FAVORITE PLACES TO PRAY

In my most recent column in The Catholic Observer, I wrote about trying to put more  effort into prayer. I noted that I do invest a lot of my interests and energy into sports. And I reflected that I would like to spend more time connecting to God. To be honest, it is a struggle. However, I keep trying.

Writing the column got me thinking about some of my favorite places to pray. Here they are. Now,  of course, I can’t go to all of them all the time. However, they are memorable. I welcome your suggestions.

 

I looked through my pictures from my trip to Rome last year and would have filled this blog with shots of churches, historic sites, pretty piazzas and scenic views. There is something so spiritual about Rome and the Vatican.

Fenway Park!!

They call it a baseball cathedral and I agree. I find somthing very spiritual there — even when I am praying for  a hit or a strikeout or perfection during Jon Lester’s no-hitter. It is a place of beauty and joy.

Shrines and Chapels

I love visiting shrines and chapel — like this one near St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton. I like outdoors stations of the cross. St. Anne Shrine in Fiskdale has a nice one. The view at the Marian Shrine in Stockbridge is incredible. And…

La Salette Christmas Lights

Yes, Christmas lights, anywhere, inspire prayer. However, the ones at La Salette in Attleboro are awesome.

But one does not need extraordinary!!

I like praying in my car — seriously! It is one of my top five places to pray.

I love returning to Holy Name Parish in Springfield and looking at the windows and thinking of my parents.

I love sitting in the adoration chapel at Holy Cross Parish in Springfield.

And I hope to pop into the Fatima Shrine at St. Mary Parish in Hampden soon.

And whenever I step on the campus of Providence College I am drawn to their lovely chapel — St. Dominic Chapel. It has a special memorial for the young women who died in a fire there in 1977. I like to go in there and remember them and just think about the school and all the good people there who have made my faith and my family’s faith grow.

The liturgy there is awesome — great music and super preaching.

And it is a beautiful place.

St. Dominic Chapel

So take a second today to think about where and when you pray.

It’s a good way to observe Lent and maybe browse through some old photos or memories.

IT’S GOOD TO BE KIND

My most recent column in The Catholic Observer focuses a bit on being kind and trying not to complain.

Those are two things I really have to work on in my life. Oh and being patient and not worrying are two others I can add to the list.

I was inspired by the talk by Immaculée Ilibagiza at Cathedral High School in Springfield on a cold January night. Her story is compelling and can be read in her bestseller book Left to Tell.

A MUST READ

Her book is about forgiveness and kindness. And in light of all the recent stories about bullying I think her message is needed more now than ever.

And the whole business of cyber bullying is addressed beautifully for young people and adults in Mary Casanova’s second American Girl book, Chrissa Stands Strong.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING FOR ALL AGES

Of course the whole idea of intolerance is not new. My husband, John, daughters, Kerry and Elizabeth, and I were lucky enought to see “South Pacific” in New York City. It contains some powerful messages about love and acceptance.

 

Elizabeth, John and Kerry before the show

 

In the Lobby and On the Town

Our theatre was right near the Metropolitan Opera House and I took a shot of it at sundown.

It also was a  joy to journey to Queens and see Kerry in her new apartment. She made the most delicious pancakes. And in Manhattan, we  got to meet many of her awesome co-workers at “America” magazine.

Great Magazine

We even got to attend a Mass with some very welcoming Jesuits.

They clearly had learned the lesson of kindness.

If you are interested in learning even more about bullying here are some resources.

Check out “Real to Reel” for a great report by Teri Breguet on bullying. She also will be “blogging” on our diocesan blog www.wmasscatholicvoices.wordpress.com. Also  www.diospringfield.org has a link to additional assistance.

And if you are on Facebook you can become a fan of Catholic Communications.

And finally, check out www.catholictv.com  and go to  the “Blink” show. There you will find a video called “A Prayer for Haiti”  another called “Church” and one entitled “Pray.” They all have been produced by my son, Matthew. And even if I weren’t his mother I would recommend them.

FROM CHAOS TO BEAUTY

Recently, I wrote in my column in The Catholic Observer  about how my husband, John, and I have been re-doing our bedroom. It began with talk of washing our walls and led to picking out “convivial yellow” as our wall color.

THE OLD GREENCOLOR GETTING PREPPED FOR PAINTING

And three coats of paint later — all done lovingly by John — the walls were transformed

Of course, you might notice the window treatments!! Yes, those are pieces of cardboard in the window.

It’s still a work in progress but so many good things have come from this initial “mess.”

We cleaned our closets and donated bags of clothes. John and our daughter Elizabeth built new shelves for the closet.

LEARNING THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE

I especially appreciate John’s eye for detail and how he uses his skills and creativity to bring things together. And all the while he is having fun –

THE PLAID MIGHT COME BACK IN STYLE

even when finding an old jacket from high school.

We haven’t quite finished but new carpeting and the rearranging of our furniture have given new life to an old room. I love the results and know that the mess was worth it.

NICE CLEAN NEW CARPET

IT FEELS LIKE A HOTEL SUITE

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

In my most recent column in The Catholic Observer, I wrote about how a few things went wrong during Thanksgiving vacation. Yet, what seemed like mini-disasters turned out to be some very funny times that will last in the memories of our family.

Our first goof-up happened when, as a sleepy assistant chef, I gave John the turkey on a tray to put on the grill. I did not notice it was upside down. We cooked it this way and it looked pretty good on the grill.

OUR 28 POUND FRESH BUTTERBALL

And John was enjoying the job of watching the bird all morning on his Weber grill.

WEBER WITH HIS WEBER GRILL

However, when he began to carve the bird things looked grim!!!

WHERE'S THE MEAT???

We thought everyone was going to have to politely pass the meat platter to our guests and have a turkeyless Thanksgiving. However, we finally “discovered” the white meat at the bottom of our turkey and the meal was saved.

DINNER IS SERVED AND SAVED

Later that weekend, John, Elizabeth and Matthew went to fly a kite. Yes…it got stuck in a tree. However, that was when the real fun started as our son and daughter worked with their dad (AKA MacGyver) to free the kite.

Check out these photos.

LET’S GO FLY A KITE!!!

It looked good for a while….

UP THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE

Alas, it got caught in a tree.

CAN THEY GET IT DOWN??

Maybe…

MATTHEW TRIED TO KNOCK IT DOWN WITH PROJECTILES

It was really stuck. Hmmmm. Daddy (John)

WITH EVERY POSIBLE POLE FROM OUR GARAGE

 to the rescue.

POLE ONE

POLE TWO

MAKING THE GRAB

Three poles and a lot of ingenuity later, the kite was back on the ground.

Elizabeth photographed the whole event.

HAVING A TALL SON HELPS!

And the “disaster” became a great adventure.

SUCCESS AND SMILES

THE KITE CATCHER

A TRIUMPHANT TEAM

PECAN TARTS VIA MY MOM

As promised in my column in The Catholic Observer, I am posting my mom’s recipe for pecan tarts.

They are not hard to make and they are DELICIOUS!!

Just take a look at these yummy treats.

SWEET TREATS

 

To make the crust take

2 cups of flour

8 ounces of cream cheese

and 1/4 lb. of butter

Mix together and form into small balls that will be pressed into greased mini cupcake tins

When you push them down they should form little pie crusts in the tin

Add 1/4 teaspoon of chopped pecans –very fine.

The filling is easy too…

4 eggs

1 box of light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 taspoon of vanilla

4 tablespoons of butter

Melt butter and add to other ingredients. Mix and add 1 tablespoon filling to each tart.

Top off with 1/4 teaspooon or more of more pecans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Remove while warm.

ENJOY!

YUMMY!

 

STRUTTING OUR STUFF

It’s a good feeling to accomplish something or learn something new.

I love crossing things off my “Things to Do” list. Now my daughter, Elizabeth, likes to highlight her list so she can see what she did. But I take great satisfaction in inking out an item — even if it just is “get milk.”

The other night I was ridiculously proud of myself. I was shopping with my coupon at Kohl’s Department Store and saw a purse that I thought my daughter, Kerry, might like for Christmas. It was a Vera Wang bag and looked sophisticated enough for NewYork City.  I called Kerry up and asked her about it. I tried describing  it but I am not  very good at fashion terms.

That’s when I did something new! I took a picture of it with my phone and  sent it to Kerry. I felt so pleased with the fact that I could do this. Now I know many people will chuckle at this. However, for me it was a big deal and one more hurdle that I overcame as I challenge  myself to learn more technology.

VERA WANG PURSE VIA MY CELL PHONE

Now once you see what my husband, John, did today then you will really laugh at the fact that I was excited about learning how to push a few buttons. Still it is good to feel  good about doing and learning. And boy, did John do a lot!

We were riding in Kerry’s 1993 Camry when John noticed a funny noise. His closer inspection led him to see that the left rear strut was broken. Most people would sigh and head off to their mechanic.  John  just opened his Toyota manual and got to work.

 

IT'S GREEK TO ME

He had to pull out the whole back seat in order to do the  job.  This would be daunting to many people but not to John.

OUT GOES THE BACK SEAT

From there he had to work in the rear seat and jack up the car — and other stuff. I really don’t know exactly.

JOHN WITH HIS STRUT PROJECT

What really delighted  me was how he proved to be a true MacGyver as he worked. John is very handy but even this dazzled me. He needed to measure foot-pounds for torque. He said he didn’t have a torque wrench but used a socket-wrench handle and a bathroom scale to figure out the right amount of pressure. Check this out.

GENIUS AT WORK

And  you might have noticed a really cool bumper sticker on the back of Kerry’s car.

 

I'D RATHER BE READING FLANNERY O'CONNOR

It says, “I’d rather be reading Flannery O’Connor.” Kerry has liked O’Connor since college and wrote about her for America magazine where she works. I am  “strutting” Kerry’s stuff by posting the link.

http://americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=61206981-3048-741E-2693263951922656

GREAT AUTHOR

 So go ahead and strut your stuff today.

I will be posting a yummy pecan tart recipe soon!!

SEEING THE WORLD AROUND US

It’s good to make discoveries and experience new things.

In my most recent column in The Catholic Observer I wrote about how we helped move our daughter, Kerry, to the Sunnyside Gardens neighborhood in Queens, N.Y.  We were a bit nervous as we headed to the big city but we discovered a charming neighborhood, a darling apartment and an unusual faucet.

Check this out…

DOLPHIN FAUCET

 

The apartment also has cute art deco wall sconces and beautiful hardwood floors.

Most of us think of New York City as a place with skyscrapers and few trees. However, Kerry lives on a tree-lined street with a cute front door.

Kerry's front door is on the right

And I also realized that you don’t have to go far from home to look at life in a new way or different fashion.

My son, Matthew, came home recently while my husband was traveling for work. Matthew and I spent a glorious fall day hiking in a quarry near our house. On the way we passed a tree we must have seen hundreds of times. However, this time we noticed the leaves and how they show love.

A HEART-SHAPED LEAF

We also enjoyed seeing the quarry with new eyes. Matthew and his siblings and friends had hiked there when they were young. We had not gone back in quite a while. It was fun to remember the day they found a snake there. And it was good to see the beauty of this place that had once been their playground of sorts.

MATTHEW ENJOYING NATURE

I felt invigorated after our hike. It wasn’t just the exercise. It was the chance to open my eyes anew to a familiar world.

I liked seeing some place new like Queens. AndI liked seeing some place old with new eyes. I was glad for both chances to test my vision.

SEEING THE WORLD