done every year.  Really?

One of my favorite things...

Fresh caulk.

A few plans for the rest of the week...

Voting, choir, American Heritage Girls, Trivia night (? - It has been a few weeks), Rehearsal for the Gala Christmas Concert (yay!).  And a new roof!  (double yay!)

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...  

I still don't know why Pip took this picture when we were leaving church on Sunday.  We went to a church out in the country to visit our friend Fr. Byrd.

Hosted by The Simple Woman's Daybook

Reading the Catechism (Week 3)

My thoughts on the Catechism this past week...

129

Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucified and risen. Such typological reading discloses the inexhaustible content of the Old Testament; but it must not make us forget that the Old Testament retains its own intrinsic value as Revelation reaffirmed by our Lord himself.¹⁰⁵ Besides, the New Testament has to be read in the light of the Old. Early Christian catechesis made constant use of the Old Testament.¹⁰⁶ As an old saying put it, the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.¹⁰⁷

One of the greatest revelations to me, as a Catholic, is the way the Bible "interprets itself."  Instead of saying Mary is hardly mentioned in the New Testament, and therefore has very little importance, we can look at how the Ark of the Covenant is reverenced and untouched.  Mary carried The Word, just as the Ark did.  She is the Ark of the New Covenant and worthy of reverence.

132

"Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too — pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place — is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture."¹¹¹

Ah, this tells me that the most important catechesis comes from the homily at Mass, a fact which, sadly, many priests don't seem to understand.  It's no wonder many Catholics don't know what the Church teaches on difficult issues.

143

By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God.² With his whole being man gives his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture calls this human response to God, the author of revelation, "the obedience of faith".³

I. THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH ⇡

144

To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to "hear or listen to") in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience offered us by Sacred Scripture. The Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.

I've always had so much admiration for Abraham whose faith was so incredible that he was able to leave everything and go to a strange land where he would not have been welcomed.  Not only that, but he was asked to sacrifice his own son---and very nearly did it!  Mary may be the perfect embodiment of faith, but aside from giving her assent to the task of being God's mother, I've never been inclined to compare her faith to Abraham's.   

How do you compare Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac with Mary's submission to Jesus's sacrifice?  She didn't wield the knife as Abraham did...I really have to think about this comparison!  (Not that I question Mary's position in Heaven or her importance to the Church, just I've never thought of these two people as similar examples of faith.)

Um, Happy Halloween, All Saints Day, All Souls Day?

A blessed feast of All Hallow's Eve to you! (ha! I'm a bit late!)

We are looking forward to a quiet, simple Halloween this year.  I have only 2 trick-or-treaters, and no costumes to make.  Pippo is wearing a pumpkin t-shirt that we got at Target with a green hat for a stem.

Meg is wearing a flamenco dancer dress that magically appeared in our costume box a couple of years ago.  I have no idea where it came from, but she's wearing it (with black leggings and a long sleeved black shirt underneath), and happy.  Really, any excuse to have a fancy hairdo and makeup works for her!

And I guess I won't be going with her for the first time.  I'll get to see what it's like from inside the house, and this is a good year for that since it is still windy and COLD from Sandy.

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Alrighty, then....

I guess I started to do some blogging Wednesday, but I didn't get very far!  The week of Halloween/All Saints Day can be pretty nutty for Crazy Catholic Moms who let their kids go trick-or-treating AND then dress as Saints for All Saints.  That's 2 costumes for each child!  Fortunately, we're passed the hardest part of that with only 2 kids to outfit these days, and at 13, Pip is past the whole elaborate costume phase.

Halloween costumes were pretty simple, and so were All Saints.  Pippo wore regular clothes and Meg wore her medieval gown and went as St. Elizabeth of the Hungry.  ;-)  Dh and I were discussing how easy it is for kids to make that mistake since Elizabeth of Hungary spent so much time feeding the hungry.  

Our homeschool group celebrated the feast of All Saints and All Souls on Friday.  We started with an outdoor picnic on the river at my old parish, and then we prayed the Stations of the Cross with special prayers for the souls in purgatory.  This was the book we used:  The Way of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.  It was very beautiful and moving.

After that, we went inside for games for the young ones, followed by a challenging game of Catholic Jeopardy.  It was a very nice evening to visit with friends while the children were having fun.

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One of the things making it so busy this week is dealing with the aftermath of that car accident.  Two chiropractor appointments per week for 3 of us take up too much time.  It makes us behind on schoolwork, so then we're scrambling to keep up.  It gets to be too much, especially during a holy day week.

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Now it's Saturday and we're not very busy, except with household chores.  As I was cleaning and dusting earlier, I just wanted to get rid of practically everything.  I feel so badly for those who have lost absolutely everything in the wake of Hurricane Sandy that I don't want to have anything that I might be attached to and unwilling to part with.  I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that none of it has any value beyond this earth and I can actually live without all of it.  And that's all well and good as far as material possessions go, but there are some people who have lost their families, too.  If I lost everything, home, family, livelihood...would I have the courage to start over?

I'm afraid I wouldn't, but I know that God gives grace when we need it, not before.  Right now, I'm extremely grateful for my home with electricity and running water, and family, and I'm praying for all those who are suffering.

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What have you been up to this week?