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2017 Lenten Daily Reflections

Read Today's Reflection

Friends,

Welcome as we journey together toward the great feast of Easter!

For many people, the big feast of the year is Christmas, but for Christians, the truly great feast is Easter. Without Easter, without the Resurrection, we would not have the gift of salvation. Jesus had to rise from the dead or else he would have just been another failed Messiah and his birth would be a forgotten footnote of history.

That’s why Lent is such an important time of year for us. It is the period during which we refocus on the passion and death of Jesus so that we will be ready to embrace the good news of the Resurrection at Easter.

So, as we begin with Ash Wednesday and its reminder of repentance, let us resolve to do our best each day, knowing that it is not the destination, but the journey that will ultimately transform us.

Peace,

Bishop Robert Barron

JMJ ~ Tina

Fatima Portugal

Monday, February 20th, 2017 is the Memorial of Blesseds Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto...seers of Our Lady.

https://hausofholmes.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/our-lady-of-fatima.jpg

Our Lady request that we pray the Rosary, offer sacrifices for sinners and the conversion of the whole world. 

This coming May will be the 100th anniversary of Our Lady's visit to Fatima.

In honor of the 2 Blesseds make Portuguese Sweet Bread

The Monastery Kitchen web site has a great recipe, I have Linked it here:
 http://monasterykitchen.org/portuguese-sweet-bread/

OR you could use this....from King Arthur Flour

Portuguese Sweet Bread

This soft, sweet bread, subtly flavored with both lemon and vanilla, makes delicious toast (or French toast). Or enjoy it plain; it's so tasty, it doesn't even need butter. By the way, if you're looking for a recipe for "Hawaiian bread," this one comes very close.

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, cut into pats

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

3 1/4 cups  All-Purpose Flour

1 tablespoon instant yeast

grated peel (zest) of 1 medium lemon

2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, white reserved

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Feb. 1, 2013: This is a fine-tuned, simplified, down-sized version of an earlier Portuguese Sweet Bread recipe on this site. It uses the same ingredients and produces the same bread, but the directions are clearer and the result more foolproof.

Combine the milk, butter, sugar, and salt in a microwave-safe cup, or in a saucepan. Heat to lukewarm, stirring to soften the butter. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, the bowl of your stand mixer, or the bucket of your bread machine, combine the flour, yeast, and lemon zest; stir to combine.

Add the milk mixture, stirring first to make sure the sugar and salt aren't left in the bottom of the cup or pan.

Add the eggs, yolk, and vanilla. Mix and knead until the dough is cohesive and smooth; it'll be very sticky at first. If you're using a stand mixer, beat with the flat beater for about 3 minutes at medium-high speed; then scrape the dough into the center of the bowl, switch to the dough hook, and knead for about 5 minutes at medium speed. It will have formed a ball somewhat, but will probably still be sticking to the bottom of the bowl. If you're using a bread machine, simply let it go through its entire cycle, and skip to step 6.

Lightly grease the mixing bowl or a large (8-cup) measure, round the dough into a ball, and place it in the bowl or measure. Cover, and let rise until very puffy, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If you're using a bread machine and the dough hasn't doubled in size when the cycle is complete, simply let it rest in the machine for another 30 to 60 minutes.

Lightly grease a 9" round cake pan.

Gently deflate the dough, and round it into a ball. Place the ball in the prepared pan, and tent the dough gently with lightly greased plastic wrap. Or cover it with the cover of your choice; we use clear shower caps here in the King Arthur test kitchen.

Let the dough rise in the pan for about 2 hours, until it's nicely puffy. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Mix the reserved egg white with 1 tablespoon cold water, and brush some onto the surface of the loaf; this will give it a satiny, mahogany-brown crust.

Bake the bread for 15 minutes, then tent it lightly with aluminum foil. Bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until it's a medium golden brown and its internal temperature registers 190°F on a digital thermometer.

Remove the bread from the oven, and gently transfer it to a rack to cool. Cool completely before slicing.

Store at room temperature, well-wrapped, for several days' freeze for longer storage.

What a wonderful Country Portugal must be....may God continue to bless you! You are a kindred Spirit.

JMJ~Tina

A tool, one of many, to use this coming Lent.....

http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/25341/how-to-prepare-for-lent

How do you prepare for Lent? How have you prepared in the past? What are your ideas about what should happen during Lent?

We have the traditional Catholic practices of praying, fasting, and almsgiving. So, we pray more than usual, or we pray with different emphases. We eat smaller or fewer meals or give up a favorite food or drink group. We give more of our resources or give them specifically to special works of mercy during Lent.

Prayer, fasting, and charitable giving continue to be quite good practices during Lent or at any time.

But, you might think, how do I prepare myself for this season? What needs to happen within so that I can practice with more integrity and intention whatever I’m doing on the outside?

There are plenty of ideas for actions and practices during Lent; coming up with ideas usually is not the problem. But we don’t want to do anything simply to be doing it, even if it’s a good thing. We don’t want to make a list of merciful works so that we can place a checkmark beside each one as we accomplish it.

It’s good to have a plan for doing. It’s also good to have a plan for being.

How do I want to be during Lent this year? More quiet and thoughtful? More open to God’s desires? Better able to sit with people who need me? More attentive to sacred readings, whether in church or in private? Do I need to be more compassionate toward my own fears and failings? Do I need to become more courageous about using the gifts God has given me?

In the days prior to Lent, try one or more of these suggestions.

• Ask God, every day, “What does my soul need?” Just ask, and wait quietly. Because we’re very good at fooling ourselves about how we’re doing, it might take several days of praying this question before we’re truly open and humble enough to know the answer.
• Ask God, every day, “What about my life makes you happy?” Yes, when God looks at your life, some parts of it—perhaps many aspects of it—bring joy to God’s heart. Think of how your children or grandchildren or other people close to you make you happy. God is in relationship with you, which means that your sins grieve God’s heart, but also that your growth and love and freedom and kindness bring joy to God of the universe. Again, you will probably need to pray this a few times before you are willing to consider that you give God pleasure, that you make God happy in any way. Stick with this little prayer and keep listening.
• Tell God, and yourself, every day, “I want to be open to the graces of this Lenten season.” Maybe you’re not open right now, or you’re not as open and willing as you’d like to be or think you should be. What else is new? We can always open our lives a bit more, let go of more stuff, listen better, and do more quickly and passionately what we know helps nurture God’s kingdom on earth.

This is a beginning: three short and simple prayer starters to ready yourself for the holy season.

From Ashes to Glory

 Go to this site for the weekly links, they would not link up correctly for me...sorry.

ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/from-ashes-to-glory/

From Ashes to Glory invites you to take up the practice of reflecting on your day, its gifts and graces, and the progress you are making in life with Christ. It’s a way of praying the Examen through Lent, with materials by Joseph Tetlow, SJ.
Each Sunday during Lent, read an introduction to the week’s prayer. On Ash Wednesday and the Mondays of Lent and Easter Week, find a brief Scripture passage, steps for reflecting with the Examen, and a closing prayer.

From Ashes to Glory is based on this version of the Ignatian Examen:

I thank God.

I say to the Lord: I am content with what I am and have. Thank you for stars and universes, for mountains and oceans. Thank you for health and home and work, for those I love and those who love me. Thank you that I know Jesus Christ and am his—for the Church, and sacraments, and hope in eternal life. And thank you for this day.

I ask for light.

Let me see myself and my behavior the way the Holy Spirit has been seeing me, who am God’s splendid creature, adopted and “set free in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

I look for God in my life.

I ask what I have done for love—love of God, of others, and of myself. If I have decided to change a habit or to grow a virtue, I give myself an account.

I face what’s wrong.

I accept responsibility for what I have done or not done, rejoicing in the good and repudiating the bad. I do not blame circumstances, upbringing, or others.

I determine what to do now.

I see what I can do to love God better, grateful for what Jesus Christ is doing in me. I watch where the Spirit is leading me.

Another 10 inches, (24mm) of Snow last night.

This video is from Sister Theo, she is rejoicing in the Lord, thanking Him for all His blessings, especially thanking Him for the snow, which she loves!

Sacred Wonder....

Sunset through the trees.

The snow came fast, hard and from the North  East.

Weighed down....


JMJ~Tina

History of St. Valentine FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS

PS: snow fall amount from the storm~ 21-25 inches, (53.34~63.5 cm)

http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/history-of-st-valentine.html

History of St. Valentine 

Who was Saint Valentine and how did he come to inspire Valentine's Day? In the early martyrologies, three diffrent St. Valentines are mentioned, all sharing Feb. 14 for a feast day. Unfortunately, the historical record is sparse. The first St. Valentine was a priest and physician in Rome. He along with St. Marius and his family comforted the martyrs during the persecution of Emperor Claudius II, the Goth. Eventually, St. Valentine was also arrested, condemned to death for his faith, beaten with clubs, and finally beheaded on Feb. 14, AD 270. He was buried on the Flaminian Way. Later, Pope Julius I (333-356) built a basilica at the site which preserved St. Valentine's tomb. Archeological digs in the 1500s and 1800s have found evidence of the tomb of St. Valentine. However, in the thirteenth century, his relics were transferred to the Church of Saint Praxedes near the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where they remain today. Also, a small church was built near the Flaminian Gate of Rome which is now known as the Porta del Popolo but was called in the 12th century "the Gate of St. Valentine," as noted by the early British historian William Somerset (also known as William of Malmesbury, d. 1143), who ranks after St. Bede in authority. 

The second St. Valentine was the Bishop of Interamna (now Terni, located about 60 miles from Rome). Under the orders of Prefect Placidus, he too was arrested, scourged, and decapitated, again suffering persecution during the time of Emperor Claudius II. 

The third St. Valentine suffered martyrdom in Africa with several companions. However, nothing further is known about this saint. In all, these men, each named St. Valentine, showed heroic love for the Lord and His Church. 

The popular customs of showing love and affection on St. Valentine's Day is almost a coincidence with the feast day of the saint: During the Medieval Age, a common belief in England and France was that birds began to pair on Feb.14, "half-way through the second month of the year." Chaucer wrote in his "Parliament of Foules" (in Old English): "For this was on Seynt Valentyne's day, When every foul cometh ther to choose his mate." 

For this reason, the day was dedicated to "lovers" and prompted the sending of letters, gifts, or other signs of aection. Another literary example of St. Valentine's Day remembrances is found in Dame Elizabeth Brews "Paston Letters" (1477), where she writes to the suitor, John Paston, of her daughter, Margery: "And, cousin mine, upon Monday is St. Valentine's day and every bird chooseth himself a mate, and if it like you to come on Thursday night, and make provision that you may abide till then, I trust to God that ye shall speak to my husband and I shall pray that we may bring the matter to a conclusion." In turn, Margery wrote to John: "Unto my right well beloved Valentine John Paston, Squyer, be this bill delivered. Right reverend andworshipful and my right well beloved Valentine, I recommend me unto you, full heartily desiring to hear of your welfare, which I beseech Almighty God long for to preserve until His pleasure and your heart's desire." While speaking of the amorous avor of Valentine's Day, no mention is made of the saint. While it seems that the exchange of "valentines" is more the result of secular custom rather than the memory of St. Valentine, and that the celebration has been further paganized with cupids and the like, there is a Christian message that should be remembered. The love of our Lord, depicted beautifully in the image of His most Sacred Heart, is a sacricial, self-less, and unconditional love. Such is the love that each Christian is called to express in his own life, for God and neighbor. 

Clearly, St. Valentineno matter which one showed such a love, bearing witness to the faith in his dedication as a priest and in the offering of his own life in martyrdom. On this Valentine's day, looking to the example of this great saint, each person should offer again his love to the Lord, for only by doing so can he properly love those who are entrusted to his care and any other neighbor. Each person should again pledge his love to those loved ones, praying for their intentions, promising fidelity to them, and thanking them for their love in return. Never forget Jesus said, "This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (Jn 15:12-13). St. Valentine fullled this command, and may we do the same.

Blizzard round 2~ Feb. 12-13, 2017

Storm number 2, (within a week).  Blizzard conditions over all the state.

Tim went out at the peak of the Storm to shovel out the doors and heating vent. We could not open the doors and there was a safety issue, God Bless him!

The front half of our home after we shoveled.

We have to wait to shovel out his truck.....when the storm finished.

The picture seems foggy, but it is the snow:)

This photo was taken the 2nd of Feb. by my sons "game camera"

God Bless you! He knows you......

JMJ~ Tina

HOME in MAINE~ Another Sacred Wonder~Wood stove, good books to read, and the warmth of Our Lords Love...

Nor'easter pummels New England with feet of snow, (....aka Blizzard).

More images to come, God Willing

JMJ~Tina