HappyMama

Yesterday I was having a rough morning.  Not 1, not 2, but all 3 boys had woken me at different times during the night.  I’ve never been a “morning person” to begin with.  I was thinking, is motherhood supposed to be this hard?  And then I read Matthew 7:

14: For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life…

Jesus knew from the beginning that the life He wanted us to live would be hard.  In the Garden Paradise it wasn’t, but it is now.  “13:…the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.”  We have many choices.  It would be EASY for my husband to quit his job, or abandon his family.  It would be EASY to never be open to a larger family.  It would be EASY to skip Mass on the weekend, or sit the kids in front of the TV all day long. 

The life of a disciple may be hard, but one thing I’ve learned is that the only true joy and peace in my life has come from making the “hard” decisions, trusting that God knows what’s best for me.  He understands.  And I’m sure there won’t be anything “hard” about heaven!!  Eternal rest.  Exactly what I will need after a lifetime of raising these ornery boys!

On Catholic Exchange this morning.

There’s a company in France called Nutriset entirely devoted to helping end starvation.  Their main product has been dubbed Plumpy’nut, it’s sort of like a Powerbar.  Now, that’s a company I’d like to work for!

This book claims to have an answer to world poverty that can be accomplished in 20 years. 

I’m adding to the blogroll this website for Scott Hahn’s St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.  Click on “getting started” and enjoy the feast!

I have a stromboli recipe I like to make, but the past few months I’ve been looking for it without any luck.  Today I remembered it was from a Taste of Home magazine, so I searched for it on their website & found it.  Incidentally, they have a lot of good recipes there if you ever want to search.  (Especially desserts!  I try to make it a point to have dessert on Sundays.  Only!)  Another site I use often is Allrecipes.com.

 But I shall show you a still more excellent way. [1Cor. 12]

Today’s readings were essential to my acceptance of the existence of God & all that is supernatural.  Realizing the He is infinite and I am finite was at once simple and profound.  I used to struggle to believe in God because I couldn’t understand everything faith entailed.  Then, thanks to a marvelous series of events, a philosophy professor made me realize that that’s the point.  If  I could understand all the mysteries of God, then He wouldn’t be very magnificent, would he?  “I believe in order to understand” became my motto.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…[Jer.1]   God is infinite, and His ways are not ours.  Logic & reason can only get us so far.  Reason alone could never get to the conclusion that we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.  Reason alone could never find the benefit of fasting or vowing poverty, chastity, or obedience.   Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.” 

Dietrich von Hildebrand was a philosophical genius, but after he converted to Christianity, he realized how much more truth he was able to find.  In his biography, his wife writes:  “[After his conversion,] Dietrich’s life was changed.  His passionate love for beauty and for natural truth in no way waned.  But he had found a beauty that was infinitely more ravishing - the face of Christ and His Church and the supernatural message they convey, the path of humility and love leading to holiness.”

Today’s scriptures remind us that no amount of reason, this side of heaven, is sufficient for perfect knowledge.  Only in Heaven will we understand as completely as Christ intends for us.  We must bring all our concerns to prayer and view them with the light of humble faith, not the darkness of arrogance.

[1Cor. :] And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge…
but do not have love, I am nothing.

For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.

A link to an article about baking bread.  Kneading dough is a favorite activity of my son!